Tokuro Matsuo: Flying Japan’s flag high

When Tokuro Matsuo is not tending to Tokyo’s International Institute of Applied Informatics where he is CEO or sharing his knowledge at universities worldwide, he is conveying to his peers his trust in Japan as a congress city

How did you become involved in Japan National Tourism Organization’s (JNTO) Conference Ambassadors programme?
I first heard about the idea for ambassadors to promote Japan from Akira Ninagawa, the former executive director of the Japan Convention Bureau. He wanted my thoughts because I had organised many international conferences. To date, I have organised 50 such events, mostly academic conferences all over the world.

I was not the pioneer batch of ambassadors though (when the programme started in 2013), but I was one of eight people who joined in March 2016. Today, the programme has 39 ambassadors.

Why did you agree to join the programme?
I wanted to share my knowledge of Japan with people who (are keen on having) international conferences here, but I am also working with the JNTO on an ongoing research project, so this is of professional interest to me as well.

What do you do as an ambassador?
I am a scholar and I am constantly presenting research papers at institutions and events around the world. In the course of these events, I meet a lot of people. That gives me very good opportunities to talk with decision-makers when it comes to holding international conferences.

These people are constantly looking for good, unique places where they can hold conferences and other large-scale events in the future. I provide them with information on Japanese cities and the facilities that are available, and I introduce them to JNTO so they can obtain more details.

I often give speeches at opening ceremonies for events or at banquets held in other parts of Asia, the US or Europe, and I always take the chance to briefly mention Japan and the wonderful things that they can do here.

It’s not very hard to do, for a couple of reasons. Maybe it is because I am a Japanese, but I think this country is a fantastic place to visit and to hold conferences or other events. And, as a Japanese, I know lots of unusual and interesting things about the destinations here because I have staged so many events across the country.

Foreigners – particularly those who have never visited Japan before – tell me they want to travel by bullet train or local trains, but I have discovered that they actually have a good knowledge of many of the smaller cities around Japan, which tells me that they are interested in places beyond the big cities.

I recently hosted a conference in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture and we had a group of about 10 people from overseas who asked specifically for a stay experience in a ryokan (traditional Japanese house) and to try an onsen (Japanese hot spring). They could have stayed in an international hotel but they preferred to try traditional accommodation, hot springs and have breakfast like the locals.

Do you encourage that among conference delegates?
I invented the onsen conference concept.Usually, hotels in towns that are best known for their onsen have large rooms where groups of guests can dine together or enjoy some form of entertainment. I thought it would be a good idea to make use of these rooms for smaller-scale conferences and then let the delegates make use of the onsen afterwards.
About 200 people came to the first onsen conference, an information science gathering that was held over three days in August 2010 in Yamagata Prefecture. Half of them were from South Korea, China, the US, Thailand, Germany and France. They loved the concept.
I have not hosted another onsen conference but local business associations and hotel owners’ groups have asked me to give them talks about this type of event and we are starting to see them take off in different parts of Japan.

When people are interested in Japan as a destination for a congress, what questions do they typically ask?
Most conference organisers’ primary concern is cost. In the US, the convention business is quite different because hotels and venues there incentivise organisers to use their facilities, in the form of free rooms for break-out sessions or suites for the organisers. Most Japanese venues do not do that.

However, local governments in Japan often provide financial support to conference organisers. Here in Japan, even if I did something quite small, say for 100 people, most local cities would financially support my event.

People also ask me about public safety, visa applications and transportation around the city and across the country. Some are worried about getting lost and ask me if there are (wayfinders) in English. I tell them there are signs everywhere in English as well as other languages too, like Korean and Mandarin.

Interestingly, I get a lot of questions about the cleanliness of public restrooms at venues. I assure them that this is not a concern in Japan.

What’s the next step after someone expresses interest in staging an event in Japan?
We conduct regular surveys on key decision-makers to understand what they want and expect of a destination; it’s crucial that we fully grasp their perceptions and tailor facilities and services to those needs.

Meeting the needs of a group made up of older people, for example, is obviously going to be different to the interests of a group of younger delegates.

I think that most local governments and venue operators in Japan feel that they already have good material and that they should be able to attract foreign events – but that is not always enough.

Do you recommend different host cities for different groups or events?
When I propose that an organisation holds its conference in Japan, I need to know their areas of interest or scientific research and also whether the event is aiming to take in local cultural events and activities. Once we have those details, we can recommend suitable places.

What are some of the problems you’ve faced when hosting events outside of the big cities?
It can be quite difficult to book sufficient guestrooms at hotels for large international conferences because Japan’s hotel reservation system can be complicated. For example, even when a travel agency tells us that a hotel is full on a specific date, a phone call to the hotel directly will show that they do actually have rooms available.

What sort of entertainment work best for association meetings?
I’ve noticed that delegates want something very Japanese…when they come here. In 2013, we held a banquet in a fish market in Niigata City and the guests saw a huge tuna carved before their eyes before it was served as sashimi. The same year, we held a reception in the gardens of Matsue Castle, which is a national treasure. It took a lot of negotiation with the local government for us to obtain permission (to use the castle). In 2014, we held a reception in the courtyard of a conference facility in Kitakyushu; the space was never used that way in the 20 years since it first opened.

How do you see the potential of Japan’s conference business?
Japan has a unique culture and character that have created many things for visitors to this country to enjoy. These can easily be worked into itineraries for business and association events.

A decade ago, I did not think that many local cities were doing much to promote themselves as destinations for international events. That has changed and (now there is intensifying) competition (for) conferences.

I believe the conference business in Japan could double from its present level in the next 10 years.

What could jeopardise this growth?
We need better incentives to be made available to organisers.
One issue I see is that Japanese hotels will not offer discounts. When I organised a conference in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, the sales manager offered me break-out rooms and some guestrooms for organisers to use – for free – on the condition that we have them handle all the catering for the event. We saved money on the event and the venue was happy (with our business).

This same arrangement is very difficult to have in Japan. Business and association events are very important to hotels and venues here but they are bound by a traditional business system. If we hope to invite more major conferences to Japan, that needs to change.