people across the world are excited about Japan again millions of tourists are visiting the country each month to see the sites and to shop at affordable prices others are coming for work I’m here in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto which is normally a very sleepy place but things are changing here and one of the reasons is right behind me it’s a semiconductor Factory which is controlled by taiwan’s tsmc and it’s really turbocharging the local economy here land prices are up there’s lots of construction the streets are busy and the prefectural capital of komal is buzzing and it feels this change that’s a good sign for Japan which has been struggling to pull out of a slum for 30 years but in small towns not far from the tsmc factory economic boom has yet to arrive the population is aging and declining fast the challenge for Japan’s new prime minister is finding a way to ensure renewed momentum in the economy reaches these towns too