TV, magazines, newspapers, radio.
The influence of mass media.
The effect of television has been particularly great. Through documentaries, quiz programs and lectures on the culture and histoty of both the West and the East, the influence of mass media on the Japanese has been extraordinary.
Just how powerful the effect of mass media on the Japanese is can be observed when a worrying accident is reported. Incidents can create a great psychological shock.
The importance of safety measures for tourists.
Egypt, to give one example, is blessed with the ancient treasures and ruins and has always attraeted many people. Tourists from the West have been going there since between 100 and 150 years ago. But ordinary Japanese tourists only began to take an interest in Egypt 7 or 8 years ago. The main reason for this was due to the conflicts in the Middle East and because of communication and transport problems. As a result, people perceived it as a far away county and the mass media rarely reported the country in positive terms. In more recent years however, the country's wonderful ancient civilization and tourist sights have been introduced by TV and attracted the interest of Japanese people. The number of visitors to Egypt has been increasing ever since and, in 1996, approximately 95,000 people went there.
Tourism travel is fundamentally a nonessential, non-urgent, activity. So if something disturbing happens which threatens tourist safety then travelers immediately stop going to the destination. This has been the case in Egypt and it was very disappointing to see visitor numbers to such a wonderful destination dropping so dramatically following an unfortunate incident.
In order to protect travelers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now providing danger information at five levels, from giving warnings to advising people to leave a country or area. This information can be accessed through the Internet on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or
