What is a better choice as a travel destination, Japan or Korea?

Question:

Hi. I already made this question in the Korea section, and considering that travelling costs a considerable amount of money, I want to hear your opinion.

As I said before, I was planning to travel to Japan, but a friend of mine (an old friend who I ran into by chance like 2 weeks ago) told me that he have been to Japan, and he also told me that "the Japanese people are the most polite racists I've ever met", and he told me that police there won't help me at all in case something goes wrong, so I was wondering about that, and because korea is also an option to me, what do you think I should choose as a destination?

thanks.

Answer:

Your friend is right but he forgot to also say that the Koreans are equally racist although not as polite as the Japanese

But back to your trip: what do you want to do? You mention concern about costs, is this a big deal?

Japan is a better choice for diverse sights (bigger country with more things to do/see). Korea has many interesting places as well. In general though, Japan is more expensive and you will have less foreign influence as Korea does (for example, you will find many more Koreans who are comfortable speaking in English than in Japan). The architecture, the people, the scenery, the cities, the countryside, etc are a little similar from afar but once you look closer you will see major differences. In a way, Korea is like Japan but 20 yrs back (not from the technical side but from the advancement of societal norms)

That said, I would go to Japan as I find it more interesting ***for me***. You need to figure out why you are doing this trip and then decide

Bottom line, Korea is cheaper and more edgy, Japan is more expensive and sophisticated