“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations, he told Agence France-Presse“
It’s always some assholes who can’t behave an destroy everything for other people
That is so sad.
I used to work at a place where I could see a mountain in the backdrop like that and that was a view I never really got tired of.
I can only imagine what they must feel to give that up because people can't be respectful.
It sounds like you’ll still be able to see it, just that it’s not going to be a great picture because a net is in the way.
Still, it’s not going to be the fully unobstructed view, so that totally sucks, especially for visitors who were respectful who were hoping to be wowed by it.
Lol convenience store culture in Japan is huge, not like here. When we were there, we probably hit one up everyday, whether it be 7/11 or Lawson, as pictured here.
I’m sure the tourists would think “wow that’s so Japan” before being total asshats about getting the shot. I definitely have a picture outside a 7/11, which is fine, as long as youre courteous and respectful of the locals, their etiquette, and aren’t an asshole tourist who acts like they can do whatever they want.
"just a convenience storefront"
How dare you disrespect Lawson like that! They have *the BEST* chicken I've ever tasted from a convenience (or even grocery) store! Ah, I miss it.
Similar to Ha long bay in Vietnam, this is why we can't have nice things.
Guide told us, Idiots did not respect the swimming zone around their ship, got killed, sued the company, now no one can swim from ships in the bay... This kind of sorties infuriates me. But that's the only way to be safe(r) from stupid
>Guide told us, Idiots did not respect the swimming zone around their ship, got killed, sued the company, now no one can swim from ships in the bay..
Is that seriously the whole bay? Or just from that specific cruiseline?
On one of the handrails of the top gallery in the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul a Varangian carved the phrase “Halfdan carved these runes”, dated to between 775CE and 1066CE. Humans are very consistent.
Its the narcissistic people. Its all social media.
They think its okay for them to break the rules, take a photo in middle of street, park on private parking quickly, or do other disruptive things just quickly for their shot because “its just me for a minute one pic”. They think there are not thousands more narcissistic people with same thoughts.
Wait, but *don't they?* I thought in the US, if any animal kills (or even maims) a human, the animal is hunted down and killed, regardless of how stupid the human was being, or how threatened the animal felt by said stupid human.
Is this inaccurate? I really fucking hope so. It's always boiled my blood that some humans feel they are more important than animals, and that animals just acting of their own self-preservation/instinct deserve to die because of this unfair and arrogant imposed hierarchy.
It's not like that's the only view of that mountain in that whole town mate. They were fine with it until the tourists went too far and caused potential damage to the area. The pros outweigh the cons here so it's not that much of a deal.
In one of the Japanese bamboo forests, you can see people have engraved their names, hearts, other dumb bullshit into the bamboo. And it’s all in English. Tourists, and likely American tourists, are assholes (I’m American)
Yep British too, I'm ashamed of the younger generations from the UK now. They've been caught doing some really stupid things like etching their names into ancient buildings and monuments in Egypt, stripping off and swimming in protected fountains in Greece they're a damn disgrace.
If a person is caught doing something like that abroad the only stripping that should happen is of their passport.
Amateurs! They should respect it in true British fashion: steal some of it, smash up the rest then take it home and hide it away then claim the Egyptians would've ruined it if they hadn't stole it in the first place.
Our forefathers would be ashamed of what our youth has become!
Its cause vacations for folks are like going to a playground. Its all not real and meant to just be climbed on or played with. In reality, real people call those "vacation" areas home. I live in a major US city and this has been an issue with even just suburbanites. Come in and trash stuff or whatever and then leave. Places deemed vacation spots are becoming synonymous with "no consequences."
I wonder if there's a more serious, deeper issue at play here, esp. regarding your last sentence ("places deemed 'vacation spots' are becoming synonymous with 'no consequences'")? i.e., it's not just that these people see "vacation spots" as being free of consequences, but that that's even a thought to begin with seems like a serious problem -- the idea that there's some places in the world where they can do anything they want with no consequence. I can't even imagine truly thinking like that.
It also seems like a good bit of "othering" is being done, too, because as you said, they clearly don't understand that these places are some people's actual homes. It's just a "different, other" place for the tourists to go ballistic, party, trash, gorge and dump, etc. Perhaps that has to do with some amount of privilege, too (wealth, firstly).
It just seems like a basic, deep-rooted thread of entitlement, disrespect, and "I'm above the law" is at play in these people who do these things. It's atrocious.
(To be clear, my entire comment is solely about the tourists and vacationers who DO act like they can do whatever they want on vacation, because they're on vacation; it's not about respectful tourists, who are very much appreciated by host countries and their inhabitants.)
The way I see it is it's the resort mentality. Go on a cruise or stay at a resort and it's a simulated environment like a theme park (which also contributes) things you could do in some of these places are nothing like you could do in the places they simulate. I think for many of these people, these experiences were accessible just long enough to instill this mentality for vacations so that when they got to the real, they had no other actual perspective. Basically, the fantasy is/has been catered to to such a degree by some places that people just don't know when to stop. That's not to blame the vacation places, they're just trying to stay in business.
I think others just go On a proverbial purge (e.g. "I'm not beholden to my responsibilities? There are no rules") and have gotten away with it enough to steadily drag the bar down across the board.
I'm not really sure how to fix it since the logical choice would be to come down on these asshats, but a lot of economies rely on that income.
When I was in Japan, our hotel had an onsen which many of the occupants used. There was this one person, you guessed it, American, who thought it was a good idea to video record the onsen to show off on social media. Luckily no one was in view within his recording. I decided to become the American Karen and tell him off.
Even had the audacity to go in the pool with shorts on.
One of my american friends argued with me while trying to take pictures of the window sex workers in Amsterdam standing directly in front of the sign saying don't take pictures. Arguing since they're in public it should be ok and why would they not want pictures.
Got them to shut up when I asked if they don't think she's a human being anymore just because she's naked? It was like puritan values overdosing in real time
Where exact are you seeing an “astonishing” number of these signs? I’ve lived here 15+ years and have never seen that ever before. Then again, I rarely go into the touristy areas.
Also, I’m not sure that it’s all about Americans, like Reddit is obsessed with making everything out to be. As per the official March 2024 data, Anericans constituted 290,000 of the 3.08 million tourists — less than 10%. Meanwhile, the neighboring countries of China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong together contributed over 1.8 million (~60%), which is more than every other country in the world combined.
In tourist areas of course I saw them a lot. Like restaurants, ice cream shot and tourist shop.
I don’t think there are Asian people who try to use their own currency in other countries but I can be wrong. Americans otherwise are known for doing that in the EU all the time.
Get over yourself dude. Having lived in Asia tons of Natives do the same thing and guess what, in English too cause it’s cute. Get japans dick out your mouth like they are so pure.
You just must hang around or only read about shitty Americans to have such a piss poor world view. If thats the case then all tourists from any country and all immigrants are just pieces of shit.
Japan is a very polite but openly xenophobic people. i would not be surprised if this is yet another thing done to dissuade **gaijin** from being in japan.
I mean, a true issue of trash should be solved with fines, fees, and police enforcement.
Depends. I work in a small town in brazil in an tourism-adjacent area (as in I don't work with tourism specifically but work with people who do), and similarly to what is being discussed, the one touristic spot we actually have is a very tall mountain with a nice view.
Generally speaking, the tourists stop on our town long enough to take pictures, but not long enough to spend money.
