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It wasn't so long ago that people were bitching about the invasion of previously peaceful (albiet backward) Japanese ski fields by crass cashed-up aussie tourists. That was nothing compared to what is coming down the line.... Are we going to see another property boom in the high profile resorts?

 

Quote:
NEW wave of Chinese visitors to Japan is expected after the Japanese government relaxes visa rules today.

 

This will make a further 16 million households in China eligible for tourist visas.

 

The change will allow middle-class Chinese to visit Japan, which will boost the country's depressed retail sector. Previously only very wealthy Chinese have been issued with tourist visas for Japan.

 

Still, the number of Chinese tourists was already on the rise, with 1.5 million expected this year.

 

Increasingly affluent Chinese are being welcomed by retailers.

 

Despite some cultural resistance among Japanese to a Chinese "invasion", big stores are rolling out the red carpet.

 

"Chinese are the saviours for us. I've never seen any foreign tourists spend as much as the Chinese," says Takeshi Araki, a salesman at Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara electronics district.

 

Major retailers, including Bic Camera and the Matsuya department store, are among the many businesses with signs in Chinese. Bic Camera has opened a Chinese-language help line, and it and several other stores now take the China UnionPay credit card.

 

Retail chiefs estimate Chinese tourists spend on average three times as much as Japanese customers.

 

Shoppers in Tokyo's ritzy Ginza shopping district who spoke to The Australian yesterday welcomed the Chinese tourism boom, but some expressed slight misgivings.

 

An elderly female shopper quipped: "Finally we have an invasion from the Chinese.

 

"It may be profitable for the Japanese economy, but we could lose our sense of identity."

 

Chiyo Tonegawa, a worker at a stall that has sold fruit in Ginza since 1951, said Chinese tourists had been good for business as they often brought her produce while shopping for top-brand bags and clothes.

 

"I welcome it. They are pretty rich now, not like in the past," she said. "The Japanese people are so defeated now - they are getting more fashionable than us."

 

China's Suning appliance company has already bought a controlling stake in the large Japanese appliance store Laox, and Chinese interest is expected when the Seibu department store in the Ginza area is sold next year.

 

Several companies are running Chinese shopping cruises to Japan, and the city of Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu expects 66 vessels to berth this year, bringing Y=2.9 billion ($38 million) in economic benefit.

 

The visa reforms allow Chinese of a "certain professional status" to get a visa. This means those who hold major credit cards or managerial jobs.

 

 

It might be worth learnig some handy phrases in Chinese:

 

1. Flush the damn toilet!

2. Who you calling Gweilo?

3. The back of the queue is that way fella!

4. The sign says don't spit, don't squat and no smoking!

 

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Most of the investment in Niseko over the last couple of years has been from SE Asian investors. Not that many Aussies investing since the GFC. Many companies here would be out of business if it wasn't for Asian tourists and investors I'd think.

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Quote:
"Finally we have an invasion from the Chinese.

"It may be profitable for the Japanese economy, but we could lose our sense of identity."


doh why exactly would the Japanese lose their identity because more Chinese tourists were visiting??
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Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver
Quote:
"Finally we have an invasion from the Chinese.

"It may be profitable for the Japanese economy, but we could lose our sense of identity."


doh why exactly would the Japanese lose their identity because more Chinese tourists were visiting??


Maybe their identity as Asia's for rich, fashionable nation.....maybe
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Nope, didn't say it was did I?

 

Originally Posted By: RobBright
Probably - but not as rude as the Chinese tourists I have encountered around Japan.
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Well I have a little bit of experience now living in China and there are marked cultural differences some of which have been mentioned above. I would venture that the gaps between Chinese and Japanese people are greater the Australian and Japanese people.

 

There is a tremendous amount of $ looking for places to go here so dont be surprised to see whole resorts become Chinese. The visa situation had just be been relaxed too so get ready....

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Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll
Even the HK Chinese have an issue with the way mainland Chinese carry on.


Thats because they were refined by the British! pip pip!
wink
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Coming back to China after a break is always a little confronting. Whilst nearly everyone I have met here have been really nice to me but its a dog eat dog (sometimes man eat dog) world and quite often I see cutting lines, being what we would consider being rude to folks considered "below" them and binge drinking take on a whole new meaning, especially where I am. One government guy at our dinner last night ended up in hospital from too much grain alcohol (white wine).

 

There are a lot of people from single kid families that are affluent and used to getting their way as they have been spoilt by their families, with predictable results.

 

These are generalisations though so please take them with a grain of salt but on the whole the culture here is VERY VERY different to what I have experienced in Japan.

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It will be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out and how the resorts change.

 

Chinese NY is already crazy in Niseko, I bet the prices will double next year.

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Originally Posted By: RobBright
Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver
No


Can't imagine a Scottish person saying pip pip. Must be English.î¬


or those that want to be English
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Originally Posted By: stemik
Originally Posted By: RobBright
Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver
No


Can't imagine a Scottish person saying pip pip. Must be English.î¬


or those that want to be English


Dont we all? smile
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Plenty posh bastards sold Scotland down the river in colonial times.....quite a few I'd imagine who'd also say "pip pip" to get a piece of the empire

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Does Nagano airport take international flights? If it doesn't, the local resort towns should be pushing hard for it. It would open up a whole new market of weekend trips residents in China's coastal cities. In the right circumstances super cheap airline tickets subsidised by landing fee rebates from the Nagano airport would make it very appealing.

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