Japanese Ambassador Predicts More Japanese Tourists in Cuba

The Japanese ambassador to Cuba, Masaru Watanabe, has predicted an increase in Japanese tourists visiting Cuba and highlighted that Japanese tourism to Cuba rose by 80 percent in 2015.

The ambassador expressed his desire that Japanese tourists visit Cuban cities other than Havana, especially Santiago de Cuba, the second largest in the country and one of his favorite for its historical, heritage and cultural values.

Watanabe praised the friendly ties between the two nations, a example of which was the arrival of a donation from his government for the victims of Hurricane Mattew in eastern Cuban.

The ambassador mentioned the approximately 1,400 Cubans of Japanese origin, living mainly on the Isle of Youth and in Havana and the Santiago family, Fujishiro, whose ancestry was Japanese.

Keniche Fujishiro, who settle in Santiago after his arrival on May 28th, 1913, is the subject of a book 'A Japanese in Santiago de Cuba - A Love Story', written by his granddaughter Lidia Sanchez Fujishiro, the launch of which took place in 2013.

On the occasion of the centenary of the arrival of the first Japanese citizens who settled in the city, a cultural journey is taking place that will contributed to strengthening common bonds between the two nations.