How Japan Has a Beef With Foreign Tourists Now

Japanese people VS Foreigners I guess

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[sorathetroll]

EDITED TLDR:

Tourists: Maiko! LEL! YOLO! Let me follow you and grab your hair!! cigarette LEL
Maiko (15-20 y/o girls) LOL you pulled my hair and rekt my clothes LOL I'm telling everybody LOLOL
People in gion: LOL PLS DONT ATTACK MAIKOS
Tourists: OH wait I'll also get in your houses LOL COOL HOUSE YO! I'll use your barthroom too LEL
people in gion: wait THAT'S tresspassing bro
Tourists: ah?
People in gion: OK so this is actually our property and we live here, so pls don't enter this one street because we live here ok

internet: KYOTO BANNED TOURISTS!?!?!?? I WANTED TO GO TO KYOTO

Me: (wait it's actually just one small street that has people's houses)

[HyperLuigi]

“It says no touching. I guess I can touch it.”

God I hate people like this, insane

[EatingWaffles]

Very true.

The obnoxious, loud, disrespectful crowds always ruin it for the rest of us.

[popculturenews]

Japan is more suitable for introvert foreigners rather than hyperactive extrovert 😅

[phunnybear]

I visited last September 2023 and compared to my visit in April 2017, the local people seemed way more tourist phobic than last time. Hiding their bags when they heard English spoken, putting signs in the wall of foreigners claiming them all to be thieves, people getting up and walking away when I and my white companion sat on a bench. It was strange.

[SpyroTheEternalNight]

it amazes me how many people think "different geographical location" means "rules don't matter anymore". you're not going through a vortex into an new dimension, you're going to a different part of the same planet. people live there and have lives and feelings, just like they do in your home country. if you wouldn't do something stupid in your hometown, why would you do it in Japan?

[raina]

Man, I hate situations like this where everyone has to suffer because of just some people's actions...

EDIT: To all of you having a conniption in the comment sections, please chill out. "Some" is just a general relative term to compare. Nothing more. I am not replying to any of the comments directly here because a lot of you are taking this way too seriously and need to chill out and get off the internet for awhile.

[kisasohma]

Went to Harajuku and a Nigerian guy was trying to grab and flirt with young Japanese girls, I glared at him since he is making all foreigners look bad and he started following me and throwing insults at me.

[miodakyoko]

Honestly I'd love to go to Japan sometime but my biggest fear is coming off like a weeb or a stereotypical tourist lmao. But I can see why Japan has beef with tourists and I didn't know any of this was happening so I'm glad to know now

[pherja]

Sora, you are one of the few Japanese knowledgeable enough about both Japanese and foreigners to be able to make videos that show both sides. Keep up the good work.

[Mythriaz]

I didn't know how to get to my hotel in Japan. Asked for directions from police at the station. They were taking me super seriously and had their whole team mobilize with a map and everything about the address of assumptions of where it might be, how to get there, etc. Made me feel like these guys definitely had the heart doing what they did.

[DarioVolaric]

"Oh woooow! Look the police showed up and now i'm in jail! That is so anime!!"

[bijou]

There's a video going around right now of this exact abuse and it made me so mad and sad! The title was something like, "She's walking very fast and won't talk to us." It was a young Maiko trying to walk from one place to another in the alleyway that connects the tea houses and probably the mother house. These young men were literally stalking her and hooting and catcalling her, trying to get her attention.

Maikos are very young, between 15-20 years of age. They are in training to become Geishas. Imagine being a young girl, wearing your traditional clothing, hair, and makeup, trying to get to your job, when suddenly, a group of loud foreign young men begin stalking you, filming you, following you the entire way. Of course she was walking fast! She was probably terrified. I would be terrified if a group of loud young men were following me and harassing and filming me, too.

Even worse were the people in the comments. People wrongly believe that Geisha and Maiko are sex workers. One of the young men in the video can be heard speculating about that. This is not what they do. They are trained in music, dance, conversation, and tea ceremonies. They are employed as companions and conversationalists, not prostitutes. Western movies have it completely wrong. Maybe in the long-ago past, there were courtesans, but the whole point of a well-trained Geisha is to be the perfect, but unattainable, hostess. They are trained to make their clients comfortable and provide a relaxing companion who can hold down an intelligent conversation, serve tea with perfection, and sing or play an instrument and dance. But because of Western hemisphere misconceptions, this gang of young men assumed this poor girl was a prostitute and they spoke to her with utter disrespect. Even though she probably didn't understand what they were saying, their demeanor towards her was clearly degrading and disrespectful. The message got through, even if the words weren't understood.

I applaud Japan's decision to close the alley. What I saw made me feel horrible. How embarrassing that we are represented by people like those young men or Johnny Somalia. It makes me feel disgusted that the only Americans this poor girl has probably ever encountered made her feel threatened and spoke to her in such a humiliating way. Closing the alley won't make tourists behave any better elsewhere, but at least the young women will be protected from this kind of abuse in the future.

[brianc]

I live in Japan, I remember once during a visit to Kyoto around Obon season, there were these tourists that kept chasing the Maiko and the shrine temple maidens for a picture and shouting to them in English that they were rude for not stopping to take a picture. Other times tourists go crazy in Kyoto, that doesn't get mentioned enough, are those that try to take pictures while couples are getting their traditional engagement photos taken. It's a shame because Gion and those areas are really beautiful.

[mondojackal]

I would love to visit but being a foreigner would just automatically categorize you with those who think Japan is one big cosplay convention. It's like Disneyland for the worst people that western countries have to offer.

[StormkoopaCV]

Man, this is so true. Just because your loud, annoying, obnoxious, speaking english loudly as well doesn't make you cool. I've seen this many times with other foreigners when I visiting Japan, from the US. Be mindful and respectful when visiting other countries people.

[Tiypo]

Saddly, this sort of thing is also a major problem in US National Parks.

For example, General Sherman is the largest tree in the world and the path leading up to it is completely paved and fenced off just to protect it from the walking of the 1+ million visitors that go to see it each year. It may seem like a silly thing that doesn't need to be done, but the type of tree has shallow root system that will actually be damaged by that amount of traffic, just like how freeways get slowly worn down from cars driving on them. That trivial damage will add up over years and decades, eventually killing the tree or compromising it's ability to be upright.

Regardless of that, people just can't help themselves and jump the fence so that their friends or family can take a picture of them in front of it unobstructed for their Instagram or facebook page. One day, I'm sure that it will be a major news story that "General Sherman has fallen" and those same people will tell others "Oh, that's sad. Hey did you know I got a picture with the tree?" unthinking about how they played a small unsaid part in that story.

[Reletr]

Best tip I heard when visiting a foreign country, it's no different than visiting a stranger's house as a guest, so don't be rude. That country has given you permission to enter, so don't give them a reason to expel you when you're just trying to relax on a vacation.

[Prince.Hamlet]

My daughter is there right now being the most respectful angel you could ever imagine. She hates disrespectful stuff from tourists.

[Michaelcneumann]

Your videos are funny and entertaining. They should be mandatory viewing for anyone traveling to Japan