Five cities, including Tokyo's Hachioji and Sagamihara, are holding a video contest as part of efforts to bring in foreign tourists, who tend to flock to popular destinations like central Tokyo and Hakone.
The five municipalities are located in Tokyo and two prefectures. They are seeking videos that showcase their attractions in the "Tokyo Westside Video Contest," and will put the prizewinning footage on a special website for overseas viewers.
The initiative is aimed at boosting the cities' profiles as new tourist destinations, with an eye on the increased number of tourists who will visit Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The contest is being organized mainly by a liaison council for a wide tourist area covering Mt. Takao and the Linear Chuo Shinkansen line. The council consists of Hachioji and Akiruno in Tokyo, Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Otsuki and Tsuru, both in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Among the five cities, Hachioji is home to Mt. Takao. The other cities contain such attractions as the scheduled routes and experimental track for the Linear Chuo Shinkansen line and the Yamanashi Prefectural Maglev Exhibition Center.
In the vicinity of Mt. Takao, visitors can get a look at traditional Japanese lifestyles while experiencing cutting-edge technology through test-rides on the maglev experimental track. The council has launched the initiative to seek videos to publicize these and other attractions to people overseas.
According to the council, foreign tourists to Japan have concentrated in such locations as Hakone, Mt. Fuji and Kyoto. One estimate shows the annual number of visitors to Japan will increase to about 40 million in 2020, the year Tokyo will host the Olympics and Paralympics.
By promoting the five cities as tourist destinations, the council hopes to attract tourists from places like the United States, Australia and European countries who are interested in long stays and experience-based activities.
People who live or work in the five cities are eligible to enter the contest, as are students of universities and vocational schools there. The contest calls for videos filmed in any of the five cities, and animation, computer graphics and still images also can be used.
"We welcome participation not only by general citizens but also by foreign students and residents in Japan, utilizing their non-Japanese perspectives," said Kotaro Hashimoto, chief of the Hachioji city government's tourism section.
The contest will accept submissions through Jan. 28 next year. Winners will be announced in late February. The gold prize winner will receive a 100,000 yen Amazon gift card, while the silver prize winner will receive an Amazon gift card worth 50,000 yen and the bronze prize winner a 30,000 yen card.
The winners of five special prizes will be given local specialties from the cities. In addition to the special website, the award-winning videos will also be put on the website of each municipality.
For details, including how to send videos, visit the contest's site at https://tokyowestside.com.
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