Japan has not recovered from the 1980s bubble. It’s gotten a lot better, but there are a lot of reasons why they have not seen the same level of growth as other industrialized countries.
Their Banking policies, their employment system not incentivizing innovation (just working a lot), decline in birth rate, a lack of natural resources to tap into when they fall on hard times, an economy that still needs to import a lot, one political party largely dominating most elections, lack of farmland, etc.
There are a lot of reasons Japan’s stagnation on the economic front has continued for quite some time. Haven’t even touched on their immigration policies, which could replenish an aging workforce. They also don’t make significant changes, what jumpstarted the economy after ww2 was significant change/policies mostly pushed by outside parties.
We wrote their constitution that they still use today which I still find bonkers.
If they could get rid of their energy imports they would turn their trade deficit into a huge surplus. Right now they are spending 80 billion dollars yearly just on oil
Toyota wants hydrogen. There are a lot of hybrids sold in Japan though, along with full electric like the Nissan Leaf. I think the prevalence of K cars might partly reduce the desire for fuel efficient EVs.
I mean, they've been trying to use less fuel since the 90's, since they basically pioneered the hybrid drive train. But they are still a corporation and if people aren't buying them in the numbers needed to justify an expansion, why would they?
The BEV boom is also a very recent trend (and I'd argue an absolute fad, fueled by the rich and techno-phillic, if the pathetic resale value of BEVs is anything to go by) and it's not like Toyota hasn't dabbled in BEVs before and they seem to be one of the few looking at options that aren't BEVs (hydrogen fuel cell and combustion engines).
The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle. EVs have worse resale value for the same reason the first LED TVs had worse resale value. Luxury products always have worse resale value and nascent technologies improve much more rapidly than established technologies, so old EVs struggle to compete with new EVs. You can bring up more issues you have with EVs if you like, but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology.
All TVs have terrible resale value. The technology has improved and the price point dropped so far why would one buy a used TV anyway. There are tons of flat screens in the recycle bin if you want one for free.
> The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle.
It's easy to be a fast growing *anything* when you're starting from zero, that's not really a mark in BEVs favour. As I said, the technophiles and the rich are able to buy into the BEV idea but the rest of the world is looking at them and deciding they'll stick with the tried and true for the moment.
Well actually they are [buying up PHEV/HEVs](https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyota-hybrids-outselling-tesla-nearly-two-to-one/) (which given they've been around in a serious way since the late 90s makes 'em tried and true). Which offer much reduced emissions but with the reliability of an ICE (for when you aren't near a charge station but are near a servo) and for less upfront cost than a BEV. Most manufacturers aren't bothering with them outside of token efforts while Toyota is moving towards ending pure ICE cars (Camry being the first to no longer offer pure-ICE) which is going to do more to drop emissions than relying on the slow uptake of BEVs.
> but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology.
Like the very high cost of replacing a BEV traction battery and the fact that fast charging is inherently bad for battery life while fast-charging is the go-to argument whenever someone asks about long charge times? That probably has more to do with poor resale values of BEVs rather than the newer technology.
Fast charging has improved year over year. Cost per kWh has also improved year over year. The consistent improvement of these two factors are absolutely typical for a new step change in technology.
The bigger problem for EVs in Japan is batteries.
Most people who rely on cars for daily transport don't live in the cities. Living out in the countryside has more temperature swings associated with it.
In Akita, and Aomori for example, your average EV battery would last maybe a year and a half before shitting itself. Thats a costly repair.
Akita and Aomori barely get below freezing temp. Japan’s winters have nothing on Canada and our EVs have certainly lasted longer than a year. You didn’t honestly believe what you were saying, did you, lol
The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle. EVs have worse resale value for the same reason the first LED TVs had worse resale value. Luxury products always have worse resale value and nascent technologies improve much more rapidly than established technologies, so old EVs struggle to compete with new EVs. You can bring up more issues you have with EVs if you like, but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology.
EVs require far more imported raw materials than combustion motors. The battery manufacturing process is extremely energy intensive. China subsidizes their battery and EV industries, so everyone just buys theirs. China has a universal monopoly on nearly all rare earth minerals. The mining of rare earths is probably the single most polluting. The area around the largest rare earth mine in the world has some of the highest rates of fatal diseases and cancers.
