Japan is in economic turmoil right now, and its frustrating to see why Japan does not realize it. ARTICLES: www.cbsnews.co... www3.nhk.or.jp... #theanimeman #joey #japan Twitter: / thean1meman Main Channel: / thean1meman
Sad to see that Japan is literally getting in the way of itself. I planned to visit Japan this year, but I refuse to pay for overpriced tours. The point of going to Japan is to get the real authentic experience, I'd much rather not be stuck to somebody else's itinerary and timetable. Fingers crossed things change soon.
This is a little inside story from my experience. So, I went to Japan for university from 2015-2020 and graduated on March 2020. But then, I went on holiday at around February 2020 where I plan to return to Japan before resuming my stay. But then, the Pandemic hits, and Japan has been on lock down ever since. I can't return to Japan. Now, what's the problem? The thing is, I was living with a roommate at the time where she has 1 semester left to finish, so I thought it was fine for me to keep my stuff there since I could ask my roommate to sponsors me in order to stay for at least 3 months in Japan. HOWEVER. During end of March, my roommate went back to Germany to visit some relative. This result in BOTH of us not being in Japan, and that neither of us could enter Japan. Till this day, our stuff is still in Japan and that every month for the last 2 years, WE HAVE BEEN PAYING RENT FOR THE APARTMENT IN JAPAN EVEN THOUGH WE ARE NOT IN JAPAN. Our important documents, clothes, books, laptops and everything had been left in our apartment for the last 2 years!! And we can't enter Japan since they only allow group tour visit. Some of our friends can't enter our apartment, because those friends that we know, had already graduated has already moved out of Japan before the lockdown. Therefore, till this day, we still pay our apartment to them, and what's even worse is that, the apartment company isn't going to do a single thing to send our stuff back. I do however, plan on going to Japan around this year's September or even October. Depending on the situation. At this point, I want to go to Japan not to have fun, but simply just to get all my important documents back and process my moving out process from that goddamn parasitic money sucking apartment.
Kyoto's financial woes coming to light is actually a good thing. Before, they had all that tourism money to hide behind and cover up their fiscal mismanagement, but with that gone they finally need to do something about the core of the problem. In the long run, Kyoto's government will be better off fixing their debt issue instead of relying on tourists to bail them out.
Kyoto itself really hard to govern because of their city itself mostly of historic site and university that can not raise tax and can be use ton of money to maintain it , people have alternative choice live in Osaka ,Kobe more than live in Kyoto that have less area to live even city is gigantic (which is lead to high price of household) , a ton of student in city that city can get little profit from them , In my opinion they can bail out but must force central government to subsidies or support local government about historic site maintenance. (PS. Many local government that manage historic city want to scream a lot due to ton of limitation both UNESCO or central government but in case of Kyoto that have university make situation more worse)
What Kyoto needs is a complete "purging" of the bureaucratic politicians running the government in that prefecture and should hand it over to highly competent forensic accountants, historical site management teams with infrastructure maintenance specialists, and an expert group of funding distribution analysts that have PHD levels of experience with UNESCO Heritage Sites and other Historical site maintenance and management. Politicians only know how to rub elbows, drink Sake, and make cheerful conversations while draining the budget Yen into their own pockets while smiling and heading out the door. They are NOT needed for the Kyoto Prefectural Government. Well, that's my opinion anyways. I'm not in Japan, so I need someone to take my ideas and go make a BIG PUSH to make those changes and save the damn City!! By the Gods and Goddesses, It's the old Imperial Capital for cryin' out loud! It NEEDS to be saved!
@@p_1945 Except for the fact that they spent massive amounts of money on stupid shit, incurring huge debts with vanity projects. The new subway thing might have been a decent investment had COVID not happened, but Japan in general has been known for investing in useless public works projects attributed mostly to corruption (this was a big thing a decade ago and comes up often, and I doubt it changed much, since political turnover in Japan and corruption investigation is incredibly low there). Besides, Kyoto relied on tourism, and as long as restrictions are still going on, it will keep going bankrupt. The central Japanese government needs to pick up the slack if they actually want to keep Kyoto's historical sites preserved. Otherwise, they are just going to be eventually privatized, taken down, and have condo's or business buildings built in its place (which would cause a downward spiral for tourism in Kyoto, since most people go to Kyoto because it still has historical presence compared to ultra-modern tokyo).
This is one of the videos that I really think should either be in Japanese or have Japanese subtitles, just to open up the possibility of it falling into the ears of people that might actually be able to do something.
I remember the summer of 2020 watching a youtuber ask Kyoto citizens how do they feel that city was so empty, and most of them said how awesome it was. Not so wise reply considering how much Kyoto relying to tourists. Meanwhile in Sweden, people are like... what pandemic? What do you mean no tourists due to corona?
Tourism is a double-edged sword and a drug. It can be an enormous asset and a godsend to businesses, but the local economy will suffer once the tourism stops flowing. I live in Wisby, a tourist town, an island to the east of Sweden. It's a ghost town half the year: Dead, abandoned, desolate.
Lol, any citizen would have replied like this. Tourists are annoying for everyone. Also being entirely reliant on tourism is very bad as an economic strategy, and only emphasizes that Kyoto needs another plan.
One reason that certainly is impairing tourism no one states is the price of those guided tours, since only a handful of travel agencies can apply your visa for you, they are charging insane prices. I'm usually seeing prices in the ballpark of 5 ~ 6k USD per person for 10 days not including plane tickets
Exactly. I've been with a friend and we planned everything ourselves twice (2018 and 2019), stayed in a simple business hotel for 10-11 days or so and on both occasions it cost us less then 2.5K in total (euros, so in USD slightly more I guess?) for 2 people, even with return tickets included. And those were long flights, about 11 hours. (OK: you need pocket money while there, but still)
As an Indonesian, before pandemic I could travel to Japan for a week by myself as a backpacker, and spent $1k including tickets and capsule hotel. And I could easily recoup at least half of it by bringing back and selling used camera gears..
yeah its weird, they have been so ahead of the world in certain things and depraved in others stagnation is something very few expected of such a country
Agreed with this. They really need to drop a lot of the traditional formalities in the way they do business and employ staff. The work culture (from what I have read and heard) is killing the population and the economy too. They need to work smarter, not harder.
I live in Japan and I was hopping that they were going to up during the Olympic Games last year. Unfortunately they didn't. Not allowing spectators (most venues were empty) was a true disgrace to Olympic Games. I remember that during the Olympics they were blaming the foreign athletes or staff for "spreading the virus". Now we have 200.000 cases per day, but almost 0 foreigners. Who is spreading the virus? Are they going to blame the foreigners again?
I'm guessing this is mostly a political situation in Japan? It seems that the primary voting base has such a death grip on politicians' balls that we won't see any meaningful progress toward reopening until the voting base somehow feels ok with it. It most certainly seems unlikely to happen in the fall/winter as cases will increase, slating Spring 2023 as the earliest opportunity.
well even if tourists were allowed en masse again nobody here can afford any trips. have you seen the prices here in germany for example? a lot of people are going to end up in poverty here or below average income since many people are struggling with bills and food etc and gas
@@JohnDoe-ji2en The younger generations that are far more open to foreigners are almost entirely absent from politics, the older generation has such a strong foothold that any meaningful change is an extremely uphill battle.
I am Japanese. I am quite angry at the Japanese government's unscientific isolationist policy. However, Japan is a country with a very large elderly population, and many of them want the isolation to continue...
Sorry Joey but saying Japan has it worst is a bit of a stretch. So many countries have trouble at the moment after corona. Europe is dying under inflation, energy cost, heat, and war again. Greece did a LOT to get their tourist back and Japan does not really care about foreigners. As you said in the video Japan needs to change because if they do not they can't expect to get on track again.
Yeah,the title of this video is really pretentious and privileged. Ukraine is literally fighting for their independence and not being erased and soo many countries like uk/germany/italy are struggling because of the inflation. Lets not even mention places like palestine,SE asia,south american countries etc…
The war Russia started kinda messed up Europe and is still doing that. The country I'm from and everyone else is in hot water, especially when winter comes. Idk about the rest of the world so if you can let me know how you guys doing it would be great.
@@daws761 I mean yeah many countries have it worse and have shit going on but not because of COVID or restrictions, which is what Joey is talking about...
Except Switzerland because we still have a normal government and our own strong currency. Although the whole interfering in the war did not leave a good reputation
Japan: suffering because they can't have tourism. Also Japan: you must have a tour guide so you don't accidentally visit other or more places than we allow you to!
