Prediction: China is going to get the same treatment as Japan currently is in the future for tourism. It is going through its stages of racism in the West that Japan went through (along with many other countries) where ordinary people still think it is just a smog filled industrial dump but in the future it will probably start getting a further influx of Western tourists like Japan did. Japan wasn't even on many people's radar until social media because the West likes to pretend East Asia doesn't exist unless it serves their narrative.
> Japan wasn't even on many people's radar until social media because the West likes to pretend the East Asia doesn't exist unless it serves their narrative.
You're joking right? Like Japan has been a central part of American culture since at least the 80s. I grew up on Nintendo, Mario is more famous than Mickey Mouse at this point. Everyone had Sony Walkmans long before social media came out. Toyota and Honda won the passenger car market many decades ago. There's always in my lifetime been a huge constituency of Japan fans in the U.S., praising everything from anime to sushi to video games to Tokyo markets.
Japan is getting a huge influx of tourism from the west right now because their economy has been on a 3 decade slog after rapid growth from the 50s through the 90s. Their population is in decline and their currency has gotten very weak. Thus, it's cheaper for westerners to visit than it has been in the past.
Just look at tourism numbers. In the space of decade the numbers over doubled for the US alone within the 2010s. What's more plausible, the Yen or social media advertisement? You are also talking about Nintendo/Pop-culture I am talking about tourism for the masses.
Respecting people and their culture versus enjoying instant ramen are not the same thing.
A number of reasons for increased tourism: the U.S. economy has grown substantially in the last couple decades while Japan has stagnated. The relative wealth and disposable income of Americans has increased. A stronger dollar vs the yen helps tremendously as well. Technological improvements, especially since smart phone saturation around 2010 and travel apps have made all sorts of tourism relatively friction free. Think of all the steps it took to plan a trip before smart phones. Now you can book a flight and hotel in 3 minutes, a rideshare can be hailed in 5 minutes, you can translate any menu with a photo, you can see your location at all times on GPS and not fear getting lost.
This trend is seen everywhere, Americans are doing more tourism everywhere than ever before:
This is... not going to happen. China and Japan are very different countries. Comparing them is nothing short of a false equivalence.
> ordinary people still think it is just a smog filled industrial dump
China regularly has the most polluted air quality in the world, and the water is undrinkable due to heavy metals and chemicals. Both are observable and well documented. Not to mention the crumbling infrastructure, the flooding, the extremely low trust society...
