Taiwan in Japanese Travelers’ Eyes—Traveling Gaze Construction and Practice
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Wu, Wei-Chen
Abstract
Along the city streets, in Chiufen, or in east Taiwan, Japanese travelers seem to have become a part of scenery. Sometimes, they would just have some soya-mixed meat or mango ice in the night market, as what local Taiwanese do. Why are these Japanese travelers visiting Taiwan? What is Taiwan like in their eyes? To depict the whole picture, the concept of “the tourist gaze” presented by Professor John Urry and the refined “second gaze” by Dean MacCannell were used to construct the in-depth report, interweaving the ten travelers’ own traveling stories. hrough content analysis and in-depth interviews, the travelers’ gaze construction during their “pre-travel” stage could be categorized into three parts: the exotic oriental imagination combined with Chinese and southern Asian culture, the nostalgic feeling of good old days (especially in Meiji and Showa dynasty) no longer found in modern Japan, and the quasi-Japan modernity mixed with the vitality of Taiwan pop culture. With such imagination or expectation, Japanese travelers shall be able to feel and see with their own eyes, resulting in satisfaction and/or culture shock. o some of them, especially who stay longer or visit more often, seeing Taiwan through their second gaze helps to transfer culture shock into understanding. “Taiwan,” redefined as a result, becomes more like a “healing” paradise than a disordered island. In addition to enjoyment such as massage or gourmet that other southern Asian countries can also offer, it actually implies a kind of lifestyle that Japan society, pressured and unitary, lacks.
Subjects
travel
sojourn
the tourist gaze
gaze construction
second gaze
healing
culture shock
cultural intermediaries
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