At the International Olympic Committee (IOC) General Assembly in Buenos Aires on the 7th (local time), Tokyo was selected as the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics. To accommodate the expected increase in international tourists, which will mark Tokyo's first Olympics in 56 years, the Japan Shopping Tourism Organization (JSTO), a general incorporated association whose establishment was announced earlier, is taking specific steps to increase the number of duty-free stores, improve the tax-free system, and strengthen language and payment support.

Currently, there are approximately 4,000 duty-free stores out of a total of approximately 1 million retail stores in Japan. The organization aims to expand this number by 20-30%, to 20,000-30,000 stores in urban areas in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. Furthermore, the organization will promote domestic business revitalization by offering tax-free confectionery, food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, which are currently not eligible for tax exemption despite being popular with international tourists. The organization also aims to improve tourist satisfaction through the installation of ATMs, the development of foreign language websites, and educational activities for hospitality businesses on how to accommodate inbound tourists. At the association's launch press conference, Yoichiro Ide, executive director of the Japan Department Stores Association, said, "We established the Foreign Tourist Attraction Committee in June 2007 to address inbound tourism. However, the current number of foreign visitors to Japan is approximately 8 million, and this number is expected to exceed 10 million this fiscal year, so further preparations are needed." Incidentally, the number of foreign visitors to Japan in 1964, the last time the Tokyo Olympics were held (according to JTB Research & Consulting), was 352,800. Last year's number of foreign visitors to Japan reached 8.36 million, a roughly 23-fold increase. According to the association's announcement, sales at the 43 member stores of the Foreign Tourist Attraction Committee in July, based on tax-free procedures, were 194.5% higher than the previous year (excluding cosmetics and food, which are not subject to tax-free procedures), and the number of customers purchasing the same was 170.2%.

The share of sales to foreign tourists at Mitsukoshi Isetan is approximately 3% at the Isetan Shinjuku store and approximately 5% at the Mitsukoshi Ginza store, and sales at the Mitsukoshi Ginza store based on duty-free procedures in August this year also showed a high growth of 160% compared to the previous year.