I think a lot of the appeal isn't even about gender per-se. They're just nice places.

If my goal isn't to be a girlboss, but to have a nice life, then I see huge appeal. Japan, say, is safe, and comfortable; it's full of pleasant built environments; it's easy to afford the rent; and apart from rising in management at Sony I can do whatever I want. Sign me up?

Say you survey men: Probably a lot of them have similar ideas. Probably the same places are popular with them too.

Like, apart from a handful of Andrew Tates who are converting to Islam for the wrong reasons, do you think western men want to live in Saudi Arabia either? You think they want to rule in some loveless breeding-marriage from The Handmaid's Tale? Does that sound like a "male fantasy" (oh no, such a bad thing /s) to you? Of course not.

Turns out that both the men and the women would really just be perfectly happy to go somewhere with a nice piazza and sip espresso.