Have you ever gone into Tokyo’s official website ?
If not, please do so now and periodically in future.
It is updated every (or every other) week with new information and
upcoming events.
http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/index.html

Profiles of overseas representatives and travel tips by Reps have been posted on pages below.
Please check it out !
http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/citypromotion/rep/index.html

Baseball Fans!
As you might have read, the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Travel section
in April carried an article about watching baseball games in Tokyo.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/15/TRGJIP6D7R1.DTL

If you or your clients are baseball fans and have plans to visit Tokyo during
the summer until September, it would be a great idea to go to a local stadium to watch the games.
You will enjoy not only the game itself but also the whole atmosphere -one that is
quite a different from the one in the US.

In the vicinity of Tokyo, there are several stadiums as follow;

Stadium Home for League Remarks
Tokyo Dome Yomiuri Giants Pacific So-called “Japan’s NY Yankees”. Hideki Matsui’s previous team.
Jingu Stadium Tokyo Yakult Swallows Pacific Former Major Leaguer Ishii, Takatsu and Kida is pitching in this team.
Yokohama Stadium Yokohama Bay Stars Pacific Their slogan this year is “Move On”. Don’t ask me why.
Goodwill Dome Seibu Lions Central Dice-K Matsuzaka came from this team.
Chiba Marine Stadium Chiba Lotte Marines Central Bobby Valentine has been a skipper since 04.

The official website of Nippon Professional Baseball (http://www.npb-bis.com/)
seems to be under construction.
Meanwhile, the website below is a very informative one.
http://www.japanesebaseball.com/

Cash, Cash, ATM !
As the writer of above Chronicle’s article says in his story,
cash payment is still dominant in Japan.
The problem was that there were very few ATM machines that accepted
foreign-issued ATM and credit cards.
They also lacked language options.
But, this situation will be soon improved !
On July 11, 2007, “one of Japan’s ubiquitous 7-11 convenience stores.,
Japan’s Seven Bank, the bank related to the 7-11, will begin to accept foreign-issued ATM
and credit cards.”

VISA / Plus, MasterCard / Cirrus, and American Express
will be accepted with language options of English, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese.

7-11 convenience stores are as common and easy to find as Starbucks location in the US.
(well, maybe not that common).

With this new service by 7-11 convenience stores, the Citibank ATM (only for Citibank
account holders) and “YUCHO” ATM located in most post offices in Japan,
withdrawing Japanese Yen will be much easier.

Runners !
TOKYO MARATHON 2007, held last February, was a huge success.
In 2008, the next Tokyo Marathon will be held onhe next Tokyo Marathon will be held on
Sunday,February 17, 2008.

TOKYO MARATHON is “a major metropolitan marathon where citizen runners can
participate together with top international athletes.
The one-way, 42.195km course is an audacius attempt at following in the footsteps of
popular New York, Boston, and London.
Starting at the Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment, it will take runners through the host
city’s diverse scenic spots, Iidabashi, Imperial Palace, Hibiya, Shinagawa, Ginza,
Nihonbashi, Asakusa Kaminari-mon Gate, Tsukiji, Ariake, on their way to the goal
at the Tokyo Big Sight. ”

Considering to the 7-hour cease of all traffics in the middle of Tokyo,
it is truly an amazing event.

Although domestic Japanese applicants will be sorted with lottary,
those from overseas are eligible for entry without lottary.

Guideline for applicants have been released, and
the registration has already started at the official website.

http://www.tokyo42195.org/

Art & Architecture Lovers !
On March 30th 2007, the TOKYO MIDTOWN had a grand-opening day.
This sprawling complex encompasses 25 acres in the heart of central Tokyo, Roppongi.
The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo occupies the upper floors of the multi-use “Midtown Tower”,
which, at 813 feet, is Tokyo’s tallest skyscraper.

http://www.tokyo-midtown.com/en/

“With the arrival of two major museums – The National Art Center, Tokyo (opened January 21)
and the Suntory Museum of Art (opened March 30 in the Tokyo Midtown) –
Roppongi is set to become established as one of Tokyo’s major cultural centers.
To celebrate, these two new museums, along with current Roppongi resident- the Mori Art Museum,
have agreed to work together to further promote art appreciation – both inside and outside their galleries.
The three museums will form the “Art Triangle Roppongi.”

I explored this area in May, and let me tell you, it is a fantastic way to spend a day !

Suntory Museum of Art http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/sma/
Inside the Tokyo Midtown.
“The new Suntory Museum designed by Kengo Kuma demonstrattes a Japanese sensibility
and benefits from a quality tea ceremony room, cafe and shop for all ages to enjoy.”

The National Art Center, Tokyo http://www.nact.jp/english/index.html
“With a striking, sinuous giant glass facade, and harmonizing with the surrounding greenery,
The National Art Center Tokyo is Japan’s fifth national art institution. (designed by Kisho Kurokawa)
With one of the country’s largest floor spaces, the Center organizes a range of
exhibitions focusing on modern and contemporary art. ”

Mori Art Museum http://www.mori.art.museum/eng/index.html
“Since opening in 2003, Mori Art Museum has become the cultural heart of Roppongi Hills,
presenting a wide range of mostly contemporary art to the public.
With its late opening hours and adjacent observation deck, the museum provides a new,
accessible way to enjoy art.”

Download the Art Triangle Roppongi Map.

http://www.mori.art.museum/eng/atro/img/atro-map.pdf

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