The Tokyo Metropolitan Government recently announced the appointment of Ms. Rie Aoki as its tourism representative in Los Angeles responsible for Southern California and 14 other states in the South West United States. She succeeds Ms. Keiko Garrison who had held the position since 2004 and passed away in April.

"Although saddened by the passing of my talented colleague Keiko, I look forward to my new post representing Tokyo, one of the world's most thrilling cities." said Aoki. "I plan to work closely with the travel agency community, media and consumers to help them gain a deeper understanding of Tokyo's unique character from the historic Edo-era to today's exciting youth culture."

From her office in Huntington Beach, Aoki will be responsible for liaison with travel agents and wholesalers, and will attend travel marts and other industry events. She will also be a point of contact for information to the media and will work in close conjunction with the Los Angeles office of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Her area of responsibility encompasses Los Angeles and Southern California, as well as Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Hawaii.

"A key priority will be to spread the word that Japan has made great advances in recovering from the earthquake and tsunami that took place in March last year," she said. "Tokyo is back to normal and I want to reassure Americans that they can resume travel with confidence that their expectations will be more than met."

Aoki moved to the United States in 1986 to work at the Los Angeles office of a major Japanese travel company. She spent 24 years with the company during which she managed both group and individual travel from the United States to Japan. For Further Information call Aoki at Tel: (310) 753-1937, email her at rieaokic@msn.com, or visit www.gotokyo.org.