concentration of many minority ethnic groups and the development of infrastructure such as airports, railways and roads, etc.
Dr. Higuchi, the leader of the mission, explained in his lecture that though Japan's interest in the Silk Road was great, the majority of the travelers were the older generation. Therefore, younger people should be encouraged to take more interest in international exchange through the Silk Road and actually come to visit so that they can learn to take effective action in current international exchange. He added by saying it was possible to learn about the history of East-West exchange through such articles as silk, glass, grapes and 飛天 (feitian, a heavenly maiden imaged after an ancient Greek angel or Cupid) and from this viewpoint the preservation of the ancient relics together with the environment was crucial.
Mr. Koichi Arai, the deputy leader of the mission, showed slides of the past two trips along the Silk Road in China. He pointed out that ten years ago, in contrast with today, to visit ancient relics scattered throughout the land, airports, railways, accommodation facilities, etc. were underdeveloped, and Japanese speaking guides were difficult to find, etc., thus a trip to Xi'an in the summer was the limit to travel in those days. However, remarkable improvements have been made in transportation, telecommunications, accommodation and eating facilities and the fostering of Japanese speaking guides, etc. owing to the ceaseless efforts of tourism-related personnel in China. Furthermore, many new tourist resources have been uncovered. In order to realize excursions and year round travel on the Silk Road, it will call upon development of resting facilities, tapping of new tourist attractions including souvenirs, perfecting and reinforcement of air routes, railroads and transportation services and improvement of museums, etc . to achieve this goal.
Mr.Yue Feng,General Director, Administration Bureau of Cultural Relics of Xinjiang, informed us that there were many ancient relics and that they may be utilized to draw more attention to the region if publicly unopened relics as the Ancient City of Quargan were introduced to tourists in addition to the Ancient Cities of Gaochang and Jiaohe, which are already open to travelers. He voiced his determination to offer travelers the opportunity to view these sites by working closely with tourism and travel-related persons.
Other speakers in the seminar included Mr. Hut Ya-ming,Sales Director, Xinjiang Airlines, who presented a talk on "Xinjiang
