US may have scuppered Abe's bid to attract more tourists

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to increase the number of tourists to the country to 40 million by 2020. To reach that goal, Japan is mulling allowing more international flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The planned route passes through an area where the US Yokota Air Base handles air traffic control.

The Abe administration has been negotiating with the United States over Washington's permission for Japanese planes to fly in the area and Japanese controllers to navigate aircraft. However, US seems likely to nix the idea.

The result let people in the country debate again whether the US-Japan Security Treaty violates Japan's sovereignty.