ABSTRACT
In the Asian region, tourism has been promoted actively since the United Nations’ declaration of 1967 as ‘The Year of the Tourist’. Korea, for example, started to develop Chejudo, a small island off the south-west coast, as a resort in the early 1970s, the Philippines established its Department of Tourism in 1973 and Thailand set up the Tourism Authority of Thailand in 1979. The promotion of tourism also brought about a massive growth in female prostitution in the region. Since 1964, when overseas travel was liberalized in Japan, many package tours have been organized to popularize overseas trips among the Japanese. However, many package tours were marketed exclusively to men, particularly those to South-East Asian countries, which were promoted as a male paradise. Japanese male tourists’ behaviour was severely criticized by such organizations as the Christian Women’s Federation of Korea, which organized vigorous protests against sex tourism. These campaigns were subsequently internationally coordinated by feminists and pressure groups in South-East Asian countries, including Japan. The protest movements made a significant impact on Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki when he visited the ASEAN countries in 1981 and met massive demonstrations at the airport in each country. Japanese men started to hesitate about visiting these countries.
