I have friends from overseas coming to visit Japan just about every month and while I would love to show them all around Tokyo, the time that I actually spend in Tokyo myself is very limited and unfortunately I often miss out on seeing these friends altogether. Thankfully though, my schedule during Maria’s visit to Tokyo permitted me time to see her and show her around.

A lot of my friends in Japan, including voice actress, Uesaka Sumire, took time out of their busy schedules to help show Maria around Tokyo. If it hadn’t been for the pop culture event held in Russia, though, I probably wouldn’t even know Maria or Uesaka Sumire right now. Connections are rather amusing things.
#13 Interview with Voice Actor, Uesaka Sumire - Her Love of Russia and Aspirations for the Future
Younger Japanese aren’t that familiar with places like Shitamachi (older, more traditional district of Tokyo), so when foreign friends come to visit, it’s almost like a new experience for them as well to go and see these areas. It’s a way that even we as Japanese can rediscover what it is that people from other countries find so special about Japan.

Once Maria arrived in Tokyo I met up with her at Laforet in Harajuku. This is one of the places I often use as a meeting point whenever friends from overseas come to visit. It’s central enough to use as a base for guiding people around the Harajuku area, and if you get off the train at Harajuku and just say “Laforet Harajuku” to a passerby, just about anyone will be able to show you the way.

“Japanese people really are very kind. I asked for directions to Laforet and someone very politely explained how to get there.”

That was the very first thing Maria said to me when we met.
We went to Ameya-yokocho in Ueno, walked around Asakusa, climbed Tokyo Tower and I also took Maria for her first ever ‘monjayaki.’ Seeing things from the point of view of a young foreign visitor like this, it’s easy to see just how fascinating and original Japan really is.

For Japanese people everything about Japan is commonplace, but take a step outside of Japan and you begin to see just how blessed in originality and creativity we really are. We should be proud of the fact that we’re an island nation of more than 100 million people located at the edge of eastern Asia. It’s the perfect environment for conceiving all these one-and-only creations.

To tell you the truth, I never used to have much confidence in Japan’s attraction as a tourist destination. It’s hard to know what’s unique and what’s not when you’re raised in a particular culture. But as it turns out, from an outsider’s point of view, Japan is one big tourism resource.
So how then do we go about getting more people to come and visit Japan?
The Japanese government’s “cool Japan” campaign, while effective in a sense, only highlighted certain aspects of Japanese culture. I think it’s time we established a more comprehensive campaign showcasing more of Japan’s inherent elements, and I’m reminded of this whenever I walk around Japan with friends from overseas.

Tweet
Follow @asianbeat_en