[JohnBraden]

Mail747, unfortunately, the world has become a smaller place due to more sophisticated transportation and communications.

I often wondered why the old James Bond movies had such a grab on people when he went to different countries. I think part of that was the fact that many people hadn't ever been there except through the movies and it was exotic to them. "You Only Live Twice" was the Japan film where Bond goes to Osato Industries (New Otani Hotel). That wasn't my first intro to Japan, but close. It looked exotic and foreign. I thought I'd never go there. Perhaps that's one reason why the Bond movies were different in the 60s and 70s; they showed you places you'd probably wouldn't see in real life.

Then came the jet age in earnest and commercial travel became more affordable and prevalent. Most distant destinations became "closer" due to better transport. More people went places and the thought of knowing someone who had been "there" wasn't all that uncommon.

In the 90s and 00s, with the advent of the world-wide web, someone could virtually travel there even before getting on a plane. Flying became quite affordable and people traveled to those exotic destination of their youth.

Japan in one of those places. The language is quite unique, the alphabet is unlike anything in the west. the food has a world-wide appeal. It has a long history. It has many cultural interests. People are going to go there and see it for themselves. They will fly there, spend time there and spend money on the economy (much needed by any country, btw). It's happened in the past, it's happening as we speak, and it will continue to happen in the future. This is something that we cannot control and don't want to change.

It's a fact of life and people have to deal with the fact there are going to be foreigners in other countries. Whether they are tourists or people trying to make a living there, there isn't a thing anyone could do about it.

This world has quickly become small and intermixed. The Japanese have adopted some western ways and been influenced as much as other countries have by Japan. There is no going back. There is no more "pristine Japan".

If you want to see Japan without many foreigners, you'll have to go to small towns far from the major cities. I went to Nagahama in Shiga-ken, by Lake Biwa for the purpose of visiting the Kaiyodo Museum. I didn't see another foreigner all the time I was there.

I don't know what to tell you apart from what I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. You're going to have to deal with the fact that Japan is not pre-Meiji anymore and you are going to see foreigners. People from all over the world will talk about Japan. I think you need to ween yourself away from the internet and forget Japan for a bit....