(aka JTB), is the largest

travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and one of the largest travel agencies in the world. It specializes in

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. There are branches all over the world to help Japanese and non-Japanese guests in both private leisure and corporate / business fields. It was formerly owned by the Japanese government. It is headquartered in the JTB Building in

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

History

The company was established as "" in 1912, primarily serving foreign visitors to Japan. In 1941 the company was renamed as , and in the following year changed its status from corporation to

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

, while still retaining its travel agency functions. After World War II, the company was renamed as "". In 1963, Japan Travel Bureau was divided into two separate entities, with the travel agency arm becoming an independent corporation while the foundation remained a non-profit organization. However, both organizations retained the Japan Travel Bureau banner. On January 1, 2001, the corporation was renamed "JTB Corporation", while the foundation retained the Japan Travel Bureau name. And then in 1997, operations began. The original JTB company, "JTB Corporation", has since diversified into other businesses including

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

s, financial services, consumer goods, publishing, telecommunications and more. The entity that operates its flagship travel business is JTBGMT which supplies tours and other Japan Travel products directly to customers and to travel agents under its "Sunrise Tour" brand. The publishing arm of JTB Corp. produces the popular "Rurubu" magazine which, in 2010, was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as most widely-sold travel guide series in the world. The company also publishes the ''Japan In Your Pocket'' series of tourist guide mini-books.Goodreads - Japan In Your Pocket series
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References

External links

JTB Global Website

JTB GMT
- JTB Branch
JAPANiCAN.com
- Travel website powered by JTB GMT
JTB
- official website Travel and holiday companies of Japan Service companies based in Tokyo Travel agencies {{Japan-corp-stub