News from Under the Southern Cross – Edition 18
by Japanese Ambassador Yamagami Shingo
A ‘Tasmanian Story’ 28 June
On the week of June 6, I made an official visit to Tasmania, the last stop on my first pilgrimage of Australian states and territories.
1. Tasmania’s characteristics Japanese people of my generation would likely have seen ‘Tasmania Story’, a 1990 Japanese film about a boy who travels to Australia in search of his father, who in turn is in search of the elusive Tasmanian tiger. Yet there are still some in Japan who do not have a very well-defined idea about what kind of place Tasmania is.
When explaining to them, I often compare it to Hokkaido, which has a similar sized land mass albeit with a much larger population than Tassie’s five-hundred and forty thousand. I tell them that Tassie is a scenic beauty with a treasure trove of fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood, and explain that it is a particularly popular destination amongst the community of ambassadors in Canberra.
So then why not make it the first destination on my pilgrimage?
I wanted to save the best for last.
After experiencing it for myself I can confirm that Tasmania’s nature is just as beautiful and its produce just as delicious as everyone says. It truly is the ‘Hokkaido’ of Australia.
Read the full story here.