I imagine that also creates a level of price gouging/extortion. I can't imagine what companies are currently paying to be included on where these tours go.
Joey: I don't think anyone has had it as rough as Japan has right now. Ukraine: We're in war with Russia. Sri Lanka: Our economy has collapsed. Pakistan: Our economy just committed suicide. Venezuela: A loaf of bread costs more than my monthly salary and selling gold in runescape is more profitable than actual work.
@@dsan17 *due to covid*, None of them had gigantic problems like Japan. They still have 200k new daily cases. I want to visit japan for a while, but I can't. They can't even take my money!
From what I have read, Kyoto's problems run a lot deeper than a 2-year tourism freeze. Their population is shrinking as (1) young people move to Tokyo for better economic opportunities and (2) young people are choosing not to have children. As the population ages and goes into retirement, the tax base shrinks, the schools close, economic activity diminishes, and you wind up with a ghost town. Kyoto's not quite there yet, but even if tourism comes roaring back in a year or two, it's eventually going to be like visiting a museum rather than a thriving metropolis.
@Black Bard Studio "Provide young people with housing and free childcare and they would come back." cost of living is definitely a factor but it's just one of many that is effecting birth rates in the "developed" world aka capitalist based societies and how they are managed (i.e pushing everyone into the cities which causes atomization)
With their "work culture" and very little family time, who in their right mind would actually want to have children? Also don't forget that because of the whole social structure, the country happens to have a massive population of Hikikomoris. People are just sick of how things are run and decide to just live a life of hermitage.
@@yamchayaku Traditionally, the Japanese had strong family ties but that was the pre-modern system (where "modern" means Western industrialization and female emancipation). If women in Japan were unable to work (still partly the case even today) and only could raise a family, there'd probably be larger families. Japan, like Korea, China, Taiwan, etc., is still grappling with modernity. I think sooner or later they'll develop a system that is workable. Hopefully before it's too late, demographically speaking.
many countries are in debt...probably majority. Banks give loans to countries budgets that should be used to gain evem more money which usually isnt the case. Most of the time you get in debt cuz you cant pay everything back cuz you overspent on stuff that doesnt give back money
@@AscenderGrey66 You are not legally allowed to explore by yourself if you have a tourist visa. All the vloggers you see either have a business visa (the boys or the OTV crew) or have Japanese passports like Joey
Joey's on point here; "Winging it" is the best way to experience Japan. I spent three weeks in Japan, with a plan to stay a week in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima with a Lonely Planet guide for suggestions when stuck. The best experiences were suggestions by locals and/or other travellers.
Winging it is how I always do my international vacations. I do have a loose guidelines on the things I want to do or see, but aside from that, its a better way to experience a culture just by doing it on the fly when you are there, while avoiding all the tourist traps. When I went to Kyoto, my favorite thing to do was to rent a bike, and just ride around the whole city aimlessly, and just stumbling on some very good hidden scenic spots, of which one of them had the best ramen I have ever had to this day.
as a Kyoto resident I can confirm: while it's nice to have all these gorgeous sites for yourself, you can't help but thinking "damn, this must be really, really tough on the city."
It's only optimal from the outside. You don't need to look any further than town halls. Tokyo has 23 of them. They all have different procedures for everything, nothing is standardized. Moving out can either be a breeze (from Taito-ku) or an absolute nightmare (from Katsushika-ku)
Like the other guy said, only optimal from the outside. Sure their work ethic is incredible (albeit suicidal), and they get shit done fast and well but they lose towns and money at a stupid rate without tourists and it’s only gotten worse with how much they’re population growth has dropped
@@Mwoods2272 1) the Japanese government and 2) literally every japan simp whose visited there at least once. Idk what rock you been under but go back lmao
It’s honestly exhausting how strict Japans rules are and how they keep acting like they are open to tourism but aren’t. I’ll just continue to wait till Japan is fully open someday to come visit and explore freely. On a happier note, love your shirt Joey! ⭐️🍄
It's frustrating to me, cause I've dedicated my life to Japanese studies. I had a 3.9 gpa in Kyoto; then my American college forced me back under threat of expulsion. They thought I would catch covid and "sue them" so they forced me back during my abroad with no warning and no compensation. And I've tried to get back ever since, to stay there, to study there, to work there, to live there. Yet... the country not only remains closed, but even with my credentials, I've been denied every opportunity and every application. JET has denied me twice. Altia denied me due to "Japanese language proficiency" yet didn't take into account my grades while over there or the fact I've been studying since 2011. At this point I almost feel like the only way back in is to go to graduate school in Japan. Joey, know that we understand how you feel right now, even as total westerners. I bet my life and my career and my livelihood on this goal, the pandemic and very incompetent individuals in multiple countries ruined it all.
Are you stuck in limbo with your studies or were you forced to complete them back in America? That really sucks. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you :(
Corona has screwed over a lot of people including myself. I'm currently not able to work abroad due to Corona. I know its frustrating know, but I believe that we will be able to get our lives and dreams back on track. Just keep holding on and do some self growth in the meantime. Do your best.
You realize that you can just apply to another university in Japan, right? That's what I did and I've been here since 2019. I just graduated and am currently looking for a job.
I currently live in Japan and when covid hit I was in my second year of my four year program at my Japanese University. I ended up going home but the level of difficulty it was to get back to Japan was immense. It took me over 6 months to get a new visa and everything just to come back. I was particularly lucky to get it as "quickly" as that just due to where I was based. And at the time it was required to get a Covid test that was signed by a doctor, which was so expensive since any free covid test center was not overseen by a doctor... Not to mention all of the incredible xenophobia in Japan just surrounding covid. The amount of people I heard talking about "only foreigners get covid" was incredibly discouraging since there were so few foreigners in Japan how could it be our fault?? I live in a pretty rural area and one of the hospitals near me during the beginning of it all had a sign that said if you were a foreigner and you had a fever or cold symptoms, you weren't allowed in the hospital. I think Japan's handling of covid has just exacerbated issues that have plagued Japan for years. It's just finally out in the open now.
@@chronokoks You're absolutely right that it is an amazing privilege and I am incredibly grateful for being able to live in Japan and go to university. But it is also completely valid of me to be unhappy with things while I live there. I was in the middle of university and wanted to be back so I could graduate this year as well as get my stuff and many other things. Things that I observed (the xenophobia and tight control of the borders) can still be an issue while appreciating the fact that I was able to return. Many students who were in their college years had trouble returning just like I did or had it even worse than me.
Same..after listening to my friend complain about the difficulty of returning to home country..i just decided not to visit home for 2 years..atleast i managed to save lots of money...ha3
More specifically, Japan was dependent on tourists from mainland China. Even before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were by far the biggest percentage of tourists to Japan. So even if Japan opens to tourists from North America and Europe, it wouldn't be much of a monetary recovery without the Chinese tourists.
I mean, that's it. My best mate is Japanese/Australian. He wanted to take us Japan to see where he grew up in Sendai. It's been such a pain in the ass to go there, we just said fuck it and went to Spain for our vacation. We didn't want to have this bullshit group tour where we couldn't go around where he wanted to go.
Hey! I wanted to go to Japan for vacation, same thing is holding me back. Do you mind telling me where you went in Spain and how it was? I'm desperately looking for a place to travel to this year to take my two weeks vacation. I saved up for Japan, so, I feels nowhere else will be cheaper so, anywhere seems doable lolol. Just I don't know where else would be good? How did you like Spain? Anything special?
@@thetinypotatobun I've been to Spain, Texas, Japan, and Mexico. If you do not have asthma, and you aren't travelling alone, Mexico for the price would be my recommendation. It has the history, the friendly people, and it is one of the most visited country for a reason. Mexico City, Guadalajara, Tequila, Puerto Vallarta are stunning, affordable, and I honestly enjoyed it more than Spain.
Ukraine: *mid war* Sri Lanka: *literally in economic crisis* Burma(Myanmar): *in coup since mid COVID and economy is collapsing* And other countries that are on brink of crisis, ongoing wars and many disasters I'm not trying to generalize it like we all suffer but ONLY Japan had it worst is a bit of a stretch. And I do wish Japan to recover from the economic turmoil
Yeah although Japan is kind of annoying because for the most part they could easily reverse this of course tourist isn't going to fix everything but it would help a lot as Joey said
@H L heavy statement to mention one of the top five economies of the world is having it WORSE than almost everyone and most countries recovered from COVID bro
From my experiences, Japanese people are way too unnecessarily skeptical if there's a potential things that may affects them, even it's a smallest threat to deal with. Especially the society, I once saw a video of parents yelling on call at their son that he should never come home because he got covid. But soon enough he recovered, and still.. his parent weren't allowed him to visit his hometown, and made him wait for a year because they're afraid of it. Which is kinda... you know what I mean?!? Again, this is my current personal thoughts for the situation, unless they open the border right now, like RIGHT NOW! I will change my mind.
