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Wednesday, 3rd February 2016
In Japan Travel News,
Yamaguchi Prefecture claims to be the new Australia
If you look at a map of Japan very carefully you may spot a prefecture that has a somewhat familiar shape.
Yamaguchi Prefecture is taking advantage of the fact that its outline is reminiscent of Japan and can therefore be compared to the antipodean country.
In a fairly tongue-in-cheek campaign, the region is hoping to entice visitors to this part of the world instead of travelling Down Under, reports ABC Online.
There are some 1.5 million people who call Yamaguchi home and some of the sights featuring in promotional materials will be all too familiar to them.
For example, the 300-year-old Kintai Bridge, which stretches across the Nishiki River, has been compared to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Unlike Australia, which can only be described as gigantic in size, it only takes around an hour to drive from one side of Yamaguchi to the other.
The marketing department for the prefecture is choosing to see this in a positive light, however, as precious time can be saved without the need to sit in a vehicle for hours on end.
Among the sights visitors may wish to include on their itinerary tour of a mini Australia are the rock formations of the Akiyoshidai plateau.
While they are not the distinctive red of Uluru, they are still interesting to visit.
Another feature to note is that Australia’s baobab trees are the equivalent of Japan’s camphor variety and there is even a specimen in Yamaguchi that is more than 1,000-years-old.
Finally, one of the most famous features of Australia’s natural beauty – the Great Barrier Reef – has a counterpart in the prefecture.
The biggest colony of Japanese daisy coral is found off Yamaguchi’s coastline.
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