[jackcosgrove]

It seems Japan is entering a new Edo period, inward-looking and isolated.

[jpatokal]

Quite the opposite. Japan has never had more tourists than today: https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/embed/?s=japantouarr&v...

Or more foreign residents: http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/11639

The change is particularly visible in the larger cities: for example, it's increasingly rare to find ethnic Japanese behind the counter at a convenience store.