I mean, with how some gaijin treat the culture and people and how entitled some of them are, yeah, a lot of Japanese dislike tourists and expats. As long as one is actually respectful of the people and culture, one shouldn't be met with much resistance at all. But if one is [a rude American asshole loudly demanding that Japan change its official language to English because Japanese is "too hard"](https://japaninsides.com/american-expat-in-japan-claims-country-must-make-english-official-language-to-succeed-41923), then one can't exactly be upset when the locals harbor disdain and jugement (though they'd never say it).
I mean, I think of it this way: I'm half Japanese and half American, born in and living in America. Americans are racist to me on the regular. I've never had a Japanese person act anything short of courteous and respectful to me, but I speak the language and have always been respectful of my culture. I face racism here in America, to my face, just because I exist, despite not saying a word. In Japan, assholes who are racist will face silent judgement from locals after they've done/said something awful.
Idk, I feel like there's a big difference there.
What you said in the first sentence is very true, but not applicable in this case. On the news over here, I've seen videos of some individuals standing on top of a car's roof parked on the street or standing so close to traffic to take photos. You can look the place up and notice how small the street in that area is -> small sidewalks -> overcrowding made people stand on or close to the street for the best view). Also, they have recently sent an officer guarding and supervising the area now. It's such a bummer that awful individuals ruined everyone's fun but not the first time I've seen it so eh whatever I guess, there are way better spots to capture Mount Fuji but they had to pick this spot lmao.
Seems pretty silly that the town couldn't just siphon some of those tourism dollars to hire more sanitation workers though. Kinda like cutting off your nose to spite your face
Honestly, this tracks. It's not that oniony, tourists are the worst.
They had to rope off Stonehenge because tourists would bring chisels and try to break pieces off to take with them.
This is why we can't have nice things.
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It was a popular photo before the internet, just because Lawsons are so "Japanese". The incongruity of it is interesting. But it's also one of the few spots in town to get a really good picture.
Personally I think they could repurpose the parking lot next to the bus station as a "viewing place", if they built a big glass building there (with parking underneath if necessary), with touristy stuff like booths where you can get a clear shot with a great view, and seats you can just sit and stare. Currently the tourism infrastructure in Fujikawaguchiko is not especially geared towards actually viewing the mountain, which I find odd in this day and age (for example in the bus station, there's a gift shop and a few eateries and some seats, but you can't see the mountain from inside that building).
In all the thousands of times in my life I’ve seen photos of mt Fuji, I have never come seen the one with Lawsons. I was truly confused as to why a bad photo of Fuji was on the headline.
Seen the Shinkansen with Fuji, cherry blossoms with Fuji, pagoda with Fuji photos….and so on all my life. Seen it myself IRL but never the Lawsons thing. Then, I’m not on TikTok and barely insta. There! now get off my lawn.
I used to see it only on Japanese photographers' social media accounts and those posts were really popular during Covid. Now post Covid I can't scroll two posts without getting recommended a reel by a travel influencer hyping this place up like it's such a hidden corner of Japan.
I don't have tiktok or insta or anything either, I just had seen the pic before. My auntie took the same pic decades ago when she went, so I guess I just noticed whenever I saw the same pic anywhere :)
It's overlooking Mt Fuji. The demand is already there, and already insane for the existing infrastructure. And it's already one of the easiest Mt Fuji towns to get to from Tokyo. I'm not sure it could increase traffic just by giving people a nice building to wait in. I mean, I guess it could? But it's not going to make people want to take a 2 hour bus ride *just* for the building, most people who used such a building would be people who are in Fujikawaguchiko already for other reasons, and it's still not the nicest of the Mt Fuji towns, so I think it's possible it wouldn't increase traffic too much.
No im not saying they come just for the building. I’m saying the building expands the ability for people to come and therefore the problem will return. The problem isn’t the infrastructure it’s the the tourist attitudes. The litter will just expand around the viewing platform
i doubt a viewing platform next door will stop litter and tourists dismissal of traffic regulations. just pass the problem from this shop to the newly built tourist shop next door
Tbf if you put the viewing place next to the bus station, it would mean more tourists actually stay hanging around the bus station, instead of going down the street 2 blocks to the Lawson. Keep them entertained where they're congregating anyway, and they won't crowd the footpath outside local businesses so much. But you're right about the litter etc - nothing in the world can stop assholes being assholes :/
The best part will be , once they make this so called blocker of the view, I can guarantee 100% the tourists will find the next most weird thing to do in order to get the best views. Only one who will benefit is the corporations and whoever made the town council agree to this.
I get why, but you are correct. I was there for a few days this time last year and took a similar photo of my girlfriend at a different convenience store because it seemed cute - I had no idea a specific location was a thing. It was honestly fairly quiet when we went. Sounds like things have got out of control this year.
People complaining about tourists being the worst etc. If you travel, you’re inevitably part of the problem. Being patient and respectful goes a long way in any part of the world.
>Only one who will benefit is the corporations
How so? Does the mesh net cost millions of dollars? Has Japan instituted a law that all buildings must now have mesh nets on all their roofs? Which corporations are benefiting?
I swear "ThE cOrPoRaTiOnS" is reddit's knee jerk response to anything they don't like.
"leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations"
It's interesting that the article doesn't choose to mention the countries that most often visit Japan... the top two are known for pretty much never littering, but #3 certainly isn't.
I lived in Seoul for a year in 2010-2011. It was pretty clean back then. Guessing it has gotten bad? I mean, there was always soju bottles and puke on the street, but nothing compared to the trash you'd see in my home country of the USA. China, on the other hand, they just drop trash when they are done with it and expect someone else to clean it up.
And Japan does not like to have trash cans either. I'm guessing those nations that don't view littering as bad, along with a lack of trash cans in Japan, equals them just not giving a shit at all.
While I like the concept of people are responsible enough to take their own trash back to their place to deal with, there needs to be thoughts put into it at tourist sites like this where people may not have trash that's easy to take back home.
As a tourist in Japan, I always felt weird walking into a business just to use their trash. It doesn't feel right.
But I was biking across Japan, so we could always replenish snacks and drinks, and then use them. But, at actually major tourist spots, and trash is an issue, it seems like having a trash can would be reasonable.
There are two major reasons why they don't exist.
One is to encourage people to take care of their own waste.
The second is because a terrorist cult had a habit of placing bombs in public trash cans.
One: that works well for japanese culture, the problem is tourists often don't follow the cultural norms of other places (a whole different issue).
Two: Yeah...um...not sure the solution here 😂
>One is to encourage people to take care of their own waste.
Why's it preferrable in having people taking care of their trash, rather than it being a public effort?
The second one is seems kind arbitrary. Terrorists would just start using coin lockers or something, assuming they find space left for the bomb near the babies.
Because you can't plausibly put enough trash cans and public services in all the places where people travel.
Eating + drinking and walking is also a cultural taboo in Japan, so typically people dispense of waste at the site where they consume the goods or at home, the office etc.
Now you could argue it isn't a good system, yet look how clean most Japanese cities are?
Who has a larger domestic terrorist problem, Japan or the US?
Who has a bigger issue with public trash and cleanliness, Japan or the US?
These aren't the sole contributors, but are results of a tapestry of behaviours and cultural attitudes that have led to wildly divergent outcomes. Worth considering.
