Supported by: Liz Smith*, Miles Briggs*, Tom Mason*, Alexander Stewart*, Bill Bowman*, Margaret Mitchell*, Alison Harris*, Michelle Ballantyne*, Annie Wells*, Murdo Fraser* *S5M-12416 Lewis Macdonald: Tourism Links Between Japan and North East Scotland That the Parliament welcomes the recent visit to Aberdeen by the Japanese — Ambassador, Koji Tsuruoka, and his wife, Yooko, along with the Japanese Minister for Tourism, Jotaro Horiuchi, who were welcomed to the city by the Lord Provost on 18 May 2018; recognises that the visitors were in the north east in order to strengthen tourism links with the area in a bid to encourage more Japanese visitors to include Aberdeen on their itinerary when visiting Scotland; notes that Aberdeen and Japan already have strong links through Thomas Glover, who moved to Nagasaki in 1859 where he is recognised as a founder of the Mitsubishi corporation; understands that a visit to Glover House in Bridge of Don and a viewing of the Thomas Blake Glover collection at Aberdeen Maritime Museum were included in the recent visit to the North East, along with a trip to Cawdor Castle near Nairn, a tour of Longmorn Distillery and a visit to Balmoral Castle in Royal Deeside; acknowledges the important historic and cultural links between Aberdeen and Japan, and looks forward to growing tourism links between Japan and North East Scotland in the years to come.