Young Japanese Not Going Abroad

[Mulboyne]

ZakZak has an article (Japanese) saying that not only are young people in Japan no longer buying cars or drinking, they are also going abroad less frequently. Last year, overseas travellers numbered 17.29 million which represented the first decline in four years. The travel industry blames the internet, saying that young people can now get so much information about the world for free that they are "travelling in their minds" rather than using their passports. This thesis would seem to need more evidence: arguably the web has encouraged more younger travellers to visit Japan precisely because information on the country and culture is more readily available. The peak for overseas travel was in 2000 when 17.82 million left the country. The 9-11 terrorist attacks and the SARS outbreak in Asia drove those numbers down to 13.3 million in 2003 from where they had been steadily recovering until last year. People in their fifties and sixties are still going abroad in increasing numbers but those in their early twenties posted a 2.7% decline while late twentysomething travellers were down 4.6%. The travel business is planning to turn the tide but their "Visit World Campaign" has prompted some netizens to vent their spleen: "How can anyone go abroad on an income of only 1.5-2 million yen a year? I can't even afford a love hotel," wrote one. "It's not a question of experience or being able to seeing the world on TV and the net. It's more that I don't particularly want to go," said another. "Cars, baseball, science, pachinko, CDs and marriage are all things that young people are less interested in these days. They represent the values of thirty years ago." One 26 year old working in the travel business said that he tried to get his friends interested in his company's holiday packages but found a cool response. They said they were too busy and too poor and found the whole idea something of a turn-off. He understood their reaction - even he would take an onsen over going abroad to ease the stresses of work. If such attitudes persist, the industry's target of raising traveller numbers to 20 million will be tough to reach, says ZakZak.

[Takechanpoo]

Actually I never have been to foreign country. And no need to do that.

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]
Youth hostels popular with gray-hair travelers
May. 02 TOKYO - Kyodo
As travelers staying at Japanese youth hostels can attest, over-60s travelers are increasingly making their presence felt at youth hostels in resort areas in Japan. According to the Japan Youth Hostel Association, youth hostel membership among people over 60 rose 50 percent last year as overall membership dropped 16 percent to 62,600. Youth hostel officials say some youth hostels are renovating their facilities to cater for elderly travelers, such as ensuring barrier-free access. In this photo taken April 13, the entire dining hall of a youth hostel in Nara is taken up by elderly travelers.

[Greji]

Actually I never have been to foreign country. And no need to do that.

I find that totally surprising that and international minded man like youself Take with your vast knowledge of the foreign people and cultures, has not been out of your back yard.
Gee, wonders never cease!

[Jack]

There are at least five girls that look very doable in that picture, from where I sit.

[Big Booger]

I find that totally surprising that and international minded man like youself Take with your vast knowledge of the foreign people and cultures, has not been out of your back yard.
Gee, wonders never cease!

Hear hear, I second that motion. Passed. Next bill.

But does this perhaps have less to do with young being going abroad less than say LESS Fucking young people period? Or perchance the youngsters are just poorer than days of yore?

[Mulboyne]

In a move which will further reduce the number of young Japanese going overseas, Fuji TV has announced that the current season of Ainori will be the last. The Love Wagon will ride no more.

[james]

..and marriage are all things that young people are less interested in these days.

good on them.

[Mike Oxlong]

In a move which will further reduce the number of young Japanese going overseas, Fuji TV has announced that the current season of Ainori will be the last. The Love Wagon will ride no more.

What will the middle school crowd watch next season?!

[prolly]

wait wasn't japan just complaining recently that not enough japanese take vacations, or basically spend enough to travel within country, because it was cheaper (or something) to go to hawaii or somesuch?

[wuchan]

wait wasn't japan just complaining recently that not enough japanese take vacations, or basically spend enough to travel within country, because it was cheaper (or something) to go to hawaii or somesuch?

HUH?????? Japanese usually whine about co-workers taking too much vacation time.

It (until a few months ago) was cheaper to go to Hawaii than it was to go to okinawa. But the only thing to blame is supply and demand. If one goes to okinawa from tokyo you only need to show up 30 min ahead of departure time and walk through security, or you can go to Hawaii and show up two hours ahead and worry about missing the flight because you got stuck in the screening process which includes an online form needing to be filled out three weeks before the trip. Back to supply and demand.............

[Greji]

wait wasn't japan just complaining recently that not enough japanese take vacations, or basically spend enough to travel within country, because it was cheaper (or something) to go to hawaii or somesuch?

Why would anyone want to go overseas, when they could be seating in their shut-up room playing video and computer games while eating cup noodles and instant ramen. What else does one need?

[Behan]

Why would anyone want to go overseas, when they could be seating in their shut-up room playing video and computer games while eating cup noodles and instant ramen. What else does one need?

You describe paradise, Greji.

[FG Lurker]

What else does one need?

The occasional goat...

[Greji]

The occasional goat...

Now you're talking paradise. A small herd wouldn't hurt...

[Catoneinutica]

When we visited HK in '96 the place was overrun with J-tourists. Every rider on the Victoria Peak tram was squealing sugoi! in unison, and the mass of Nipponesers waiting to get into the Peninsula for high tea was dense enough to knock the earth off its axis - good thing they weren't jumping up and down.

HK this New Year's? Nary a J-tourist to be found, at least that I could hear (visual identification no longer seems very effective; even my wife was stymied).

[Mulboyne]

Japan Times: Fall in U.S. Japanese students worrisome

In a bid to stop the dramatic decline in Japanese studying in the United States, representatives of U.S. colleges and universities met Wednesday with education minister Ryu Shionoya to demand that Japan improve efforts to promote study abroad. After peaking at 47,000 in 1997, the number of Japanese studying in the U.S. has dropped nearly 30 percent to 34,000 as of 2007, according to the Institute of International Education, a U.S. group that promotes study abroad. This leaves Japan fourth behind India, China and South Korea, which had 94,500, 81,000, and 69,000 students, respectively, studying overseas. Shionoya said this number has to be raised. "Currently only 80,000 Japanese students go abroad every year," Shionoya said at the Education, Culture, Sports , Science and Technology Ministry. "Ideally I'd like to see the number increase to 300,000, which is the same number of international students Japan is aiming to accept."

A group representing 19 U.S. states and private universities asked Shionoya to increase funds for undergraduate scholarships, improve the credit transfer system, introduce September admissions and create a category for those who have studied abroad in Japan's statistical database. The group was led by Bob Soni of the International Student Network, a U.S. Web site for international students. Naomi Baldwin, an admissions representative from the University of Central Missouri, asked Shionoya to consolidate public loans and grants for students going abroad, and the minister in turn asked U.S. staff to visit Japan to talk with university students. Yoko Sakae, president of the Sakae Institute of Study Abroad and the organizer of the meeting, said admission officers from the U.S. have been limiting recruitment fairs in Japan to just a few days before rolling on to the bigger markets of China and South Korea. She said the drop in Japanese stems from the growing introspectiveness among young people, who are becoming more content with staying in Japan and losing interest in the U.S. "Young people returning from school trips abroad talk about how much cleaner and safer Japan is compared to other countries, and how much better its cuisine is," she said before the meeting.

While students in other parts of Asia find studying in the U.S. a great attraction that also helps them secure good jobs, their Japanese counterparts say it does not necessarily lead to better employment, she said. Now, those with strong English skills are being nudged toward Japanese universities with strong English departments instead, she said. Shionoya said that Japanese education should focus on globalization through direct experience. "The prime minister emphasizes the importance of nurturing English conversation," not just learning English as an academic subject, he said. Japanese students have a responsibility to contribute to improving the quality of life in other countries, Sakae said. "Japan is only so great to live in thanks to other countries. For example, Japanese eat food imported from Africa, where the poor are starving. It's wrong to say, 'That's because Japan is an economic superpower and we're paying,' " she said.

[Thanatos' embalmed botfly]

[floatl][/floatl]

There are at least five girls that look very doable in that picture, from where I sit.

I count four. And 2 of them might be blokes.

