People arriving in Japan in their professional capacities frequently see little more of the country than the interiors of taxis, hotel rooms and sterile offices, with the occasional tourist sight in central Tokyo thrown in.
The Keizai Koho Center, however, wanted a group of foreign educators from Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States to get a different perspective of Japan, to see beyond the images and get a true understanding of the country in order to provide a more accurate picture of Japan to their students when they return to their home countries.
The program is run annually by the center, also known as the Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs, and is now in its 21st year.