Travel agencies and other organizations are stepping up their efforts to provide online tours around Tokyo and even overseas in the wake of the coronavirus. They hope customers will visit the sites in person once the pandemic subsides.
-- For foreigners
Nippon Travel Agency Co. launched an online tour last month to introduce Tokyo's attractions to foreigners. In the one-hour tour, which will have been livestreamed five times by March, a qualified national licensed guide interpreter walks around to show participants Tokyo and answers questions in English.
The first tour was held in Shibuya Ward on Dec. 17. A guide introduced the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing, the National Stadium, Meiji Jingu shrine and other places. The guide also explained infection prevention measures taken at commercial facilities and the bike sharing system.
The fee was 2,000 yen with tax, and included a souvenir sent to participants later. There were about 100 participants from 14 countries, including not only regions in similar time zones such as Australia, Thailand and Malaysia but also such nations with a large time difference, such as the United States, Britain and Brazil. They were reportedly interested in things like food and drink prices and asked questions about them.
-- Confectionery factory
In the western Tokyo city of Kodaira, where Yuraku Confectionery Co. -- known for its chocolate product Black Thunder -- has its head office and factory, the Kodaira Tourism and Town Promotion Association will hold an online tour of the factory and a walking trail around the Tamagawa Josui historic canal on Feb. 13.
The tour's main feature is company secrets being revealed at the factory. With special permission from the company, the way employees apply chocolate coating will be shown in close-up.
With the cooperation of local farmers, the harvesting of udo salad plant -- one of the city's specialties -- which is done only during winter, will also be introduced along with dishes made with udo.
Several association members will serve as guides and answer questions from participants. The association initially planned to livestream the video for the tour. But it decided not to do so for technology and cost reasons and to broadcast recorded videos instead.
Association official Jun Ishikawa, 71, said the tour will, without a doubt, make viewers interested in the city. "We want everyone to visit us after infections subside," Ishikawa said.
-- Safari experience
Since April last year, H.I.S. Co. has been offering more than 2,000 kinds of online tours for Japan and overseas. Especially popular is an around-the-world online tour in which participants visit must-see spots in five countries while interacting with local guides through the Zoom videoconferencing system. Among the activities participants can enjoy during the 1-1/2-hour program are an evening stroll on Hawaii's Waikiki Beach and a safari tour in Kenya's Nairobi National Park.
There is also a tour that allows participants to visit Tokyo Station's Shinkansen platforms and locations around Shinagawa Station, which will be the starting point of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen, while enjoying a chat with a veteran guide who has been a railway enthusiast for 40 years.
In a live tour designed for a small group of people, participants can remotely control a smartphone camera held by a guide to view the scenery from the direction they want or take and download pictures.
H.I.S. said more than 30,000 people have participated in such online tours.
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