“Kaiun (Good Luck) Ibaraki”: Exchange Event Featuring Naomi Watanabe Held to Encourage Taiwan Travelers to Visit Ibaraki

MITO, Japan, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Ibaraki Prefectural Government held an exchange event at Aqua World Ibaraki Prefecture Oarai Aquarium on Saturday, February 24, inviting as a guest Ms. Naomi Watanabe, a Japanese comedian/actress who was born in Taiwan and grew up in Ibaraki, and serves as “Taiwan Ibaraki Advertising Ambassador,” to encourage more tourists to visit Ibaraki Prefecture from Taiwan.

Photos: Ms. Naomi Watanabe’s fan meeting event
https://x.gd/gA9QC 

Since 2022, Ibaraki Prefecture has designated Taiwan as a priority inbound market and has been implementing a promotion campaign to attract tourists to Ibaraki, under the theme of “Kaiun (good luck) Ibaraki IBA-LUCKY,” and since the summer of 2023, many more tourists from Taiwan have visited the prefecture at a faster pace than before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

In addition to tourists from Taiwan, the exchange event was attended by approximately 550 people, including Taiwanese residents in Japan, Ms. Watanabe, Ibaraki Prefecture’s Vice Governor Mr. Masanari Yokoyama, and RYU and YUMA, a Malaysian/Japanese married couple living in Ibaraki and operating the popular “Ryuuu TV” YouTube channel who served as MC at the event, as well as Taiwanese media and influencers.

Ms. Watanabe also took the stage in a costume inspired by a prefectural specialty, melons. “Today I visited ‘Oarai Isosaki-jinja Shrine’ for its health benefits,” she said during a talk session. “Ibaraki’s tourist attraction ‘Ushiku Daibutsu (big Buddha statue)’ is 500 times bigger than you think!” she continued. “Ibaraki’s fruits are extremely delicious. I especially recommend melons, and the ‘cream soda in whole melon’ is excellent.”

In a quiz game in which all participants took part, she gave away prefectural products such as strawberries, dried sweet potatoes, and Hitachi beef to those who answered the questions correctly. The event was a great success.

A promotional video is now available on the “Kaiun Ibaraki IBA-LUCKY” special website ( https://ibaraki-newdestination.com/ ). To share the charms of Ibaraki with people in Taiwan, the prefecture has released the promotional video on its YouTube channel, introducing sightseeing information, including Ibaraki’s lucky spots and food attractions. A digest version of the exchange event will be released soon.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgWBaaRRL8w 

About Aqua World Ibaraki Prefecture Oarai Aquarium
Aqua World Ibaraki Prefecture Oarai Aquarium is one of the best aquariums in Japan for its exhibits. Visitors can encounter some 68,000 marine creatures of about 580 species, ranging from the local waters of Oarai to the world’s oceans. The aquarium is particularly famous for its sharks and sunfish, and has the largest number of shark species in Japan, with about 60 species of sharks kept.

Ticket sales websites
“asoview” website: https://x.gd/h0gWv (for Japan)
Klook: https://x.gd/XRTCa (for Taiwan)

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SOURCE Ibaraki Prefectural Government