So long as China holds a monopoly, Japan will not move significant investment into EVs. They understand it is too risky if something happens geopolitically with China. It’s a great dream, but EVs are too pollutive and expensive for the west to do on their own. Electric vehicles are as “cheap” as they are because of unfair trade practices and monopolistic policies in China. IF Japan, US, SK, etc choose to mine the Clarion-Clipperton zone, while at the same time building out and subsidizing their own domestic battery industries. Sodium is apparently the next step, but we’ve got a long road ahead. China already has the jump on the west for sodium manufacturing.
Funny, I thought electric car electricity demand wasn't even going to double most country's needs. For Japan I get about 13% of current generation to electrify all vehicles.
So if they somehow fully electrified in 10 years they'd need to increase electricity output by about 1.3% per year.
Assuming ~80 million cars doing around 5k miles each year ([source](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1198060/japan-average-travel-distance-private-car-owners/)). At 3 miles per kWh, I get ~130 billion kWh needed. Vs 1,000 bn kWh annual production. [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production)
Yea, I think people forget the efficiency gains that come with electrification. A lot of our non electrified means of production waste a ton of the input energy in the form of heat. I've seen some analysis that state full electrification could lead to a net decrease in energy production needs. A minor one, but still a decrease.
> ~130 billion kWh needed
Soooo just add the entire power output of the Netherlands to Japan's national grids. Why didn't anyone think to do that before?
>Soooo just add the entire power output of the Netherlands to Japan's national grids. Why didn't anyone think to do that before?
Capacity equivalent to ~6 modern nuclear plants at a cost of around $100 billion to build (and which you can fill with any energy production source of your choice).
Expensive? Yes.
More expensive than the cost of the fuel and environmental cleanup? Eh
Better for air quality and quality of life and within the cities? Absolutely.
>Elon Musk's car company reported its lowest quarterly deliveries since 2022, notching its first year-over-year quarterly decline since 2020 and biggest-ever miss compared to analyst expectations.
>This rough quarter is the first sign that the EV leader is not immune to a slowdown in electric vehicle sales that has dogged its competitors since the latter half of 2023.
The past is just a thought my friend.
Good thing the present has EV sales increasing. We are talking all EVs and Tesla isn’t the only EV maker. EV sales in May 24 were up over May 23 in the US and 2024 sales globally are exceeding the 2023 rate.
https://www.anl.gov/esia/light-duty-electric-drive-vehicles-monthly-sales-updates
I don’t see EVs taking the entire market any time soon. A Cybertruck, R1T, or Lightning isn’t replacing my Cummins diesel.
What I will agree with is that the EV market is not growing as fast as estimates. Infrastructure just isn’t there and I don’t see it getting better soon.
> We are talking all EVs and Tesla isn’t the only EV maker
Yes, I completely brought up Tesla out of thin air.
>The best selling car in the world is an EV.
Yup, this conversation is over. Not reading the rest of your comment. Not sure if it's just Reddit today or what but goddam it's like talking to a wall.
Modern nuclear power is safe, green, and incredibly efficient. It can even use existing waste as fuel. Look at the new reactor being built in Wyoming backed by Gates.
Sodium reactors don't meltdown. And the plants survived the earthquake, it's the tsunami that got it as reinforcements were inadequate.
I lived here during 3/2011
You might want to read up on sodium reactor operation. In molten-salt designs, if power is lost or the reactor is damaged, it cools off naturally without spreading radioactivity. Conventional reactors require active cooling, but sodium reactors don’t rely on external systems for safety, when negates the possibility of meltdowns seen in water-cooled reactors like Fukushima and all others to date.
Could be a reception issue. Like with us, we could have some things established that are beneficial for us, but a very powerful vocal minority says no.
They don't actually lack farmland, they suffer from the cancer of Japan Agriculture (JA's) overregulation, which drives supply down, and costs up by design. Resulting in your average supermarket mango being $7.
Farmers have told me that they had to compost / spoil / get rid of perfectly good produce because of JA regulations, and on average 60-80 of produce does not fit JA's standards. Unless they're the ones that own the farm.
On the innovation point, it’s kind of crazy how Japan used to be seen as the pinnacle of innovation for both consumer electronics and policy. You think of how many western org organizations thought that Kaizen was the golden standard for production
Whats wrong with one political party dominating? Works for china and singapore. You dont have to specifically point out lack of natural resources, you can be successful being a full service / manufacturing / advanced technology economy like taiwan or singapore.
