Mayor Mufi Hannemann spent the first half of his weeklong trip in Japan promoting Honolulu and Hawai'i as a destination rich in culture and business opportunities while gathering information on such city government issues as recycling and rail transit systems.

While there haven't been any concrete developments so far on the trip, the mayor was optimistic that the face-to-face meetings with travel agency officials, business leaders and others will pay off.

"We brainstormed about a lot of ideas; these things take time to develop," Hannemann said yesterday in a phone interview. "First of all, the purpose is to let them know that the city is interested and wants to be an active partner, and that message is very well-received. And secondly, even if things weren't in our kuleana ... we said to them that we'd be more than happy to interface with our state counterparts."

The mayor left Honolulu on Oct. 1 and will return Saturday. He has said the trip will cost taxpayers about $8,000 for his and an aide's travel expenses.

Three City Council members are using their travel budgets to visit Japan for part of the trip, including Rod Tam, who is going for the whole trip, and council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz and Todd Apo, who will join part of the trip on their way back from a conference in Singapore.

Hannemann said he told Japanese travel officials the city and state are sensitive to concerns that Hawai'i needs to offer more cultural attractions rather than just relying on sun, sand and surf.

He said he was interested in hosting a hula festival in Hono-lulu and an event showcasing Hawaiian quilts, as well as possibly expanding the Honolulu Festival to bring more Japanese visitors here and lengthen their stay.

Hannemann, who was joined by leaders of state tourism agencies such as the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the Hawai'i Convention Center, also said he told tourism officials he would like to work with them in promoting health and wellness travel here.

"The Japan market is very important and we're in our second year of growth after six years of decline, so anything the mayor can do to stimulate growth in that area is welcome," said Frank Haas, director of tourism marketing for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "In Japan, officialdom really is important to some of those audiences, so someone like the mayor or the governor would always add some weight to our efforts."

Hannemann said he also stressed to tourism officials that "I'll make sure that we'll never shirk our responsibility to make Honolulu a safe and secure destination."

"That's very important, especially in the wake of Bali," he said, adding that he learned that 5,000 Japanese tourists canceled trips to Bali following a recent bombing there. "That's unfortunate for Bali, and obviously we don't want that to happen anywhere, but it is an opportunity for us to seize the moment that those Japanese tourists want to go elsewhere."

Hannemann also said he has been encouraging business leaders to have meetings and retreats in Hawai'i. The mayor said he pointed to Hoku Scientific Inc's chairman and co-founder Dustin Shindo, who spoke at a reception on Monday, "as an example of how we are moving beyond sun, sand, sea and surf (to) science and technology."

Hannemann and representatives from the Honolulu Film Office and Hawaii International Film Association also were to meet with Japanese film studio executives.

State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson also said it's helpful having a high-ranking government official such as the mayor publicly support Hawai'i's film industry in Japan.

She said eight percent of the total film production expenditures in Hawai'i are from Japanese companies, adding that a healthy percentage would be about 15 percent to 20 percent.

"There is a huge value in having that one-on-one interaction. Huge," Dawson said. "The Japanese thrive on relationships.

"The film industry in general is one built upon relationships and networking, and it's important to have that face-to-face time with them and to show that you're willing to make the effort to be there and talk up the industry."

A large part of Hannemann's trip focuses on city government issues. He met with Kajima Construction on waste-energy conversion and recycling, and is meeting with companies interested in building a rail transit system in Honolulu.

The companies — Sumitomo Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., and Itochu Corp. — "are all knocking on our door, like companies throughout the United States," Hannemann said. "I think it just behooves us to come and see what they have. They have it all here, they have all forms of transit here."

Hannemann said he would also bring back ideas on high-tech opportunities from his meetings with Japan's largest mobile telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo and Sony, which he said pitched its smart-card technology.

The city in May canceled a contract with Royal Contracting Co. to set up a smart-card program for TheBus but has been looking at ways to bring back that technology, he said.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.