When the Japan National Tourism Agency flew in more than 100 students and journalists from Singapore earlier this month in a bid to woo tourists back to the country, it focused on Tohoku, the region hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
And for good reason.
Tohoku is a place of great scenic beauty, but one that is relatively unexplored by foreign tourists, who typically visit stalwarts Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido.