Japan Rises for Chinese in Travel Survey

[Yizhi]

Yeah same with Leslie, sad ending for him too. Aside these two Anita Mui also passed away almost as long as those 2 singers. Anita Mui was the Queen of Cantopop

so many talented people of HK passed away...Wong Ka Kui too...they could have achieved more...
RIP to those lost talents...

 

[Aepsilons]

Yeah same with Leslie, sad ending for him too. Aside these two Anita Mui also passed away almost as long as those 2 singers. Anita Mui was the Queen of Cantopop

He used to sing a lot with Jenny Tseng, he he. Loved their duet --- 鐵血丹心

 

[terranMarine]

so many talented people of HK passed away...Wong Ka Kui too...they could have achieved more...
RIP to those lost talents...

Yeah died in Japan after a fall.

 

[magic-007]

so many talented people of HK passed away...Wong Ka Kui too...they could have achieved more...
RIP to those lost talents...

Good,he is the one of singer who i very appreciate ,and very pity to death at a very yong age.

 

[Yizhi]

Then who's left otherwise! Haha.. The young and the old , they are the only ones who can travel by themselves
BTW if there are 10, 15 more guys like you @Nihonjin1051, they will certainly brainwash Chinese into liking Japanese into brotherhood and all. LOL (No offence to either side)

no offence taken. we'll probably end up brainwashing each other....
chinese and japanese relationship was really complicated...japan had been somewhat a lesser brother(or son?) to china for literally thousands of years and if we put politics and history aside (tricky part, isn't it...), chinese genuinely like the japanese people... it's like a mirror image of yourself gone wrong...if japan wasn't so close to chinese civilization, the anti-japan sentiment could probably be lower without this 'you were one of us yet betrayed us' feeling.
i actually expect something positive from japan this year, it's 70 years after the war, and with Abenomics going nowhere, a US sitting on fence...dont see japan has too many options.@Nihonjin1051

 

[TaiShang]

BTW if there are 10, 15 more guys like you @Nihonjin1051, they will certainly brainwash Chinese into liking Japanese into brotherhood and all. LOL (No offence to either side)

Well, if it is to give you some consolation, even before @Nihonjin1051 joined the forum, I kept insisting on closer China-Japan relations, people to people and gov't to gov't.

This is a historical and conjectural necessity.

As for India, no 15 good Indians would convince the Chinese that a partnership (as close as with Japan) between China and India is feasible or desirable.

 

[arbit]

no offence taken. we'll probably end up brainwashing each other....
chinese and japanese relationship was really complicated...japan had been somewhat a lesser brother(or son?) to china for literally thousands of years and if we put politics and history aside (tricky part, isn't it...), chinese genuinely like the japanese people... it's like a mirror image of yourself gone wrong...if japan wasn't so close to chinese civilization, the anti-japan sentiment could probably be lower without this 'you were one of us yet betrayed us' feeling.
i actually expect something positive from japan this year, it's 70 years after the war, and with Abenomics going nowhere, a US sitting on fence...dont see japan has too many options.@Nihonjin1051

More often than not the news are about temper flareups in SCS region and visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni shrine, which are apparently a source of great discomfort to Chinese. This tunnel view of current situation prevents a casual observer from having a comprehensive view of an obviously very complicated relationship between two old civilisations.
If normalisation of ties occurs, that will be beneficial for region as a whole. Who needs wars when there is so much to be done at one's own house.

Well, if it is to give you some consolation, even before @Nihonjin1051 joined the forum, I kept insisting on closer China-Japan relations, people to people and gov't to gov't.

This is a historical and conjectural necessity.

As for India, no 15 good Indians would convince the Chinese that a partnership (as close as with Japan) between China and India is feasible or desirable.

Ofcourse. I shall remind folks back home about your kind suggestion.

 

[AgentOrange]

Bro, where are your ancestors from, originally? I'm guessing you're Hakka or Cantonese ?

I was born in Beijing as were my parents. My paternal grandfather's family was from Zhejiang. And my paternal grandmother was Cantonese. My maternal grandparents were both old Beijingers.

 

[Aepsilons]

Then who's left otherwise! Haha.. The young and the old , they are the only ones who can travel by themselves
BTW if there are 10, 15 more guys like you @Nihonjin1051, they will certainly brainwash Chinese into liking Japanese into brotherhood and all. LOL (No offence to either side)

In Asian subcontinent, it is much easier to travel to Europe, US than say Japan, China and other 'oriental' nations. Its just so different. Even in our college, study tours/options were only limited to Hongkong while Germany, Netherlands and other western and european nations were a relatively easier options.

I so want to visit Japan, just don't know what i'l do there ! hehe

Japanese and Chinese have so many similarities and natural interest for each other. Only difference is politics, but its all about balancing it. Sometimes, just sometimes, we can get carried away due to sentimentality -- that's just human nature. But in the end of the day, the reason for our fondness for each other, mind you Our recent history together is one that we Japanese are not proud of, is because of our cultural similarities.

