Recently numbers of travelers to Japan has been on the increase for a long time. According to recent statistics, the numbers of last year went down under 7 million travelers.

For the last 4 years, it’s been more than 7 million. This big reduction in numbers is mainly because of the financial crisis, which led higher Japanese Yen rate. The report says so.

Japan’s target of tourist numbers from overseas is, at this stage, 10 million people, and they want to realize it by 2015.

Asian countries are located far from America or Europe, that’s why the increase of tourist number always depends on nighbour Asian countries like China or South Korea, and Taiwan.

Sooner or later it will be more than 10 millon travelers a year because Asian countries will more grow rich. But tourism often depends on promotion or good information to the world. But I don’t know if Japan can create more Japan fans even if they promote Japan more to the world.

Now popular tour purpose of world travelers to Japan are food, pop culture, technology, or sightseeing of old cities.

I like Japan and I think Japan has many things for tourists, but in fact, I’m not sure if Japan has more attractive aspects than Asian popular destinations like China, India, Thai or Indonesia.

I like traveling in Japan, but when compared to them, I don’t think travelers choose Japan first of all for their destination.

CHINA is expanding in all kind of business. Like Japan used to be a super power economy in the world, China will become the real power of the world in this century.

At the motor show in China, Japanese car makers are exhibiting more cars than they did in Japanese motor show in Tokyo.

It simply means that market importance is already transfered to China from Japanese domestic sales. Japanese car makers has been expecting the leading demand of the world on the USA, but Motor show in China tells us consuming power will also be transfering from America to China.

Car industry will have to expect China, India, Russia, or Brasil for future demand unless the new energy car is invented. So all the major car makers in Europe, America, and Japan will have to live in a competitive market located in far distance from their own countries.

Chinese car market will not stop expanding. I could not imagine this when we were enjoying the boom in 1980′s in Japan. That era seems to be a far past time for us.

It’s hard to find non-UNIQLO topic on fashion industry.  It’s fact that UNIQLO is such a growing company in the world.

Today, UNIQLO again annunced their new future plan, and this time they are going to try in Russian market.

Decades ago when cold war was still real, who could imagine a Japanese company would make branches in Russia with such high risk ?

Time really passed.  Now a Japanese company, in addition, a fashion brand company will appear in Moscow main street.  Until some years ago, Japan was just an importer from fashion items, not an exporter.

One expectation I have is that Russian people would get surprised if they see UNIQLO items, which are really cheap but highly quality controlled products.  I think they will be surprised how UNIQLO’s cost performance is excellent.

Now I checked my clothes today, socks, pants, underwear, shirt, jacket, and belt are all UNIQLO band.  What a monopoly !

This topic is totally from my personal taste.  It’s not a news topic but my thought about Poland.

Without any reasons,I often think Poland may be close to Japan in human nature or nationality.  That’s because I have a friend from Poland and she has a similar emotional character as we Japanese have.  She doesn’t know anything about Japan, but in speaking with her, I often see a little similarity with us.

About the similarity, I can’t explain here, it’s just because ! If I try to explain it here, maybe misunderstnadig will happen. Words can’t explain well about human’s hearts.

I once saw Andrzej Wajda story on Japanese TV. It was just after the serious movie, Katyn ( correct spell ?), he talked about his own upbringing and his thought to international relationship, or war. That proved his honorable humanity and his spirit moved me so much.  He seems to be interested in old Japanese arts and that became his big motive to start creative works. As he has the common feeling with Japanese arts,Ukiyoe, maybe we Japanese would feel the common heart with him. I thought so when I saw the TV program.

In 1987, he got KYOTO PRIZE from Japan and he set up Japan Art Center in Poland for his repayment of Japanese kindness.

Also, I read about the story of Polish boys and girls during Warld War 2. They were forced to stay in Russia then but many got to get out there for illness or starving situation. They asked some countires for help but no good answers.  Finally they asked Japan without expectation because they thought Japan was too strange country for Poland and too far. Against their expectation,  Japanese government allowed them to come to Japan and started taking care of them. They recovered well and left Japan with endless tears and grattitude to host parents and Japan.

