Is All of Japan Becoming “Niseko”?　A Generation Z Urban Journalist Fears Japan in the Age of SNS

Tokyo’s Shin-Okubo, one of the leading Korean towns in Japan, is also becoming Niseko-ized.

Niseko-ka suru Nippon” (“Niseko-izing Japan”), which was published at the end of January under the title “Reiwa’s Urban and Consumer Theory,” is attracting a lot of attention from businesspersons.

The author is Kazuki Tanigashira. He is a Gen Z urban journalist who discusses the “present” of Japan through its cities and commercial facilities.

Niseko in Hokkaido is known as a ski resort that attracts many wealthy people from overseas, and Mr. Tanigashira writes in the “Introduction” of this book.

In the “Introduction” of this book, Mr. Tanigashira writes: “Right now, Japan is becoming “Niseko-ized” in every aspect.

What kind of phenomenon does “Niseko-ization” refer to? It means that through “selection and concentration,” a place becomes like a “theme park.

What led this urban journalist, who often covers and writes about chain stores and theme parks, to focus on Niseko? We asked him.

Actually, I didn’t set out to write about Niseko from the beginning.

Looking at recent trends in chain stores and commercial facilities, I felt that more and more places were more precisely targeted than in the past and were adopting strategies to satisfy specific demographics. In other words, “selection and concentration” were becoming stronger.

Around that time, I happened to read Katsuhide Takahashi’s book, “Why Niseko is the only resort in the world? In the book, he wrote that the reason Niseko became the international resort it is today is because it has practiced “selection and concentration” toward wealthy foreigners. I see, I thought, the same thing is happening in tourist destinations.

If so, I thought, we could use “Niseko” as a starting point to talk about everything from the city to commercial facilities and our consumption behavior. That’s what I thought.

It may seem a bit cheeky, but I also wanted to make it catchy by including the keyword “Niseko-ization” in the title (laughs). (Laughs) There has been a lot of interest in Niseko over the past few years.

If “Niseko-ization” is happening all over Japan, where else but Niseko is thriving due to “selection and concentration”?

Without hesitation, Mr. Tanigashira cited Shin-Okubo in Tokyo, which he also discussed in “Niseko-ka suru Nippon” (“Niseko-izing Japan”). During the bubble era of the 1980s, Shin-Okubo was home to many Korean hostesses, but today it is one of the most famous Korean towns in Japan, lined with Korean restaurants, K-POP idol goods, Korean cosmetics, and other stores.

In my book, I wrote that the “selection and concentration” of Shin-Okubo occurred spontaneously.

The Japan-Korea World Cup and the popularity of Korean dramas triggered a “concentration” of stores for Korean lovers, and the people who came to these stores were “selected,” leading to a further “concentration.

I sometimes go to Shin-Okubo because I also like Korean dramas, and I am really surprised. The characters I see are usually in Hangul. From the design of the stores to the way the signs are made, it is as if you are in Korea. For those who love Korea, this place is irresistible.

However, Shin-Okubo is a phenomenon that is concentrated in one section of the city, so once you step out of the area, various non-Korean nationals come and go, and the area is filled with a sense of life. Just like at a Disney resort, one section of the city has become “Korea in Japan,” and this is exactly what is happening: the transformation of the area into a theme park through selection and concentration.