THE FILIPINO-JAPANESE JOURNAL

In an exclusive interview with FilJap Magazine, the beautiful and smart TV host and sportscaster Cesca Litton happily talks about her recent trip to the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ – how fascinated she was with the culture, the weather, the food and the people; what she admired most about the Japanese people and whose statue she hugged!

FJM: How do you find Japan and its people?

Cesca: I loved it! I really enjoyed taking the trains, the weather was absolutely perfect, and I was so excited seeing people dressed up in Japanese fashion, it’s so eye catching and different from what you see in Manila. And the Japanese people are very polite and friendly to tourists.

FJM: What are the popular tourist spots that you visited?

Cesca: Harajuku, Shibuya, Omotesando and US Naval Base

FJM: Of all those places, what do you like the most and why?

Cesca: Harajuku, because of the wild array of people dressed up in all these different outfits, and Shibuya, because of the huge intersection with all the neon lights. Plus that’s where the statue of Hachiko is.

FJM: What is your most unforgettable experience in Japan?

Cesca: Sitting down in the middle of the train tracks in the middle of the night. (Okay so maybe I wasn’t really allowed to do that.) Sitting in the middle of an empty train. (Because the whole time I was there, every train I rode was packed with people except for that one car.) I also met the Black Widow, Jeannette Lee at the US Navy base, she did an exhibition there. And I hugged Hachiko’s statue. I am a huge dog lover. Hachiko’s story made me cry; as I’m sure it made a lot of you cry as well.

FJM: Were you able to mingle with other Filipinos?

Cesca: Yes, my boyfriend has relatives and family friends in Japan. They took such good care of us while we were there.

FJM: What’s the best Japanese food that you’ve tried?

Cesca: We ate at this restaurant called Maisen, and I kid you not, it was the best tonkatsu I’ve ever had in my life. I would go back to Japan just to eat there again.

FJM: In that short trip, what values do you think the Filipinos should learn/adapt from the Japanese?

Cesca: Discipline. I admire the Japanese for their discipline and organization, how clean everything was, and their determination to retain their honor. But we Filipinos already have these traits, we just need to hone them and remind each other of our strengths.

FJM: Any message to your Filipino fans in Japan?

Cesca: I will never forget what the wife of a pastor in a Filipino church in France told me, that you will never see a Filipino sleeping on foreign streets, because another Filipino has taken them in. I hope this love extends far beyond the reaches of Europe, and I know, without a doubt, that the Filipino community in Japan is just as amazing. I hope I get to meet you when I come back to Japan, because believe, me, I will be back. God bless you!

(Text by Nel Salvador, Edited by Florenda Corpuz)

(Photos courtesy of Cesca Litton)

(Published in the July-August 2012 issue of FilJap Magazine, Japan)