Japan`s Tottori Prefecture fair to be held in Vladivostok Sept

VLADIVOSTOK, July 17 (Itar-Tass) - A large-scale fair-presentation of
Japan's Tottori Prefecture will be held in Vladivostok in September, it
was said earlier this month at a meeting of mayor of the Primorye regional
centre Igor Pushkaryov with a delegation of the Japanese prefecture that
arrived in the city on the Eastern Dream ferryboat's maiden trip.
The ferry servicing a new international line between Russia, Japan and
South Korea for the first time called at Vladivostok port on July 7. It
linked Sakaiminato port (Japan's Tottori Prefecture), Tonghae (South Korea'
s Gangwon-do Province) and the capital of Russia's Primorsky Territory.
Simultaneously the vessel can carry 530 people, including the crew, up
to 70 automobiles and 130 containers. Mayor Pushkaryov and head of the
Tottori delegation Aoki Shigeru noted that it is necessary to develop the
economic component of this project. This can be promoted by the regular
delivery by the Eastern Dream cargo-passenger ferry of food products to
Vladivostok from Tottori that is regarded as the "fruit capital" in Japan.
The trial batch was dispatched on July 12. It included 600 best
watermelons grown by Japanese businessmen. In the future, Japanese
companies plan to supply to Vladivostok other products as well, for
example, pears and Sharon fruit.
The initiators of the opening of the new line were the administrations
of the RF Primorsky Territory, Japan's Tottori Prefecture and South Korea'
s Gangwon-do Province. The talks on the opening of the ferry line were
held since November 2007. The final decision was made at a summit of the
administration heads of Northeast Asia that was held in Vladivostok in
September 2008. The first ferryboat departed from Sakaiminato on July 1
and arrived in Vladivostok on July 6. It will be performing at least 48
voyages annually.
Sakaiminato is a city in the northern Tottori Prefecture, Japan. At
the northern end of Yumigahama Peninsula, it faces the Sea of Japan,
another sea Nakaumi and Sakai channel. As of 2008, the city had an
estimated population of 35,710 and the density of 1,240 persons per square
kilometre. The total area is 28.79 square kilometres. The seaport of
Sakaiminato is one of the most famous fishery ports in Japan and is the
major port of Tottori Prefecture. Nearby Miho airbase is run by the
Ministry of Defence but is also used for civilian national and
international flights, being generally referred to as 'Yonago Airport.'
The city was officially founded on April 1, 1956. Recently a merger with
Yonago and other neighbouring municipalities was proposed but the majority
of the citizenry voted against this, and Sakaiminato is set to remain an
autonomous municipality.
In the view of specialists of the Primorye administration, the
introduction of the new line will promote the development of cooperation
in the sphere of trade and tourism. A new order of stay of foreign
tourists was introduced from March 3, 2009. Now they can up to 72 hours
stay in the Russian territory without visas if they come to the country on
passenger ferryboats. This will considerably increase attractiveness of
Vladivostok and the whole Primorsky Territory for tourists.
-0-ezh