This is probably because Japan is a super-aged society which is incomparable to other countries. The elderly are conservative. And most of the Japanese population is elderly. Japanese people deride their society as an elderly democracy. Even if all young people go to elections and insist their opinions, they would only be the opinions of a super-minority.
well it's not like impropper response to a threat is a problem exclusive to them i mean, take the west for example here the issue is reversed, where a lot of people (who honestly i blame for this whole thing lasting this long) will not only *not* respond to a threat, they'll actively go against any safety precautions out of what i can only describe as a collective childish tantrum being overly cautious doesn't help of course, but neither does not having any caution at all
I was EXTREMELY lucky to visit Kyoto at Christmas in 2018 and it was VERY QUIET. I guess it was the holidays and whatnot but still...I wanna go back and this is getting ridiculous. I agree with you!
I was there at the exact same time! It was lovely and we ate Christmas dinner in Pontocho looking over the river. I'm really wanting to go back and visit soon to visit family bc they aren't getting any younger.
Stuff like this makes me so confused about why Japan hasn't opened up to tourists yet. They complain about all of these problems but a large amount of them can be helped through tourism but they refuse to do it. Like Joey said, it's not a perfect solution but it would definitely help
As I understand, Japan has one of the largest elderly populations in the world, and they are afraid of Covid. If the Prime Minister would open it up, the people would hold it against him. Something like that.
If I remember correctly, Japan was originally a really shut-in country. And was so WAY longer than it being the tourist heavy country that it became recently. The Cool Japan this was, if I can recall was pretty new. I believe this is Japan regressing to their original state prior to Japan first opening to the world years ago.
Being bound to a “tour group” would absolutely suck. It’s just not the way to travel if you want to really explore a place and experience it’s culture. No way I could visit the country if being part of a tour group was a requirement.
@@TonkarzOfSolSystem Also if you want to do something that's just *way* out there and going to need assistance with the language. I'll be doing a two-part tour group to undertake the Shikoku Pilgrimage - that requires time spent in parts of Japan that my Japanese language skills are just absolutely not up to.
@@mpforeverunlimited ...including a large number of obscure kanji needed to sight-read prayer books for 88 separate temples (not including the one performed at each, and going way beyond the "standard 4000" taught in schools)? I can speak enough to get by generally, but paying for a guide to assist with something that specialized will be significantly faster and less time AND MONEY investment, and splitting the cost with a group of like-minded individuals just makes sense. It's not like a standard tour bus either - the company in question rents vans and keeps it small (because there's not much demand), and since everyone's there for a specific task and is presumed to have at least Buddhism 101 level knowledge it's a lot less like being with a bunch of gawky tourists. (And for the record, with the country opened up to some extent I'm planning on some stuff before meeting up with the main group.)
@@nielsmichiels1939 It's more likely it was American tourists if you wanted to blame anyone, although its likely just a minority of all tourists. Chinese tourists are more likely to go in tour groups and despite taking photos of everything they are pretty well behaved.
No surprise there Recently one of the countries that heavily bases it's tourism around temples and monks (Either Tibet or Nepal) has increased it's tourist tax to about 200 dollars to somewhat stop it from deteriorating...but what acutally happens is that they contributed to the decrease of tourism
I think Corona isnt the only problem here. Many other places are fighting against inflation and many dont know how to afford living anymore. It's hard to travel in times like these. And some countries (e.g. Germany) were really Russia-dependent for fossil fuels and now have to pay extra to get their energy sources from other countries
Those would be major factors IF Japan was not as restrictive. Not saying they are not part of the equation but I do not think they are major factors due to many simply not wanting to travel under such restrictions. From a classical economics standpoint you would be correct. However, factoring western culture's propensity for individualism, I do believe that behavioral factors are more at play here than not.
this is true. a lot of people are in a difficult place economically right now, so it's not even certain that tourism would completely rebound if every country lifted all travel restrictions. people forget that being a tourist is a privilege not afforded to everyone. if you can't afford to even take time off from work, much less the massively inflated cost of flights these days, there's no way you can be a tourist.
honestly this is going to hurt japan for quite some time, even if they do reopen. a lot of the people that want to go there aren't just sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting, instead they're exploring other places that are openly embracing them. as they find more and more places to go and enjoy, i can see them continuing that trend. instead of japan being one of 'the' places to go, it'll just become another name buried on the list of places to go
I agree, I've booked my travel plans and largely written off being able to go to Japan in the next year. It's crazy because I'm a remote worker and I would be staying there a full 3 months spending money made from outside Japan in Japan.
I feel that closing the country for so long has done irreversible damage to Japan nevermind Kyoto. Whether it's places going bankrupt, an increase in the price to travel, the racism that spawned from politicians blaming foreigners for the virus etc. It's all big factors and I'm just not sure how Japan's tourist industry and these big cities like Kyoto will recover
@@ii4826 japans xenophobia was always an issue and you get discriminated in daily life there / yes you don’t get beaten but you get systematically thrown out of the society
@@ArgentIcon same with america considering the country is literally nothing but migrants. dont believe media. nothing but lies comes from that nowadays no matter what country youre in.
I've first heard this from "Let's ask Shogo" which it made me feel quite uneasy since Kyoto is the first city I wanted to visit in Japan since I was a kid... hearing that even the residents are struggling almost makes me cry and wish I could help them. I didn't expect 422 likes in 4 hours thanks-
I remember watching a video of his where he pretty much said he hates japan and getting foreigners who like japan to think the same way was pretty much his whole reason for starting his channel, decided to not watch any more.
@@ekasism Yeah I know, that's why I'm still waiting. Kyoto is the 1st on my list but I still have other places I want to visit. I already gave up on the idea of living in Japan both because of Connor explaining how hard it is for foreigners and also how much I'm scared of earthquakes (I experienced 2 of them in Italy at that was enough)
The present instability rippling through the developing world is one thing (food scarcity, political instability, a sudden drop in Chinese investment abroad). First world countries like Japan and US having municipalities declare bankruptcy due to negligence and stupidity is another.
What is crazy is that I've gone to Japan twice this year for engineering related work and as soon as you get that work visa and enter the country they let you do whatever you want. They don't even make you quarantine anymore. I stayed an extra half a week and just traveled around the Tokyo area but no, tourists are bad.
out of curiosity, how long are the work visa taking to get issued currently? do you know? im in the same boat getting transferred to the Japan branch of my company under the engineering/specialist in humanities intra company transferee visa
@@JC-jz6rx mine took about 2 weeks for the guys on the japan side to submit everything then 1 week on the US side to go to the nearest consulate and apply and pick up the work visa once it was ready
This is exactly why it's so infuriating from a tourist perspective. They are treated like cattle that must be herded and managed, but somehow people with business visas get a free pass. I see some car channel youtubers get a car/parts export company in Japan to sponsor them so that they can get in Japan and make road trip videos. If people are here on business, then they should leave after finishing said business, but since there's no enforcement they can use that loophole to stay after and essentially be a normal tourist.
I’ve had savings dedicated to going to Japan for 3 years now and I’m just waiting for the trigger to be pulled. NHK themselves did a video on their RU-vid channel saying Japan is the number 1 most sought after holiday destination and that was like 2 weeks ago. I feel like at this point I’m better off going anywhere or doing anything else with that money and it’s sad because I’ve been to Japan before (only the Tokyo area) and I feel like Japan has so much more to offer and we’re being denied access to it bc of covid when the rest of the world has accepted the fact that it’s here to stay. I’m hoping for it to be open by 2023 Autumn/Winter but if not I don’t think I’ll even bother.
Same, I've only been to Tokyo - at a certain point, I'm not going to bother going because the rest of us have to live our lives! Can't wait forever for Japan lol
me too! I still have all of the money I saved for my trip, but if I have to cancel it once again because of boarder control/covid, I think I'll just spend my money and go elsewhere
If you want to go somewhere else, South Korea is very lovely. Their infrastructure is very similar. Easy to get around. If you stay within the city almost everything is translated to english. Lovely people and awesome food.
I know this is not the channel we talk about anime but I just saw somewhere that 40% of anime studios suffered losses last year. Amd after hearing that Wit Studio was on the verge of bankrupcy, this video did not surprise me. Even though life could be better.
