A JAPANESE TV crew is descending on York to film a nostalgic travel programme - which could be watched by more than one million viewers.

Distinguished Japanese scientist Professor Fumiko Yonezawa will be visiting the city next Friday to film a series called Journey Of My Heart", which is all about his travels to England.

Programme co-ordinator Momoko Williams said: "Each episode is constructed in the form of a travelogue. A prominent Japanese person visits a place abroad of which they have particular memories or which had a special influence upon their life.

" The central person in this story is Professor Yonezawa - a distinguished scientist - who spent a year in Britain from 1963-64. She studied at Keele University and she is making her journey back to where her career as a physicist began.

"The first trip she and her husband made in England was York in 1963 and we would like to film her remembering the happy time she spent there."

The programme will include general shots of Professor Yonezawa walking around old York including the Castle Wall and the Minster.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "Up to one million people in Japan tune into this series each week which will create fantastic exposure for the city."

Meanwhile, the makers of popular religious programme Songs of Praise are appealing for people to make up a 500-strong congregation, when it returns to York Minster on Thursday, October 11. Entry is free, but tickets must be obtained beforehand by phoning 0161 244 3274.

There will also be a programme of remembrance from York Minster on October 10, and in the New Year BBC Religion will come back to film the York Mystery Plays.

Updated: 11:50 Saturday, September 29, 2001