The Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) met with the Mayor of Nagano, Kenji Ogiwara after a meeting with the U.S. Embassy in Japan to discuss rebuilding ties between our island and Japan and plans to revitalize sister-city relationships.

Leading the delegates from Guam was GVB President and CEO Carl Gutierrez, GVB Senior Marketing Manager, Japan, Regina Nedlic, and GVB Marketing Manager, Japan, Mai Mimura Perez.

Alongside them was GVB Japan Executive Director Yusuke Akiba, GVB Account Director Nobuyoshi Shoji, and GVB Japan Trade Director Masato Wakasugi.

During their visit to Nagano, Gutierrez discussed their efforts to build friendship city relationships and revive travels of Japanese consumers back to Guam since the pandemic.

He also expressed their intentions to bring back school trips, cultural exchanges, and homestay programs.

Mayor Ogiwara also shared many tourism aspects of Nagano following their rise to popularity after they hosted the 18th Winter Olympics and 7th Winter Paralympics in 1998. This marks Nagano as a premier international winter destination.

Gutierrez said, “Guam has built relationships with multiple cities in Japan, including Kashiwa, Karatsu, Niigata, and Okayama. Inviting such a world-renowned location as Nagano to become a sister city with us would open up many doors for our people as well as our tourism industry.”

In addition to their visit to Nagano, GVB attended the Kaiju Kelaguen event on February 6 - 12 at the Tokyu Plaza in Shibuya.

The event is the first of its kind for Guam, showcasing our local artists, brands and products in Japan. The brainchild of Tsunogai, a Japanese Manga artist with a deep-rooted love for Guam, Kaiju Kelaguen was created as a joint venture with island artists and creators to showcase and promote Guam’s pop culture.

Tsunogai partnered with a few Guam talents like Joshua Barrigada, Geremy Grey and brands such as LongLive, Opake and Good Lookin’ Out.

Guam band Fat Tofu performed at Kaiju Kelaguen, bringing a musical component to complete the event. GVB is a proud sponsor of this unique event, helping our local artists and small businesses to expand internationally. The success of this event could pave the way to more exclusive Guam-branded events, leading to increased travel and tourism.

“One of the benefits of our GVB membership is the support and partnership we offer, especially to small businesses that satisfy our mission to promote the Guam brand, strengthen international ties, and grow tourism opportunities for the island,” Gutierrez said.

While in Tokyo, the Guam delegation was also able to meet with the Japan Airlines sales team and GVB Japan team to secure upcoming programs.

Meanwhile, GVB’s trade team in Japan conducted a seminar in Sendai with United Airlines for more than 50 travel agents, further extending GVB’s reach within the Japan market.