Japans unwavering exclusion of other class people is why they are suffering and will be their downfall. Low diversity of race and board line racism. I absolutely love the country and the culture of Japan but they don’t bring in immigration for workforce , marriage or kids outside of their race (or within) it’s causing a huge decline economically and populism.
In 2015 the Japanese PM Abe purposefully devalued the yen. Japan is a huge export economy. Back when it was 80 yen to the dollar, Japanese exports were getting too expensive just because the yen was so strong, so it was actually hurting their economy.
japan's debt/gdp is 300%, in order to make it less painful the yen needs to be weak. At a time when inflation is running rampant worldwide (it's far from over). If every1's raising rates and japan isn't, the yen gets trashed, they are somewhat lucky so far, it can get much worse.
Bonus, major central banks are watching for a major player to cut rates first, whoever cuts first "loses"
I went to Japan last year. Didn’t know about how cheap everything was, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise. <$2 water bottles in Disney land and universal was the one thing I just could not get over, lol
Tokyo Disney was one of the last stops on our 2 week trip. Water bottles out of vending machines cost about ¥100-¥180 everywhere else we’d been so it seemed like a ripoff in comparison when the bottles at Tokyo Disney were like ¥200, even though that was only like $1.40 at the time lol
Tourism hasn't really recovered back to the way it was trending before Covid, but it's getting back there. So sure, some tourists are going there because the yen is weaker, but mostly tourists just like going to Japan.
Also, tourism in Japan is dominated by the Japanese since they live there.
>Tourism hasn't really recovered back to the way it was trending before Covid,
No, 2024 is expected to be Japan's busiest and most visited year for tourism, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
However, Japan's domestic tourism is shrinking due to inflation and a weak yen, which also leads to competition with international tourists for hotels and other accommodations.
Your reoly could not be more wrong 😭
>No, 2024 is expected to be Japan's busiest and most visited year for tourism, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
Year isn't over. If you say this again once it's finalized, sure, but until then, I'm not counting eggs before they hatch. Because it's not 31 million yet.
Domestic tourism can shrink all it wants, but it will still dominate tourism in Japan. In what world would 31 million tourists outnumber 270 million domestic tourists?
JNTO releases these numbers...you know the govt org who handles foreign visitors and predicts tourism # for Japan. They aren't made up out of thin air. Each month this year has broken previous "busiest month" records and it's expected to end at 34,000,000 visitors.
Those 34 million are spending far more than the shrinking domestic tourism industry. The first quarter of 2024 saw 11.4 billion dollars spent by foreign tourists, which also shattered the previous record.
I really enjoyed visiting Japan around 12 years ago. Traveling and seeing their country was amazing. Ive wanted to go back since covid but many of my colleagues have kinda warned me off. Making note that they had been kinda ostracized as foreigners since covid. Does anyone who’s travelled there recently felt the same way?
I traveled there a year ago before they jacked up the prices for the JR pass. Can't say I felt ostracized there, but for the most part, I kept with my travel party.
Only situation that I can remember was a Japanese man in Kyoto was a little frowny when he had to show us how to do the hot pot thing, but that's because we didn't understand his Japanese instructions. But I feel like that's just how he is normally.
In Tokyo, we had a Japanese girl chase us down because I forgot to take my 30 cents from the ice cream ticket machine.
Language will probably be the biggest barrier but I was able to use Google Translate for more complex situations. Guy at the JR office just spoke into Google Translate to communicate with me.
Biggest tip is to plan out your trip with some wiggle room here and there because the Japanese love queuing up and registering for shit so it's better to confirm the events you want to attend.
People will tell you to carry cash and it's true that Japan is a cash-based society, but a lot of places have credit now so it's really easy to spend your money. Or withdraw money from an ATM machine at the numerous convenience stores.
Was there back in May and didn’t experience anything negative because I was a foreigner. In fact, when I went to a lot of local spaces away from the tourist areas people were so excited and would often ask where I was from or how I heard about their restaurant.
Just like everywhere else, be respectful and kind and you’ll be treated the same way.
Couldn’t agree more, the key is to be respectful, many tourists regardless where they are from are often obnoxious and disrespectful, then made a big fuss when got booted or asked to leave
lol no. Been to Japan 3 times since 2019. Never felt ostracized. not sure why your colleagues are saying that. I even went to the public baths which are 100% Japanese.
Just went there in january, theres no stigmatism against foreigners, they know you are there to instagram the food and the japanese looking monuments..
