Local Flavors on Parade at Tokyo Festival

The “Furusato Matsuri Tokyo 2013” exhibition, bringing together festivals from throughout Japan and local delicacies, was held in the Tokyo Dome stadium in January. This year’s was the fifth of its kind. During the nine-day period, the show attracted some 400,000 visitors.

In addition to stage performances of the songs, dances and drum performances featured at various festivals from around Japan, the event also introduced more than 300 booths offering a dizzying assortment of local food treats. With plenty of desserts, plus locally brewed varieties of sake and beer being offered, no visitor went away hungry.

Tokyo Dome is normally utilized as a baseball stadium so it has bleacher seating for nearly 50,000 people, but in this case, it proved a good venue for eating as well. Likewise, by being able to attract so many visitors, the concessionaires found the event to be an excellent public relations opportunity. The cost of admission was 1,500 yen ($16), but tickets limited to weekdays and evenings only (after 4:00 pm) offered reduced prices of 1,200 ($13) and 1,000 yen ($11), respectively. Although located in the center of Tokyo, attending the event enabled visitors to take a full tour of the country, so it was particularly appealing to foreign visitors. It will be held again in January 2014.