(FORTUNE Magazine) – The weak dollar has a bright side: Japanese tourists chipped $2.1 billion off the U.S.'s $60 billion trade deficit with yenland last year. Each visitor frittered away an average of $1,000 on transportation, gifts, food, and lodging. (For how conventional exports are helping the trade balance, see The Economy.) On the wings of their mighty currency, 2.1 million Japanese tourists visited the U.S. last year, and 32% more are expected this year. By far the most popular U.S. destinations are Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa, although at Nippon Travel, Japan's second-largest private agency, bookings to New York City are up about 50%. Fortunately for the trade balance, Japanese travelers don't shop at K mart. They swarm through New York's Bloomingdale's, Houston's Neiman Marcus, and San Francisco's Saks to buy perfume, cosmetics, and designer-name clothing. In New York City, they hang out at Hermes, Chanel, and Hunting World. At Louis Vuitton on 57th Street -- where the most popular bag retails for $360, $128 less than in Tokyo -- 50% of the store's sales have been to Japanese visitors; the percentage is even higher at Vuitton's Rodeo Drive bagagerie. Says Barry Goldsmith, Burberry's head of U.S. retailing: ''Vans stop in front of our New York store daily.'' The shopping spree will continue. Last July the Japanese government doubled the value of goods that can be brought into the country duty free to $1,600. By comparison, U.S. citizens are limited to a paltry $400 worth.- C.H.