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In fact, "My Way-ism" is an increasingly significant aspect
in Japanese lifestyles. Individuals, irrespective of
profession or company status, are making both career and
leisure choices based on personal and family goals rather
than subservience to communal identity. This pattern is
introducing elements of personal risk-taking into a highly
conformist society. This change does not reflect an undue
selfishness but rather the increased amount of personal time
and freedom of choice available to contemporary Japanese.
Another significant factor is that urban Japanese are
less eager to accept highly organized or structured leisure
time, such as guided tours. More than 60 percent of
respondents to a recent poll indicated that they would
prefer to remain in one basic location when on vacation,
staying for long periods (such as two weeks) rather than the
traditional overnight or short weekend-type of vacation that
business pressures long enforced.
Respondents also wanted to set their own timetable and be
free to meet people from beyond their existing social
circles, rather than be mobilized on a group tour of
predetermined destinations. These group tours have been a
mainstay of the Japanese travel industry, but with people
becoming used to more and more time on their own or with
their own family, and with greater financial freedom and
discretion, new options are being considered. The industry
is shifting its emphasis, moving from mass service to
personal attention, from preplanned arrangements to
occasional demand, and from supplier initiatives to customer
needs.
Theme parks thus create a new leisure milieu that is
compatible with some broad patterns of attitudinal change
that are only recently emerging. Parks provide a variety of
entertainment experiences within limited physical spaces and
at a short distance from one another. They can satisfy new
leisure appetites within Japan's domestic marketplace and
generate desirable repeat business. Increasingly, urban
Japanese define leisure time as an opportunity for personal
rest or relaxation, as family time, and as a source of
mental and even spiritual renewal. The growing popularity of
the theme park reflects a quiet if revolutionary
transformation of leisure expectations within Japanese
society.
Stephen Osmond is
associate senior editor of the Culture section. |
