I just caught a piece on the news about a Japanese tour group who paid about $2000 (U.S.) each to travel to Australia, do a quick tour of Sydney, catch the Japan vs. Brazil Olympic soccer match (Japan lost 0-1), and return to Japan the same day. In all the trip lasted 32 hours, including travel time.
Is this completely insane, or what?
Now before you start screaming about western media bias, I should point out that this report appeared on a Japanese TV network.
Yes, it is. Which explains why the Japanese love it. I’ve got relatives who would go for such a thing. ::shudders::
I have noticed that the Japanese people like things we think are insane. I don’t know why this is, but it probably has something to do with our cultures being so very different. I wonder if they have a tv show in japan along the lines of “those wacky americans”. They must see some things in America the same way we see things in Japan.
OTOH, there are always some odd people in any society with money to burn.
It’s a backlash against the culture. Almost every other facet of their lives can be unyieldingly rigid and painfully predictible.
I can’t help but think of that game show where the contestants compete by seeing who can withstand the most varieties of excruciating pain. It was crazy-- they were beaten and frozen and stretched and poked at with sharp objects and burned and nearly drowned and… the list of tortures goes on and on. I can’t imagine any prize being worth that suffering.
Well, that explains a whole lot! Thanks AudreyK!!!
It makes a lot more sense now.
On the contrary, I find it to be quite in line with the rigid structure of Japanese society.
-Everyone went on this tour as a group.
-They had a pre-determined amount of time to spend in each location.
-The whole point of the whirlwind tour seemed designed to make sure no one was away from their societal obligation (salaryman, mother, student, etc.) for longer than necessary.
Look, that’s not that bad, at least they got to see a soccer match.
The Japanese also have these trips where they fly straight to Minneapolis to GO SHOPPING AT THE MALL OF AMERICA!
Granted they usually come for about three days instead of one, but it is still insane to me.
They have trips for Japanese businessman who want to go golfin in Cali. They fly over for the day and fly back early the next morning.
Heck, if I had pots of money, I’d be doing wacky-ass stuff all the time.
I would never, however, be a contestant on a Japanese game show. :eek:
AudreyK explained: “It’s a backlash against the culture. Almost every other facet of their lives can be unyieldingly rigid and painfully predictible.”
To which Teach replied, “On the contrary, I find it to be quite in line with the rigid structure of Japanese society.”
You guys both earn brownie points today. Audrey – you’re right, in that the Japanese find ways to do Really Kooky Things, to get away from the rigidity. Teach – you’re also quite right, in that the mob/group mindset is so well-engrained, that most people do those Really Kooky Things as a group. Those who want to TRULY reject the rigidity of Japanese society, become somewhat of an outcast… or they leave the country (like my dad did).
Is it that much farther from Japan (you didn’t say what city, but Japan is pretty darn small) to Sydney than it is from New York to LA? People sometimes make quick turnarounds between those cities.
And also bear in mind that this is the Olympics. Soccer/football is very hot right now, and it’s one of those activities where the Japanese would try to prove they can flex as hard as Caucasians. I bet there was a lot of money riding on that game, too, not that one has to be at the game to collect.
I think it’s about 7 hours from Osaka to Sydney. Seems like a long flight to me. Plus, it costs considerably more than flying NY to LA.
Apparently the Australian media found this to be a newsworthy event. A headline in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail read, “Japanese fans whizz in, whizz out.”
Baglady, thanks for the brownie points. Are those “special” brownies or just the regular kind?
I guess it’s agreed that the Japanese are nuts. 
Thank god I’m westernized.
Hate to break it to you Audrey, but you’re not that Westernized.
::ducks and runs::
Riiiiight. You’ve never seen me use chopsticks. 
Important facts…
Japanese generally have a high level of savings.
Japanese people work very hard and generally have short holidays if any at all.
Japanese people love football. I work with Japanese people and the only time I have ever seen then at all nationalistic was during Japan compeating at the soccer world cup.
Actually, the Japanese tour party landed in Brisbane, where the soccer game was played (the Olympic Soccer competition is being hosted between four cities: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide). They also had time to duck down to the Gold Coast, which is Australia’s most famous tourist resort.
Apparently, Queensland gets quite a bit of this form of visit from Japanese tourists. It’s even developed a market as a venue to hold Japanese weddings, let alone a honeymoon.
Queensland advertises itself as “beautiful one day, perfect the next”. The rest of Australia has amended that to “Japanese the next”.
Thanks for the correction, DVous Means. I must admit my ignorance on this point. I didn’t realize that the soccer matches were being played among so many different cites.
Regardless of where they went, however, I still think it’s crazy to fly from here (Osaka) to Australia only to spend a few hours to catch a soccer match and then go home the same day. The flight itself must have cost over a thousand dollars and I would think they would want to optimize their yen by spending at least a few days down under. I don’t even consider going back home to the States unless I can take at least a couple of weeks off to spend there.
That said, let me respond to the following:
That suggests they wouldn’t normally want to spend their money so frivolously. Besides, one young man featured on the news report was shown hanging out on the beach while the others went shopping. When asked why he wasn’t with the others he said he had already spent all of his savings for the trip and didn’t have anything left for shopping.
This is a very good point and I think it might be the key to the appeal of this kind of tour. I feel sorry for majority of the Japanese working class who are straightjacketed into such a rigid work schedule. As a university lecturer, I should count my blessings since I haven’t had to work a full day since July 14. (Fall term classes start September 29.)
You should see them when it comes time to support the baseball team.