Government Wants 20 Million Foreign Tourists In 2020

[Mulboyne]

The foreign ministry has employed boy band Arashi for a series of commercials aimed at attracting greater numbers of foreign tourists.

[Ganma]

The foreign ministry has employed boy band Arashi for a series of commercials aimed at attracting greater numbers of foreign tourists.

I can see this might work within Asia, where pretty boys are all the rage. Not so much for the rest of the world. But then China is the big ticket for J tourism so it could be the best celeb choice.

[FG Lurker]

I can see this might work within Asia, where pretty boys are all the rage. Not so much for the rest of the world. But then China is the big ticket for J tourism so it could be the best celeb choice.

Yeah, cause boy bands and young actors never develop a crazy following of all ages in the west...

[Ganma]

Yeah, cause boy bands and young actors never develop a crazy following of all ages in the west...

J boy bands haven't had any success in the west to my knowledge. The other way around, sure. J girls do better. E.g. Puffy in the US.

[Mulboyne]

[YThq]ldr7wiluLE4[/YThq]

[cujojpn]

J boy bands haven't had any success in the west to my knowledge. The other way around, sure. J girls do better. E.g. Puffy in the US.

And Pufffy is a one-off I dont think of any other J musicians that have had a following in the US.

[IparryU]

And Pufffy is a one-off I dont think of any other J musicians that have had a following in the US.

i just dont see that happening...

perhaps that japan says that the radiation has had some positive effects on their people for example, the above boy band, they now have an increased penis size of + 5 inches

[james]

perhaps that japan says that the radiation has had some positive effects on their people for example, the above boy band, they now have an increased penis size of + 5 inches

what is that in siemens?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

[YThq]ldr7wiluLE4[/YThq]

Is this message also applicable in Taiwan?

[Mulboyne]

Unclear whether this was the couple asking about love hotels.

The Shibuya Tourist Information Centre, located in a railway carriage set up outside the Hachiko exit of Shibuya station, is halfway through its six week tenure. Staff say they have handled inquiries from 48 different foreign nationalities but also field questions from Japanese who are visiting from outside Tokyo.

Staff say foreign tourists have asked for details of specifically Japanese shops - such as takoyaki restaurants - as well as directions to the love hotel district, electronics retailers, Don Quijote and karaoke joints with English songs.

[CrankyBastard]

[Yokohammer]

Cranky, that's classic!

Travel to Japan is easy today - it's just 32 hours or a day and one-third from the U.S. mainland ...

Yep. I didn't manage to get over here in 1950 when the article was written (er ... wasn't actually born until a few years after that), but when I did travel to Japan from Oz with the ol' man for the first time in '67 I remember having to make stopovers in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong, at least. Hong Kong was a layover, so it took a couple of days, even by air.

I'd be interested to know what a $450 tour would have been like back then. That would have been JPY 360 to the dollar, no?
JPY 162,000 ... with a much lower cost of living. Wow.

Your client can see this in the new freedom of the women ...

That strategy seems to have worked pretty well.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Yep. I didn't manage to get over here in 1950 when the article was written (er ... wasn't actually born until a few years after that), but when I did travel to Japan from Oz with the ol' man for the first time in '67 I remember having to make stopovers in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong, at least. Hong Kong was a layover, so it took a couple of days, even by air.

Reminds me of arriving in Oz in the early '70s...Dublin (after a 4-hour drive from Galway)-London-Bahrain (overnight stay)-Singapore (overnight stay)-Darwin-Sydney-Melbourne....I think I left as an infant and arrived as I came of age.

[Coligny]

Reminds me of arriving in Oz in the early '70s...Dublin (after a 4-hour drive from Galway)-London-Bahrain (overnight stay)-Singapore (overnight stay)-Darwin-Sydney-Melbourne....I think I left as an infant and arrived as I came of age.

At least you wuz not eaten by the dingos... or by a satanic possessed roadtrain...

(yeah, still searching for me movie... and watching all them southern hemisphere horror movies...)

[Yokohammer]

Reminds me of arriving in Oz in the early '70s...Dublin (after a 4-hour drive from Galway)-London-Bahrain (overnight stay)-Singapore (overnight stay)-Darwin-Sydney-Melbourne....I think I left as an infant and arrived as I came of age.

Me grandad on me mum's side is Irish. That makes me a quarter!
The other three quarters are of Engrish ancestly.

Never been to the U.K though ...

[CrankyBastard]

[quote="Yokohammer"]Cranky, that's classic!


Yep. I didn't manage to get over here in 1950 when the article was written (er ... wasn't actually born until a few years after that), but when I did travel to Japan from Oz with the ol' man for the first time in '67 I remember having to make stopovers in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong, at least. Hong Kong was a layover, so it took a couple of days, even by air.

I'd be interested to know what a $450 tour would have been like back then. That would have been JPY 360 to the dollar, no?
JPY 162,000 ... with a much lower cost of living. Wow.