A race against the clock between going while it’s affordable and before growing global conflicts makes it impossible. Either that or eventually my “fellow” dumbass americans who go their and do evil shit and completely ruin our reputation. I wasn’t trying to imply anything crazy!
Bad for an import economy, great for an export economy. They are both.
Great for tourism, which is seeing a boom. They are a great place to visit too. Clean, organized, have beautiful and goofy stuff to see/do, etc.
Can someone explain why Japans economy has been in the devalue for the past decade or so? Didn’t they used to be a high GDP in the early 2000s
Japan has not recovered from the 1980s bubble. It’s gotten a lot better, but there are a lot of reasons why they have not seen the same level of growth as other industrialized countries. Their Banking policies, their employment system not incentivizing innovation (just working a lot), decline in birth rate, a lack of natural resources to tap into when they fall on hard times, an economy that still needs to import a lot, one political party largely dominating most elections, lack of farmland, etc. There are a lot of reasons Japan’s stagnation on the economic front has continued for quite some time. Haven’t even touched on their immigration policies, which could replenish an aging workforce. They also don’t make significant changes, what jumpstarted the economy after ww2 was significant change/policies mostly pushed by outside parties. We wrote their constitution that they still use today which I still find bonkers.
If they could get rid of their energy imports they would turn their trade deficit into a huge surplus. Right now they are spending 80 billion dollars yearly just on oil
You’d think that companies like Toyota would be big on EVs then but they’re not.
Toyota wants hydrogen. There are a lot of hybrids sold in Japan though, along with full electric like the Nissan Leaf. I think the prevalence of K cars might partly reduce the desire for fuel efficient EVs.
I mean, they've been trying to use less fuel since the 90's, since they basically pioneered the hybrid drive train. But they are still a corporation and if people aren't buying them in the numbers needed to justify an expansion, why would they? The BEV boom is also a very recent trend (and I'd argue an absolute fad, fueled by the rich and techno-phillic, if the pathetic resale value of BEVs is anything to go by) and it's not like Toyota hasn't dabbled in BEVs before and they seem to be one of the few looking at options that aren't BEVs (hydrogen fuel cell and combustion engines).
The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle. EVs have worse resale value for the same reason the first LED TVs had worse resale value. Luxury products always have worse resale value and nascent technologies improve much more rapidly than established technologies, so old EVs struggle to compete with new EVs. You can bring up more issues you have with EVs if you like, but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology.
All TVs have terrible resale value. The technology has improved and the price point dropped so far why would one buy a used TV anyway. There are tons of flat screens in the recycle bin if you want one for free.
> The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle. It's easy to be a fast growing *anything* when you're starting from zero, that's not really a mark in BEVs favour. As I said, the technophiles and the rich are able to buy into the BEV idea but the rest of the world is looking at them and deciding they'll stick with the tried and true for the moment. Well actually they are [buying up PHEV/HEVs](https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyota-hybrids-outselling-tesla-nearly-two-to-one/) (which given they've been around in a serious way since the late 90s makes 'em tried and true). Which offer much reduced emissions but with the reliability of an ICE (for when you aren't near a charge station but are near a servo) and for less upfront cost than a BEV. Most manufacturers aren't bothering with them outside of token efforts while Toyota is moving towards ending pure ICE cars (Camry being the first to no longer offer pure-ICE) which is going to do more to drop emissions than relying on the slow uptake of BEVs. > but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology. Like the very high cost of replacing a BEV traction battery and the fact that fast charging is inherently bad for battery life while fast-charging is the go-to argument whenever someone asks about long charge times? That probably has more to do with poor resale values of BEVs rather than the newer technology.
Fast charging has improved year over year. Cost per kWh has also improved year over year. The consistent improvement of these two factors are absolutely typical for a new step change in technology.
The bigger problem for EVs in Japan is batteries. Most people who rely on cars for daily transport don't live in the cities. Living out in the countryside has more temperature swings associated with it. In Akita, and Aomori for example, your average EV battery would last maybe a year and a half before shitting itself. Thats a costly repair.
Akita and Aomori barely get below freezing temp. Japan’s winters have nothing on Canada and our EVs have certainly lasted longer than a year. You didn’t honestly believe what you were saying, did you, lol
The EV market is certainly volatile and we’re definitely in a weird downturn, but describing EVs as a “fad” is laughable. They’re still the fastest growing variety of vehicle. EVs have worse resale value for the same reason the first LED TVs had worse resale value. Luxury products always have worse resale value and nascent technologies improve much more rapidly than established technologies, so old EVs struggle to compete with new EVs. You can bring up more issues you have with EVs if you like, but first you should ask yourself if the issue is inherent to EVs or if it’s broadly typical for any new step change in technology.
