Tourists are turning Japanese

Tourists will be turning Japanese this summer, according to a new report.

Modern elements of Japanese culture, such as gadgets, animation museums and ninja classes, are attracting holidaymakers to the Asian nation, says Association Press reporter Yuri Kageyam who has been researching the trend.

He interviewed a 40-year-old information-technology engineer from Perth, Michael Studte, who enrolled on a ninja class for tourists while he visited the country.

Michael explained why he signed up for the class: "It just didn't seem quite like the normal touristy showy sort of thing."

These types of alternative holiday attractions are taking the attention away from typical tourist hotspots such as Kyoto, the Sapporo Snow Festival or Mount Fuji, reports Yuri.

In order to support this tourism drive, the Japanese government has pledged to invest in a tourism campaign to increase the market's worth from $232 billion (£116 billion) to $278 billion (£137 billion) by 2010.

Japan is located in north-eastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan, and is comprised of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000 smaller ones.

Its landscape features coastlines, towering mountains, which are often volcanic, and 'twisted valleys'.

Digg    Reddit    Facebook    Tweet This