2
Mar
Hawaii-Ken
Topic: Hawaii 2005
I visited Hawaii once before, in 1992. On that trip I didn’t visit Oahu, so this is my first time seeing Honolulu. What struck me right away is that it’s dominated by Japanese tourists - they outnumber all the other tourists by a large margin. And since most of the tourists are Japanese, Waikiki is like a little Japan. Many Japanese jokingly refer to Hawaii as Hawaii-Ken (Ken is the term for a Japanese province). Most signs are in Japanese and English, Japanese chain restaurants like Mos Burger are here, and the convenience stores are stocked with Japanese products (the Mos Burger has a hilarious Japlish sign: “Featuring Local Volume! American-size servings!”).
The Japanese tourists are predominately young women in their 20s and early 30s. They are referred to as “parasite children” - they work, live with their parents, and don’t get married. So they have large disposable incomes, a good amount of free time, and they like to travel.
Right now Maria’s watching a show on the local Japanese language channel, which is explaining the concept of tipping (no one tips in Japan). I don’t recall seeing many Japanese when I was on the other islands in 1992. Maria’s explanation is that Japanese tourists like cities, kitsch, and feeling at home, so they come to Honolulu. While plenty of Americans are the same way, there are also a lot of American tourists who instead spend there time exploring the natural beauty of Hawaii’s other areas (like I did in ‘92).
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