EVs require far more imported raw materials than combustion motors. The battery manufacturing process is extremely energy intensive. China subsidizes their battery and EV industries, so everyone just buys theirs. China has a universal monopoly on nearly all rare earth minerals. The mining of rare earths is probably the single most polluting. The area around the largest rare earth mine in the world has some of the highest rates of fatal diseases and cancers. So long as China holds a monopoly, Japan will not move significant investment into EVs. They understand it is too risky if something happens geopolitically with China. It’s a great dream, but EVs are too pollutive and expensive for the west to do on their own. Electric vehicles are as “cheap” as they are because of unfair trade practices and monopolistic policies in China. IF Japan, US, SK, etc choose to mine the Clarion-Clipperton zone, while at the same time building out and subsidizing their own domestic battery industries. Sodium is apparently the next step, but we’ve got a long road ahead. China already has the jump on the west for sodium manufacturing.
Imagine saying this but not mentioning the industry leading hybrid tech they produce and the quality inherent in a Toyota.
If Toyota sold "Toyota numbers" of EVs, there wouldn't be any electricity in Japan for anything else.
Funny, I thought electric car electricity demand wasn't even going to double most country's needs. For Japan I get about 13% of current generation to electrify all vehicles. So if they somehow fully electrified in 10 years they'd need to increase electricity output by about 1.3% per year. Assuming ~80 million cars doing around 5k miles each year ([source](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1198060/japan-average-travel-distance-private-car-owners/)). At 3 miles per kWh, I get ~130 billion kWh needed. Vs 1,000 bn kWh annual production. [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production)
Yea, I think people forget the efficiency gains that come with electrification. A lot of our non electrified means of production waste a ton of the input energy in the form of heat. I've seen some analysis that state full electrification could lead to a net decrease in energy production needs. A minor one, but still a decrease.
> ~130 billion kWh needed Soooo just add the entire power output of the Netherlands to Japan's national grids. Why didn't anyone think to do that before?
>Soooo just add the entire power output of the Netherlands to Japan's national grids. Why didn't anyone think to do that before? Capacity equivalent to ~6 modern nuclear plants at a cost of around $100 billion to build (and which you can fill with any energy production source of your choice). Expensive? Yes. More expensive than the cost of the fuel and environmental cleanup? Eh Better for air quality and quality of life and within the cities? Absolutely.
Toyota sold 100k ev's last year. That's less than 1% of their sales. The market doesn't want fully electric vehicles.
The best selling car in the world is an EV. Nearly 1 in 5 cars sold globally in 2023 was an EV.
>Elon Musk's car company reported its lowest quarterly deliveries since 2022, notching its first year-over-year quarterly decline since 2020 and biggest-ever miss compared to analyst expectations. >This rough quarter is the first sign that the EV leader is not immune to a slowdown in electric vehicle sales that has dogged its competitors since the latter half of 2023. The past is just a thought my friend.
Good thing the present has EV sales increasing. We are talking all EVs and Tesla isn’t the only EV maker. EV sales in May 24 were up over May 23 in the US and 2024 sales globally are exceeding the 2023 rate. https://www.anl.gov/esia/light-duty-electric-drive-vehicles-monthly-sales-updates I don’t see EVs taking the entire market any time soon. A Cybertruck, R1T, or Lightning isn’t replacing my Cummins diesel. What I will agree with is that the EV market is not growing as fast as estimates. Infrastructure just isn’t there and I don’t see it getting better soon.
> We are talking all EVs and Tesla isn’t the only EV maker Yes, I completely brought up Tesla out of thin air. >The best selling car in the world is an EV. Yup, this conversation is over. Not reading the rest of your comment. Not sure if it's just Reddit today or what but goddam it's like talking to a wall.
The perfect country for next generation nuclear power.
Yes I'm sure the country nuked twice. Who just had a major nuclear meltdown because of constant tsunami's is desiring more nuclear power. Why not.
Modern nuclear power is safe, green, and incredibly efficient. It can even use existing waste as fuel. Look at the new reactor being built in Wyoming backed by Gates.
Unfortunately Fukushima will be in their minds for a couple more decades so convincing them Nuclear is safe is very difficult
I have lived here nearly 20 years. It's possible to do it, but I has to be new tech.
