Most tourists do not want to come back to Japan

Jack · 23 Jun 2005

According to this article, at least 60% of Asian tourists who came to Japan do not want to come back.

http://homepage.mac.com/naoyuki_hashimoto/iblog/C478131471/E1429889788/index.html

"Amazingly, Japan stopped taking surveys of foreigner's impressions since 1997. In 1997, there was clear evidence that people's impressions of Japan had worsened after visiting....

Asian tourists, most of who come from the wealthy classes of their own countries, were subjected to outdated group-style tours, which even Japanese commoners loathe. Every destination served the same food, had the same public baths, karaoke and video arcades."

Maciamo · 23 Jun 2005

Maybe the problem is how they visited Japan rather than Japan itself. Obviously if they joined a stupid tour as you described, whatever country they went to they must not have enjoyed it much.

Then there is less attraction for other East Asians to visit Japan than for Westerners, because everything that fascinates Westerners at first is how different Japan is. But after visiting South Korea, Singapore, etc. I realised that it is quite similar to Japan in many ways (food, temples, architecture, way of thinking...). It's a bit like for a Brit to go to Germany or France (or vice versa), but without the touristical attractions, as, to be honest, there aren't so many nice historical buildings left in Japan (or Korea, etc.).

Westerners come to Japan mostly for those reasons, which does not have the same effect on other Asians :

- different culture, buddhism, temples, kanji, etc.
- exotic food
- exotic people (i.e. who look and think very differently)
- J-girls (for men, and the Asian woman-Western man attraction is a proven factor)
- manga, video games, electronics, pop culture... (well, that could attract other Asians too)

That is why Westerners should be in general more interested in Japan than other East Asians.

Minxie · 24 Jun 2005

A lot of countries have a lot more SPACE than others. So if they go visit Tokyo, they might feel a little overwhelmed and cramped. Everything in Japan is close/tight/small. I would never go on a tour (to any country) because then you really don't have much interaction with the commonfolk, don't get to see what you really want to see etc. I personally feel that NYC is probably less cramped/crowded than Tokyo. But like Japan's countryside, its really similar to the Mid-West and some other parts in NY, so like what you said before, maybe it is the geography/topagraphy/similarity of an area which some people dislike.

This scenario reminds me of an old childhood movie "Big Bird Goes to Japan". LOL if you haven't seen it... don't ask *puahahaha

(I personally think that Japan take an updated survey and see if any of the opinions have changed.)

Maciamo · 24 Jun 2005

Minxie said:
A lot of countries have a lot more SPACE than others. So if they go visit Tokyo, they might feel a little overwhelmed and cramped. Everything in Japan is close/tight/small. I would never go on a tour (to any country) because then you really don't have much interaction with the commonfolk, don't get to see what you really want to see etc. I personally feel that NYC is probably less cramped/crowded than Tokyo.

First, remember we are talking about other East Asian countries. I fon't think most Chinese or Koreans (which represent the biggest part of foreign visitors to Japan) live in less crowded conditions than the Japanese.

Second, for me Japan has quite a lot of wild space. Just go to England (not the rest of the UK) or the Benelux, and you will see that it's very difficult to get vast expanses of nature like you'd find in Hokkaido, Tohoku or the Japanese Alps. The point with Japan is that about half the population lives in 2 densely packed areas : the Greater Tokyo and Kansai, and occupy only a fraction of the land. But given the wide avenues and sidewalks/pavement in Tokyo I rarely get the feeling it is crowded the way I feel it even in small in European cities during the sales or the touristical season (ever been to Oxford in June-July ?).

Alia · 24 Jun 2005

As far as the nature and outdoors go, I watched the Discovery Chanel's program, "Tokyo, Skycity" and they are currently looking into construction/building options that would actually lessen the concrete and increase the foliage again.

The only problem is, that they are going up into the sky and that in itself for tall skyscraper type buildings is a problem.

I can see why other Asian tourists would not want to revisit another Asian country/area.
But did they do surveys that included a large number of non-Asian tourists?

I would hate to think that everyone's opinion was that way.

Jack · 24 Jun 2005

Maciamo said:
Maybe the problem is how they visited Japan rather than Japan itself. Obviously if they joined a stupid tour as you described, whatever country they went to they must not have enjoyed it much.

Then there is less attraction for other East Asians to visit Japan than for Westerners, because everything that fascinates Westerners at first is how different Japan is. But after visiting South Korea, Singapore, etc. I realised that it is quite similar to Japan in many ways (food, temples, architecture, way of thinking...). It's a bit like for a Brit to go to Germany or France (or vice versa), but without the touristical attractions, as, to be honest, there aren't so many nice historical buildings left in Japan (or Korea, etc.).

Westerners come to Japan mostly for those reasons, which does not have the same effect on other Asians :

- different culture, buddhism, temples, kanji, etc.
- exotic food
- exotic people (i.e. who look and think very differently)
- J-girls (for men, and the Asian woman-Western man attraction is a proven factor)
- manga, video games, electronics, pop culture... (well, that could attract other Asians too)

That is why Westerners should be in general more interested in Japan than other East Asians.

I see where your coming from , if they dont enjoy the holiday then its clearly what there holiday entailed not the country itself, or maybe they weren't prepared at the total change in culture when they arrived. Like in the recent hit film, "lost in translation" i think that film, they always said through out they want to get out of tokyo, but when they embraced the crazy ways of Tokyo they totally enjoyed it.

Theres a lesson to be learned i think.

Most tourists do not want to come back to Japan

Jack

後輩

Maciamo

先輩

Minxie

先輩

Maciamo

先輩

Alia

Nekogirl

Jack

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