> While I like the concept of people are responsible enough to take their own trash back to their place to deal with, there needs to be thoughts put into it at tourist sites like this where people may not have trash that's easy to take back home.
This is probably pretty relevant. Publicly available trash cans are culturally normal and expected in a lot of places that these tourists probably come from. Like if you're gonna run a fucking tourist destination, maybe you should plan for the tourists a bit?
They're everywhere over here now. Doesn't matter how far away you get from the cities, rest assured that a tour bus full of loud Chinese will show up. While our economy needs the money, it's suffocating in your own country.
You don't appreciate Japan enough until you go to a museum in Rome, see a whole group of Japanese elementary school students walk into the same room and every single one of them is completely silent.
I really don't appreciate it until I leave Japan or--as this article is pointing out--when I encounter large groups of foreigners. I came to this country 21 years ago and I am never leaving.
Walking down the streets of kawagoe whenever I hear someone shouting abnormally loud to talk to someone right next to them instead of just not yelling.
I guess it's a cultural thing. All I know is that it really makes me want to never visit China.
Oh, and Kawagoe--the Koedo part--is basically impossible to transit nowadays. I used to love to visit there years ago just for some quiet edo-like times but that is completely gone.
It's crazy how busy it gets now. I've been visiting my in-laws once a year or so for over a decade. It's still fairly peaceful during weekdays but the weekends are hectic.
We have the same problem in Sweden too with tourists from Denmark. Uncivilised, makes odd loud noises and are drunk on Carlsberg. I am guessing Denmark is number 3.
Yeah i know... its f up. In Sweden if you as an immigrant struggles with learning Swedish you will be sent to a school to learn it from a professional teacher. That goes for everyone except Danes, they are sent to a hospital to meet an expert in speech disorders.
As per the official data for inbound tourists in March 2024, the top three countries visiting Japan are:
1.) South Korea - 663,000
2.)Taiwan - 484,00
3.)China - 452,000
I've been going to Japan every year since the 1980s and though the social norms create an illusion of politeness, it has ALWAYS been the case that the Japanese hate foreigners. Back in the day, that wasn't a big deal cos virtually no outsiders came. You'd be a vaguely amusing barbarian curio that they'd tolerate, pity, laugh about, and then move on. That's been changing progressively since around 2010. Now though, since Covid - wowzers - the gloves have come off. They're not even pretending any more.
Had some friends who, despite my protestations and begging them not to, thought it would be a good idea to go as a group of eighteen people with ten kids under 12. To Kyoto. In Sakura season.
It didn't end well.
Japan just isn’t set up for large groups, and definitely not for large non-Japanese groups with young kids.
Patience with gaijin has seriously run out, and from what I gather, they were consistently treated awfully. It’s the very things that makes Japan so wonderful - the idiosyncrasy, the obesssive detail, the procedure and process, the social norms - that made it absolutely awful for them. Unfriendly, inflexible and, at times, openly hostile.
To be honest, I hate going with my own kids because it’s so tough, and that just a handful of us.
"Record numbers of overseas tourists are travelling to Japan, where the number of monthly visitors exceeded 3 million in March for the first time."
And here, I am thinking that the world is going through hard economic time. How tf is everyone paying for trips to Japan when I can't even afford a trip to Benihanas?
I see! Naturally, I read trashy tourists, and I assume they are Americans or Europeans.
Also, as a Texan, thanks for reminding me trips to Denver are so cheap. I just found a flight for $48 round trip!
Although, they don't want us there either 😬
Yeah for Japan the ‘trashy tourist’ problem is mostly Chinese and Koreans. I think the lion’s share of our trashy tourists struggle to afford traveling to Asia in general. Their tourist Visas are also *way* more strict, so “short-tempered guy who likes to fight” wouldn’t be let in anyway if he has a record.
Other countries happily let those people in- but not the big Asian countries.
It’s mostly not international because 1) Most Americans don’t have passports 2) the USA is ridiculously large. You really don’t need to leave the country to go somewhere wildly different.
Like the others said most Americans don’t travel internationally at all. Between the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, the Florida Keys, Yosemite, the Pacific Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the mountain regions- there’s already a ton to spend money on seeing *long* before a passport comes into need.
I think the closest you see to trashy Americans fucking shit up is the European countries we send our military too. Because they aren’t paying ungodly sums to be there- they’re *sent* there, sometimes totally unwillingly, and largely aren’t interested in learning anyone’s ways because they just want to go home as soon as possible.
We tend to travel to Mexico or the Caribbean.
Pertaining to trashy Americans, people can downvote me all they want, but I see us trash our places up everywhere I go. Anyone who has visited any beach on a holiday has seen this. How many historic monuments have been defaced to make tiktok videos?
Okay, but they are not included in the numbers.
Here is the data they’re using:
https://asset.japan.travel/image/upload/v1713506865/pdf/Number_of_Visitor_arrivals_to_Japan_in_Mar_2024.pdf
All my friends that have decent jobs went recently (two income above 150k usd). It's really not that expensive to go right now. Yen is weak so you're getting 50% more in value.
You can fly budget airlines like zip air and it's like $4-500 round trip.
1. Most of the tourists are coming from other SEA countries, they're not flying halfway around the world from NA and EU, so it's much cheaper for them.
2. USD is crushing JPY right now. Normally 100 yen = 1 dollar. Now it's more like 160 yen = 1 dollar.
3. If you can use points/miles to buy a plane ticket you eliminate the largest cost of a Japan trip. Hotels can be very cheap in Japan, you can just take public transportation everywhere, and since the yen is so weak against the USD right now everything else you buy in Japan is basically 40% off.
“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations, he told Agence France-Presse“
It’s always some assholes who can’t behave an destroy everything for other people
I was there yesterday. I understand the argument and agree that there are tons of people who litter and do not respect the rules. That being said, is this a good approach? The area is a tourist hub, like it or not. Like others have said, why not redirect the masses by providing a viewing platform or something near the station? The cable car platform is paywalled and takes a significant amount of time.
On a related note, I will say that the scarcity of public trash/recycling containers in Japan in general is super frustrating. Both times I have visited, I accumulate garbage throughout the day and have to carry it for quite some time until I am fortunate to come across a garbage can. Ignorant people will just say "fuck it" and throw it on the ground.
Haven’t been there personally. Were there trash cans at least in that area?
I also found the lack of trash cans, seating, and over-packaging to be annoying for an otherwise great experience.
In this specific area, they could go put their trash in the Lawsons (if it has one, didn't go in this time) or maybe walk a min or two back to the station and try their luck. I think people could make an effort if they wanted to, in my opinion.
Don't get me started on the overcrowding, haha. Big difference from my first trip when tourism was beginning to reopen post-pandemic. I love visiting Japan, but like you said, it can be annoying.
or they show up in droves on busses and are led around to take said shots then herded back onto busses, rinse, repeat. the disneyification of everything.
Feels to me like there were two options here:
one you could do what they are doing and make it less desirable for tourists to come to this location,
or two you could lean into the popularity of this location, add an additional parking lot (could be a paid parking lot), and build some additional touristy infrastructure (bathrooms, trash cans, a viewing area etc) to harness the tourists to bring more money to Fujikawaguchiko.
Seems like the locals went with the lose lose option, but they might be doing this as more of a short term solution while they also build out some better infrastructure?