If this is true that is EXTREMELY surprising as I thought a lot of media companies were seeing immense growth during the pandemic due to the massive increase in demand of content.
That's true, but nothing concerned with border control of tourism. The main reasons are the lack of human resources caused by COVID and decreased production budget from TV stations. Many misjudge, but streaming doesn't help anime studios as much as you want to think. Most of the smaller anime studios have no IPs to benefit from it.
@@Xprowrestler123 It's that reason why Shueisha and others are going after pirates and RU-vid videos as hard as they are right now because they believe that it is what is killing their profit margin. But that is far from the truth, as their entire profit has always been from the Japanese people themselves and the purchase of figures and merchandise is what has always been what makes them money, not the sale of Tankobons or DVDs/BDs. Anime has become popular because of foreign interests, but that has never changed on how the profit is made. People have been stuck inside houses for 2 years pretty much, they have binge watched tons of shows/anime and played tons of games, read tons of manga to a point where it's not as enjoyable as it once was. People now are more interested in being outdoors, changing locations, traveling, seeing new sights, doing new things. Add on top of all of that, is the fact that everything is way more expensive then it was before the pandemic, also people are not interested in paying for multiple services just to watch multiple seasons of one specific show. There are a lot of things that have happened all at once because of the pandemic, has made the way these companies operate and do business, is no longer sustainable nor has any real future for growth. As we have seen, many small businesses have have closed and even larger ones are starting to downsize.
@@tykep1009 then they should license it themselves, translate, etc, and publish and sell Blurays and merch in the west... Those getting all the revenue...
I visited Kyoto last year. When I got off the train, I started walking to my hotel, wearing my mask, and I saw an older woman walking perpendicular to me. Trying to be friendly, I smiled through my mask and immediately she gave me a sour look and started screaming "Hey! Hey!". I knew this was bad news so I sped walk out of here. The wife tried to say she wasn't screaming at me but I know better. The next day, we are visiting Higashi Hongan-ji Temple and as I exit the main building, she's right there at the bottom of the steps. I am not about to start an international incident so I book it and leave my wife behind. This woman goes to my wife and starts screaming, "do you know him! Do you know him! Is he American? I hate Americans! They stink!" She kept following my wife around till she found a police officer and threatened to report her if she didn't go away. Kyoto was nice. That woman should stay away from tourists.
Let's ask Shogo did a really good video on the economic issues in Kyoto last month. He also just released one about wearing mask in Japan. One of the things he covers is Japan's aging population and that politicians aren't willing to alienate their voters. That is probably why things are so slow to change...
That dude is incredibly smart. I met him by chance in Kyoto in 2018 and let me tell you I don't think I've learned more from a human being in my life, and not just about Japan stuff either. I was stoked when I found out he started youtube.
Absolutely nailed it. My fianceé lives in Setagaya, Tokyo, and we are getting married by April next year in Japan. So in late June, as soon as the MOFA informed the borders would open again, I bought my flight ticket, booking my flight to early Sept, knowing all the restrictions. We scheduled all the visits to the marriage venues in Sept, so we could decide together on the places, the honeymoon spots, the hotel reserves for the guests (yes, because not sure if you know, but Hotels are not reserving rooms to foreigners if they're not comming in the next 3 months; you gotta make the reserves IN PERSON) and everything so we could still have our party next year. To get a Visa from here, you have to either be part of an official tourist group, issued by a tourism company with ties with the MOFA (utterly hard to find, as they don't reveal which ones are and aren't), or have a formal invitation letter and pledge writen by hand from a Japanese citizen. I took this second path, and my fiancee sent it all scanned in PDF, so I could print them here. Yesterday I went to the embassy to request my Visa, after waiting almost two weeks to finally get an appointment. Once I show all my documents and they see the printed pledge, they turn to me and say "oh, we can't accept a scanned pledge. It must be a letter sent here from Japan by MAIL. You have to bring the invitation and original pledge written by hand, with the stamped envelope saying it came from Japan, and an address matching the invitee address. Oh, and also bring the reservations you made for all the venues, proving you will come to visit them for the marriage". Of course they didn't take the time to mention all this on the written instructions. Now, 10 days from the departing date, there is no way in hell we can get all this done. Had to pay an extra 50% to the flight company to postpone my ticket to Nov, not to mention all the trouble to re-schedule our visits. Thank you so fucking much, Japan. PS: great fan of your content and Aki's. Always bright up my day. I mean, except this one...
Just done the whole process. BIG BIG lesson in reading all detail then asking about ANYTHING.. there are NO stupid questions. Allow lots of time for delays, BEFORE, committing to anything.
Let me pat your back pal. We're on the same boat. Tried to get back my wife's pension she paid as a teacher back in Setagaya. They asked you to send the original birth certificate and family documents not the copy, which can only be printed fukkin ONCE for you to keep (apparently in Japan you can make a fancy copy of these documents, dubbed as oriiginal or even print it at 7/11 if you have a special resident card, NOT LIKE ANY OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD). What did I do? Suffice to say I'm glad I'm a graphic designer/illustrator who understand printing press and one of my skill is art imitation. Sent the shit, they bought it and we got the pension money back........only 70-80 percent. They took the 20-30 for handling fee and such. Thank you so fucking much, Japan!
I had an entire trip to japan fully planned, booked, visas the whole works, right before the pandemic started which unfortunately...I had to cancel due to the pandemic and the whole world going into lockdown, but Iv been waiting eagerly for japan to open its borders the entire time so i could finally visit and well when i saw the "only tour groups restrictions" i just though nah that aint it chief., let me know when you actually open. I swear if they would just let me in i promise to single handedly revitalise all of Akihabaras economy through a series of poor financial decisions as i throw all my money at an egregious amount of weeb merch from all the pent up desires to just be able to finally be let in.
My wallet is loaded and ready and so are many others. They just have to open the flood gates. JP government is just further hurting their country for no reason
The amount of people I've seen who've been waiting to take a trip to Japan for a year and a half now recently end up just booking a trip to South Korea instead is insane. People are tired the Japanese government's response is just "the border will be open soon, it could be tomorrow or it could be late 2023 but SOON
I totally agree with that. I've been to Japan more than 10 times and lived there, I had to cancel my last trip during the beginning of the pandemic. I'm tired of waiting and spending tons of money in and for a country that acts like foreigners are the main threat. My next trip goes to South Korea.
The other issue is cost. Here in the UK we're seriously struggling with inflation, I have barely any ability to put money aside because of how much it costs simply to get the essentials. A trip to Japan would be incredible, it's the number 1 spot on my bucket list of places to visit. At the moment though it's simply not feasible. It sucks but that's the way things are atm.
It's £412 for a return flight from Manchester to Los Angeles (two Major cities, straight-line journey) - That's JUST the basic charge for the seat. No reserved seating, No airport taxes, No meals, no luggage (carry-on or regular), no transport to and from the airport. I can't afford that. It's around £900-1000 to go from Manchester to Tokyo, same thing (just the basic seat . . .). Insane. I don't care how low the yen is right now - I can't afford to go and be told "Here's your tour group" or worse "Sorry, we can't let you in, go home". . . .I'd . . .just no.
Same here in Austria. Gas prices have shot up to ridiculous amounts, food and essentials have gotten more expensive too. A lot of middle class people have to make cuts somewhere, like not going out to eat, not traveling, etc, and many are struggling to make ends meet.
True that the world is recovering. This includes probably most people earning up back to what they had in their savings. At least enough that they feel financially stable. Luxury traveling like this is the last thing most people have in their minds.
When I heard last May that Japan was planning to relax restrictions, I tried to plan a trip this for September. I heard later that it was limited to tour groups and was very disappointed. I’m not real interested in traveling with a tour group. I ended up having to cancel the trip since I don’t have any confidence in reopening by early September. I’m more than happy to get a PCR test and wear masks where required. I understand the travel restrictions during the beginning of the pandemic, but we have better safety measures and vaccines to help mitigate the risk. I hope this changes soon because the virus is likely here to stay. Thanks for providing your insight, Joey. I’m hoping to try again in late 2022 or early 2023.
I think the group guided tour was a paper "re opening". To say you're open, but not really. Sounds like what North Korea does... But yeah, the boomers there are the ones who vote, don't want tourists, and the politicians don't want to lose their seats/power. I guess on the flip side, the yen to dollar is abysmal, and I can buy shipped anime goods for cheap for now. I do hope they realize they need tourism, and hopefully re open their borders in some quantity and let people explore on their own. They're letting people on business visas roam on their own.
