Chiba Update

Winter
2019

CONTENTS
12Greetings
Chiba MICE Day
Event Updates:

La Festa Mille Miglia 2018
5th Ankle Instability Group Annual Meeting
Visit Japan Travel Mart in Kobe and Niigata
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Welcome to the Winter Edition of
Chiba Update!
It’s peak of Winter in Japan
where snow pour wild in someareas especially in the north partand other mountainous areas.
Chiba located in the east facing thePacific Ocean enjoys mild winterwhere few drops during theseason.
There are plenty of places inthe prefecture where seasonal
activities are held so that visitors
can enjoy winter to the fullest.
Among are the winter illumination
at Tokyo German Village, one
among the biggest in Japan wherelarge portion of the park being lit
by thousands of LED lights making
it sparks brighter at night. TheChiba Port Tower standing tall in
the city’s port add to the alreadybeautiful scenery of Tokyo andTokyo Bay, and the night views of
the factories located nearby. Thewinter parade at Tokyo Disneyland
and DisneySea are also cannot bemissed. These and more awaits
visitors of Chiba.
Once again, it is our pleasure tobring the latest of Chiba. Throughthis edition, we hope that you willlearn more about us and lookforward to more upcoming issues.
-Chiba Convention Bureau

Go Global:

Chiba Governor Kensaku Morita visited Ho Chi MinhIMEX America 2018

The 57th ICCA Congress in Dubai
JNTO Incentive Seminar in Korea
IBTM World 2018 in Barcelona
6 Chiba Explore:
Mihama-en Winter Illuminaton
Editor’s Diary
7 Culture:
The Coming of Age
8 Schedule:
Events with CCB

Chiba MICE Day

What is MICE?
M-I-C-E is an accronym for Meeting, Incentive Tours, and Event/Exhibition. The MICE market isconsists of public and private groups and industries dedicated to planning, booking, facilitating
conferences and other activities related to tourism.
Each year, Chiba has continued to attract events and tourism through participation in various
programs throughout the year. As fruit of the innitiative, Chiba was ranked 3rd most visited
prefecture by foreign tourist according to Nippon.Com based on the data released by the Japan
Tourism Agency. It is also named among the top 10 destinations for 2019 by Gaijinpot Travel.
As part of the innitiative to further develop MICE tourism in Chiba, the Chiba Convention Bureau,a non-profit organization designated by the prefectural office to assist local and foreign events, incollaboration with Makuhari Messe, a Chiba-based convention facility which is one among thebiggest in Japan will hold its annual event, the Chiba MICE Day. The event that will take place on
the 12th of February, 2019 at Makuhari Messe is aimed to promote MICE awareness, as well as todevelop even stronger the connection with local agencies and organizations.

1EVENTS UPDATELa Festa Mille Miglia 2018a Festa Mille Miglia is a 1000-mile classic car rally which was first
introduced in Italy in 1927. This year, it held its annual event on October
19 and lasted until October 22, 2018. The rally was first started in Japan
in 1997 and for 14 years until 2010 ran the course between Tokyo andUrabandai in Tohoku region. Unfortunately, due to the damage caused by
the Great Tohoku Earthquake in March, 2011 where major stops androutes have been badly damaged, it alternated its route during thereconstruction of the original one to Kanto Koshinetsu. In 2017 during its
20th anniversary celebration, it has announced the return to original routeas a gesture of appreciation and support for its roots and origin.
This year, local residents and car fanatics anticipated with the coming ofhundreds of luxurious classic cars. Equipped with flags, cameras andgorgeous lenses, they cheer with astonishment as the rally pass through
Narita, Shibayama, Ichinomiya, Ichihara, Sodegaura, and other towns andcities of Chiba.

