Counterpoints on the last two:

- South Korea

- Thailand

- Taiwan

- Hawaii

The CNN article does this too, but "traveling" doesn't just mean going to the US or EU. Japanese used to travel a lot to neighbour countries and that didn't cost that much, nor require much english skills.

Now money is clearly a factor, but this would go deeper than travel and more into how many Japanese are giving up on many luxuries as they feel the pressure. Hell, part of the younger generation doesn't want to date because it feels like a money pit.