Visiting Japan is one of my biggest dreams in life, but not if I have to do it as part of a tour group. I’m a loner. I spend time with my husband, kids, and a very few friends. I’m not into being around a lot of strangers constantly. I can handle being in a crowd if those other people are doing their own things, but it’s not my cup of tea to travel in a group of strangers.
@@FNLNFNLN Various tour companies have always offered guided tours, but to get a visitor visa (for most of us) into Japan these days (after covid), you need to book a group tour through those approved Japanese companies.
I also follow the conversion on this topic on another youtube channel called only in japan go. In one of his livestreams, the rumor is that restrictions "could" ease up by October. The release of the omnicron vaccine comes out by October. Hoping that would be the case.
This hurts. Kyoto was a city I absolutely fell in love with when I visited and it's a city I could see myself living in. Open up, let us in. We will give you our money.
Right before the pandemic hit, I was THIS close to moving to Japan (at least for a year) and it is over 2 years now that I have tried to work out everything in order to visit.... I have reached a point now where I start thinking "Why do I even try so hard, and why do I wait, when they CLEARLY show everyone that they DO NOT WANT US THERE"... This attitude and making everyone who loves Japan feel that they are not even good for being "Dumb foreign wallets", thinking they are too good to the point foreigners have to "beg" to go spend their money there, has turned me off sooooooo much about the people and current culture, to the point where I'm thinking "fuck it, I put my life on hold too long for a place where I am unwanted, I'd rather go and spend these savings somewhere where I will be appreciated". And all the dreams about "Moving to Japan and then opening a business there and moving".... LOL .... not a chance! I went from "Japan is my Paradise" to "Meh, fuck them, maybe go one last time to have fun and do some shopping and then close the Japan door to keep the good memories".
Good comment. I'm not bothered with Japan anymore. I'm in South Korea now having a great time after spending a few great months hoping between Vietnam and Thailand. Go where you are treated best :)
Yep, this was me except that I was on the hook for 2 years trying pretty hard to get into the country for work. I had already spent time in Japan, so my expectations were tempered and I already was well aware it wasn't a paradise but a decent place to live with its own set of problems. But nothing prepared me for the 2 year wait that resulted after getting a post-doctoral position at the main campus of RIKEN with 3 years of full postdoctoral funding (paid for by Japanese citizens, no less). I was a foreigner that qualified for a highly skilled visa, yet it was impossible to enter the country. I was set to enter toward the end of 2021 when RIKEN finally received special government entry exemptions, only for the doors to close (again) when my scheduled flight was cancelled due to Omicron (and exemption status for everyone was revoked). I waited another 5 months for the next opportunity to enter, but after a total of 2 years of waiting I just said fuck it and told my employer no. It's basically impossible to put one's life on hold for 2 fucking years. Honestly though, it wasn't even the fact that Japan closed its borders that even really bothered me that much. It was the glaring hypocrisy that made me gradually hate Japan as a country. Covid was this unprecedented "public health crisis", yet Japanese citizens could do whatever the fuck they wanted, traveling for business, leisure, and education while foreign students/workers waiting to enter were given the middle finger. I think the biggest highlight was when the Japanese government petitioned for other countries to accept their vaccine passport while denying reciprocity. It really disgusted me. I have a lot more respect for countries that treated the pandemic equally for foreigners and citizens alike, like Australia. If you were an Australian citizen that left for an opportunity abroad, you basically were not going to get back in. I dunno man, I don't think I will ever go back to Japan in the future for tourism. This experience ruined the country for me. If I need to get my East Asia fix, I will just end up going to South Korea instead, which has been far more welcoming of workers/students/tourists throughout the pandemic than Japan ever has.
well even if tourists were allowed en masse again nobody here can afford any trips. have you seen the prices here in germany for example? a lot of people are going to end up in poverty here or below average income since many people are struggling with bills and food etc and gas
@@JohnDoe-ji2en Adding to that... (because I have spent time in Japan as well before planning this trip)... I now hate the idea of "finally" going to Japan on holidays and because of how brainwashed the japanese are from the media, having everyone "being glad" I am there for their economy BUT at the same time looking at me as a filthy parasite that is one step away from infesting their covid free people.... (because the narative was that covid comes from foreigners).... and, you know, being looked at with that "suspicious" glare.... Honestly, I am truly disheartened and kinda "hurt". Japan now has a "bitter" taste in my mouth. Update as I write this.... my partner just told me "Well, fuck it, since you love the stuff there, don't go for the people and the culture, just go to take advantage of everything the place has to offer (food, amusement, shopping etc.) and that's that"... Which honestly made me feel so much better. On another note... this attitude of the Japanese people towards everyone else, is what made me give up on my studies (I was learning Japanese)... I am sorry, but I am not going to spend thousands of useless studying hours to learn a language that can only be spoken with people who frankly don't even want me around.
I went to Japan in 2014 together with my mother, but only the Tokyo area. It was absolutely the best trip of our lives. Ever since then we've been wanting to go back. We were planning to go on another trip during the summer Olympics, but since that got tanked by covid, the whole plan got cancelled. I *need* to visit again with my mother, she's getting older and her legs are getting worse but she wants to visit again so, so badly. Instead of just Tokyo, we want to do a two way trip from Tokyo to the Northern side of the country to see everything. Please let Japan open up normally again.
I recently went to Kyoto as a foreign exchange student and yeah it was a goddamn pain getting everything necessary together just to enter. Even upon arriving at the airport there's a shitton of paperwork to sign and hand over. Still, it was nice to visit all the major tourist attractions without them being too busy, though ofc if that's fucking up the economic state of the country as a result, I'd much rather that not be the case.
exactly same here, i went to kiyomizudera on a saturday and it was eerily empty. i liked it, but if it means the city is suffering because of it id rather this not be the case
You love to see it. You can't blame gaikokojin for everything AND still depend on them for tourism. Hoping to see a 180 turn from society and see future cases of xenophobia get shamed for the garbage behaviour it is.
It will change soon for next year. Now the former government party has been elected back again in last 10th July elections. The main reason they relied on xenophobia was because they didn't have a better campaign plan. Now they can focus on the country economy and resume tourism.
And the 1st phase of reopening failed spectacularly because they thought that the western countries are like many Asian countries, the come to Japan in guided tours... Well, they got a shot in their own feet! Europeans and North American countries don't use guided package tours... Unlike the Chinese, we like to have our own schedule when visiting Japan, the Japanese government didn't analyzed the way tourist visited Japan in the last years... Now they will be more pressured by the tourist industry in Japan due to the failure of the 1st phase of reopening that saw less than 8000 people visiting Japan in June and July combined together. And probably learned that China will not open soon and they will need to open to Europe and North American countries...
Super insightful answers guys. I have to admit to being more than a little jaded since I'm a foreigner in Japan. But I also feel like they're naive for thinking the way they do. That the world wants Japan more than they do the world. Tourists will move on, travel to South Korea and Vietnam and Thailand, setup shop and bring investment into Singapore and the Phillipines and China will continue to be China. Japan will lose out on the tourist market as a whole, mom and pop businesses will shut down and the amount of people who actively work to keep Japanese traditions and culture will go down the drain. Those relics will be sold, and those shrines will get deserted. Don't know what the government's plan for taking care of the chunk of the elderly population that still makes income via tourism\traditional Japanese culture or even domestic tourism. But I'm sure it will involved ai, aliens and BTS.
@@ninjamlu I'm a former travel agent who specialized in Japan tours and I've witnessed firsthand how tourism rakes in huge amounts of money. Business before COVID was so good they could even afford to give us travel agents free luxury trips to prefectures they want to promote to inbound tourists. Now I'm taking up a healthcare degree whose industry also has Japan as one of the hotspots for employment and I've been seeing a lot of job postings needing people in my profession to come over there and work because their aging population needs therapists. It's just so frustrating how they can't bring themselves to admit that they need the rest of the world as much as we do to help jumpstart the economy.