5th Ankle Instability Group Annual
Meetingn October 31st held the opening of the 5th Ankle Instability Group
Annual Meeting that lasted 4 days until November 3, 2018. The meeting
was held at a world-class convention and resort complex situated on thespacious grounds of Kazusa Hills of Boso Peninsula, the Kazusa Arc.
The event organizer, the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot(JSSF) is a scientific organization launched as a study group in 1976.
Due to the increase in the need of specialized care for foot and ankle
disease in Japan, America and Europe, it became a society in 1991 andat present has approximately 1,700 members.
The JSSF has contributed to national health improvements and medical
education through annual scientific meetings held every autumn where
instructional course lectures, free papers and posters related to foot andankle surgery information are made available to all the attendees. Thisyear, the event was participated by approximately 1,000 participants inwhich 100 are from overseas countries.
Chiba being the host venue was pleased to provide organizers any
possible help they need through financial subsidy and in-kind. Chiba iswith the JSSF’s hopes to develop new knowledge and technology in footand ankle surgery and share those information to the world.

2Visit Japan Travel Mart (VJTM)
in Kobe and Niigata
he Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) held the Visit Japan
Travel Mart in Kobe and Niigata Prefecture. The events were held at
Kobe Convention Center (KCC) on October 27 to 28, and Niigata’s
Convention Center, Toki Messe on November 13 and 14, 2018. Bothevents attracted a combined of about 180 foreign hosted buyers fromcountries and regions of Asia namely Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia,Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, India, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong,and Macau.
The 2-day events which was participated by more than a hundred of local
sellers from different part of the country brought together travel agencies,and organizations who are seeking information and ideas on how to bring
incentive tours and events in Japan including specific plans, venues, andcost. In addition to the 20 minutes pre-arranged exclusive consultation, atime for free session was allotted to provide buyers and sellers a
networking time to expand connection with as many people in the venue.
This also served as a chance to share common knowledge and ideas
including difficulties and possible solutions evolving inbound tourism inJapan.
The event has successfully created common ground for buyers andsellers to communicate easily and face-to-face to make a stronger
connection and good business relationships that will benefit the both.

Chiba Governor Kensaku Morita
Visited Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

GO GLOBAL

hiba Governor Kensaku Morita, a former actor turned politician
together with Top Sales Team consists of representatives mostly fromlocal enterprises who are seeking cooperation and investment
opportunities have visited Vietnam in November. The said visit is also
an effort to strengthen relationships between Chiba and Ho Chi Minh.
The chairman of Ho Chi Minh Municipal People’s Committee, Nguyen
Thanh Phong has generously welcomed Governor Morita and hisdelegation for a dialogue that took place on the 20th of November. The
two representatives tackled issues such as cooperation enhancementin the fields of economics and culture, as well as exchanging urban
planning management, creative urban development and labour.
Governor Morita emphasized on creating a favorable condition for
Vietnamese who wish to study or work in Chiba, as well as improving
their living and working condition. In addition, Chiba looks on thepossibility of accepting foreign manpower from Vietnam to address theissue of caregiver shortages in the prefecture while Ho Chi Minh is lookforward to welcoming more tourists and ventures from Chiba.
At present, Chiba has 48 investment projects in Ho Chi Minh including
several major business establishments such as AEON Shopping Malland Ministop.
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IMEX America 2018
MEX Group is one of the largest and most authoritative organizationthat bring global meeting industry together in one place at one time.
Through its many events, meeting planners can connect easily withsuppliers across the globe to create powerful working relations.
Moreover, it helps encourage new ideas, share or discover new tools,learn new skills, and inspire innovation. It serves as epicenter forindustry development.
On October 16, 2018, IMEX America was held at SANDS EXPO andConvention Center in Las Vegas Nevada. The event was participated byapproximately 4,000 exhibitors representing about 150 countries andregions. The Chiba Convention Bureau among the 22 differentorganizations representing Japan went all the way to the US toparticipate. During the 3-day event, in addition to meeting with different
representatives from various organizations and industries, our 2
representatives were actively partaken in the lined up programs such as
various seminars and gatherings, consultation, Imex Run, and more.
Indeed, this opportunity gives the Bureau another chance to learn thelatest in the industry and discover new ideas that will surely contribute in
the betterment of the programs so to attract as many incentive tours,
meeting, conventions, and events to Chiba.

