LEAD: 1st Chinese holiday tour group arrives in Japan

Asian Economic News, Sept 18, 2000

NARITA, Japan, Sept. 13 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH GROUP'S ARRIVAL IN JAPAN, COMMENTS OF TOURIST, TOUR COMPANY)

A group of 95 Chinese arrived at Narita airport Wednesday afternoon for a nine-day tour of Japan on the first Chinese package vacation authorized by the Japanese government.

Several dozen people with Chinese national flags and banners bearing greetings gathered at the airport to welcome the group.

Until recently, Japan had refused to issue tourist visas to Chinese nationals on the grounds that opening the doors to Chinese tourists could lead to a flood of illegal immigrants.

Tokyo relaxed the ban at the beginning of this month after two years of negotiations with China, but still imposes strict conditions on Chinese travel agencies organizing the tours.

''Having been welcomed so warmly, I can feel kindness of the Japanese people. I am looking forward to traveling around the country because I hear Japan is beautiful,'' said Wang Sibo, a 78-year-old Beijing resident, who is visiting Japan for the first time.

The tour, which cost up to 17,800 yuan (230,000 yen) per person, will include stops in Tokyo, Hakone, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Nagasaki among other sites.

The tour marks the official opening of Japan to individual Chinese traveling as ''tourists.''

Officials of the Tokyo-based Tobu Travel Co. which had arranged the tour said they do not expect the number of Chinese tourists to increase sharply over the next couple of years because the Japanese government restricts the annual number to 5,000.

However, they estimate the potential demand in China to be huge, they said.

To ensure that Chinese tourists return home after a trip to Japan, Chinese travel agencies require a 50,000 yuan (640,000 yen) deposit from each traveler.

Japanese tourist officials in Beijing said the tour participants are affluent Chinese who have previously traveled to Europe and the United States.

Those who arrived in Japan on Wednesday are mostly managers at foreign-owned companies, owners of private businesses and government employees.

Up to now, visas issued to Chinese traveling to Japan have been limited to those visiting relatives, studying or pursuing commercial interests.

According to Japanese officials, tourist visas to Japan will be limited to residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province for the time being, but may be extended to other regions in the future.