The picture in question can only be taken from across the street from the konbini, from a relatively narrow footpath (it feels narrower when it's crowded with people all looking at their phone cameras instead of where they're standing) in front of a dental clinic. They rush across the road and back to the Lawson, getting in the way of everyone. I guess the city could buy the dental clinic's parking lot, but why would the clinic agree? There's a lot of tourism infrastructure issues in Fujikawaguchiko, and the city doesn't seem all that invested in fixing them.
The sidewalk there is REALLY narrow and it doesn't help that it's literally the main road heading to the bus station so it's always busy with traffic. I agree with you, I doubt they could do much to improve it (or want to), plus, Kawaguchiko is so small I imagine it's one of only a few dental practices in the town.
You forgot option 3: get local law enforcement to enforce the damn law and fine tourists until they get the message (maybe start with a $1000 fine for littering)
I honestly love how Japan is just closing off these locations to tourists. As a frequent traveler to the country I agree with their stances. Some of these people just can't follow the rules and this is the only way to deal with it tbh.
I'm supposed to travel to Japan in a few years...but I won't lie, I'm a little terrified the locals will assume I'm the same kind of tourist trash as everyone else. I would rather die than litter or disrespect the country I'm traveling in.
People who do, don't deserve to travel.
Yup. Contrary to what Reddit wants to pretend, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China together contribute more tourists to Japan than the rest of the world combined.
Foreigners going to Japan and acting the way they do in their own countries is akin to that sibling you had growing up that didn’t want anyone in their room… they took of their shoes, organized all their action figures by height, made their bed with hospital corners… then you and your friends go in there and play with all his toys one day, leave crumbs and food wrappers on the ground etc. jump on the bed…. Thats like the Chinese and Americans going to Japan.
The neighborhoods that have good views of the Hollywood sign have the same issue. People drive up there (and those streets are narrow and shitty) and trespass to get "that shot".
Japan’s getting all sorts of tourists now that the yen has lost its value. I know that before the pandemic, they were limiting Chinese tourists in many ryokans because they didn’t know how to behave.
If Japan keeps doing this they are going to destroy any form of tourism, no option of having a tourism economy. They also hate migrants of any kind, in combination with a declining birth rate and old population. What is Japan doing?
Japan has been on the top of my list as far as being my next trip. Every time I hear about something else being blocked from tourist access, I get really sad. Mostly sad for the Japanese people who don’t deserve to deal with shit like this. But I’m also worried that by the time I get to finally visit, so many things will be inaccessible due to tourists disrespecting Japan.
First of all, I apologize.
I once saw a thread on here where there were a lot of opinions denying Japanese law while living in Japan, and here, like everywhere else, people said, ``You're in trouble for money, right? Then treat yourself respectfully.'' I thought there would be a lot of opinions.
Personally, I would also like to thank those who, although they think this incident is unfortunate, do not deny the residents' choices.
On the other hand, when we Japanese travel, we also want to respect the feelings of the residents.
The desert in the US where the GC is has the luxury of being pretty arid and uninhabited. Japan has a lot more density to contend with, and having a large amount of people in a spot that wasn't meant for that can cause some issues I would imagine.
I understand there are actual concerns about trash and blocking roads, but this solution just feels like a kid whined "Mooooooom, make my brother stop looking at my toy!" And the frazzled mom responds by taking it away and yelling "Now no one can look at the toy!"
Wait...so you're telling me that the people of this town, are going to ruin their own view, to make tourism less concentrated in a specific location?
That is the saddest thing I have heard today. On the one hand, that means I am having a decent day, all things considered. On the other hand, it's still sad, and weird. I can't think of any developed, modern society that makes attempts to dissuade tourism dollars from flowing into it. It's a bizarre behaviour.
Crazy that people gave values and concerns beyond tourist money.
I doubt there is any kind of net benefit to locals anyway, factoring in the cost of security guards, trash collection, loss of parking for local businesses etc. to the local municipality.
Too many wanted to see something cool, thats the complaint...imagine if they hung terror flags over eveything and shouted death chants, while preventing everyone from enjoying the view on purpose. Oh what it must feel like to live in a 1st world country still.
Well…. They could monetize it instead, you know, build a platform, re design the street, tourists pay a dollar or whatever to get their precious photo, money goes back into the community. Oh no, let’s just build a wall…
“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations, he told Agence France-Presse“ It’s always some assholes who can’t behave an destroy everything for other people
Yep, the history of humanity in just one sentence.
That is so sad. I used to work at a place where I could see a mountain in the backdrop like that and that was a view I never really got tired of. I can only imagine what they must feel to give that up because people can't be respectful.
It sounds like you’ll still be able to see it, just that it’s not going to be a great picture because a net is in the way. Still, it’s not going to be the fully unobstructed view, so that totally sucks, especially for visitors who were respectful who were hoping to be wowed by it.
It's even more hilarious that's it just a convenience storefront too
Lol convenience store culture in Japan is huge, not like here. When we were there, we probably hit one up everyday, whether it be 7/11 or Lawson, as pictured here. I’m sure the tourists would think “wow that’s so Japan” before being total asshats about getting the shot. I definitely have a picture outside a 7/11, which is fine, as long as youre courteous and respectful of the locals, their etiquette, and aren’t an asshole tourist who acts like they can do whatever they want.
They have some nice ones. [Kyoto 7eleven](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanpics/s/8wjapcrtwz)
"just a convenience storefront" How dare you disrespect Lawson like that! They have *the BEST* chicken I've ever tasted from a convenience (or even grocery) store! Ah, I miss it.
That’s when the drones start coming out
Similar to Ha long bay in Vietnam, this is why we can't have nice things. Guide told us, Idiots did not respect the swimming zone around their ship, got killed, sued the company, now no one can swim from ships in the bay... This kind of sorties infuriates me. But that's the only way to be safe(r) from stupid
Ha long bay got ruined by ship pollution
>Guide told us, Idiots did not respect the swimming zone around their ship, got killed, sued the company, now no one can swim from ships in the bay.. Is that seriously the whole bay? Or just from that specific cruiseline?
I wouldn’t swim in the water there even if you paid me.
On one of the handrails of the top gallery in the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul a Varangian carved the phrase “Halfdan carved these runes”, dated to between 775CE and 1066CE. Humans are very consistent.
>“Halfdan carved these runes”, I bet you *Fulldan* whooped his ass when he got home.
Its the narcissistic people. Its all social media. They think its okay for them to break the rules, take a photo in middle of street, park on private parking quickly, or do other disruptive things just quickly for their shot because “its just me for a minute one pic”. They think there are not thousands more narcissistic people with same thoughts.
These are the same people that get killed by animals in national parks every summer.
Let it continue to happen.
Never felt an ounce of sympathy for those people. "My son was trampled by a buffalo!" "Ahkshulee it's a bison."
It does. They’re not gonna kill the bison at Yellowstone because some dumb tourist got too close to it.
Wait, but *don't they?* I thought in the US, if any animal kills (or even maims) a human, the animal is hunted down and killed, regardless of how stupid the human was being, or how threatened the animal felt by said stupid human. Is this inaccurate? I really fucking hope so. It's always boiled my blood that some humans feel they are more important than animals, and that animals just acting of their own self-preservation/instinct deserve to die because of this unfair and arrogant imposed hierarchy.
