As 2023 draws to a close and Filipinos wrap up their final travel plans for the year, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko offered his two cents as to why his country registered the highest arrival of Filipino tourists among Southeast Asian countries.
People walk through a crossing in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo on January 8, 2021 (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP/ MANILA BULLETIN)
For the envoy, Japan’s four seasons—winter, spring, summer, and fall—is the most probable reason Filipinos love to flock to the Land of the Rising Sun.
“From my viewpoint, it’s the proximity, very near. Maybe four or five hours flight,” he told the Manila Bulletin on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
“And also, we have many things that the Philippines doesn’t have. It’s four seasons. We have a winter, spring, autumn, and summer. We have a snow, for example, in Hokkaido,” the ambassador added.
Koshikawa believes that his home country can “provide which the Philippines doesn’t have here.”
In September this year, Koshikawa posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Japan has recorded the most number of foreign tourists coming from the Philippines among Southeast Asian countries last July.
On Wednesday, he confirmed that Japan received 57,500 Filipino tourists in July 2023 alone.
He noted that Hong Kong used to be the number one destination for Filipinos, though the tiny special administrative region of China “has changed that much.”
“For Filipino tourists, Japan looks more attractive, more favorite, probable destination, I believe,” he added.
But aside from proximity and climate, the envoy pointed out that Japan and the Philippines share a love for Japanese pop culture, particularly Voltes V, which had a remade in Philippine television, Gundam, and other animes.
Such travel ties would benefit from the five-year tourism cooperation deal signed by both countries in November 2023 which seeks to “expand opportunities for tourism development between the two countries.”