As everyone around the world knows, the 2008 U.S. Presidental election is over and Barack Obama will take office as the President of the United States in January 2009.
Just as many world leaders did, the Prime Minister of Japan offered his congratulations to Obama:
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Senator Obama on his election as president of the United States of America.
Working together with President-elect Obama, I will strive to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and to resolve various challenges the international community faces when addressing issues such as the international economy, terrorism and the environment…
内閣総理大臣麻生太郎 (Tarou Asou, Prime Minister of Japan)
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Also, as I said in this post, the Japanese city of 小浜 (Obama) has supported Barack Obama ever since he became a candidate for the U.S. presidency. They sent him gifts (and they received a reply letter from his office with a couple words written in 日本語 (Japanese)).
The city of Obama has “Obama hula dancers” and souvenirs with Barack Obama’s image on them.
They’re considering making Barack Obama an honorary citizen of the town.
Of course, the reason for all of this is because Obama is a small town in western Japan that was losing money and the town’s mayor saw an opportunity to attract tourists…and it’s working. Suddenly the town is getting many visitors…some of them from overseas.
The tourism campaign is called “Obama For Obama“.
The mayor anticipates the town of Obama will become a world-famous vacation destination now that Barack Obama won the election.
The “Obama Hula Dancers” hope to perform at Barack Obama’s inauguration in January, by the way.
Tokyo Five 
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