This is an interesting read. One comment on this part:
> Japan, the first non-Western society to flood the world with tourists, became the first to retreat from that role. This signaled a deeper cultural shift from "we want to see the world" to "we are content with our own."
Just as Japan predicted aging societies, debt crises, and solo culture, it may now be showing us tourism's future: not endless growth, but eventual contentment with home.
I think some of these issues are not because Japan got there “first” but because it has always rejected immigration and multiculturalism. People who immigrant to Japan are often socially isolated, and it can be difficult to make friends or connect with anyone beyond something superficial (like work). There is also still discriminatory anti-foreign bias all over (for example restaurants that will kick you out because you don’t look Japanese). I respect a lot about Japan, but it’s strange how their rampant anti-outsider bias isn’t a bigger part of their public image.
Regardless, immigration could have prevented many of the problems Japan has faced and continues to face. They could have a younger labor force that can help with the aging problem, they could attract a dynamic entrepreneurial sector, they could have become a bigger cultural exporter, and so on. But I think Japan also has a deep distrust of looking to outside help at potentially the cost of how their society and culture works today.
Already, we’re seeing the rise of fringe parties (Sanseitō) who are promoting “anti foreigner policies”. Their leader Sohei Kamiya seems unhinged and is apparently a fan of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, but that hasn’t stopped them from showing surprising success in elections. To me that reveals the issues lying beneath, which are also part of the rejection of tourism and other trends.
SilverElfin•2h ago
> Japan, the first non-Western society to flood the world with tourists, became the first to retreat from that role. This signaled a deeper cultural shift from "we want to see the world" to "we are content with our own." Just as Japan predicted aging societies, debt crises, and solo culture, it may now be showing us tourism's future: not endless growth, but eventual contentment with home.
I think some of these issues are not because Japan got there “first” but because it has always rejected immigration and multiculturalism. People who immigrant to Japan are often socially isolated, and it can be difficult to make friends or connect with anyone beyond something superficial (like work). There is also still discriminatory anti-foreign bias all over (for example restaurants that will kick you out because you don’t look Japanese). I respect a lot about Japan, but it’s strange how their rampant anti-outsider bias isn’t a bigger part of their public image.
Regardless, immigration could have prevented many of the problems Japan has faced and continues to face. They could have a younger labor force that can help with the aging problem, they could attract a dynamic entrepreneurial sector, they could have become a bigger cultural exporter, and so on. But I think Japan also has a deep distrust of looking to outside help at potentially the cost of how their society and culture works today.
Already, we’re seeing the rise of fringe parties (Sanseitō) who are promoting “anti foreigner policies”. Their leader Sohei Kamiya seems unhinged and is apparently a fan of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, but that hasn’t stopped them from showing surprising success in elections. To me that reveals the issues lying beneath, which are also part of the rejection of tourism and other trends.