From Ambassador (President visit to Japan and Japan’s beauty)
2025/6/30
In the past two articles, I wrote about peace and gender as a strong message delivered through the President visit to Japan.
This time I wish to highlight some of the good points of Japan which I felt during when accompanying President.
First of all, we cannot find litters on the street. A senior official of Iceland said he tried to find trash but failed. However, Japan was not like this before. Mindset of local governments and citizens is important. I wish to support sharing Japan’s experience and knowledge with Reykjavík City through sister-city exchanges.
Second, there is a natural order among movements of a huge number of people. About 150 thousand people come to visit the Osaka-Kansai EXPO site on a daily basis. When the President moved inside the EXPO site, there was seen no confusion at all, but full of harmony and hospitality. If I may add, I forgot something inside the EXPO site, but found it soon. Let me express thanks as well as be proud of Japanese virtue.
(Note) The number of visitors to EXPO from 15 to 21 June amounted to 1,045,964.
Third, the Japan’s level of accepting inbound tourists has steadily upgraded. The number of visitors to Japan in 2024 was 36.87 million, and it reached 3,693,300 in May this year. At the hotel where the President stayed in Tokyo, I saw foreign guests being welcomed in a wonderful manner, including English capacity. Such an increasing charm of Japan might be one of the backgrounds against which I sometimes hear voices of wishing a direct flight with Tokyo among Icelanders, albeit commercial feasibility.
This time I wish to highlight some of the good points of Japan which I felt during when accompanying President.
First of all, we cannot find litters on the street. A senior official of Iceland said he tried to find trash but failed. However, Japan was not like this before. Mindset of local governments and citizens is important. I wish to support sharing Japan’s experience and knowledge with Reykjavík City through sister-city exchanges.
Second, there is a natural order among movements of a huge number of people. About 150 thousand people come to visit the Osaka-Kansai EXPO site on a daily basis. When the President moved inside the EXPO site, there was seen no confusion at all, but full of harmony and hospitality. If I may add, I forgot something inside the EXPO site, but found it soon. Let me express thanks as well as be proud of Japanese virtue.
(Note) The number of visitors to EXPO from 15 to 21 June amounted to 1,045,964.
Third, the Japan’s level of accepting inbound tourists has steadily upgraded. The number of visitors to Japan in 2024 was 36.87 million, and it reached 3,693,300 in May this year. At the hotel where the President stayed in Tokyo, I saw foreign guests being welcomed in a wonderful manner, including English capacity. Such an increasing charm of Japan might be one of the backgrounds against which I sometimes hear voices of wishing a direct flight with Tokyo among Icelanders, albeit commercial feasibility.