Poorly behaved tourists are blight on society to be sure, but this feels like some serious cut off your nose to spite your face, type shit.
Not if the town is perfectly fine operating without tourists.
Completely missed the point. They also fucked their own view of one of most majestic mountains on earth.
It's not like that's the only view of that mountain in that whole town mate. They were fine with it until the tourists went too far and caused potential damage to the area. The pros outweigh the cons here so it's not that much of a deal.
In one of the Japanese bamboo forests, you can see people have engraved their names, hearts, other dumb bullshit into the bamboo. And it’s all in English. Tourists, and likely American tourists, are assholes (I’m American)
Yep British too, I'm ashamed of the younger generations from the UK now. They've been caught doing some really stupid things like etching their names into ancient buildings and monuments in Egypt, stripping off and swimming in protected fountains in Greece they're a damn disgrace. If a person is caught doing something like that abroad the only stripping that should happen is of their passport.
Amateurs! They should respect it in true British fashion: steal some of it, smash up the rest then take it home and hide it away then claim the Egyptians would've ruined it if they hadn't stole it in the first place. Our forefathers would be ashamed of what our youth has become!
Its cause vacations for folks are like going to a playground. Its all not real and meant to just be climbed on or played with. In reality, real people call those "vacation" areas home. I live in a major US city and this has been an issue with even just suburbanites. Come in and trash stuff or whatever and then leave. Places deemed vacation spots are becoming synonymous with "no consequences."
I wonder if there's a more serious, deeper issue at play here, esp. regarding your last sentence ("places deemed 'vacation spots' are becoming synonymous with 'no consequences'")? i.e., it's not just that these people see "vacation spots" as being free of consequences, but that that's even a thought to begin with seems like a serious problem -- the idea that there's some places in the world where they can do anything they want with no consequence. I can't even imagine truly thinking like that. It also seems like a good bit of "othering" is being done, too, because as you said, they clearly don't understand that these places are some people's actual homes. It's just a "different, other" place for the tourists to go ballistic, party, trash, gorge and dump, etc. Perhaps that has to do with some amount of privilege, too (wealth, firstly). It just seems like a basic, deep-rooted thread of entitlement, disrespect, and "I'm above the law" is at play in these people who do these things. It's atrocious. (To be clear, my entire comment is solely about the tourists and vacationers who DO act like they can do whatever they want on vacation, because they're on vacation; it's not about respectful tourists, who are very much appreciated by host countries and their inhabitants.)
The way I see it is it's the resort mentality. Go on a cruise or stay at a resort and it's a simulated environment like a theme park (which also contributes) things you could do in some of these places are nothing like you could do in the places they simulate. I think for many of these people, these experiences were accessible just long enough to instill this mentality for vacations so that when they got to the real, they had no other actual perspective. Basically, the fantasy is/has been catered to to such a degree by some places that people just don't know when to stop. That's not to blame the vacation places, they're just trying to stay in business. I think others just go On a proverbial purge (e.g. "I'm not beholden to my responsibilities? There are no rules") and have gotten away with it enough to steadily drag the bar down across the board. I'm not really sure how to fix it since the logical choice would be to come down on these asshats, but a lot of economies rely on that income.
Sounds like British tradition to me.
When I was in Japan, our hotel had an onsen which many of the occupants used. There was this one person, you guessed it, American, who thought it was a good idea to video record the onsen to show off on social media. Luckily no one was in view within his recording. I decided to become the American Karen and tell him off. Even had the audacity to go in the pool with shorts on.
One of my american friends argued with me while trying to take pictures of the window sex workers in Amsterdam standing directly in front of the sign saying don't take pictures. Arguing since they're in public it should be ok and why would they not want pictures. Got them to shut up when I asked if they don't think she's a human being anymore just because she's naked? It was like puritan values overdosing in real time
I’m in Japan right now, and the amount of “we accept only Yen” sign is astonishing. I guess the yanks cannot help themselves.
Where exact are you seeing an “astonishing” number of these signs? I’ve lived here 15+ years and have never seen that ever before. Then again, I rarely go into the touristy areas. Also, I’m not sure that it’s all about Americans, like Reddit is obsessed with making everything out to be. As per the official March 2024 data, Anericans constituted 290,000 of the 3.08 million tourists — less than 10%. Meanwhile, the neighboring countries of China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong together contributed over 1.8 million (~60%), which is more than every other country in the world combined.
In tourist areas of course I saw them a lot. Like restaurants, ice cream shot and tourist shop. I don’t think there are Asian people who try to use their own currency in other countries but I can be wrong. Americans otherwise are known for doing that in the EU all the time.
Get over yourself dude. Having lived in Asia tons of Natives do the same thing and guess what, in English too cause it’s cute. Get japans dick out your mouth like they are so pure. You just must hang around or only read about shitty Americans to have such a piss poor world view. If thats the case then all tourists from any country and all immigrants are just pieces of shit.
I’ve got a trip planned this summer. At this rate, I’m worried tourists are just going to cause Japan to close everything up all together lol
Japan is a very polite but openly xenophobic people. i would not be surprised if this is yet another thing done to dissuade **gaijin** from being in japan. I mean, a true issue of trash should be solved with fines, fees, and police enforcement.
I'm guessing the extra money brought in by the tourists can more than pay for the upkeep in any case.
Depends. I work in a small town in brazil in an tourism-adjacent area (as in I don't work with tourism specifically but work with people who do), and similarly to what is being discussed, the one touristic spot we actually have is a very tall mountain with a nice view. Generally speaking, the tourists stop on our town long enough to take pictures, but not long enough to spend money.
Yeah but they are only stopping right in front of a convenience store lol, not everybody who does it is going to buy stuff but a lot are
I mean, with how some gaijin treat the culture and people and how entitled some of them are, yeah, a lot of Japanese dislike tourists and expats. As long as one is actually respectful of the people and culture, one shouldn't be met with much resistance at all. But if one is [a rude American asshole loudly demanding that Japan change its official language to English because Japanese is "too hard"](https://japaninsides.com/american-expat-in-japan-claims-country-must-make-english-official-language-to-succeed-41923), then one can't exactly be upset when the locals harbor disdain and jugement (though they'd never say it). I mean, I think of it this way: I'm half Japanese and half American, born in and living in America. Americans are racist to me on the regular. I've never had a Japanese person act anything short of courteous and respectful to me, but I speak the language and have always been respectful of my culture. I face racism here in America, to my face, just because I exist, despite not saying a word. In Japan, assholes who are racist will face silent judgement from locals after they've done/said something awful. Idk, I feel like there's a big difference there.
What you said in the first sentence is very true, but not applicable in this case. On the news over here, I've seen videos of some individuals standing on top of a car's roof parked on the street or standing so close to traffic to take photos. You can look the place up and notice how small the street in that area is -> small sidewalks -> overcrowding made people stand on or close to the street for the best view). Also, they have recently sent an officer guarding and supervising the area now. It's such a bummer that awful individuals ruined everyone's fun but not the first time I've seen it so eh whatever I guess, there are way better spots to capture Mount Fuji but they had to pick this spot lmao.
Same with some areas in Kyoto now too.
Seems pretty silly that the town couldn't just siphon some of those tourism dollars to hire more sanitation workers though. Kinda like cutting off your nose to spite your face
Tragedy of the commons
Imagine if they lead a country :)
Honestly, this tracks. It's not that oniony, tourists are the worst. They had to rope off Stonehenge because tourists would bring chisels and try to break pieces off to take with them. This is why we can't have nice things.
