TokyoTomo Travel Guide

The Embassy of Sweden and Scandinavian Tourist Board hosted a travel seminar “Destination New Sweden” in Tokyo. Stefan Noreén, Swedish Ambassador to Japan, stated at the onset that the seminar was held to promote human exchange between Japan and Sweden by introducing Swedish lifestyle through music, design works, and cuisine. Sweden has been successful in establishing its image in Japan as a design-oriented country as is illustrated by popularity of shops and brands that features Swedish design, like IKEA that sells stylish furniture at a reasonable price or BabyBjörn that specializes in baby goods.

Last year, a Scandinavian restaurant AQUAVIT, highly renowned in New York, opened its branch in Gaien-mae, Tokyo; thus, things Swedish have attracted much attention these days.

With Swedish images gaining ground in Japan, Japanese travelers to Sweden is steadily growing despite the struggling economy, said Noreén. Gunilla Sjöberg, marketing manager at Visit Sweden, followed up with a remark that Japanese visitors in September rose 18 percent from last year. Taku Miyamoto, marketing director for Japan at Scandinavian Tourist Board, also said about a half of the Japanese visitors are repeaters who have a great interest not only in sceneries and historic buildings but in art, designs, and other cultural experience. Many young people are seen traveling to study superior designs of Sweden. Chanting the praises of Swedish design works, Ewa Kumlin, managing director of the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design, stressed that the new term “Life Seeing” is now taking place of the conventional “Sight Seeing” as a travel theme. She proposed inspection tours to focus on environment and ecology, and medical and health-care system, adding that the potentiality of Sweden as a travel destination is infinite.

Source: Travel Vision

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