When Japanese go abroad, to say the West, or South Asia , Middle East --- it's more or less a foreign culture for us. Everything is different. When Japanese visit China , it's more or less similar to back home. Sure there are some lingual difference , but the social etiquette is similar, -- plus we can actually read Chinese characters -- so we can understand. Japanese tourists to China tend to develop a fondness for the country, and of course the people. An example would be myself. As what @TaiShang said, it's important to emphasize people to people and intergovernmental cooperation and interaction -- it deposits great confidence -- more so than military power or threat of war.

So while there may be some tempers when historical grievances are mentioned, overall, those of us who have been to China and have a close relationship with Chinese people -- we know better than to heed or listen to hate speech from radicals on either side.

We can't help there are radical nut jobs on either side. Since Most of us aren't nut jobs, best to take what they say with grain of salt. There really is little difference we Japanese have with Chinese -- besides the Senkakus / Diaoyutai , we've ironed out many territorial issues.

I was born in Beijing as were my parents. My paternal grandfather's family was from Zhejiang. And my paternal grandmother was Cantonese. My maternal grandparents were both old Beijingers.

In Asian subcontinent, it is much easier to travel to Europe, US than say Japan, China and other 'oriental' nations. Its just so different. Even in our college, study tours/options were only limited to Hongkong while Germany, Netherlands and other western and european nations were a relatively easier options.

Perhaps one issue is the language barrier, while I know many Pakistani and Indians understand and practice English, -- that language isn't really something majority of Japanese or Chinese are masters of , especially in the older generations. Tho many youth and younger gen kids are becoming more fluent. This is something you have to understand when you visit Japan and China. It's good know some basic Japanese or Chinese when traveling there. For obvious reasons. ^_^''

 

[arbit]

We can't help there are radical but jobs on either side. Since Most of us aren't nut jobs, best to take what they say with grain of salt. There really is little difference we Japanese have with Chinese -- besides the Senkakus / Diaoyutai , we've ironed out many territorial issues.

I suspect it goes beyond that. Inclination to let go of history (which affects present) is more from the subjugator side than from the subjects and Chinese part is somewhat painful in this context. Now that china is rising and is a military power, i believe there is a desire to assert their supremacy and humble Japan. Its simply not a matter of territorial dispute.
But like I said, if only there are 14 more like you .. Haha

Perhaps one issue is the language barrier, while I know many Pakistani and Indians understand and practice English, -- that language isn't really something majority of Japanese or Chinese are masters of , especially in the older generations. Tho many youth and younger gen kids are becoming more fluent. This is something you have to understand when you visit Japan and China. It's good know some basic Japanese or Chinese when traveling there. For obvious reasons. ^_^''

On a personal level, i find oriental culture very interesting. But language isn't the only barrier. The food, culture, social etiquettes are all very different. Hong Kong, Singapore is the only exposure i had and these places have a distinctive cosmopolitan culture, so its easy to survive.
OTOH Japanese, Mandarin have very different phonetics from the native languages we speak, so pronouncing any words which one might learn to get by is a mighty job

Also i have heard Japan is a mighty close society and not very open as a whole

 

[TaiShang]

Japan extends visa validity for Chinese tourists
CCTV.com

01-07-2015

Wealthy Chinese tourists will find it easier to obtain a travel visa to Japan later this month, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government will relax visa requirements for high-income Chinese tourists by extending the validity of their three-year multiple-entry visas to five years. The tourists will also have unrestricted travel throughout Japan.

The standard visa for wealthy Chinese requires that they visit Okinawa or one of the three disaster-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima when seeing Japan for the first time. The requirement was implemented to promote reconstruction after the deadly 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

Wealthy Chinese tourists will find it easier to obtain a travel visa to Japan later this month.

 

[Aepsilons]

Japan extends visa validity for Chinese tourists
CCTV.com

01-07-2015

Wealthy Chinese tourists will find it easier to obtain a travel visa to Japan later this month, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government will relax visa requirements for high-income Chinese tourists by extending the validity of their three-year multiple-entry visas to five years. The tourists will also have unrestricted travel throughout Japan.

The standard visa for wealthy Chinese requires that they visit Okinawa or one of the three disaster-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima when seeing Japan for the first time. The requirement was implemented to promote reconstruction after the deadly 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

Wealthy Chinese tourists will find it easier to obtain a travel visa to Japan later this month.

Excellent news ! The Japanese government should also encourage more Chinese visitors to apply for residency visa permits !

 

[TaiShang]

Excellent news ! The Japanese government should also encourage more Chinese visitors to apply for residency visa permits !

Also Japan should launch a campaign to attract more Chinese students to Japan's many global-tier universities and colleges, some of them, which I know by experience, is extremely hard to get in -- out of competition. In this respect, Japan should aggressively work to divert a certain percentage of students from other destination such as the US and Australia.

The Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities was launched during Mr. Hatoyama's PMship in 2010, I guess but I think it has ever since produced little tangible results probably due to the ensuing geopolitical tensions.

Let's hope wisdom and pragmatism on both sides to relaunch this effort more aggressively for a second time and get actual result this time.

Have you heard of the Campus Asia initiative by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat?

