Aesthetics Of Silence
2005.10.07 10:36

There are some cities or sightseeing attractions that urge us to come to the spot. See Napoli and you die, Don't say OK without seeing Nikko, Pay tribute to Zenkoji once in your life, Kusatsu is a good place you ought to come once.
In Italy we often visit Milano, Venice, Rome, in fact I visited Milano, and Venice many years ago. I didn't go down upto Rome simply because it was a little bit far from the North, let alone visiting up till Napoli. The name Napoli comes from Neo Polis, obviously newly built city and I guess it was less atractive to tourists ( Sorry for those who live in Napoli, I've got no malicious intentions. ) So people in Napoli must have invented the expression or saying something like I mentioned above.
Similar circumstances applies to the cases in Japan. There are tens of hundreds of famous temples and shrines located in Nara-ancient capital from 710-794, and Kyoto-ancient capital from 794-1868, so even if both cities don't invit us to come, many tourists are almost certain to visit.
In contrast, Zenkoji Temple-located in Nagano Prefeture, Nikko Shrine-located in Tochigi Prefecture, Kusatsu Hotspring-located in Gunma Prefecture are all by far from the cultural centre of Japan. So those who live in remote area from the centre invented the catchphrase to urge us to come to the spot.
If it's truely attractive for many tourists to visit, they don't have to say anything. They had to say 'Come once in your life' because they were less attractive, that's my conclusion.