From: Konstantin Govorun
To: Japanese Embassy in Russia
Letter
I am a big fan of Japanese history and culture, including anime and Japanese videogames. I am a journalist writing about videogames, so I have started traveling to Japan for business purposes (i.e. annual Tokyo Game Show event in Tokyo, press events at head offices of Capcom, Sega, Sony and other major Japanese gaming companies) in 2005 and have already been to Japan for more than 20 times. I have also helped to promote Japanese culture festivals in Russia (i.e. J-Fest) in my media. In 2015-2017 I worked at the Russian office of Nintendo as a PR manager and helped the company promote Japanese videogames in Russia. Right now I am a self-employed journalist and independent PR expert with extensive knowledge of videogames.
In 2008 I started to explore Japan as a tourist as well. Since then I visited a lot of places: from Sapporo and Noboribetsu on Hokkaido to Kurokawa Onsen in the middle of Kyushu. In 2015 I spent the honeymoon with my wife at Miyajima and Dogo Onsen. I use my knowledge of Japan to help other tourists plan their trips to Japan and encourage them to visit the country. I write articles about trips to Japan at my personal blog (
darkwren.ru) and Telegram channel (
@wrenjapan) – right now it’s the biggest Japan-related channel in Telegram.
Each time I try to go to new places far from the big cities. In 2018 my primary targets are Yakushima, Takachiho, Saga and Beppu. Next year I’d like to go to Yamagata, Akita and Aomori prefectures in spring and to Tokyo Game Show in September. I am also planning to go on a trip around various places specifically connected to Sengoku Jidai period (I’ve already been to Sekigahara, Masamune Date museum and other places, but there are many more of those). Okinawa is also an interesting option as well as the eastern part of Shikoku and Awaji island.
Best regards,
Konstantin Govorun