A glimpse of Tokyo: promoting the Japanese capital in Paris

29.11.2023 - 16:49 / euronews.com

The city of Tokyo has a lot to offer for visitors, with its exciting attractions, traditional monuments, natural sites, and of course its delicious food. As tourists can enter Japan again, it is a great time to discover all that its capital has to offer.

Parisians were lucky to get a glimpse of what they can expect during a trip to Tokyo, as the Metropolitan Government organised a promotional campaign in the French capital on November 16th and 17th. Over these two days, guests were invited to roundtables, conferences, and cultural experiences introducing the best activities and advice for future trips.

Participants were not only local citizens but also members of the media, travel agents, and tourism professionals, to whom the brand new Do Tokyo! promotion campaign was introduced.

The first day of events took place in the Invalides area of Paris, starting with meetings around stands set up by the Japanese tourism industry. The goal was to promote travel packages, especially to French travel agents.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government then presented its recent efforts to welcome visitors. And the city has a lot of new experiences to offer. In fact, a series of guides was recently published with many suggestions of things to do while you are visiting.

As an ancient city, tradition is of course at the heart of Tokyo’s experiences. A programme of traditional culture and arts activities was published to showcase some of the most beautiful and interesting events happening this year.

One of these traditional arts is calligraphy. This ancient skill, prominent in Japanese culture was introduced to Parisian audiences on the 16th, as participants were able to try their hand at writing katakana or kanji characters with the assistance of a master calligrapher.

Of course, we cannot talk about Tokyo without also mentioning its wonderful food. To attract more visitors, the city has recently published a guide of the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants around town. Each location is carefully categorised, with recommendations per area and advice on how to get there.

For more traditional meals, a sushi presentation was organised in the Paris event. A conference held by Matsunozushi Yoshi Tezuka introduced the sushi culture to its participants and allowed them to try their hand at crafting their own sushi.

The second day of the event was also highly interactive, with two locations set up on a square of the Forum des Halles shopping area. From morning to evening, it offered food, arts, and movie experiences.

At the first location, 7 companies were able to show some cultural exhibitions including Japanese meals like curry or beef bowls, calligraphy stands and Daruma paintings. A tea ceremony was also performed to amazed