Japan is overrated. Living here for a while now and realized how terrible wages and working conditions still are. Huge wealth gaps. On top of that there’s so many social problems. The only thing keeping this country together is decent food and tourist attractions
My wife and I have been visiting Japan 1-2 times a year for around 5 years. Each trip averaged $15,000 tourism dollars. We were all set and tickets booked right before COVID struck and have not been back since. We were initially excited to hear that Japan was going to ease restrictions but when we learned it was for group tours only we said "forget it". We are not interested in doing guided tours as we are very familiar with the country and already know what we want to do and see. Now that it has been a couple of years since we were last there we are finding our excitement of a return trip waning as more time passes by. We are now considering other countries like Thailand or Singapore instead of Japan. I'm not saying this to stick it to Japan but that is just the reality of it. Because we know even if tourism reopens any time soon in Japan it will be loaded with restrictions and it may be several years before things turn to normal. So instead of dealing with that aggravation and not enjoying our visit we much rather spend our time enjoying ourselves where things are already back to normal. So at this point I doubt we will be returning to Japan probably ever.
On the flip side as a resident of Japan, I'm enjoying the less crowded streets of popular tourist areas. I'm sure foreign tourism will be back in full swing, soon enough. For the time being residents are enjoying a respite from the hordes.
@@gordonbgraham hmmm, but if you live in tourist city then LOTS of people make a living through tourism. I'm sure these residents are enjoying their time.
@@gordonbgraham Its always a love-hate relationship with tourists when you live in a tourism heavy area. I've lived in several and while I hate all the tourists and the crowds, it does benefit the economy...
The Kyoto situation is sad but unsurprising. It’s the epitome of a tourist trap but it only takes a few steps out of the beautiful gardens, shrines, and the smaller commercial areas to see that it wholly relies on that to survive. When I think of Japanese poverty-stricken backstreets from when I lived over there, sadly parts of Kyoto are the first thing that always come to mind. There’s not much else to stand on that draws more than just local crowds.
Honestly, aside from the heritage sites and famous attractions, I have found Kyoto to be the most unattractive and unappealing place in Japan so far. It's nothing but concrete jungle and the public transportation is almost non-existent. You're better off going to Osaka or Tokyo.
A "pandemic" is a convenient excuse for "isolationism". i was listening to another youtuber the other day talking about how the population will eventually collapse if they stay on this trend.. and Kyoto has been in dire straights for at least a year and a half.
I live in Korea and used to visit Japan once or twice a year prior to the pandemic. It's been so frustrating not being able to go. Korea doesn't seem to have strict entry requirements (you do need a negative PCR test and you have to test again upon arrival, but at least you don't have to quarantine anymore) and for the most part, things are back to normal here. I hope Japan opens back up soon because like... I miss my friends 😢
I'd like to point out that Japan's been on a trajectory downwards in terms of economic growth for around 2 decades. Pandemic definitely hit them harder compared to a lot of countries because of this as well.
@@cottoncandykawaii2673 They do that to nearly everyone. rip. But Japan really didn't help themselves in the matter though which really made it worse. Japan is very culturally, traditional, classist and xenophobic which is not a great combination to bounce back from economic issues.
@@KazeHorse Japan is literally an occupied country, how can they not agree? US is trying to do the same thing to China but China having their own military dominance and alliances makes it much harder
Me and my friends have been wanting to go to Japan since the beginning of 2019, we saved up, planned it all out; moving between air BnBs, looking at articles, watching yours and others vlogs on places you'd gone to, watched walking tour videos to find places we'd like to check out, restaurants we wanted to eat at for their specialties, etc. but before we could go, the pandemic hit. We've been waiting since then to go to Japan. When we heard the news that Japan was finally opening up, we were so excited. Until we realised they were only allowing group tours. We decided that after having waited 3 years already to go to Japan, we can wait a little longer to be able to properly enjoy it. I especially am not a fan of group tours. Because generally they're usually a way to try to direct the tourists to what are called "tourist traps", basically places where they charge obscene amounts of money for what is usually cheap tat. But also, as you said it's difficult to find the hidden gems when tour guide companies are often paid by businesses to direct the tourists their way. Going by ourselves we might be following a plan but at least it's up to us if we decide we want to change those plans when we find something even more interesting. Which you can't really do when being shepherded around by a tour guide trying to get you to quickly look around and move on so he can get back to office for lunch or pick up the next lot of tourists. Then on top of those things, these tour guide companies are themselves charging obscene amounts to go on these group tours, often out-doing the rest of the journey even when you factor in everything from plane tickets, train tickets (i,e the JRP), lodging, food and spending costs. I'm looking forward to experience the things Japan has to offer in terms of its historical culture and heritage sites, its food and being a massive weeb, its anime and game culture. I just hope Japan opens up more soon because me and my friends really do want to go.
Expect to wait at least a few more years. You have to remember that Japan is also dealing with Chinese aggression. If war breaks out between China, Taiwan, and even Japan there may be no other time to enjoy their culture.
@@moosesues8887 We in the same boat fam. I got a white Dad and a black momma. I know for a fact they’d be 1960s American type of racist to us if they could.
You know Japan was completely closed off to the world before? Isolation is a character trait of the people and in the history of this country. Don't take it personally.
It's really disappointing how I've once had the impression that Japan was a country that could recover from any setbacks. Considering the countless tsunamis and earthquakes that have occurred, Japan has never once failed to recover from such crises thanks to its people's resilience and emphasis on the society as a whole. But after seeing how Japan handled the pandemic, it has really made me wonder whether those news I've seen in the past about its people's recover efforts and care one another were just a sham.
Don't think it's a sham just that modern Japan genuinely has no idea how to deal with this. They know how to recovery from natural disasters, wars etc but THIS is really making them stumble.
Its not a sham. The pandemic is just a very different beast of a crisis, and modern Japan is not as experienced with this as they are with earthquakes or tsunamis. They are also a very tourist dependent country, so naturally a pandemic would be very painful for them.
That's like asking why your body recovered from the cold easily but took more time to recover from an illness you never had before. This is the first time something like this happened to them but it's no excuse to handle it this badly.
Same. End of December 2019. Just weeks before the craziness started. Honestly, I would have gone back already, I loved it so much. But I guess I can thank my lucky stars I had the chance to go at all.
I've tried to plan a vacation to Japan twice in the last 6 months. After realizing that I would have to jump through so many hoops that still wouldn't guarantee that my family and I could visit in a reasonable time frame and not without spending an insane amount of extra money, I just gave up. I told my wife that it seemed like they were trying to keep people out and didn't want any tourism.
From an outsiders perspective, to me, Japan looks like it is in the middle of a major identity crisis. Aspects of Japanese culture are extremely detrimental to the health of the citizens and the country as a whole. Frugality and monetary practices in japan is the big one. And the extreme conservation of even the most toxic cultural norms is just compounding the problem. I'm just some stupid gaijin, but japan as a whole needs to decide if maintaining toxic aspects of japanese culture, is worth the destruction of the nation? To me, it's a no brainer. Removing those toxic aspects doesn't make japanese culture any less unique and valuable. But your country is is a boat that's sinking, and is refusing to pitch the gold bricks weighing it down over the side.
Agreed the nature of not calling out this behavior and absorbing it in and saying nothing, embodied by everyday life like a female only train carriage, if perverts were treated with the severity they deserve there would be no need for a female only train carriage.
The best thing about Japan is the tradition The worse thing about Japan is the tradition. Ive had this discussion with friends about Sumo in the exact same tone.
Same problems everywhere tbh. Old conservative men's holding the nation future hostage for their 'culture', and whatever happens in the future is not their concern since they all be gone when that time came.
I think everybody, including Joey, is misunderstanding the point of the past three or so years in Japan. Japan, at a cultural level, is using COVID as an excuse for another mini-cultural isolation period. Remember, this is a country that essentially isolated from the rest of the world for 100 years in a period known as Sakoku (鎖国). Unlike the last time, I don't think that Japan will isolate for 100 years. At the same time, I don't think that Japanese society actually cares all that much about a little bit of economic hardship in places like Kyoto or for their national airlines, as insane as that is to think from an American/English/Australian perspective, as long as they get to have some time to re-establish cultural domination before they finally feel comfortable enough to open their territory. This is the society that is, at least in the modern day, THE most protective of their native culture anywhere in the world.
Well, Indians managed to keep their religion alive for thousands of years without affecting international relations. So I don't know about that one. The economic affects of Corona as well as the ongoing Russo-ukraine war is very bad for most countries. The situation will only grow worse as time goes by and since Japan is all about conformity and rigidity it will be difficult for them to adapt since we DO live in a GLOBAL economy with countries owing debt to other countries. We'll see what happens to Japan in the next thirty or so years.
@@scruffymakaveli6870 Comparing India to Japan is very much an apples to oranges comparison. People living on the Indian peninsula are both used to having thousands of different groups speaking different languages and practicing different religions on their turf and are used to foreign invasion because of English colonialism. It's not a surprise that groups in India can preserve their cultural heritage while different political tides move through the nation.