That strategy seems to have worked pretty well. ]


I first set foot ashore here as a wide eyed deck cadet on a rust bucket of a tramp ship in 1958. First port of call Moji, they were still coal bunkering ships by hand, coolie style on the wharf we were alongside.
There were still some Japanese guys wearing tattered war uniforms in the town. 'Tea house Of the August Moon' atmosphere was prevalent.
The next time I came was three years later, and Japan was already taking over the world's shipbuilding industry. The whole country was galvanized into a state of frenzied build, build, build. But the people seemed happier than at any time since, or at least that's how it appeared to me. On reflection I was young and probably saw things in a happier light.

Getting back on topic....In all the time I've been here, I've yet to meet any Japanese people who seriously believe that Japan is or could be a tourist mecca.
JMHO

[Greji]

I first set foot ashore here as a wide eyed deck cadet on a rust bucket of a tramp ship in 1958. First port of call Moji, they were still coal bunkering ships by hand, coolie style on the wharf we were alongside.

Since I am so much younger than Cranky and despise anything that floats and doesn't have wings, I waited until after the end of his wooden sailing ships jidai and choose to arrive in Japan by air on my first trip. It was aboard that internationally renown carrier, "Saturn Airlines" and took somewhere around 33 hours with pertinent tourist stops and such must see spots as Wake Island and Kwajalein, shooing gooney birds off the runways to fly. Finally landed in Tokyo to begin a long and successful career of carousing....

[Coligny]

Since I am so much younger than Cranky and despise anything that floats and doesn't have wings...

Lulwhut ?



No way...



Ok maybe...



NOW weezza talkin'

[Russell]

NOW weezza talkin'

Yep, the MD-160 Lun-class ekranoplan. Seems the Russian Federation plans to resume building them in 2012.

[Coligny]

Yep, the MD-160 Lun-class ekranoplan. Seems the Russian Federation plans to resume building them in 2012.

Yea, that's the good part with being Russian... so many drunk in so many sheds that there is always an increased probality that one of them will survive the "hey y'all watch this !!!" phase of redneck engineering and actually make the stuff work. However improbable the original idea was...

[CrankyBastard]

Since I am so much younger than Cranky and despise anything that floats and doesn't have wings, I waited until after the end of his wooden sailing ships jidai and choose to arrive in Japan by air on my first trip. It was aboard that internationally renown carrier, "Saturn Airlines" and took somewhere around 33 hours with pertinent tourist stops and such must see spots as Wake Island and Kwajalein, shooing gooney birds off the runways to fly. Finally landed in Tokyo to begin a long and successful career of carousing....

Just as I figured, you young Johnny-come-latelys had an easy trip!
We pathfinders left just enough carousing leftovers for you to keep YBF from becoming extinct.

[Greji]

Just as I figured, you young Johnny-come-latelys had an easy trip!
We pathfinders left just enough carousing leftovers for you to keep YBF from becoming extinct.

Cranky, that is where you old farts differ from us young kids! Leftovers to us is just another name for Hors D'Oeuvre's. We'll handle any sand crabs you old salts wanna leave us....When I landed at Haneda Air Station, you could find them flopping all over up and down the beach, just waiting to be serviced properly.....

[Mulboyne]

Kyoto has issued some data for tourist numbers in 2010. The 5.7% rise may seem somewhat irrelevant given the problems this year but there was one figure which caught my eye.

The greatest number of tourists to Japan come from Asia, but it seems Westerners, specifically Americans, still hold the top spot in one narrow category. Kyoto says that hotels registering foreign guests last year counted 281,000 Americans (28.8% of the total) which was way ahead of second-placed Australia with 77,000 (7.9%) and China in third place with 76,000 (7.8%).

Presumably, the more numerous Asian tourists stay in Osaka hotels, or elsewhere, and only do Kyoto in a day trip rather than booking in overnight.

Source (Japanese)

[dimwit]

Judging by what I have seen in Matsuyama (walking my dog around Dogo Onsen), I think that tourists are almost back up to the 2010 levels, after a being way down during the spring and early summer. I suspect the same thing is true all over western Japan.

[Mulboyne]

Judging by what I have seen in Matsuyama (walking my dog around Dogo Onsen), I think that tourists are almost back up to the 2010 levels, after a being way down during the spring and early summer. I suspect the same thing is true all over western Japan.

Nationwide, July tourist numbers were down 36.1% from last year. A new worry for the industry is the stronger yen.

Source (Japanese)

[matsuki]

Nationwide, July tourist numbers were down 36.1% from last year. A new worry for the industry is the stronger yen.

Source (Japanese)

Stronger yen + Japanese overpricing, factored with the insanely expensive fuel surcharge to fly here makes coming to Japan retarded expensive vacation option.

[Mock Cockpit]

Stronger yen + Japanese overpricing, factored with the insanely expensive fuel surcharge to fly here makes coming to Japan retarded expensive vacation option.

Depends where you're from. Japan is still great value for Australians, has been for the last 5 years. US, UK and European tourists on the other hand are getting bum raped on the exchange rate. The pound especially is getting a double fisting.

[Christoff]

Stronger yen + Japanese overpricing, factored with the insanely expensive fuel surcharge to fly here makes coming to Japan retarded expensive vacation option.

Try flying to England.

[Mock Cockpit]

[Mulboyne]