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Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

cnn.com

31–40 of 136 posts

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#31
I had a job that had me traveling a lot. I got very used to international travel, alone.

I thought I’d miss it, when I retired.

That turns out not to be the case.

The thought of getting onto a plane, turns my stomach.

I like being other places, but the process of getting there, has become a nightmare.

I’ve been traveling internationally, since I was a child.

Things have changed.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#33
post #3

Anecdotally from friends, I'd say the top three reasons are: * Lack of money * Lack of time off from work * Lack of English skills, making travel abroad intimidating. In previous generations this was counteracted by bus tours with Japanese guides, but those are seen as lame by the younger generations.

Counterpoints on the last two:

- South Korea

- Thailand

- Taiwan

- Hawaii

The CNN article does this too, but "traveling" doesn't just mean going to the US or EU. Japanese used to travel a lot to neighbour countries and that didn't cost that much, nor require much english skills.

Now money is clearly a factor, but this would go deeper than travel and more into how many Japanese are giving up on many luxuries as they feel the pressure. Hell, part of the younger generation doesn't want to date because it feels like a money pit.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

id probably add to that: Lots of hostile neighbors. Korea/japan (both koreas) relations aren't great, netiher are russia nor china. Meaning you gotta fly a long long way to get anywhere. Similar to how there are many people from american midwest whove never been abroad. living in europe all my life, almost everyone has been abroad here, but much much fewer have ever left europe, which is essentially what japanese peo…

> id probably add to that: Lots of hostile neighbors. Korea/japan (both koreas) relations aren't great, netiher are russia nor china. Meaning you gotta fly a long long way to get anywhere. South Korea is one of the top international destinations for Japanese people. It has varied over time, but right now it actually may be the top destination.

Yeah, and K-pop and K-dramas are massively popular in Japan.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#35
I spent some time in Japan a decade ago and made some good Japanese friends. But I got to know a bit about their life work imbalance and it makes the US look like Europe. Combined with the hassle of traveling in a world of rude tourists, influencers, scammers and crappy airlines I completely understand why Japanese would be reluctant to leave their country.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#36
I kinda wish more countries would adopt this mindset. Tourism and the hospitality industry is incredibly scummy, and all the people flocking to take original pictures holding up leaning tower of piza[1] are contributing to the problem.

Almost anything evil you can think of ranging from money laundering, theft, smuggling, all the way to sex trafficking and child prostitution. It all becomes so much easier if run out of a hotel.

Often a cash business, often anonymous, people from all over come and go and even if the card requires registration and card payments there's still a lot of plausible deniability.

[1] http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-59WY5njH9CA/UZUfoKQjitI/AAAAAAAAFW...

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#37
post #3

Anecdotally from friends, I'd say the top three reasons are: * Lack of money * Lack of time off from work * Lack of English skills, making travel abroad intimidating. In previous generations this was counteracted by bus tours with Japanese guides, but those are seen as lame by the younger generations.

Isn't the "Lack of English skills" easily solved with the plethora of translator devices and apps these days? About a decade+ ago (I think 2010-11), I remember a woman who sat next to me after Narita, traveling "to explore India." She carried a tiny device the size of a typical compact (make-up thing for person who wants/needs to make up). She had no idea about English but can communicate via her device and it was pr…

It's nice if you don't have to use it much. Otherwise it's a device that makes all your communication lag, and you'te also putting a lot of faith in the translation when you're alone in a foreign country.

For ordering at a restaurant it's fine. For trying to find a way to go to the consulate because your bag was stolen, it's not ideal.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the "Lack of English skills" easily solved with the plethora of translator devices and apps these days? About a decade+ ago (I think 2010-11), I remember a woman who sat next to me after Narita, traveling "to explore India." She carried a tiny device the size of a typical compact (make-up thing for person who wants/needs to make up). She had no idea about English but can communicate via her device and it was pr…

For me personally using a translator app just adds an additional layer of awkward to every interaction. Where you have to fiddle with it and the other person might not understand how to interact with it right away. It's not a huge problem, but if your not super confident already, it might be enough to discourage you. When I went to japan, lots of people where very hesitant to use their english. Like they didn't want…

I believe it is common with some nationalities (S Korea, for example) to study to the point of perfection but be very reluctant to speak another language outside of a classroom situation.

As a UK citizen, we have the opposite problem.

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#39
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that explains everything. In many other countries “the $Foo is at its weakest in decades, and many Foo workers haven’t had a raise in 30 years” means young people will be more inclined to emigrate and that isn’t happening in Japan, AFAIK ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_diaspora#Americas : “The Japanese diaspora has been unique in the absence of new emigration flows in the second half of the 20t…

TYO to LAX ticket cost, travel time? TYO to PAR?

I don’t think travel time matters much. As to prices, are those more expensive than those from Bangalore or Bucharest to LA or NY?

Re: Why Japan has so many ‘never travelers’

#40
post #3

Anecdotally from friends, I'd say the top three reasons are: * Lack of money * Lack of time off from work * Lack of English skills, making travel abroad intimidating. In previous generations this was counteracted by bus tours with Japanese guides, but those are seen as lame by the younger generations.

Counterpoints on the last two: - South Korea - Thailand - Taiwan - Hawaii The CNN article does this too, but "traveling" doesn't just mean going to the US or EU. Japanese used to travel a lot to neighbour countries and that didn't cost that much, nor require much english skills. Now money is clearly a factor, but this would go deeper than travel and more into how many Japanese are giving up on many luxuries as they f…

Why would any of the places you mentioned not require English skills?
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