@@TheZenomeProject The real reason why you can't compare India and Japan is because almost nobody is interested in India, therefore, there really is no risk of the culture being diluted or destroyed. On the other hand, there are too many people interested in Japan (gamers, anime/manga people, weaboos, those interested in J-girls, and even those who genuinely like the culture) and Japan is getting flooded with tourists. Meanwhile India has a reputation of smelling like poop because people are on the beaches defacating. I think India is safe from cultural destruction for the forseeable future.
I actually went on a group tour of Japan years ago before the pandemic. It was pretty disappointing as you barely had much time to explore. Often times we visited one or two locations in a city for a hour or two and then we have to move on. Like I remember us visiting Osaka castle which I enjoyed but half way thru exploring it, I had stop and make a run for the tour bus as we ran out of time. I want to say we spent more time traveling across Japan then actually experiencing Japan. If other group tours are like that, it would really explain a lot on why Joey was told don't go with a tour group.
I’ve met someone with my friend here and did a private fashion tour around Harajuku and Omotesando. He really wanted to buy Japanese fashion and he found a fashion tour guide that took us all to these hidden fashion shops and it took us a good four hours roughly, JUST walking around Harajuku/Omotesando. If Japan is going to push tours, those should be the only tour groups, private and customized to the visitors pace/time. Not being rushed around and herded like sheep on these large scale group tours like HIS, JTB only being backed up by large Japanese government
I moved back here right before the pandemic at the end of 2019. I've been here the entire duration of the pandemic and I've never been so disappointed in Japan seeing how they've been dealing with the pandemic. I went to Kyoto last December and I was happy because it was a ghost town, even USJ there were zero waiting lines but seeing the effect it's taken on the economy is truly worrying. Salary is already super low here but having my money stretching less and less.... I don't know if I can stay here much longer. I totally agree with you, especially your point of "you'll catch it anywhere you go unless you never leave your house". Everytime I ask people "What are you doing for obon?" it's always, "Nothing, we can't travel because of the pandemic" But you still see restaurants and shopping areas at full capacity
Maybe it's bad to say it but I liked traveling around Japan during the pandemic because it's less crowded. I also went to Kyoto recently and enjoyed that most places weren't pack as usual. I have been to Kyoto when it seemed like every other person was a foreigner.
Exactly! No one has any plans but all the izakayas, bars and restaurants are always full nowadays. People here are just pretending and silently doing their things. I'm not sure how long things can go like this aren't the people tired wearing masks even after 3 doses? I want to show my face, laugh and speak normally without everyone looking at me like I'm throwing up covid everywhere 😂. I hope Tokyo n Japan will become lively soon.
Ok from an outside view, i feel that Japan may be forced to open up fully before they planned on in large part due to the economy. Tourism is a big way to improve economics. But as someone who wants to travel to Japan (Hopefully next year) I'd never consider going in that freaking tour group plan they have. Not only is the process a bitch as you pointed out, but the restrictions they have completely destroy what a trip would be. I don't want to have a trip where i can only go where a group tour tells me to go. In that trip i mentioned, literally our only plan is to use the train line and go from there. I get the idea of being safe and making sure the virus doesn't go insane......OH WAIT as Joey points out, Japan is having a spike without tourists. It's just frustrating to see from an outside view because it just looks like lunacy How can they be shocked that not everyone was coming when the tour groups they set up complete defeat the point of going on a trip
"OH WAIT as Joey points out, Japan is having a spike without tourists." The same data can be interpreted the other way: Japan was doing pretty well regarding Coronavirus compared to a lot of the other countries in the world. After June 2022, when they let the gates open a little bit, everything collapsed. So it probably WAS the opening of the borders, even those small amount of tourists, that led to Japan's current spike.
They're not shocked, the tour group thing was just a PR play so they could say "look, we did open the borders! We aren't North Korea!" without actually letting in foreigners. They know no one will come, that's the point. They were also aware of the entire global community dragging them for their restrictions and wanted to mitigate reputational harm, the government takes the image of the country very seriously because it is a huge driver of their economy and geopolitical power. Probably also the government making concessions to the lobbyists from these massive tour companies, because it's only a few of the big players who are allowed to profit from this, not smaller travel agencies.
I’ve seen how you and others that live there talk about Japan both natives and not- it blows my mind how much Japanese gov seems to have blown handling this Covid thing from seemingly being super xenophobic. They know how to handle to diseases over there much better than other places but they seem to love to blame foreigners, hate when people come there without making it crazy difficult, but NEED foreign money to survive. I had previously considered moving but after seeing how they handled this and listened to you and others how they treat foreigners I changed my mind.
I’m going to echo some other comments here - as someone who has been a tourist in Japan, I wouldn’t even have been able to go to the places I went on a group tour. I’ve biked the Shimanami Kaido, hiked up Mount Miwa (since I can speak and read Japanese), and walked parts of the Kumano Kodo. I went to Kinosaki and Miyajima… Some of those places might get group tours, but many of them don’t. The group tour restriction really kills the idea of touring in Japan. That said, Japan can only decide for itself… Sakoku was the policy for literally hundreds of years, so the new sakoku doesn’t entirely surprise me - all over the world there is a rising tendency to nativism and suspicion of foreigners. I hope Japan doesn’t fall into a more permanent sakoku but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
well worn tourist areas have their moments but I would not be spending big money to go to Japan just to do this, tour groups are like a lotto, I've done it in countries where it was to my benefit to be in a group, I once had great people and once had many young jerks and you are kinda stuck with them for a week or so, no thanks
Going from pretty much the population of Canada to a trickle of a mid-size town in just 2-3 years, just wow. It's even more saddening to hear that policy makers are still making it harder for the tourism sector to recover. It's been a long time since I've been to Japan but trying to jump through hoops to actually visit again is a bit discouraging :(
If Japan does not open up, then they will be economically scrwed for years to come. You can blame the pandemic all you want, but the fault goes towards whoever is running the country the most right now.
The restrictions are crazy. I use to go japan every 2 years, and we have family out there who have recently had kids we would love to visit. The group tours currently are so restrictive there no way any western person would be ok with walking around with all those rules. We go to japan to have freedom to go where we want when we want and see places outside of holiday hotspots. There is no way i'll go back until everything is lifted. You have to ask wtf the japanese government is thinking? there losing so much money. It must have to do with the limited number of hospital beds atm.
For me and everyone I know that has issue with travelling to Japan is the tour group thing. I don't want to be on a scheduled tour, I just want to go where ever I feel like and be there for how ever long I want.
Im a 2022 Japanese Government sponsored student from Hawaii but living in Tokyo now for the next 3 years. I was very lucky to move here in May 2022 and be able to attend my classes in person. I've been to Japan twice before as a short international exchange student a few years ago and did a solo travel for a 3 weeks the christmas before covid. Joey is 100% correct when he says the best way to experience Japan is to basically wing it with a minimum plan. I mean if its your first time and dont know jack about Japanese culture then maybe a tour guided trip isn't to bad. But I feel like the best way is to do it all yourself. having no tourist in Japan is definitely different, the streets of Harajuku aren't shoulder to shoulder just like the rest of the tourist spots of Tokyo (which is nice) but its probably not the best for the economy. And I JUST went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara a few weeks ago for my summer vacation and damn... There was waaaayyy less people than there usually is. A great first experience in Kansai region for me but damn Kyoto really needs the tourism. And coming from Hawaii where we are dependent on tourism, sooner or later Japan is gonna crack under the pressure and learn to live with it.
@@Tiffany-dw1yp there are different ways to get sponsored in Japan to study but usually some programs will only pay for partial tuition and living cost is through your own funding. Mext is probably the toughest government scholarship to get since it’s worldwide and has lots of procedures. But look up MEXT scholarship and it should be there. Or if the local government or college you are studying at gives study abroad opportunities then it’s a good idea to look into that. I was lucky enough to be 1 of 3 Americans to get the scholarship.
I guess my plan to delay visiting Japan was a good call. Prior to 2020, I planned to visit Japan in spring of 2026. Due to my suspicions of how the country would respond to covid, I have pushed it off for a later date. Hopefully the country will be back to normal and not super restrictive by 2029 or 2030...
pretty obvious he's talking specifically about Covid restrictions, which he recognizes is mostly self inflicted at this point. Its the japanese citizens that are getting screwed as they have pretty much no say on when the govt decides to end restrictions.
