We have now been talking about the arrival of an old-age society in Japan for quite some time. Clearly, we are in an age when people are learning how to enjoy their spare time. A look at rates of increase in participation in overseas travel by age group shows that the fastest growth in the 60 years-and-over category. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and other developed countries, the most striking growth of all is in cruise travel. Yet for some reason Japan, a nation surrounded by seas on all sides and where cruise ships were introduced 15 years ago, growth in the cruise industry is all but flat. The panel will try to unravel the causes of this phenomenon, future prospects, and policy issues that need to be addressed.