Mr. Zhang, a businessman from Wuxi with a passing resemblance to Steve McQueen, is what his countrymen refer to as "a proud Chinese." Kicking pebbles outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, where our tour bus has dropped us for a 30-minute wander, he announces, "Japan is a small country. We Chinese are coming to save the Japanese economy."
Zhang is one of my 27 fellow travelers on the Hato Bus full-day Chinese-language Tokyo sightseeing tour, which has been made to coincide with the three Chinese public holidays at the beginning of October that commemorate the formation of the People's Republic of China.
I have joined them to get the lowdown on one of the Japanese government's most publicized, and apparently most successful, pet projects: attracting more international visitors to this country, particularly from China. I want to know why the Chinese choose to come to Japan, what they think of it now they are here, and what role, if any, the troubled history between this country and theirs plays in their choice of destination.