Another Good Month For "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan"

Above, Armand at the 2011 Monsterpalooza.

April is turning out to be another good month as far as sales of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan are concerned.  The sales are keeping up a good pace with January, February, and March.

That, plus the upcoming write-ups in the Comics Buyer's Guide and Japan Times, bode well for the travel guide.




Monsterpalooza at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center begins this coming weekend.  I bought ad space in the program booklet.  The ad is above.  If you've never been to a Monsterpalooza, you should make an effort to go!

Bungee Jumping At The Sky Tree

Above, the Sky Tree under construction in December 2010. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Kaiju fans will have another reason to visit Japan if arrangements are finalized.

According to The Japan Times:

Tokyo's newest and biggest visitor attraction, the 634-meter-high Tokyo Sky Tree in Sumida Ward, will open to the public on May 22. And if 11th-hour contract negotiations bear fruit, visitors to the Sky Tree may soon have the opportunity to plummet 430 meters (over 1,400 feet) toward terra firma, in what is claimed to be the world's highest commercial bungee jump.

The new service, it was learned, has been quietly undergoing safety tests late at night. If arrangements can be finalized within this month, the first customers may be able to take death-defying dives from the Sky Tree from around mid-June.

There is one person under my roof who may be quite interested in this. I don't like heights, so this is out of the question for me.

I may be able to talk my roomie into a trip to Japan either at the end of this year or early next year. I'll have to show her this article!

To view the full article, go here.

Monster Japan Travel Guide Newspaper Review In The Works

A writer for The Japan Times, "the most widely read English-language newspaper in Japan," has requested a review copy of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. It is now in the process of being sent.


In the request email, it was noted that two other books were under consideration for review, but were passed on. The Japan Times was very much interested in the travel guide.

Once the review article is published (in newspaper and online formats), I will post a notice at this blog.

Japan Tourism Agency Starts New Tohoku Campaign

Above, Godaido temple at Matsushima Bay. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the number of tourists fell 20 to 40% from pre-3/11 levels, according to an editorial in The Japan Times.

The Japan Tourism Agency has a new tourism campaign (started March 18) to try to drive up Tohoku tourism numbers.

The Japan Times wrote:

"Destination Tohoku," the tourism campaign to help promote and revive tourism in the Tohoku region, started March 18. The Japan Tourism Agency and the local governments and tourism industry in the region hope that the campaign will bring tourists back to the region, which was devastated by the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The appeal of the campaign, which will last through March 31, 2013, is that people can help Tohoku recover from the effects of the disasters by enjoying hot springs, festivals, shopping, local food, cherry blossoms, and other attractions in the region.

It is hoped that as many people as possible will visit Tohoku. Schools are strongly encouraged to choose Tohoku as the destination of their excursions. Business enterprises should strive to hold their employee-training seminars in the region.

The Tohoku region is one of the most scenic in Japan. I visited the region in 2006. Matsushima Bay, a short train ride from Sendai, is one of the most scenic in Japan and is often compared to Carmel, California in scenery.



The family-run Bansuitei Ikoiso Ryokan (above) in Sendai was one of the nicest ryokans (Japanese inn) I've ever stayed in. It is one I don't have to hesitate to recommend!

To read the full editorial go here.

Japan's Foreign Tourist Numbers Down For 11th Straight Month

Above, a view of Kyoto from the shinkansen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japan Times reported today that the number of foreign visitors to Japan was down for the 11th straight month since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

They reported:

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in January fell 4.1 percent from a year earlier to 685,000, declining for the 11th straight month since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, an estimate by the Japan National Tourism Organization showed Friday.

The rate of decline was the lowest and the number of foreign visitors the highest during the 11-month period, showing signs of a recovery, although the Fukushima nuclear crisis and the yen's historic appreciation continue to weigh.

Note that the tourist decline was also attributed to the high yen.

To read the full story, go here.

18 Million Visitors To Japan Goal

Above, a streetcar in Nagasaki. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan has unveiled a five-year plan to increase in-bound tourism by 2016.

According to an article posted at InsideJapan News Netork:

A five-year tourism plan issued by Japan is aiming to attract 18 million visitors to the country's shores by 2016.

Following the publication of a draft copy of the proposals, the Japan Times reported that the plans are expected to get cabinet approval for implementation at the beginning of the next financial year.

In 2010 a record number of travellers visited Japan, with 8.61 million foreigners entering the country.

