Japan’s fleet of submarines has captured the imagination of many overseas visitors.
Some of the most popular models include the Ryojin, the Tohoku, the Nautilus and the Akagi.
But it is the submarine city of Tokyo that has earned the most attention, with around 7 million visitors a year, according to a report by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
“It is not just the size of the city but also the number of visitors that the city has attracted,” said Toshio Sato, a research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies.
The Tokyo metropolitan area has the fourth largest economy in the world behind Singapore, the United States and Australia, according a 2015 report by the Centre on International Cooperation and Development.
“People have been flocking to Tokyo and staying for more than a year for a weekend,” said Ms Sato.
“There are even people who go from their homes to visit.”
The latest trend is for young people to spend their days in the city.
“I love Tokyo, I love it,” said Takao Kato, 23, who has been visiting for two years.
“The food is really good.
I think that if it wasn’t for the large number of Japanese, we wouldn’t have been able to get away.”
A lot of Japanese prefer the Tokyo metropolitan region for its nightlife, because the area is home to some of the country’s best restaurants and shopping malls, according the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The country has a history of building skyscrapers in its capital, but construction of the world-famous Tokyo Tower was halted after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
“If I go out and go to the mall, I’m not sure that I’m going to get the same amount of attention as if I went to the subway,” said Tomoe Hasegawa, a 27-year-old university student from Kobe, who was visiting Japan from the United Kingdom last month.
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They don’t care about the fact that it’s not a big city.”