"4th Meeting of Trilateral Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities

Date: August 6, 2013

Venue: Tokyo, Japan

Participants:

Mr. ANZAI Yuichiro from Japan, Mr. LIU Baoli from China and Mr. KIM Jun Young from the ROK co-chaired.

1) Japan

- ANZAI Yuichiro, President, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chair, University Sub-Council for Central Council of Education;

- YOSHIMI Shunya, Vice President, the University of Tokyo;

- TERASHIMA Jitsuro, Chair, Japan Research Institute, President, Tama University;

- NOGAMI Tomoyuki, President, the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation

- ONODERA Tadashi, Chairman, KDDI Corporation;

- NUNOMURA Yukihiko, Director-General, Higher Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology;

2) China

- LIU Baoli, Director-General, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ministry of Education;

- WANG Yong Deputy Director, Office of International Relations, Peking University;

- LI Jun Director-General, China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC),

Ministry of Education;

- WANG Zhanjun, Deputy Director-General, Higher Education Evaluation Center (HEEC) of the Ministry of Education;

- ZHANG Zhaodong, Director of Founder Group CEO, Peking University Holdings Company;

- LIU Ju, Deputy Director-General, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education


3) ROK

- KIM Jun Young, President, Sungkyunkwan University;

- YU Kang Min, Vice-President, Yonsei University;

- BAEK Sun Geun, President, Korean Educational Development Institute;

- LEE Won Gun, Secretary General, Korean Council for University Education;

- KANG Shin Ik, Advisor, LG Electronics Inc.;

- KANG Young Soon, Director General, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology


Agreements:

1. Expansion of “CAMPUS Asia”

The Committee shared and confirmed the significance, openness and potential of development of “CAMPUS Asia” in higher education in Asia. Responding to the spirit envisaged in the joint declaration of the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting held in Beijing in May 2012, the Committee confirmed to further promote the development and enhancement of “CAMPUS Asia” on the basis of the pilot programs, with close cooperation and perspective to further expand the scale and scope of the programs so as to cultivate more and better talents for the region.


2. Monitoring activities of the pilot programs

The Committee shared the significance and importance of the ongoing monitoring of the pilot programs, which promotes quality assurance of “CAMPUS Asia.” The monitoring leads to a standard, which is crucial for expansion of the programs; the Committee expects its consistent progress.

* The monitoring project is to be carried out by the cooperation of the Quality Assurance (QA) agencies of the three countries focusing on universities’ quality assurance activities. The QA agencies of the three countries identify good practices from the aspect of the quality of education and disseminate them broadly to higher education community.

* Through monitoring which will be conducted twice during a five-year period, the QA agencies jointly compare and analyze quality assurance activities in the three countries, and then will draw up joint guidelines for quality assurance of transnational education for QA agencies of the three countries.


3. Upcoming the Trilateral Committee Meeting

The 5th Trilateral Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities will be held in Shanghai, China, in autumn 2014.


Attached Documents:

Agreement of the 4th Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities"


***

On the monetary side

Japanese store operators increase China presence to lure Chinese tourists

January 10, 2015

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

With the number of Chinese visitors to Japan exceeding 2 million for the first time in 2014, Japanese store operators are racing to China to promote their outlets for prospective tourists to Japan.

Don Quijote Co., the operator of Don Quijote discount stores, which have been a popular destination for Chinese tourists to Japan, opened a liaison office in Beijing on Jan. 8.

While the company has not made marketing efforts in China, its outlets are known among Chinese tourists by word of mouth as stores where they can buy a bundle of electrical appliances, brand fashion items and cosmetics at discount prices.

The liaison office will work with travel agencies in China to promote Don Quijote stores to be included as stops in package tours.

“We will promote our stores by letting people know that we are open until late in the evening for the convenience of tourists who have a limited amount of time,” said a company official in charge of overseas marketing.

Don Quijote also plans to open a special website in February, which will allow foreigners planning to visit Japan to reserve items they plan to buy beforehand.

The number of Chinese visitors to Japan totaled 2.22 million during the January-November period of 2014, up 82 percent from the total number in 2013.

While the soured diplomatic relations between the two countries continue, the rapidly weakening yen in 2014 has made Japan an ideal shopping destination among Chinese overseas travelers.

Also on Jan. 8, major credit card company JCB Co. announced that it will release credit cards in China that provide special services and offerings for users during their visit to Japan.

The holders of the cards will be eligible for courtesy tickets to various sightseeing spots in Japan, free rental of mobile Wi-Fi devices for Internet connection and other special offerings.

The company also provides a free smartphone app for Chinese tourists, which offers sightseeing information in Tokyo.

Among the operators of major department store chains, Isetan Mitsukoshi Ltd. will distribute brochures promoting its stores in Tokyo and Kyoto at its outlet in Shanghai from Jan. 16.

J. Front Retailing Co., the parent company of Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co., has also distributed brochures introducing its 10 major outlets in Japan at about 360 travel agent offices across China.

(This article was written by Tokuhiko Saito in Beijing and Keiichi Kitagawa.)

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN