Sean: 観å‰åº

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Sean:
観光庁
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1198126906.shtml


   That [1]this announcement is not getting much attention is very
   suggestive:

     At a 19 December meeting, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and
     Transport Tetsuzo Fuyushiba and Minister of Interior Affairs Hiroya
     Masuda agreed to establish a new Tourism Agency in October 2008.
     The agency will be external to the MLIT. It will be geared toward
     attaining the goal of bringing the number of foreign travelers who
     visit Japan up to 10 million by 2010. This is the first new federal
     organization established at "agency" level since the Financial
     Services Agency in July 2000. Because the Marine Accident Inquiry
     Agency will be abolished, among other mergers and cuts in
     organizations, the total number of agencies in the government will
     not change.
     ...
     The MLIT [justified] its budgetary application this way: "The
     establishment [of this new agency] will be indispensable in light
     of our goal of building Japan up as a tourist destination."

   It's encouraging that the government is recognizing that Japan has
   been left (far) behind as the tourism sector has developed. A book
   could be written on how that happened--Alex Kerr has a whole chapter
   on it in [2]Dogs and Demons. Japan has all the raw materials to be an
   industry powerhouse: an established global brand identity in both
   esoteric high culture and funky pop culture, a first-world standard of
   living, highly developed transportation infrastructure. It's
   expensive, but so are plenty of other favorite destinations for
   travelers. And for Americans and Europeans, it's certainly no harder
   to get to than Bali or Thailand.
   And yet, there's plenty about the place that's forbidding and, I
   suspect, signals to people that it's not the place to come to relax.
   Japanese people are very helpful to tourists who stop and ask for
   directions on the street and such, but almost no one really speaks
   English, let alone French, German, Spanish, or Mandarin. That's true
   even in the big hotels and resorts. Friends of mine who work in hotel
   management can go on for hours about how difficult it is to get staff
   who can communicate effectively with guests and respond flexibly to
   their needs.
   Speaking of being flexible, Japan famously isn't. That helps make the
   country safe and clean, but it can also make adventure difficult, even
   in interesting city neighborhoods. Establishments that don't want
   foreign customers tend to turn them curtly away at the door or,
   sometimes, allow them to enter and then just fail to serve them until
   they leave. (It wouldn't make the motivation any less obnoxious, but
   least a polite "I'm sorry, but we're just not set up to accommodate
   non-Japanese guests" would soften things a bit.) Resort design is
   intruded on by plasticky fixtures, and countryside views are intruded
   on by pylons and blocky buildings.
   Enjoying Japan takes effort, and it leaves people a little worn out by
   the end of their stay. I have only fragmentary anecdotal evidence for
   this, but I suspect that when people go home from Japan and chat about
   it with their friends, what they convey is "Fascinating place! But
   being there felt so odd" rather than "Fascinating place! You really
   must go sometime!" People who come once don't have enough incentive to
   come back, and people who haven't been somehow always find reasons to
   visit other places first.
   Of course, none of this matters intrinsically. Not being able to speak
   English is not a moral failing. The problem is that the noises the
   federal government is making indicate that Japan wants to get in on
   the lucrative tourism game, and I'm not sure that better ad campaigns
   in foreign countries address the real issues. But the move probably
   means more jobs for bureaucrats, which is always a good thing!

References

   1. http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/keizai/20071219AT3S1902319122007.html
   2. http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0809039435/102-2057443-2446538?SubscriptionId=1100889MK2XY9PSTV5G2