The 57th ICCA Congress in Dubai
he International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) is
one of the world’s biggest organization with members of approximately
1,000 composed of companies and organizations in almost 100
countries and regions worldwide. It serves as center ground forbusiness exchanges involving events, convention and exhibitions.
The ICCA’s annual congress was held for 6 days started on November
9, 2018 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The
event was participated by about 1,100 members across the globe whocame all the way to Dubai for business exchanges, information on
industry development, new ideas and skills, workshops and more. We
are glad to participate in this event and reconnect with organizers andco-members of ICCA. The congress provided attendees a better andnew insights about the industry through various programs such aspresentations, seminars, tours, networking functions, and more.
As representative of Chiba, we hope to carry out the knowledge andexperience we have learned from this experience, so to provide better
services to our clients so that they will wish to come back and explore
for more. Furthermore, to create stronger relationships with people inthe industry.

4JNTO Incentive Seminar in Korea
he Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) which wasestablished in 1964 is a government organization aimed to promoteand develop travel and tourism industry in Japan. JNTO is involved invarious activities both domestically and internationally encouraging
international tourists from all over the world to visit and explore Japan.
On December 3, 2018, Chiba Convention Bureau along withrepresentatives of different organizations and hospitality industry inJapan visited Seoul to conduct a seminar regarding Japanese tourism.
The event was held on December 5 at Plaza Hotel in Seoul. This time,
we have the opportunity to introduce Chiba to Korean market and wereable to meet with several companies who showed enthusiasm inbringing events to Chiba.

IBTM World 2018 in Barcelona
t is another fruitful experience for us, Chiba Convention Bureau tohave once again experience the IBTM World which opened inBarcelona Spain on November 27, lasted 3 days until November 29,
2018. The event was held at one of the most importance trade fairinstitution in Europe, the Fira Barcelona. Organized by Reed
Exhibitions, Ltd., this incentive, business travel and meetings exhibition
was participated by about 15,000 people representing about 2,300
organizations from about 80 countries and regions worldwide. IBTM
Barcelona showcased different programs and attractions as well as
business exchanges evolving travel and tours, convention andexhibitions, and other hospitality-related industry.
Chiba to IBTM Barcelona
CCB took advantage of this chance to introduce Japanese culture.
During the event, our staffs brought Japanese mask or ‘omen’ for otherattendees to try on. Omen is a traditional mask wear in some occasion
to bring fun and laughter. We are also glad to present friends with
Chiba products and delicacies and this time the prefecture’s peanutpie.
Chiba representing Japan to the world
Chiba is located in the east and lies next to Metropolitan Tokyo. Being
30 minutes away from two major airports in Japan, Narita and Haneda
Airports and Chiba Port, the second largest cargo handling port in thenation, offers convenient access not only to one of the biggest
convention centers in Japan, the Makuhari Messe, it also serves as
nation’s gateway locally and overseas. Due to its proximity, Chiba ishonored to host some of the sporting events for the Tokyo 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chiba is not only home to Tokyo
Disney Resort, but also home to many international conventions andexhibitions.
5CHIBA EXPLORE

Mihama-en Winter Illumination

t’s winter time! In Japan, this season also means grandillumination time. Chiba not being different from the rest, displays
beautiful twinkling display all over the prefecture.
In Makuhari, not a far from one of the biggest convention facility inJapan, the Makuhari Messe, located a very beautiful garden called
Mihama-en Japanese Garden. What set the garden special is that,even though it is built in the city center, it showcases lush of nature
with scenic beauty of a typical Japanese Garden that can beenjoyed regardless of the season. This year, the garden wasilluminated by LED lights in various colors.
Tokyo German Village’s winter illumination (photographs below) is one of the biggest displays in the country.

