Here's the summary: The Japan Tourism Agency proposed a budget of 1.1 Billion to sponsor 10,000 foreigners to visit Japan. This is to cover a round trip airfare of the lucky ones who will be picked. Application will start next year online. Along hand with the application, the candidate should prepare their travel itinerary for when in Japan. Accommodation and meals will be shouldered by the traveler. This initiative aims to kick-start the tourism industry back to the country, as it saw a big decline in the number of foreign tourists after the March 11 earthquake/tsunami and the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The government has declared that Japan is safe for travel except for the immediate areas surrounding the power plant. :) The Japan Tourism Agency expects the travelers to share their travel experiences in Japan thru social medias and hopefully convince the reading public that Japan is safe.
My thoughts were dashing through my head double time. " I want to go! I want to see Japan! I want to experience Japan! Now's my chance! OMG, Where will I go?". Later that day, I couldn't wait to share the news with my good friend Kazuki, who is working and living in Tokyo, Japan. The giddiness in me took over when I told him of what I have discovered, I'm not even sure he understood what I was trying to tell him during the first few minutes of our conversation since my thoughts and rate of speech were not coinciding with each other. I kept on talking and raving about this fantastic initiative by the Japan Tourism Agency and asked him to verify the link that I sent him.
I, then appointed him to be my tour guide for if I do go to Japan, in which he very much obliged. We spoke of how we are to construct my itinerary and how many days I plan to visit the country. Through him, I found out that my initial plan to travel 6 days, might not be enough for me to soak in half of the essence of Japan. Apparently, the places that I wanted to visit are all in different directions, like from North then to South, etc.
I want to taste authentic sushi. And when I say "authentic", I mean having a hard time ordering what you want to eat, this should entail hand gestures and enunciating syllables Ma-gu-ro, So-ya Sauce, Wa-sa-be.
I want to taste real miso soup.
I want to eat food that I do not know about (only sushi).
I want to spend time in a manga kissa and meido cafe.
I want to understand the concept of Pachinko.
I want to try the "onsen".
I want to go to Okinawa to see the old castles and beautiful beaches (so I heard).
I want to go to Kyushu Island and be where the Gods first stepped on the earth.
I want to breathe in the sights and sounds of Tokyo. (cliche? I know).
When I was a little girl, for some reason, people whom I've met for the first time, thought I was Japanese, Haponesa. I wonder what gave them that idea? Hmmm... Anyway, it piqued my curiosity and so my curiosity then manifested (?) into a dream. A dream to go to Japan.
Until next year, I will cross my fingers in hopes to be one of the 10,000 lucky foreigner to visit "The Land of the Rising Sun".
To be continued...