@@thecommenter9267 It is mostly because of unorthodox economic strategies that was proved to be wrong from the beginning but kept regardless due to the most corrupt government of the world.
As someone from Australia who is waiting to travel to Japan for the first time, you couldn't have articulated this better! I'm a bit weary of group travel and not being able to do everything I want because it deviates from what is planned. We're currently planning a trip for September 2023 in hopes that the non-tour travel bans will be lifted! Don't mind wearing a mask, testing negatively / regularly, or the Yen. We just don't really want to go if we can't do what we want while we're visiting c:
I spoke to someone promoting Japanese tourism at Smash whej going to see the Trash Taste boys and you're right, the decision to only allow tour-only tourism is a big hell no for me. The guy I spoke to agrees too as it's a very difficult sell considering how many different things Japan offers. Being stuck in a tour just wastes people's time.
sounds like a lovely person, but i'm gonna say your government in Australia is freaking horrible and they had no right to ban you guys in your houses and make you feel like prisioners in your own home if u didn't get jabbed, and then 3 years later u find it didn't amount to anything and those shots didn't protect you in the end, honestly your govt should give you money for the time and pain they put towards there citizens, honestly all never trust australia again.
honestly that person who believed that the vaccine was supposed to make everything be safe again was the person that was wrong and honestly they should be apologized by the australian govt that they made a huge mistake and just own up to that fact, people make mistakes and govt make mistakes too, just own up too it and learn from it and move on to not make that mistake again.
Right before COVID hit I started learning Japanese. 3 years later I am waiting for the country to open so that I can further my studies after taking 4 semesters here on the east coast. I hope Japan opens their borders soon so I can finally try to further pursue my studies in Japanese and hopefully get better with my fluency! I really would like to be able to further understand Japans culture!
My husband and I loved walking through Japan. We'd average 30,000 steps a day. One night, we decided to walk from Shibuya to Shinjuku and just enjoy seeing things as we walked and it was great.
I've been to Japan twice: 2018 and 2019. I've been waiting, impatiently, for the doors to open once again. I used to check weekly, prior to June/2022...and was super excited that they announced that tourists were allowed in once again...and instantly crushed at the "tour groups only". I've stopped checking and given up hope. Japan in 2023? Maybe?
Haven't been following the Japan situation, but based on my experience living in Vietnam, opening the gates (so to speak) won't automatically mean tourists will flood in, there are other factors like an increase in air travel costs, staff shortages globally in the travel industry, and not sure about Japan, but in Vietnam at least, a visa situation turning travellers away to other destinations like Thailand.
Yes, I was in Vietnam from just before the borders closed until November 2021. And even after they opened borders this year, they won't issue more than a 30 day tourist visa and wonder why tourists don't want to return. My previous coworker is still working in Thailand and she's going out and doing normal stuff.
The war in Ukraine is the thing that affects us most in Europe we were almost back financially from the offset of the "plague" and what's left is because of the war, I find it weird that Japan is holding on so tightly. Is it because of foreign fear or are they just hit really hard over there ? The Euro has dropped too and that hurts but not to the point of cities going down
Japan is an aging country. They have a higher risk of more people dying from COVID. And they're quite traditionalist and risk-averse. And the homogenous culture has never been really quite open to foreigners anyway
September 9th update: Guided tour: you can book your own flights. Unguided tour: the travel agent has to book you flights. No one knows if you can make your own itinerary so basically all travel agents are selling things like "The Golden Route" where they plan what cities you stay in and what hotels you can book at. So basically it is the exact same as a guided tour minus the guide. Arguably worse since you can't use a flight you already have booked. In other words, we cancelled our trip to Japan this fall and are going to Italy instead :( Maybe next year.
This situation is so stressful. I moved to Japan last year after waiting forever to get in. i love living here but i take a huge hit financially every time i need to send money home. the decline of the yen and the economy feels like an extra slap in the face. I hope something gives soon...
Or Sri Lanka that has literally collapsed because of the combo of the pandemic and Ukraine war, many other countries are literally in crisis because of this
Was about to travel in 2020* to Japan; it was a graduation trip with my friends… before the Olympics and such. And I couldn’t feel more proud (got tickets in Nov. 2019) but yeah… unsure if we’re able to go back due to financial stuff, but. I hope everyone, everywhere is doing okay out there; I hope We recover and can visit soon- all the love.
In 2013 I was able to walk to the airport here in the US, get a ticket to Japan with no planning, fly there, hop on the bullet train to the south and walk all the way back to Narita and fly out. Walking 700 miles across Japan was so freeing. I miss those times.
After binge watching Journey Through Japan, I high-key would LOVE the same Japanese experience you and Chris had - to see the less touristy places. I think as someone who likes the culture and would love to visit Japan, the fear of not knowing the language and all the customs, its a bit overwhelming. One day! (Manifesting)
@franc Tokyo I think she’s just saying that it’s scary to go somewhere where it’s difficult to communicate with people or read signs, maps, etc. not that it’s a mortal fear. I don’t mean to be rude here but you’re coming in a bit hot man. I agree with you in the hope that people don’t think that there is a legal barrier for visits in terms of language but I don’t think that’s what the comment above meant to imply.
@@dumdumer892 I have traveled to 52 countries and I couldn't speak the local language in Many countries it's just that I don't understand how it could be scary as long as you are in a safe country nothing bad is going to happen if you can't speak the language. Just use your finger to show the food you want to order.
Sad to say but many people blew their vacation money on local travel, Europe or other Asian countries like Korea that welcomed people in 2021. With the current global inflation and future recession around the corner, for once the Japan vacation train is going to be too late.
I am from Greece, a well known country for its poor economic state and its massive tourism industry. Our country managed to even surpass the numbers of 2019, but that was only possible because during summer our government minimizes the health regulations not only needed to enter the country but also stay and return. Therefore I agree with Joey while I also must point out the importance of not only taking the appropriate measures to enter the country, but also to stay and leave easily.
Same thing happened in Croatia. When summer started every restriction was relaxed and corona wasn't a problem, but immediately when summer ended we were in worst pandemic of a century.
Aside from the incredibly strict mandates making travel nearly impossible the costs have also skyrocket. Flights to Japan from where I live have doubled, and group tours to Japan are almost non-existent (I looked) and those that do exist are incredibly expensive and restrictive on not only where you can go but when. All in all in makes travel not just an improbability but an impossibility. The fact that the Japanese government does not see this is what's dooming them to fail. Or at least that's what I'd say if Japan wasn't strictly aware of these facts. Instead it's xenophobia in combination with the former that's dooming the country to poverty.
I planned and saved up for 5 years to go to Japan for the first time, as my first trip to Asia and my first trip without any family members. In 2020. It's been nothing but rebooking and cancelling flights and hotels for the past 3 summers. To say it's been frustrating is an understatement.
That really sucks, I got insanely lucky, wanted to go for about 15 years, then got a business trip that also landed on my birthday. In January of 2020 got to experience everything normally right before the lockdowns. I wish you luck, but you might consider packing away the money and putting the trip on hold until you can actually go and experience it without any real restrictions, it was pretty magical just wandering around and exploring strange places like the bar alley in tokyo, like 50+ bars packed into tiny spaces in one little alley.
All of Asia had its borders closed for almost 2 years. You wouldn't have been able to go to Bali, or Seoul or Bangkok until this year either. I think you might want to pay attention to the news more so that you do not feel so disappointed.
Right before the Pandemic hit, I had decided that I wanted to move to Japan to establish my life there. I was THIS close to getting in and starting my plan. These past several years have been pain as I literally put my life on hold, unsure if I should change my plans or stick it out. Every time they say they are opening up again is like a gut punch as I try to get ready only for them to clam up again. So frustrating.
I was stuck starting at the end of 2019/ beginning of 2020. I only just recently managed to get in after the constant stop/start. Just hold in there. It really sucks and I almost gave up so many times. I ended up changing my plans and found an easier way to get passed the borders. It’s not what I want but a start.
I’m in Japan (for over three years now) on a multiple entry student visa, and finally for the first time, I was able to return to the US. Getting back into Japan was absolute hell. The negative PCR test results I had weren’t accepted, so just getting through the gate again to get on the plane was a nightmare. The PCR test results I needed altogether ended up costing me nearly ¥60000. ‘Health’ is just a way to make money, and people who can afford to travel, can spend more money in the ‘health industry’ for their travels.
I totally agree that the best way to visit Japan is to come without much planning, aside from a few ppl who come with their friends and have specific travel plans. The best memories are created generally anywhere by “discovering” places that you may like. That’s what makes it unique to you.