Detailed story about this is too long, so I can’t write here all.

As a fact, maybe there hardly are Japanese people who know this history between 2 countries. But Poland remembered the history even after the war, and again for their repayment to Japan, they invited orphans of KOBE earth quake victims in Japan many years later after the war.

I nearly cried when I read it.

This mentality is really what both nations have for each other, I think. If I explain this example more, my words may sound simple and doubtful. If you are Japanese, please check this story. I think you too will feel the same as I do.

Other than Poland, I also feel the same heart with some other people in the world.  I can’t tell exactly about it, but maybe the blood or DNA inside me tells me ” you are friends for each other !”

I once saw a Polish studnet on TV saying he loves a moive, Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki.  I was really surprised that far distant country’s young student knew such a complicated movie with heavy Japanese cultural background. 

As my repayment, here I need to say I really love Chopin.

As everyone knows, godsent genius John Lennon chose a Japanes for his second wife, Yoko Ono. While John was busy as house husband for his son, Sean, Yoko Ono and John Lennon came to Japan with Sean.

In Japan, John and Yoko visited Karuizawa, a city of resort, each year from 1976 to 1979 before John was shot to death.  Then the hotel they stayed was always MAMPEI HOTEL.

Actually each summer, some often reported with huge surprise that they saw John Lennon in JAPAN!!!!  Often, the first time they see John, they don’t understand who it is, but beside the tall cool guy, they see the one and only unforgettable face of Yoko Ono. Then, they notice it’s John.  Of course, real fans recognized John with jumping joy to the moon. 

One of my friends told me with unbelievable excitement that he saw John at a coffee shop in Karuizawa smoking cigarettte with Yoko.  He was a crazy fan but he could not say anything because something bound all of his body. He just saw the unbelievable scene, and after they two left the coffee shop, he approached to the table and picked up John’s cigarette butt from the ashtray.  As a fact, it became his life time treasure ! 

MAMPEI HOTEL is a traditional & semi modern accommodation in KARUIZAWA. Its old but mixed culture sense of building impresses us with Meiji era atomosphere, when long time of closed country ends and started importing Western cultural influence.

If the video is still available, you can see the foot prints of John Lennon at  MAMPEI HOTEL.

Here in this video, bakery and coffer shop where John used to use, and a hut where John used to sleep are shown. Also beautiful photos of KARUIZAWA and MAMPEI HOTEL will invite you to the real beauty of Japanese resort place.

If you are a fan of John Lennon, without hesitation, we can recommend this hotel and Karuizawa for you to visit.  Even if you are not, this place is a very nice place to choose for your memorial trip.

ULTIMATE DIAMOND – NANA MIZUKI is a very big hit CD. NANA MIZUKI is originally a voice-over actress, who ever worked on NARUTO, a very popular young generation anime. She acts as HINATA on NARUTO.

She started as such, later she sings in the animation and released some of the hit CDs as above.

She has been selected to one of the singers at the year end  TV program, called Kou Haku Uta Gassen, which means Song battle between white and red teams.  White consists of male and red by female.  This has long been the top rating TV program in Japan and the rate often hit more than 50%, and at the highest time, as far as I remember, it recorded more than 70% rating.

This is really crazy high record.  TV rating usually is regarded high if it’s more than 20% in Japan, but this marked more.

This TV program is a kind of national entertainment, and we enjoy seeing it every year end, December 31st at 9:00pm start.  With this TV program, 1 year of Japanese people ends.  It’s a national event, I can say so.

NANA MIZUKI is selected to join this.  It means she became a national singer.  But it’s also unusual because she started as a voiceover role, not a singer.  Her voice is charming enough and constant CD release made her famous in music too.

It’s really rare that voiceover actress makes NO.1 hit CD.  She did it with
ULTIMATE DIAMOND – NANA MIZUKI

SUSAN BOYLE was just a person of the time when she sang “I dreamt a dream” on the stage of  TV show of UK.  In Japan too, Susan’s voice were aired on TV.  Many were moved by her talent.

