Taste of Japan better than ever

Contributed by Jotaro Horiuchi

Australian tourists to Japan rated "eating Japanese cuisine" higher than the country's world-renowned gardens and architecture, according to 2007 research by the Tokyo Office of the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO). The result is not so surprising, considering another 2007 survey.

November 22 marked the first publication of the Michelin Tokyo Guide and 150 restaurants in the city - more than half of these being Japanese restaurants - were bestowed a total 191 stars. This equates to Tokyo having the most stars in the world - even more than Paris. Moreover, Tokyo was awarded eight restaurants rating three stars, just two less than Paris.

Japan has excellent and varied cuisine starting from very low prices. Bargains include sushi, tempura, ramen and udon noodles, okonomiyaki, convenience store bento boxes, depa-chika sozai (department store basement food halls) and much more.

Snow Monkeys, an iconic image of Japanese fauna ©Toshio Hagiwara

The number of Australians travelling to Japan is increasing rapidly. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians who last year identified Japan as their main travel destination exceeded 114,000 - a 14 per cent increase on 2006.

The JNTO Sydney Office's activities include organising media promotions, holding seminars for travel agents, co-ordinating media familiarisation trips to Japan and more. In 2007, JNTO was responsible for more than 100 advertisements in major newspapers and magazines. In addition, JNTO was involved in two special projects that saw lift-outs of more than 10 pages in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian newspapers. Moreover, JNTO worked with Channel Seven's "The Great Outdoors" which saw four Japan stories go to air in 2007.

Tokyo's Hama-rikyu Gardens, an oasis in the big city

When it comes to promoting Japan, JNTO has five focus areas: cultural experiences; skiing; affordability; the second golden route; and Hokkaido driving. In particular, cultural experiences, such as eating Japanese cuisine and cooking Japanese dishes, bathing in natural hot springs (onsen) and trying the tea ceremony, are the main attractions which JNTO sees as being essential for visitors to experience the essence of Japan.

For further information on JNTO and its activites, visit www.jnto.go.jp/syd.

Mr Jotaro Horiuchi is a law graduate of the University of Tokyo and a MBA holder from the University of Washington. In 1989, Mr Horiuchi entered the Japanese Ministry of Transport (currently the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) and worked to help prevent terrorism in public areas such as railways. From 2001-2004 he helped propose and head the development for the construction of the Noto Airport in Ishikawa Prefecture. Mr Horiuchi is now the executive director of the Japan National Tourist Organization in Sydney. Outisde of work, he enjoys travelling and playing with his child.