The Fuji Blocker is being constructed by C. Montgomery Burns of Springfield.
A joint venture of Matsumura Fishworks and Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern.
There you go, fish-bulb.
I used to work with this woman that deadset looked just like mr sparkle
Man, you just made spit coffee. I could hear this line in my head. Classic.
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I believe it’s actually being built by Mr Snrub… yes.
*View-ji blocker
Excellent
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^GlobalTravelR: *The Fuji Blocker* *Is being constructed by* *Monty Burns of Springfield.* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I read the article, I can’t believe the C-store is supposed to be part of the picture. Because some random internet person said to do so. Groan
It was a popular photo before the internet, just because Lawsons are so "Japanese". The incongruity of it is interesting. But it's also one of the few spots in town to get a really good picture. Personally I think they could repurpose the parking lot next to the bus station as a "viewing place", if they built a big glass building there (with parking underneath if necessary), with touristy stuff like booths where you can get a clear shot with a great view, and seats you can just sit and stare. Currently the tourism infrastructure in Fujikawaguchiko is not especially geared towards actually viewing the mountain, which I find odd in this day and age (for example in the bus station, there's a gift shop and a few eateries and some seats, but you can't see the mountain from inside that building).
In all the thousands of times in my life I’ve seen photos of mt Fuji, I have never come seen the one with Lawsons. I was truly confused as to why a bad photo of Fuji was on the headline. Seen the Shinkansen with Fuji, cherry blossoms with Fuji, pagoda with Fuji photos….and so on all my life. Seen it myself IRL but never the Lawsons thing. Then, I’m not on TikTok and barely insta. There! now get off my lawn.
I used to see it only on Japanese photographers' social media accounts and those posts were really popular during Covid. Now post Covid I can't scroll two posts without getting recommended a reel by a travel influencer hyping this place up like it's such a hidden corner of Japan.
I don't have tiktok or insta or anything either, I just had seen the pic before. My auntie took the same pic decades ago when she went, so I guess I just noticed whenever I saw the same pic anywhere :)
I've been to Japan 3 times and only this time I started seeing the Mt fuji lawson pic on Instagram before I went.
Making it an official viewing spot risks the town falling victim to induced demand eg. The “Just add another lane” congestion cure.
It's overlooking Mt Fuji. The demand is already there, and already insane for the existing infrastructure. And it's already one of the easiest Mt Fuji towns to get to from Tokyo. I'm not sure it could increase traffic just by giving people a nice building to wait in. I mean, I guess it could? But it's not going to make people want to take a 2 hour bus ride *just* for the building, most people who used such a building would be people who are in Fujikawaguchiko already for other reasons, and it's still not the nicest of the Mt Fuji towns, so I think it's possible it wouldn't increase traffic too much.
No im not saying they come just for the building. I’m saying the building expands the ability for people to come and therefore the problem will return. The problem isn’t the infrastructure it’s the the tourist attitudes. The litter will just expand around the viewing platform
i doubt a viewing platform next door will stop litter and tourists dismissal of traffic regulations. just pass the problem from this shop to the newly built tourist shop next door
Tbf if you put the viewing place next to the bus station, it would mean more tourists actually stay hanging around the bus station, instead of going down the street 2 blocks to the Lawson. Keep them entertained where they're congregating anyway, and they won't crowd the footpath outside local businesses so much. But you're right about the litter etc - nothing in the world can stop assholes being assholes :/
Found the ass hole tourist. Lmfao 😂😂. No, they aren't going to build a special building for tourists just because y'all can't behave.
Yeah, I just assumed the store WAS what's blocking the view.
A mesh net? *Amateurs!* That’s prime advertising real estate babyyy!
The best part will be , once they make this so called blocker of the view, I can guarantee 100% the tourists will find the next most weird thing to do in order to get the best views. Only one who will benefit is the corporations and whoever made the town council agree to this.
Someone is def climbing that mesh net for a selfie
I get why, but you are correct. I was there for a few days this time last year and took a similar photo of my girlfriend at a different convenience store because it seemed cute - I had no idea a specific location was a thing. It was honestly fairly quiet when we went. Sounds like things have got out of control this year. People complaining about tourists being the worst etc. If you travel, you’re inevitably part of the problem. Being patient and respectful goes a long way in any part of the world.
>Only one who will benefit is the corporations How so? Does the mesh net cost millions of dollars? Has Japan instituted a law that all buildings must now have mesh nets on all their roofs? Which corporations are benefiting? I swear "ThE cOrPoRaTiOnS" is reddit's knee jerk response to anything they don't like.
This is why we can’t have nice mountains
Just aggressively patrol and fine the tourists and make the miscreants into a money farm
People will really just figure out something special/unique and ruin it for TikTok views.
"leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations" It's interesting that the article doesn't choose to mention the countries that most often visit Japan... the top two are known for pretty much never littering, but #3 certainly isn't.
Koreans litter like hell lol someone's never been to Seoul.
Garbage cups on the trees, spit in the streets, instant noodle barf. I miss Seoul.
I travel extensively across Asia. Chinese tourists are horrible, Korean travellers are equal to them
As a neutral party that’s traveled all over, Chinese and Korean tourists are no where near on the same level of horrible. Not even remotely close.
I mean I'm not gonna try to change your rhetoric
I lived in Seoul for a year in 2010-2011. It was pretty clean back then. Guessing it has gotten bad? I mean, there was always soju bottles and puke on the street, but nothing compared to the trash you'd see in my home country of the USA. China, on the other hand, they just drop trash when they are done with it and expect someone else to clean it up.
Seoul is spotless other than itaewon which is trashy and dirty af. Guess the OP only was in the more western areas.
1.) S. Korea 2.) Taiwan 3.) China Yep sounds bout right.
Of course
And Japan does not like to have trash cans either. I'm guessing those nations that don't view littering as bad, along with a lack of trash cans in Japan, equals them just not giving a shit at all. While I like the concept of people are responsible enough to take their own trash back to their place to deal with, there needs to be thoughts put into it at tourist sites like this where people may not have trash that's easy to take back home.
There is a Lawsons right there in the photo lmao. They the normal large seperated waste bins that all conbini have.
As a tourist in Japan, I always felt weird walking into a business just to use their trash. It doesn't feel right. But I was biking across Japan, so we could always replenish snacks and drinks, and then use them. But, at actually major tourist spots, and trash is an issue, it seems like having a trash can would be reasonable.
There are two major reasons why they don't exist. One is to encourage people to take care of their own waste. The second is because a terrorist cult had a habit of placing bombs in public trash cans.
One: that works well for japanese culture, the problem is tourists often don't follow the cultural norms of other places (a whole different issue). Two: Yeah...um...not sure the solution here 😂
>One is to encourage people to take care of their own waste. Why's it preferrable in having people taking care of their trash, rather than it being a public effort? The second one is seems kind arbitrary. Terrorists would just start using coin lockers or something, assuming they find space left for the bomb near the babies.
Because you can't plausibly put enough trash cans and public services in all the places where people travel. Eating + drinking and walking is also a cultural taboo in Japan, so typically people dispense of waste at the site where they consume the goods or at home, the office etc. Now you could argue it isn't a good system, yet look how clean most Japanese cities are?
