British hidden tresures handed down from British to Japanese

By Sayaka Matsumoto

To read in Japanese, click here (この記事を日本語で読む）

It has been about 180 years since Japanese sailor, Otokichi , set foot in England in

1832 being the first among Japanese people. Nowadays, about 500,000 Japanese people are visiting England every year, and there are more than 50,000 Japanese people living in London. According to the British Embassy in Japan, the number of Japanese living in England is the highest among the European countries. It is not surprising that you can definitely see Japanese people at any of the tourist spots in London, like Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace.

With the increase in the number of Japanese tourists visiting the U.K, especially London, the day-trip tours from London for Japanese people are also increasing. Many of them are organised by Japanese tour companies based in London like MIKI travel, AWL travel and GENDAI Travel.

Among those kinds of tours, one of the conspicuously unique presences is “Hello England” launched by John Chisholm. He guides Japanese people to various British hidden spots with his van while explaining the background of each spots both in Japanese and English. It seems the tailor-made private tours perfectly match the needs of Japanese people. Although it has been less than two years since he started his tours, it has already been very popular especially among Japanese people living in London.

Some Japanese tourists have a dilemma between the two thoughts; They would like to be guided by a British guide rather than a Japanese guide because they are in the U.K, but at the same time, they would be worried if they might not be able to understand the guide’s English. During the tours, John himself explains and introduces various kinds of British culture and its history in Japanese. Because the size of each tour is just for 3-7 people, there is a much warmer and deeper interaction and communication between him and the tour members.

I interviewed John Chisholm, on his thoughts about his tours and his experience in Japan and London.

Mr John Chiholm & his van used for his tours

UK-JAPAN: What influenced you to launch HELLO ENGLAND?

John:　 I wanted to take people to nice places! I’m from the countryside originally, just outside Bristol, and it’s nice to get out of London. Many Japanese people living in London had only been to a few obvious places, such as Stonehenge, The Lake District, and Bath, so I thought it would be interesting to introduce Japanese people to some other aspects of England.

UK-JAPAN: What kind of places are you introducing apart from major tourist spots? And why did you choose those places?

John:　There are some wonderful National Trust spots which aren’t on everyone’s radar, such as Sheffield Park Garden and Bateman's, Rudyard Kipling’s secluded house and garden in East Sussex. The huge stone circle at Avebury is fascinating - it’s bigger and older than Stonehenge, but it’s lost its shape and impact a bit because a lot of stones were removed, so it’s not a world famous landmark like Stonehenge. I love the miniature village of Bekonscot, with its little trains whizzing around a model of 1930's English town. I like Beaulieu too, where there’s a stately home, gardens, and an amazing car museum with everything from the earliest 19th century vehicles to James Bond’s cars. With Hello England tours, people can take a personal approach to where we visit: often people want to visit the more famous places, but like to be shown lesser known villages and sights along the way.

UK-JAPAN: Why did you choose 'private' tours rather than 'big' tours?

John:　I think people prefer a personal approach. On a big bus, it’s a one-way conversation, with the guide explaining, ‘And on your left here, you can see Shakespeare’s mother’s house…’ etc, whereas in a small group, you can ask what people are interested in, and that makes it more interesting for me too. Also, we can play games and do quizzes about the UK, which is more fun than just a monologue by the guide.

UK-JAPAN: Why is it for only Japanese people?

John:　I’ve always enjoyed working with Japanese people. I find most Japanese people to be polite and interested in the background to places. I lived in Japan for three years and then taught at The Japanese School in London for seven years, so it made sense to make Hello England for Japanese people, as I can speak the language to an extent, and can understand what Japanese people might find interesting.

UK-JAPAN: When staying in Japan, what kind of places did you like to go?

John:　 I used to like bicycling around the little villages around where I lived. It was great to be in no hurry, just bicycling around rice fields and discovering little temples.

I traveled a bit - I liked Himeji castle, and Mount Aso in Kyushu was great too.

Also, in my free time, I was playing drums in a noisy Japanese band, and we did a couple of gigs in Okayama and Hiroshima, so I suppose I got to see a side of Japan that most foreigners don’t see.

One place I’m not in a hurry to go back to is the department store Takashimaya. It was my first year in Japan. I only wanted some tea. In my poor Japanese, I asked the shop girl ‘Tea-bags wa doko desuka?’ She looked a bit embarrassed, and pointed to the 5th floor, which turned out to be the lady’s lingerie department. I was after tea-bags, not ‘T-back thongs’, but there you go.

UK-JAPAN: What do you think of the similarities and differences between British history and Japanese history?

John:　Well, of course, both are island nations, protected by the sea. The wind blew the Spanish Armada away from England during Elizabeth I’s reign, just as the wind blew Kublai Khan’s Mongolian navy away from Japan in 1281. Apart from protection, there is sometimes a sense of arrogance that things on the nearby continent have no connection to us. British politicians and media are not very positive about Europe, just as Japanese politicians and media are not very positive about Asia.

Japan had a period of isolation (’sakoku’) from 1641 to 1853, which still has some effect on Japan’s attitude to foreigners. Britain had a huge empire, which gave some British people a sense of superiority, especially as the English language spread all over the world. On the other hand, millions of people from all around the old Empire came to Britain, and this led to England, and especially London, having a very mixed population, which has many benefits.

UK-JAPAN: What kind of differences in value towards British culture and tourisy spots are there between British people and Japanese people?

John:'Culture' can mean many things ? it could include literature, art, architecture, manners, music, food and drink, plays and musicals, and many other things, so in that sense, the U.K. has plenty of 'culture' that Japanese people might be interested in. A lot of Japanese people are struck by how many old buildings there are in England. Many well-built stone cottages, pubs and churches are still in use after more five hundred years. One of the reasons is that there are no earthquakes in the UK, but also British people like houses and buildings with a bit of history and character. In Japan, there are few historical buildings, but there are plenty of traditions and events such as ‘Setsubun’ (Spring Equinox) or ‘Koyo’ (changing colour of leaves in Autumn) which we don’t have in the U.K.

UK-JAPAN: What kind of British places do Japanese people tend to be interested in?

John:　A lot of people only have a short time to visit England, so naturally they want to see Big Ben, The British Museum and Buckingham Palace. Outside London, many Japanese people like going to the Cotswolds, Oxford, Windsor Castle and Bath. With Hello England, I take people to those places, but also down to the Seven Sisters, or on Harry Potter tours or Winnie-the-Pooh tours.

I think Japanese people are happy to receive a professional, fun and informative tour to places in England, so I’m glad Hello England can offer that.

UK-JAPAN: Please keep on introducing British hidden charms to Japanese people. Thank you for your time.

John:　Thank you, too.