Susan’s first album is to be released in Japan on 25th, tomorrow.

I personally think she got talent to sing, if her first CD was not a good sales, it’s her destiny to keep singing somewhere.   There should be people who are born to sing, dance, write, or do anything for the gifted talent.  Susan is just a singer with given talent.  It’s maybe her given life from heaven.

When we see idols on TV,  we soon understand they are made by strategic show business.  Idols don’t need talent, what they need is acting as people want them to. Their CDs are sold well but that’s not singers’ art work, but idol’s gift to fans. Entertainment business of Japan is not always for talent, but for business people in need of money.

When I saw Susan, I soon thought she might be used to make money for Simon or somebodyin the music industry against her talent.  Her talent is flying far above the business people’s strategy. On singing, her voice reaches our mind.  That talent needs no calculator for earnings.

I want her to sing, just keep on singing.  Even if she can’t make money ( maybe she will this time), her only heaven life is lying in the songs she sings.

Her 1st album will be released in Japan soon.  In USA or UK, it seems to be a NO.1 selling CD on the chart.  I don’t know how it would be in Japan, but one thing I don’t need for this CD is overdecorated promotion as if she was a new idol in Japan.

I Dreamed A Dream

Susan Boyle

Haruki Murakami is already a famous novelist of Japan. His latest work,  1Q84, is published in many countries, and it makes a hit sales in Taiwan too.

In Taiwan, there are many people looking at Japanese pop culture or modern information through media.  It’s not a big surprise if Taiwan publishes this title.  But the sales seems to be bigger than usual big selling books.

I’ve ever heard about some anime fans in Taiwan.  I can’t get why Haruki Murakami books sell much in Taiwan too.

Not only in Taiwan but in some more countries, Haruki Murakami works are loved. It’s good.  But, to be honest, I don’t read his ones so often.  When the Norwegian Wood was published in Japan, that became his first big hit.  I also read it and enjoyed just like LOOKING AT TV DRAMA.

Since then, I don’t follow his works.  I think his works are like trendy TV dramas or something. So people can pick up his works and read though.

Maybe when I want to FEEL the time rather than wanting to knowing the meaning of the life, I may once again begin to read his works.

Probably SOSEKI NATSUME is not so famous compared to Yukio Mishima or Haruki Murakami.  Moreover, Japanese novelists aren’t famous generally in the world. British, French, Russian, or German literature is always popular and it’s a study at Colleges in the world.

In that European power situation, some Japanese novelists are known to fans as Yukio Mishima or Haruki Murakami.

I’m pleased if someone knows SOSEKI NATSUME, who wrote many splendid books through Meiji Era of Japan, and he is said to be the Japan’s greatest novelist ever among pure literature fans.

SOSEKI NATSUME works has great sense of intelligence and wit. His debut work, Wagahaiwa Neko de aru ( I’m a cat ), has funny aspect of story told by the cat, at the same time, the cat observes sharply the world of human. His approach to human nature was continued to his next work, Bocchan ( A Boy). 

If we are asked what the best work of Soseki is, maybe many would answer “Kokoro ( Heart )”. In this work, the character’s pshycological inner conflict is written very clearly and we readers are introduced into his mental world of moral, tenderness, friendship, love and desire.  This should be called a Masterpiece of Japanese literature.  If we are allowed to recommend something for new readers of Japanese books, SOSEKI works are on the top selection as far as I’m concerned.

Maybe it’s hard to find the translation of his works, that makes distance from the world literature fans.

Again, as Japanese good novelists often are, Soseki is also very good at using just necessary words for the expression of story. His words are a little old fashioned for us modern readers, but the variation and depth of the selected words by Soseki always beat us with the irreplaceable importance. His words reaches our deeper mind and his story moves us with clear explanation of his intelligent words.

He loved British literature and studied in UK when he was young. But I don’t know how many people in UK know him actually today.

Until he died 49 years old of stomach ulser, he continued writing and remained works from him are real treasure of Japan still.

As a footnote, he is a model of present 1000 yen bill of Japan.