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You're probably right that most tourists don't care about the military bases. However your speculation about the impact of removal of the bases is only speculation. The problem here is that nobody really knows exactly what will happen. You can point to Shintoshin for example -- it's a massive shopping area/complex built on land reclaimed from the base. Has some of the best new restaurants in the prefecture. And you can believe the prefectural government when they tell you that revenue from the area increased 14-fold as a result of the removal of the base and subsequent development. In some other area it was a 174-fold increase. But these are the success stories. It's not realistic to assume that other areas would result in similar upticks in economic activity, especially outside of Naha. Historically nobody non-military goes to the central/northern part of the island because it's been dominated by the military base for the past couple generations. It's essentially the only thing up there. If they actually wanted to put something cool (economically) up there they'd probably want a new airport, since Tokyo<>Naha is already like the #7 busiest plane route in the world. Farmland? Sake and shochu are rapidly gaining popularity, maybe Okinawa tries to carve out a niche selling awamori overseas? They could go upmarket and trademark Okinawa Pork like Hyogo tries to do with Kobe beef. Who knows! Definitely a big question mark around what they could use the land for, and what it would do for the economy if anything. One thing you are erroneous about is the demand for Okinawa tourism. You imply that it's been static and potentially declining because of alternatives. However it's been steadily increasing minus the past couple years due to radiation/earthquake fears and the economic downturn. If the economy recovers it could be increasing yet again -- figures from 2012 YOY so far have all been positive. I imagine that since a huge portion of Japan's population is due to retire within the next decade, you'll find even more pressure to expand tourism. Yes there are cheaper options like Guam and Saipan but these are international destinations where you may be required to speak English and go through customs. Old people in Japan balk at that kind of poo poo, and they have the money to afford the luxury and convenience of going to Okinawa instead. They may even choose to retire there. You say the prefecture is "still largely tied" to the bases yet you also say that only 5% of the prefecture's revenue comes from the bases. For 5%, most Okinawans are willing to take the gamble. zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 08:59
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Will2Powa posted:I find the politics interesting and was interested in Japanese politics for a while, but I'm kind of out of it once I realized that Japan is basically a dead country walking, at this point. So why post in this thread at all? The micro-aggression stuff is interesting but feels out of place in this thread. Maybe the regular Japan thread or the culture one would be better.
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Jul 18, 2012 02:38
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duck monster posted:Race and culture is political (and interesting). Not really. When is the last time you heard Japanese politicians arguing about Japanese culture? I guess you could argue that geopolitical tensions (Korea etc.) are caused by race/culture. But you guys are discussing your own experiences about being a Western living person in Japan, it's completely unrelated.
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Jul 19, 2012 11:14
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Heran Bago posted:I stopped bringing this up around people because I get weird looks and its not seen as a big deal. You get weird looks because you are talking about Metroid and Dead or Alive with people in real life, not on the internet
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Aug 30, 2012 08:01
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I'm viewing it as an opportunity. It's rare for there to be such a homogeneous population of well-heeled retirees with a long life expectancy, all looking to just spend their remaining years enjoying the spoils of an economy they built one gambaru at a time. Are you going to ride the wave, get crushed by it, or go to a different beach? Your choice.
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Jun 12, 2013 07:14
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Something like that, I have a few ideas. What do Japanese retirees want to do?
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Jun 12, 2013 08:12
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ErIog posted:The fact that she can use or was practicing the abacus is less of an insane thing in Japan where it's a lot more common. Even this part isn't too crazy, given that you can do some pretty crazy mental calculation by visualizing an abacus. Called "暗算" I think. Then again Excel or even a calculator works just as well...
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Jun 13, 2013 05:14
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Wonder how realistic it would be to gut Japan of its useful technologies/capabilities (i.e. companies), rather than ask the US taxpayer to fund every Hanako and Taro's pension. edit: I say this because a lot of people will ask why Japan should be bailed out zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Jun 13, 2013 |
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Jun 13, 2013 08:19
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Ardennes posted:Eh doubtful, Japanese banks/its government doesn't control those assets, we would probably just make Japan in debt to the IMF/US for the rest of the 21st century (if nothing seriously changes). I meant via acquisitions, so completely private. If you look at what aspects of Japan are attractive -- from a global competitiveness standpoint -- what do you see? A shitload of R&D and technical capabilities is my guess. Definitely going further and further up the value chain in recent years. If keeping the economy itself afloat isn't realistic, it would be up to the private sector to keep certain companies afloat. And if that's not realistic, maybe keeping specific departments/capabilities afloat is? Check out Samsung buying a piece of Sharp. Wonder what drove that decision? zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Jun 13, 2013 |
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Jun 13, 2013 08:47
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