Wyoming doesnt have the largest earthquakes in the world happening... Nuclear is just riskier to build in japan
Sodium reactors don't meltdown. And the plants survived the earthquake, it's the tsunami that got it as reinforcements were inadequate. I lived here during 3/2011
> “Sodium reactors don't meltdown, **I imagine, what with zero commercial sodium reactors actually existing right now**.” FTFY
You might want to read up on sodium reactor operation. In molten-salt designs, if power is lost or the reactor is damaged, it cools off naturally without spreading radioactivity. Conventional reactors require active cooling, but sodium reactors don’t rely on external systems for safety, when negates the possibility of meltdowns seen in water-cooled reactors like Fukushima and all others to date.
Could be a reception issue. Like with us, we could have some things established that are beneficial for us, but a very powerful vocal minority says no.
They don't actually lack farmland, they suffer from the cancer of Japan Agriculture (JA's) overregulation, which drives supply down, and costs up by design. Resulting in your average supermarket mango being $7. Farmers have told me that they had to compost / spoil / get rid of perfectly good produce because of JA regulations, and on average 60-80 of produce does not fit JA's standards. Unless they're the ones that own the farm.
On the innovation point, it’s kind of crazy how Japan used to be seen as the pinnacle of innovation for both consumer electronics and policy. You think of how many western org organizations thought that Kaizen was the golden standard for production
Tbh, their recovery was really just prevented by the growth of china taking over.
Whats wrong with one political party dominating? Works for china and singapore. You dont have to specifically point out lack of natural resources, you can be successful being a full service / manufacturing / advanced technology economy like taiwan or singapore.
Japans unwavering exclusion of other class people is why they are suffering and will be their downfall. Low diversity of race and board line racism. I absolutely love the country and the culture of Japan but they don’t bring in immigration for workforce , marriage or kids outside of their race (or within) it’s causing a huge decline economically and populism.
Weaker currency doesn't mean weaker economy. Japan is right now roing arguably better than anytime in past three decades.
In 2015 the Japanese PM Abe purposefully devalued the yen. Japan is a huge export economy. Back when it was 80 yen to the dollar, Japanese exports were getting too expensive just because the yen was so strong, so it was actually hurting their economy.
Nikkei225 has gained 500% in the last 15y or so
1.To get right back at the level it was 30 years ago 2. Driven largely by a cheap yen over the past years
It was unrealistically bloated at the height of the bubble anyway. What you see today is a more realistic appraisal.
japan's debt/gdp is 300%, in order to make it less painful the yen needs to be weak. At a time when inflation is running rampant worldwide (it's far from over). If every1's raising rates and japan isn't, the yen gets trashed, they are somewhat lucky so far, it can get much worse. Bonus, major central banks are watching for a major player to cut rates first, whoever cuts first "loses"
they were forced to abandon their currency strategy that made their exports great.
Japan is overrun by tourists taking advantage of the lower yen. It’s ironic, in the 90s the rest of the world was overrun by Japanese tourists.
As an American, it’s like the whole country is having a 35% off sale
I went to Japan last year. Didn’t know about how cheap everything was, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise. <$2 water bottles in Disney land and universal was the one thing I just could not get over, lol
Tokyo Disney was one of the last stops on our 2 week trip. Water bottles out of vending machines cost about ¥100-¥180 everywhere else we’d been so it seemed like a ripoff in comparison when the bottles at Tokyo Disney were like ¥200, even though that was only like $1.40 at the time lol
and the ¥200 nigiri! It’s physically painful to buy sushi now, paying triple or even quadruple the price at any given restaurant near me
Why on earth would you go all the way to Japan, such a rich cultural history, and visit fucking Disneyland?
That was one day out of a two week vacation, relax
Tourism hasn't really recovered back to the way it was trending before Covid, but it's getting back there. So sure, some tourists are going there because the yen is weaker, but mostly tourists just like going to Japan. Also, tourism in Japan is dominated by the Japanese since they live there.
This year will be peak tourism all time surpassing 2019 numbers (30 million). Currently already 15m apparently
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01889/ 2019 was 31.2 million.
