Thai Tourists Favor Saga - "Least Likely Place to Visit"

Saga is a prefecture in northwest Kyushu, Japan with a population of 830,776. It's home of Japan's ancient history and the cradle of the Way of Samurai - Hagakure. Not a bad place to live at all and yet Saga topped the list of "Prefectures Least Likely to Visit in Lifetime".

Now, this seemingly least attractive prefecture of all is crowded with tourists from Thailand. Not really crowded but quite a few Thai visitors do pick Saga for their target sightseeing site. Why?

A film made on location in Karatsu, Yutoku Inari Shrine and other sites in the vicinity was shown in Thailand last February. The film, "Timeline", depicts a man touring in Saga after the image of a women he loved and many scenic spots of Saga, Port of Yobuko, shrines, etc., shown in the film attracted Thai viewers.

In the subsequent months and years more tourists chose Saga to visit. The year the film was shown the number of Thai tourists increased four times that of the year before, 1540 and 370, respectively. This year a total of 1480 Thai tourists have lodged in Saga in the first 6 months. They account for only less than 10% of the total number of foreign tourists put together, but will likely increase from now on.

Thailand is a pro-Japanese nation with a direct air route with the neighboring prefecture Fukuoka. The Saga Prefectural Film Commission approached Thai filmmakers promoting Saga as a home of Japan's original landscape. The campaign succeeded and three films were made on location in Saga, including "Timeline".

Young Thais enjoy movies on LINE and many of them come all the way to stand on Cape Hado, drop in the cuttlefish restaurant, and visit points known as sacred spots of lovers.

All booms are temporary. Besides, Saga has a rival in Chiba, where their own Thai movie film made on location there is drawing a sizable number of tourists from Thailand.

The-least-likely-to-visit place has its own challenge.

News Source: Sankei Shimbun