However, this number fell by more than a quarter to 6.22 million last year, with Japanese authorities believing that inaccurate information following the tsunami, earthquake and subsequent nuclear problems had discouraged visitors.

To read the full article, go here.

Tsukiji Fish Market: Better Get There Soon!

Above, yours truly behind a clapboard in front of a Tsukiji sushi restaurant.

One of the highlights of my December 2010 Japan trip to promote The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan was a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.

The Japan Times Online has an article on the fish market with plenty of tidbits on its history.

According to the article:

Edo's [Edo was Tokyo's former name] main fish markets were located in Nihonbashi, but they were moved to Tsukiji after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Prior to that move, Tsukiji, still set off from the city by a canal, served as a designated Restricted Foreign Settlement, a concession in the wake of U.S. Cmdr. Matthew Perry's forceful opening of Japan that led to 1854's Convention of Kanagawa. The American School in Japan, Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University and Seiroka (St. Luke's) Hospital all spent their early years in Tsukiji, though only St. Luke's remains there now.

Along with the famous fish market, Tsukiji also boasts shops and restaurants that serve the freshest sushi dishes that can be found.

If you plan a future trip to Japan, a visit to Tsukiji Fish Market should be included on your itinerary. You'd better do it soon as the fish market is set to relocate in 2015.

Above, a Tsukiji fish vendor.

The writer inquired about this:

Will the market relocate to Toyosu in Koto Ward, the allegedly polluted former site of Tokyo Gas? Management head of the new market development Yuki Ono, 49, says it will. "Land decontamination has begun, and the move will commence in 2014," she says. "Tsukiji will close by March of 2015."

So, if you want to see the famous Tsukiji Fish Market, you'd better get there by 2015!

To read the full article, go here.

Frisky Business At Japanese Airports?

Above, an Asakusa, Tokyo toy store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If you thought that going through the TSA screening process is just confined to U.S. airports, guess again.

Japanese transport ministry officials are considering a new policy of frisking air passengers before they board their flights.

According to The Japan Times Online:

CHIBA — The transport ministry is thinking of launching random body searches at international airports in April to bolster counterterrorism measures, airport sources said Sunday.

Departing passengers who set off metal detectors during screening are usually asked to submit to a body search. Under the proposed procedure, about 10 percent of all passengers would be randomly selected for body and baggage checks, the sources said.

Exactly how people would be searched was not specified.

So, if you plan to smuggle a Japanese sword or a kaiju toy in your boxer shorts and it sets off a metal detector, you might get yourself frisked.

To read the full article, go here.

Nipple Fruit

Nipple fruit. What the heck is that?

That's what we wondered this morning when seeing the headline to an article on it in The Japan Times.

To see it, go here.

You learn something new everyday!

Japan Times: Five Scary Spots In Tokyo

Above, Nakamise Street in the Asakusa section of Tokyo. One of the five scary spots is in Asakusa.

Two more days until Halloween.

If you happen to be in Tokyo during Halloween, here's something that may be of interest to put you into the Halloween spirit:

The Japan Times online has an article on "Top Tokyo Haunts: Five Scary Spots."

To see the article, go here.

Restoring Japan Tourism "A Tall Order"

A recent article by the Japan Times (online edition) on the troubled Japanese tourism industry repeats the points I've made here.



For example:

Foreign tourist numbers have been plunging since the March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, and not only for visitors to the disaster zone.



The soaring yen is another factor discouraging visitation, but experts nonetheless hope to woo more foreign tourists, hoping they can stimulate an economy with a population that is rapidly aging and on the decline.

The article posed many questions and provided answers. Here is one:

How big an impact did the Great East Japan Earthquake have on foreign tourism?



Compared with a year earlier, foreign tourism since the catastrophe had plunged 50 percent from the previous year to 1,786,000 as of July 31, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.



Between March 12 and 31, visitor numbers sank by 72.7 percent.



The rate of decline has since eased, with July's numbers off 36.1 percent from a year ago.



The Tohoku region saw the most severe plunge in tourism, but other regions also suffered from canceled international flights as demand sank after the disasters, agency officials said.

The primary reason for the drop in foreign tourism to Japan has been placed on the ongoing problems of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Until the problem is resolved, tourism to Japan won't bounce back anytime soon.



As the title of the article states "Restoring foreign tourism tall order." Indeed.



To read the full article, go here.