>Tourism hasn't really recovered back to the way it was trending before Covid, No, 2024 is expected to be Japan's busiest and most visited year for tourism, surpassing the previous record set in 2019. However, Japan's domestic tourism is shrinking due to inflation and a weak yen, which also leads to competition with international tourists for hotels and other accommodations. Your reoly could not be more wrong 😭
>No, 2024 is expected to be Japan's busiest and most visited year for tourism, surpassing the previous record set in 2019. Year isn't over. If you say this again once it's finalized, sure, but until then, I'm not counting eggs before they hatch. Because it's not 31 million yet. Domestic tourism can shrink all it wants, but it will still dominate tourism in Japan. In what world would 31 million tourists outnumber 270 million domestic tourists?
JNTO releases these numbers...you know the govt org who handles foreign visitors and predicts tourism # for Japan. They aren't made up out of thin air. Each month this year has broken previous "busiest month" records and it's expected to end at 34,000,000 visitors. Those 34 million are spending far more than the shrinking domestic tourism industry. The first quarter of 2024 saw 11.4 billion dollars spent by foreign tourists, which also shattered the previous record.
I really enjoyed visiting Japan around 12 years ago. Traveling and seeing their country was amazing. Ive wanted to go back since covid but many of my colleagues have kinda warned me off. Making note that they had been kinda ostracized as foreigners since covid. Does anyone who’s travelled there recently felt the same way?
I traveled there a year ago before they jacked up the prices for the JR pass. Can't say I felt ostracized there, but for the most part, I kept with my travel party. Only situation that I can remember was a Japanese man in Kyoto was a little frowny when he had to show us how to do the hot pot thing, but that's because we didn't understand his Japanese instructions. But I feel like that's just how he is normally. In Tokyo, we had a Japanese girl chase us down because I forgot to take my 30 cents from the ice cream ticket machine. Language will probably be the biggest barrier but I was able to use Google Translate for more complex situations. Guy at the JR office just spoke into Google Translate to communicate with me. Biggest tip is to plan out your trip with some wiggle room here and there because the Japanese love queuing up and registering for shit so it's better to confirm the events you want to attend. People will tell you to carry cash and it's true that Japan is a cash-based society, but a lot of places have credit now so it's really easy to spend your money. Or withdraw money from an ATM machine at the numerous convenience stores.
Kyoto is very traditional and definitely one of the least friendly places in Japan, even for Japanese people.
But incredibly beautiful in my opinion. Was one if my favorite places to walk.
Was there back in May and didn’t experience anything negative because I was a foreigner. In fact, when I went to a lot of local spaces away from the tourist areas people were so excited and would often ask where I was from or how I heard about their restaurant. Just like everywhere else, be respectful and kind and you’ll be treated the same way.
Thats great to hear! I was going to give it while before going back but people here are convincing me.
Couldn’t agree more, the key is to be respectful, many tourists regardless where they are from are often obnoxious and disrespectful, then made a big fuss when got booted or asked to leave
We went to Tokyo last May and loved it, didn't notice anything amiss from locals. We're going back next year.
lol no. Been to Japan 3 times since 2019. Never felt ostracized. not sure why your colleagues are saying that. I even went to the public baths which are 100% Japanese.
It's not that bad, I've had friends that went after COVID and had a great time. Don't think it's something to be worried too much about!
Nah, was there last year for quite a while and was awesome
Just went there in january, theres no stigmatism against foreigners, they know you are there to instagram the food and the japanese looking monuments..
I was there in March/April and everyone seemed friendly and accommodating. Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka.
I’d like to go before it’s too late.
What's gonna happen to Japan? Do you know something that we don't? lol
A race against the clock between going while it’s affordable and before growing global conflicts makes it impossible. Either that or eventually my “fellow” dumbass americans who go their and do evil shit and completely ruin our reputation. I wasn’t trying to imply anything crazy!
What a fucking idiot.
Bad for an import economy, great for an export economy. They are both. Great for tourism, which is seeing a boom. They are a great place to visit too. Clean, organized, have beautiful and goofy stuff to see/do, etc.
I eagerly await the crowd to say this is fine and doesn't affect them.
This is fine and doesn’t affect them.
This is fine and doesn't affect me.
This is fine and doesn't affect him.
This is fine and doesn’t affect you.
Does this mean it’s a good time to travel to Japan from the USA? Never been and seems like a steep investment
Is most of Japan's beef imported from U.S.? I know they don't have tons of farming space but I figured they had enough for their own meats.
I think they import from Australia
That makes much more sense. The caption of the image on the article said they import from US
They import from both. From my experience, the US beef in Japan is like our worst quality though.