On my last day in Japan, I visited a forest created by a Welshman and tasted tempura made from shitake which had been freshly plucked from the soil.

And even though it was late spring, there was still snow in the mountains, sakura on the trees and spring water running down the hills.

I also visited a shrine in Okusha-suginamiki, which they call the “Walkway to Heaven” because the path, lined by tall trees on both sides, does look, and feel, like a walk to a higher world. 

All these, and everything else I experienced during my four-day stay in the country reminded me of why Japan, despite its current difficulties, will always remain a special place for many travellers.

The Afan Woodland Park is located in Kirohune, in Nagano Prefecture, three hours’ drive from Tokyo. It was created by CW Nicol, a children’s author from South Wales who’s made his home in Japan for the last 50 years.

The park is open to private tours. At the visitor centre, which also happens to be where Nicol lives, he sidles up to me, gestures to a woman in the group and whispers, “Do you know who she is?”

I had noticed her because she looked different somehow. Elegant, poised, there was an aura about her. “No,” I said.

“Remember the first Bond movie shot in Japan? She’s the Bond girl,” he said. As I found out later, she was Hama Mie, who played Kissy Suzuki in the 1967 You Only Live Twice. (Check out my photo with her on my Facebook page)

Later, I watched two of the park rangers preparing lunch in a woodshed. They worked in quiet unison. One sliced the freshly-plucked shitake while the other prepared the stove, mixed the batter, coated the shitake and dropped it, piece by piece, into the hot oil. Sizzle, sizzle and then they offered me a morsel. I could almost taste the earth. 

I had stopped at the park on the way to Narita airport from Nijiroko Hotel El Bosco where I had spent the night. El Bosco means forest in Italian and this hotel is situated right within the forest, by Lake Nijiro.

Hard to believe that 24 hours ago, I had just been walking the streets of Roppongi, eaten at a hole-in-the-wall Okinawan restaurant and listened to divine jazz music by a trio comprising a Japanese double bassist, a Korean pianist and an American drummer.

This is what I love about Japan. It can be so international, yet so absolutely Japanese.

What I also love about being there at this time was how quiet it was, selfishly speaking of course. There are very few foreign tourists to be seen and, right after Golden Week, the Japanese were also staying home.

There is no doubt that Japan’s tourism industry has been hit hard by March 11. But the industry colleagues I met were stoic and pragmatic about it. Yes, they are impatient for tourism authorities to do something, to start a confidence-building campaign, but ah, the wheels of Japan-dom grind ever so slowly.

There is talk of a MICE recovery programme. In Las Vegas, I met several Japanese officials who were there in force because Tokyo will host next year’s Global Travel & Tourism Council Summit from April 17-19.

The World Travel & Tourism Council/Oxford Economic report released during the Summit in Las Vegas indicates that the impact of the earthquake and tsunami could range from a reduction of ¥0.9 trillion (as a best possible scenario) to ¥1.9 trillion (as the worst case scenario) in travel & tourism’s contribution to Japan’s GDP in 2011, depending on travellers’ perceptions.

“A return to baseline forecasts could be seen by 2012 if clear messages help international and domestic travel resume,” said the report.

Speaking to online travel companies, it would appear that online travel, at least domestically, has been quicker to bounce back as even more budget-conscious travellers search for deals online.

Rakuten Travel said its Golden Week business was 20% up on last year but as soon as the holiday period was over, business dipped as suddenly as it picked up. Jalan and Ikyu saw similar trends.

I was also told that Japanese travellers are becoming more comfortable with booking hotels overseas. Masashi Okatake, president of Rakuten Travel, says his customers are booking hotels in Korea, China, Hawaii and Guam.

At Recruit, corporate vice president Suguru Tomizuka, said mobile now forms almost 20% of Jalan’s business, a figure that seems to be pretty similar across the other OTAs.

For Korea, it’s almost one booking via mobile for every two via PC. “Korea is like a domestic destination for us,” said one of the OTAs.

It is clear most have their sights on China for immediate and longterm growth. The day I was there, CEO Masabumi Mori said Ikyu had signed a joint venture with ifeng.com, a subsidiary of the Phoenix media group.

Traditional players are also moving in. The Chinese joint venture of Japan Travel Bureau, JTB New Century International Tours, has just been given the go-ahead to start handling overseas travel arrangements on behalf of Chinese nationals.

Chinese travellers visiting Japan surged 40.5% on the year to a record 1.41 million in 2010, accounting for 16% of all foreign visitors to Japan.

When I was there, a huge delegation of Chinese tourism ministry officials was due to visit Japan. This, it is hoped, will send a strong signal of confidence to Chinese travellers that it is safe to return to Japan.

I, for one, found it as safe and special as it’s always been.