[Greji]

I count four. And 2 of them might be blokes.

That's alright! Jack's a switch hitter...

[Bucky]

the number of Japanese studying in the U.S. has dropped nearly 30 percent to 34,000 as of 2007

In 2007 we conducted a census of colleges and universities in Washington state. At that time there were over 2,000 Japanese students attending school there.

I guess it might be time to conduct another and see if there is any change.

[Taro Toporific]

Japan far behind in global language of business
Japan Times Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011

More...

[McTojo]

I find that totally surprising that and international minded man like youself Take with your vast knowledge of the foreign people and cultures, has not been out of your back yard.
Gee, wonders never cease!

No wonder he knows crap. I am still the cultural god of Japan.

[yarichin01]

[Fullback]

I would say it's the money - who has it and who doesn't. It's always about the money.

[Bucky]

I guess this could become a self-fulfilling prophecy fewer if students are coming now, and U.S. colleges decide to discontinue recruitment, then fewer and fewer will come after less aggressive recruiting.

More and more U.S. universities are apparently giving up on Japan as a target for recruiting students, as a survey showed that the number of U.S. universities taking part in publicity events in Japan has sharply dropped in recent years.

In the wake of a significant decrease in the number of Japanese students studying in the United States, the institutions are shifting their targets to other Asian countries, such as China.

Such a trend could affect Japan-U.S. relations in the future, observers said.
Japanese students used to be the largest group among foreign students at U.S. universities. But their number is now far below that of Chinese students.

Japan ranked sixth in terms of the number of foreign students studying at U.S. universities in the 2009-10 academic year.

Experts say the decrease reflects the inward-looking attitude of current Japanese students, a growing number of whom have no interest in studying overseas.

The Institute of International Education, a U.S. nonprofit organization that has promoted international exchange programs for study and training since 1919, has held study abroad fairs in Japan every year since 1991.

Reflecting the decreasing number of Japanese students who study in the United States, the number of U.S. universities participating in the fair dropped to 21 in 2010, one-fifth of the 106 that participated in 2006.

[canman]

Here is a little anecdotal evidence as to why students possibly aren't going abroad. My student, company manager, his son graduated from Ritsumeikan university in Kyoto, a good school, but decided he wanted to do post graduate studies. But he wanted to do it abroad, so he applied, was accepted and entered University of Exeter in England. He now about to receive his PHD from the school, and has been turned down for almost every job he has applied for in japan. Why, because he didn't follow the usual path of getting his post grad diploma from a Japanese university. Of course he can work abroad, but he wanted to come back to Japan. So why would people go abroad to study when they come back and find it much more difficult to find work, or get treated like 2nd class citizens.
Another US graduate I work with with her PHD from Ohio State was flately told by another colleague that only his worst students went to the US to study and get graduate degrees, as it was so easy to enter these schools and get a post graduate degree.

[Yokohammer]

Another US graduate I work with with her PHD from Ohio State was flately told by another colleague that only his worst students went to the US to study and get graduate degrees, as it was so easy to enter these schools and get a post graduate degree.

There seems to be a perception here that "hard-to-get-into" is the measure of a good school, which ignores the fact that once a student is accepted they can pretty much fuck off for the next however many years and still graduate.

I guess the concept of "easy-to-get-into but then you really have to work your ass of and study to graduate" hasn't caught on yet.

[Fullback]

A PhD in what?

I'd be shocked if it was in any discipline of engineering or the physical sciences. I could understand if the career goal was as an academic, since the job growth in Japanese universities has to be negative for the rest of our lives.

[Mulboyne]

...Of course he can work abroad...

Well, only if he can get a visa and that's becoming harder, certainly in Britain.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Well, only if he can get a visa and that's becoming harder, certainly in Britain.

It's tough in the US too.

canman, Like Fullback, I'd like to know what the PhD was in. If it's anything other than a technical discipline, I'm not surprised he's having trouble. A Chinese friend of mine told me in China the joke is that PhD stands for Pizza Hut Delivery. In the US, I think it gets you a job at Borders Books.