Former Consul General Seiichi Noboru, who is now an ambassador, special assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as well as, executive vice-president of Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), discussed U.S.-Japan relations and the importance of increasing mutual understanding, at a Community Welcome Luncheon held last Tuesday in The New Otani Hotel in Little Tokyo.

At the event, which marked his first official visit since serving as chief of the local consulate 10 years ago, Noboru said, “The Japan-U.S. relationship is more solid today, and this solidarity is continuing greatly.”

Yet, he pointed out that Japan is no longer the only dominant regional ally to the United States in terms of the economic arena. 

“Therefore, we need to see China as an opportunity, not as a thread,” he continued. “On the other hand, China must recognize itself as a responsible stakeholder, and an essential partner in a quest of assuring peace and prosperity in the region. For this purpose, we welcome the tendency of more and more Americans regarding China as an equally important partner.”

China’s growing power affects not only Japan’s economic relationship to the United States, but also Japan’s tourism.

In the year 2000, the number of Americans who visited China was almost the same as those who visited Japan. But today, the number of Americans who visited China is twice as many as those who visited Japan, Noboru said.

“The total number of Americans who visited Japan this year decreased, compared to the previous year, in spite of all the efforts and budgets we have invested into this very important matter for the sake of increasing the amount Japan jump of American visitors to Japan,” he said, adding that the number of American tourists to Japan was 820,00 last year, compared to nearly 4 million Japanese visitors came to the United States.

“So the ratio is almost five to one, and this ratio is so much worse than the so-called trading values between Japan and the United States,” he said. 

In 2003, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi adopted Japan’s inbound tourism initiative, “Visit Japan Campaign,” with the estimated economic effect of $47 million in GDP and the creation of employment opportunities for some 4.75 million people, according to JNTO.

By coordinating overseas PR and advertising campaigns, JNTO, an independent administrative agency, leads the campaign by developing a wide range of activities to increase the amount of international visitors to Japan to 10 million by the year 2010.

The agency’s Web site at www.jnto.go.jp, which provides latest information about tourism in Japan, is accessible in multiple languages such as English, Chinese, Korean, German and French.

“Tourism is important for every country not just because it generates income but most significantly because it is the corner stone for solidifying international peace through deepening mutual understanding,” he said. “I sincerely would like to have more and more Americans to visit Japan.”