First post-COVID Japanese tour group visits Xinjiang region and livestreams details along journey on social media to dispel rumors

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By Liu Xin and Xing Xiaojing in Turpan (Global Times) 13:56, June 24, 2023

Japanese tourists visit the regional museum on June 20, 2023. Photo: Courtesy to Si Xuan

Learning stories behind the history in the museum, visiting local residents, tasting local delicacies, roaming around in the night market … the first Japanese tour group after China’s relaxation of COVID-19 travel restriction continued their trip in China’s Xinjiang region with many tour members livestreaming what they have seen and heard in the region on social media, making it a window for more people in Japan and the international community to get a better understanding of the region amid disinformation spread by anti-China forces.

As of press time, the group of 20 Japanese tourists departing from Osaka, Japan since June 19 have visited the regional museum and an anti-terrorism exhibition in Urumqi in addition to some cultural and scenic spots in Turpan in the north and east of the region and they are scheduled to go to the cotton field, factories, a school, a mosque and the home of several local residents in Korla, Aksu and Kashi in the southern part of the region.

The several days spent in the region have impressed the Japanese visitors with many telling the Global Times that the region they have seen is very different from what they used to learn from some Japanese media.

Ryugo Moritaka, 66, had looked forward to visiting China’s Xinjiang region for a long time. In December 2021, after hearing the news that the Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka was inviting Japanese to travel to the Xinjiang region after the end of COVID-19. After checking the information on the website of the Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka, Moritaka and his wife immediately applied to participate in the event.

While hesitant about the travelling expense – around 350,000 yen ($2,465.41) for each person, the couple finally decided to let Moritaka to come.

Before arriving in China, being influenced by the biased reports in media, his wife had been very worried about his safety in the Xinjiang region but surprisingly, after arrival in the region, he felt nothing but safe.

During their stay in Urumqi, Moritaka went to a square near his hotel in the morning of June 21 and saw colorful morning practices of local residents - some were practicing tai chi, dancing to music, some walking their dogs and some playing shuttlecock.

As a photographer, Moritaka told the Global Times he loves to take photos of people and observe their expressions as these are true reflections of their deep feelings.

If a person lives in doubt and fear, it can be seen from the face, but Moritaka said what he saw from local residents’ face in his photos taken in the square is true happiness and satisfaction for their life. He then joined locals in playing shuttlecock .

The happy scene at the square is in stark contrast to the previous tragedies caused by terror attacks which had previously hit the region. On June 20, Moritaka and other Japanese visitors visited the anti-terrorism exhibition in Urumqi, during which he came to understand what local residents had suffered through.

Moritaka told the Global Times that violent attacks also happened in Japan and whichever country a person comes from, what they want is safe and happy life without violent attacks.

Noriaki Miyagawa, a member of the tour group, also told the Global Times that he had not thought the region’s fight against terrorism to have lasted for such a long time and by viewing the past tragedies and the current lively scenes in Urumqi, he felt that the happy life of local residents is hardwon.

A live-streaming journey

Many members of the Japanese tour group have shared photos and videos of their trip on social media, including Yumi Watabe.

Starting from the send-off party for the group in Osaka, Watabe began to livestream the trip on her twitter account by continuous posting videos and photos of various fruits, roasted lamb, the Huoyan Mountain in Turpan and the corpse of Loulan Beauty, who is said to be buried nearly several thousands of years ago，displayed at the regional museum.

Watabe, 33, a ski coach from Hakuba in Japan, had travelled to several cities in China before the COVID-19 pandemic. After finishing her first trip to China’s Yunnan Province in 2014, Watabe began to learn Chinese to get a better understanding of the country and the trip to the Xinjiang region was her seventh trip to China.

Watabe told the Global Times that the “battle of words” between Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka Xue Jian and some Japanese politicians over the Xinjiang topics had caught her attention and she decided to apply for a trip to the region.

The delicious food as well as splendid landscapes have attracted many netizens, but some of whom called Watabe’s posts as “propaganda” for Chinese government. In response, Watabe said that what she is doing is sharing her own views and seeing along the trip and some netizens cannot deny her with inaccurate reports on the region they have learned from the media.