Editor’s
Diary
Holding a Starbucks coffee in my hand looking out the window, I see Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Skytree at far distance. Seeing theview, I cannot help but whisper myself ‘what a beautiful world’. I take a deep breath, I’m ready to face the day.
I work at the Chiba Convention Bureau, and our office building is located in the suburbs near Makuhari Messe. Being in the14th floor allows us with the grand bird’s-eye view of the nearby surroundings. Looking at them each morning gives me energy
to start a day. Actually, I am sent here as representative of Chiba City. My main task is to coordinate with administrative
government and I am also in-charge of the advertisement and promotion, dutifully involved in the publication of thisnewsletter among many other. Since this fiscal year could be my final year at the Bureau, let me share to you the place close
to my heart, the ‘hybrid-area’ of Makuhari as my final piece.
Makuhari is a business district in Chiba City where convention center, and other office buildings are situated. It serves asgateway to participants of many events and businessmen coming from different countries and regions of the world. Although
the area is considered suburbs where high rise buildings, it can be an oasis for some. With the view of the Tokyo Bay on theother side where water reflects as if a mirror placed on the water especially on those time when the sun ray shines directly
onto it simply gives an outstanding peace. The area is also surrounded by greeneries and parks with huge roads andpavements. A recommended place for runners especially in the morning when everyone else’s still in bed. This area best
suited people who are attending events or convention may it be for a short period of time or a long-term one.
As of the Bureau, CCB is composed of talented people from different organizations, regular employees, representatives fromadministrative offices, and employees from private enterprises. They work together to attract and support MICE industry inChiba. As part of the team, I am grateful to each opportunity and experience given to me because I do believe that thoseexperiences will be truly valuable to me in my future endeavors.

6CULTURE

The Coming of Age Celebration

eijin no Hi is a Japanese holiday held annually on the second Monday of January. It is to celebrate andwelcome newly turned and upcoming adults into the society, those who have reached or will reach the ageof maturity. In Japan, a person is officially considered as adult at the age of 20, and legally allowed to drink,smoke, and gamble. In 2015, voting age was lowered from 20 to 18. The event includes the coming of age
ceremonies which is conducted by the local government and prefectural offices.
Ceremonial Dress
During the ceremony, women normally wear an elaborate kimono known as furisode, a long-sleeved
kimono for unmarried young women. Since the cost of owning one is considerably expensive, rentals of fineand quality kimono which comes with variety of choices are available only for this reason. Although thetraditional attire for young men is Hakama which is the male version of kimono, Western-style clothing suchas suits and necktie are popular among young generation.
Seijin Ceremony
Coming of Age Day is a public holiday and ceremonies are held across the country in city halls, ward
offices, and other official centers. In addition to typical venues, some establishments permit the use of theirfacility for more grandeur and excitement such as Disney Resort.
The ceremony normally takes about 2 hours where some major personnel and guest speakers give
inspirational speeches, knowledge and encouragement, as well as reminders of the responsibility in thecommunity as adult individual. In addition to speeches are surprise performances for them to enjoy.
Religious Value
Coming of Age Day is consider as an important spiritual event. Celebrant and the family go with their new
adults to their local shrine to pray for health and success, as well as take commemorative photographs.
After-Parties
Celebration after the ceremony is common and normally done at izakaya restaurants or even at home withfamily and friends where endless photo shoots and well-wishing. Many of the new adults will go with theirfriends for a more casual gathering as a way to celebrate the reaching of the legal drinking age after thefamily celebration.

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SCHEDULE

Events with CCB
DateFeb. 4-8

Event

Venue

Representation Theory, Gauge Theory, and Integrable Systemsrd

University of Tokyo, Kashiwas Campus

Feb. 21-22

33 Kaifukuki Rehabilitation Ward Meeting

Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta, Others

Feb. 25-27

ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons Group (ARF EEP)

Hotel Okura Tokyo BayMar. 1-3

The 28th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Dentistry for Medically

Chiba City Civic Hall

Compromised Patients
Mar. 11-15

Future Prospects of Neutrino Physics

University of Tokyo, Kashiwas Campus

thMar. 20-23

The 139 Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society Japan

Makuhari Messe, Others

Mar. 25-29

TMT Workshop on High-Z Galaxy Evolution

University of Tokyo, Kashiwas Campus

Also visit: ‘Why Do I Love Chiba’ for more interesting stories
http://www.ccb.or.jp/mice/e/why-chiba/about-chiba21408/wdilc/

Chiba Convention Bureau and International Center
14F Marive East, World Business Garden
2-6 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba City Chiba Prefecture, 261-7114 Japan
Tel: +81-43-297-2752 Fax: +81-43-297-2753
Homepage: http://www.ccb.or.jp/mice/e/ Email: request@ccb.or.jp

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