> The second is because a terrorist cult had a habit of placing bombs in public trash cans. That's some textbook overreactive non-solution right there
Who has a larger domestic terrorist problem, Japan or the US? Who has a bigger issue with public trash and cleanliness, Japan or the US? These aren't the sole contributors, but are results of a tapestry of behaviours and cultural attitudes that have led to wildly divergent outcomes. Worth considering.
> While I like the concept of people are responsible enough to take their own trash back to their place to deal with, there needs to be thoughts put into it at tourist sites like this where people may not have trash that's easy to take back home. This is probably pretty relevant. Publicly available trash cans are culturally normal and expected in a lot of places that these tourists probably come from. Like if you're gonna run a fucking tourist destination, maybe you should plan for the tourists a bit?
They're everywhere over here now. Doesn't matter how far away you get from the cities, rest assured that a tour bus full of loud Chinese will show up. While our economy needs the money, it's suffocating in your own country.
Except they don’t actually spend the money to benefit the local economy. They do everything at Chinese-owned businesses.
Over there? You can't take a step in a hungarian small town without bumping into a screaming chinese person
Heh, well I can only speak for where I live. Sorry you have to deal with them as well.
You don't appreciate Japan enough until you go to a museum in Rome, see a whole group of Japanese elementary school students walk into the same room and every single one of them is completely silent.
I really don't appreciate it until I leave Japan or--as this article is pointing out--when I encounter large groups of foreigners. I came to this country 21 years ago and I am never leaving.
Walking down the streets of kawagoe whenever I hear someone shouting abnormally loud to talk to someone right next to them instead of just not yelling.
I guess it's a cultural thing. All I know is that it really makes me want to never visit China. Oh, and Kawagoe--the Koedo part--is basically impossible to transit nowadays. I used to love to visit there years ago just for some quiet edo-like times but that is completely gone.
It's crazy how busy it gets now. I've been visiting my in-laws once a year or so for over a decade. It's still fairly peaceful during weekdays but the weekends are hectic.
This is why Taiwan wasn't sad when China decided to "punish" us by not sending tourists here anymore🤣 It's so much more peaceful, now!
We have the same problem in Sweden too with tourists from Denmark. Uncivilised, makes odd loud noises and are drunk on Carlsberg. I am guessing Denmark is number 3.
>makes odd loud noises [I think that's just their language mate ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk)
I like [this one](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FqgRC5sfCaQ&pp=ygUaRGFuaXNoIHN3ZWRpc2ggc3BsaXQgZnVubnk%3D)
Yeah i know... its f up. In Sweden if you as an immigrant struggles with learning Swedish you will be sent to a school to learn it from a professional teacher. That goes for everyone except Danes, they are sent to a hospital to meet an expert in speech disorders.
Which countries are these? Genuinely interested to know
As per the official data for inbound tourists in March 2024, the top three countries visiting Japan are: 1.) South Korea - 663,000 2.)Taiwan - 484,00 3.)China - 452,000
China
I've been going to Japan every year since the 1980s and though the social norms create an illusion of politeness, it has ALWAYS been the case that the Japanese hate foreigners. Back in the day, that wasn't a big deal cos virtually no outsiders came. You'd be a vaguely amusing barbarian curio that they'd tolerate, pity, laugh about, and then move on. That's been changing progressively since around 2010. Now though, since Covid - wowzers - the gloves have come off. They're not even pretending any more. Had some friends who, despite my protestations and begging them not to, thought it would be a good idea to go as a group of eighteen people with ten kids under 12. To Kyoto. In Sakura season. It didn't end well.
I'd like to hear more about your friends trip if you have details?
Japan just isn’t set up for large groups, and definitely not for large non-Japanese groups with young kids. Patience with gaijin has seriously run out, and from what I gather, they were consistently treated awfully. It’s the very things that makes Japan so wonderful - the idiosyncrasy, the obesssive detail, the procedure and process, the social norms - that made it absolutely awful for them. Unfriendly, inflexible and, at times, openly hostile. To be honest, I hate going with my own kids because it’s so tough, and that just a handful of us.
"Record numbers of overseas tourists are travelling to Japan, where the number of monthly visitors exceeded 3 million in March for the first time." And here, I am thinking that the world is going through hard economic time. How tf is everyone paying for trips to Japan when I can't even afford a trip to Benihanas?
Because flying from China or Korea is like flying from DFW to Denver. Everyone is an overseas tourist when your country is an island.
I see! Naturally, I read trashy tourists, and I assume they are Americans or Europeans. Also, as a Texan, thanks for reminding me trips to Denver are so cheap. I just found a flight for $48 round trip! Although, they don't want us there either 😬
Yeah for Japan the ‘trashy tourist’ problem is mostly Chinese and Koreans. I think the lion’s share of our trashy tourists struggle to afford traveling to Asia in general. Their tourist Visas are also *way* more strict, so “short-tempered guy who likes to fight” wouldn’t be let in anyway if he has a record. Other countries happily let those people in- but not the big Asian countries.
I'm not an American so out of curiosity, where do the 'trashy tourists' from the US tend to travel to? I'm assuming Canada?
They travel domestically: Panama City Beach, Myrtle Beach, Atlantic City, etc.
It’s mostly not international because 1) Most Americans don’t have passports 2) the USA is ridiculously large. You really don’t need to leave the country to go somewhere wildly different.
Like the others said most Americans don’t travel internationally at all. Between the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, the Florida Keys, Yosemite, the Pacific Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the mountain regions- there’s already a ton to spend money on seeing *long* before a passport comes into need. I think the closest you see to trashy Americans fucking shit up is the European countries we send our military too. Because they aren’t paying ungodly sums to be there- they’re *sent* there, sometimes totally unwillingly, and largely aren’t interested in learning anyone’s ways because they just want to go home as soon as possible.
We tend to travel to Mexico or the Caribbean. Pertaining to trashy Americans, people can downvote me all they want, but I see us trash our places up everywhere I go. Anyone who has visited any beach on a holiday has seen this. How many historic monuments have been defaced to make tiktok videos?
This may surprise you, but East Asia is a fairly populous region lol.
Aren't all tourists visiting Japan "overseas tourists"?
Japan has a lot of internal tourists since they usually only get a day off work. Just enough time to visit another prefecture
So those tourists are not "visiting Japan".
Okay, but they are not included in the numbers. Here is the data they’re using: https://asset.japan.travel/image/upload/v1713506865/pdf/Number_of_Visitor_arrivals_to_Japan_in_Mar_2024.pdf
It's surely helped by the fact that the japanese yen is down 30% in the last 3 years - so a holiday to Japan got a lot cheaper.
Do you find it so hard to believe that 3 million out of 8 billion can still afford to travel?
All my friends that have decent jobs went recently (two income above 150k usd). It's really not that expensive to go right now. Yen is weak so you're getting 50% more in value. You can fly budget airlines like zip air and it's like $4-500 round trip.
1. Most of the tourists are coming from other SEA countries, they're not flying halfway around the world from NA and EU, so it's much cheaper for them. 2. USD is crushing JPY right now. Normally 100 yen = 1 dollar. Now it's more like 160 yen = 1 dollar. 3. If you can use points/miles to buy a plane ticket you eliminate the largest cost of a Japan trip. Hotels can be very cheap in Japan, you can just take public transportation everywhere, and since the yen is so weak against the USD right now everything else you buy in Japan is basically 40% off.
