HAVANA -- (AP) -- Dozens of travel agents, journalists and tourists arrived in
 Cuba Tuesday evening on the first of four Japanese flights aimed at discovering
 whether this Caribbean island could become a major tourism destination for Asian
 travelers.

 At the same time, the flights will help expose the Cuban people to people and
 customs from another part of the world, said Kenya Uno, chief political and
 economic officer for the Japanese Embassy in Havana.

 Each of the four charter flights of Boeing 747 jets owned by Japan Airlines will
 carry up to 350 passengers. The first flight carried 286 travelers.

 The visits are the result of an agreement between the airline and the
 state-operated Cuban tourism company Cubanacan. For the visits to continue
 after the initial flights, there will have to be enough Japanese interested to make
 the trips worth the cost, Uno said.

 The four trial trips call for five days on the island, with visits to the beach resort of
 Varadero and the colonial city of Trinidad, as well as the capital Havana.

 Traveling on the first flight were members of the board of directors of Japan
 Airlines, as well as Masatake Kusamichi, member of the board of directors of the
 Nissho-Iwai corporation, which is among the 10 largest commercial firms in
 Japan. Nissho-Iwai is also the principal commercial creditor of Cuba.

 About 4,000 Japanese visited Cuba last year, and that number could surpass
 5,000 this year, according to Japanese Embassy estimates. Japanese officials
 add that much will depend on the kind of attention received by the Japanese
 visitors, who are accustomed to first-class service.

 So far the service in Cuba, Uno said, ``does not reach that level.''

 To prepare for the first wave of Japanese visitors, the chef from the Japanese
 ambassador's residence in Havana gave a three-day course in sushi preparation
 to the chefs at one of the capital's best hotels, the Melia Cohiba.

 As for the Cubans chefs' first efforts at sushi, said Uno, ``We tasted it ... and
 frankly, it turned out very well.''