Arab News Japan

DUBAI: Saitama, a prefecture exactly north of Tokyo, imposed an agenda to help it thrive as a touristic attraction on June 1.

A prefecture that seems to exist in the shadow of Japan’s capital, Saitama, receives 1 out of 100 international visitors to explore the city and enjoy its touristic attractions; a statistical study conducted in 2019 showed that only 1.1% of tourists that visit Japan seem to stop at Saitama for a visit.

To tackle this issue, Saitama’s tourism association launched a new English website and support desk that will help travelers to walk in or call to get information about what the prefecture has to offer.

This desk is physically located within the sonic city building in Saitama city’s Omiya Ward, a five-minute walk from Omiya station.

It is opened on weekdays from 9am to 5:30pm to respond to any inquiries and is even staffed during the weekends to assist travelers.

Travelers can also contact them on the phone or through filling out an online form, all options have language support in English and Chinese as well as Japanese.

To make things even more appealing to travelers; the support desk has another phenomenal service, lists of the approximate time to be spent at each attraction sight are there for the tourist’s reference along with how to combine multiple sightseeing spots on the same journey.

For each attraction, the website also lists the time it takes to commute from Tokyo with their slogan being, “Just North of Tokyo.”

With all the facilitating methods that the prefecture is implementing to increase touristic attraction to Saitama, the goal is to promote the prefecture as easily accessible and ultimately hosting more than 1 in 100 visitors to Japan.