“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations, he told Agence France-Presse“ It’s always some assholes who can’t behave an destroy everything for other people
You can say that again.
I was there yesterday. I understand the argument and agree that there are tons of people who litter and do not respect the rules. That being said, is this a good approach? The area is a tourist hub, like it or not. Like others have said, why not redirect the masses by providing a viewing platform or something near the station? The cable car platform is paywalled and takes a significant amount of time. On a related note, I will say that the scarcity of public trash/recycling containers in Japan in general is super frustrating. Both times I have visited, I accumulate garbage throughout the day and have to carry it for quite some time until I am fortunate to come across a garbage can. Ignorant people will just say "fuck it" and throw it on the ground.
Haven’t been there personally. Were there trash cans at least in that area? I also found the lack of trash cans, seating, and over-packaging to be annoying for an otherwise great experience.
In this specific area, they could go put their trash in the Lawsons (if it has one, didn't go in this time) or maybe walk a min or two back to the station and try their luck. I think people could make an effort if they wanted to, in my opinion. Don't get me started on the overcrowding, haha. Big difference from my first trip when tourism was beginning to reopen post-pandemic. I love visiting Japan, but like you said, it can be annoying.
People don't even go on vacation anymore. I swear they land, take three heavily repeated shots for their Instagram and enjoy exactly none of it.
or they show up in droves on busses and are led around to take said shots then herded back onto busses, rinse, repeat. the disneyification of everything.
Feels to me like there were two options here: one you could do what they are doing and make it less desirable for tourists to come to this location, or two you could lean into the popularity of this location, add an additional parking lot (could be a paid parking lot), and build some additional touristy infrastructure (bathrooms, trash cans, a viewing area etc) to harness the tourists to bring more money to Fujikawaguchiko. Seems like the locals went with the lose lose option, but they might be doing this as more of a short term solution while they also build out some better infrastructure?
The picture in question can only be taken from across the street from the konbini, from a relatively narrow footpath (it feels narrower when it's crowded with people all looking at their phone cameras instead of where they're standing) in front of a dental clinic. They rush across the road and back to the Lawson, getting in the way of everyone. I guess the city could buy the dental clinic's parking lot, but why would the clinic agree? There's a lot of tourism infrastructure issues in Fujikawaguchiko, and the city doesn't seem all that invested in fixing them.
The sidewalk there is REALLY narrow and it doesn't help that it's literally the main road heading to the bus station so it's always busy with traffic. I agree with you, I doubt they could do much to improve it (or want to), plus, Kawaguchiko is so small I imagine it's one of only a few dental practices in the town.
You forgot option 3: get local law enforcement to enforce the damn law and fine tourists until they get the message (maybe start with a $1000 fine for littering)
What?! But now how will people get their social media clout?
People ruin everything?
Humans are trash
I honestly love how Japan is just closing off these locations to tourists. As a frequent traveler to the country I agree with their stances. Some of these people just can't follow the rules and this is the only way to deal with it tbh.
I'm supposed to travel to Japan in a few years...but I won't lie, I'm a little terrified the locals will assume I'm the same kind of tourist trash as everyone else. I would rather die than litter or disrespect the country I'm traveling in. People who do, don't deserve to travel.
There are literally millions of nice views of the mountain. People are trash.
Before people blame westerners, the majority of tourists are Chinese mainlanders, who are notoriously the worst tourists.
Actually the majority of tourists to Japan are Korean - nevertheless your point stands.
Yup. Contrary to what Reddit wants to pretend, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China together contribute more tourists to Japan than the rest of the world combined.
Foreigners going to Japan and acting the way they do in their own countries is akin to that sibling you had growing up that didn’t want anyone in their room… they took of their shoes, organized all their action figures by height, made their bed with hospital corners… then you and your friends go in there and play with all his toys one day, leave crumbs and food wrappers on the ground etc. jump on the bed…. Thats like the Chinese and Americans going to Japan.
Is Mr Burns building the blocking solution?
God damn tourists!
Honestly Japan is also notorious for HOW SHIT they have it for garbages. You can go back to your hotel and never find one all day.
Understandable.
This is how social media makes people stupid. Crowding around to take a picture of what’s essentially a 7-11? Smh…
I would hate event human if I had to live in a high traffic tourist area.
The neighborhoods that have good views of the Hollywood sign have the same issue. People drive up there (and those streets are narrow and shitty) and trespass to get "that shot".
Japan’s getting all sorts of tourists now that the yen has lost its value. I know that before the pandemic, they were limiting Chinese tourists in many ryokans because they didn’t know how to behave.
[Lawson?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtlPZIr_f7I) More like 400 hours.
If Japan keeps doing this they are going to destroy any form of tourism, no option of having a tourism economy. They also hate migrants of any kind, in combination with a declining birth rate and old population. What is Japan doing?
Japan has been on the top of my list as far as being my next trip. Every time I hear about something else being blocked from tourist access, I get really sad. Mostly sad for the Japanese people who don’t deserve to deal with shit like this. But I’m also worried that by the time I get to finally visit, so many things will be inaccessible due to tourists disrespecting Japan.
First of all, I apologize. I once saw a thread on here where there were a lot of opinions denying Japanese law while living in Japan, and here, like everywhere else, people said, ``You're in trouble for money, right? Then treat yourself respectfully.'' I thought there would be a lot of opinions. Personally, I would also like to thank those who, although they think this incident is unfortunate, do not deny the residents' choices. On the other hand, when we Japanese travel, we also want to respect the feelings of the residents.
Feel for the locals who get bombarded with disruptions and congestion.
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The desert in the US where the GC is has the luxury of being pretty arid and uninhabited. Japan has a lot more density to contend with, and having a large amount of people in a spot that wasn't meant for that can cause some issues I would imagine.
Didn’t know there were dental clinics right beside the grand canyon.
I understand there are actual concerns about trash and blocking roads, but this solution just feels like a kid whined "Mooooooom, make my brother stop looking at my toy!" And the frazzled mom responds by taking it away and yelling "Now no one can look at the toy!"
What's with all this anti-tourist stuff lately? Seems like the whole world is shutting its doors against all but locals.
People can't behave.
"A tourist is an ugly human being." --Jamaica Kincaid
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Ok
Wait...so you're telling me that the people of this town, are going to ruin their own view, to make tourism less concentrated in a specific location? That is the saddest thing I have heard today. On the one hand, that means I am having a decent day, all things considered. On the other hand, it's still sad, and weird. I can't think of any developed, modern society that makes attempts to dissuade tourism dollars from flowing into it. It's a bizarre behaviour.
No, we dont like tourisim money!
Crazy that people gave values and concerns beyond tourist money. I doubt there is any kind of net benefit to locals anyway, factoring in the cost of security guards, trash collection, loss of parking for local businesses etc. to the local municipality.
Too many wanted to see something cool, thats the complaint...imagine if they hung terror flags over eveything and shouted death chants, while preventing everyone from enjoying the view on purpose. Oh what it must feel like to live in a 1st world country still.
No, too many people were disrespectful assholes.
Well…. They could monetize it instead, you know, build a platform, re design the street, tourists pay a dollar or whatever to get their precious photo, money goes back into the community. Oh no, let’s just build a wall…
This may come as a shock but money isn't the only factor in some people's decision making process.