Recently, Japan tourism has hit international headlines with rather controversial stories. On 8 March 2024, The Guardian reported that Kyoto would be banning tourists from parts of the city due to the bad behaviour of tourists affecting locals. On 30 April 2024, The Mainichi reported that Fujikawaguchiko had started work to construct large black screens to block the view of Mount Fuji behind a Lawson convenience store due to the bad behaviour of tourists affecting locals.

Trawl through historic news items and social media and you will find that bad behaving tourists in Japan is not something which has plagued the Japanese people recently. In 2016, the Mail Online reported that a Chinese tourist had jumped fully clothed into the pond of the Kiyomizu Shrine in Kyoto to collect water from the three sacred streams in a plastic bottle. The Mail Online also reported in 2016 on other bad behaviour of Chinese tourists in Japan, from entering a restricted area in Ueno Park to climbing cherry trees to breaking off flowers.

A recent social media post from a user on X (formerly Twitter), @ahoy_cubism, showed a foreigner in Japan using the grab handles on Tokyo’s Yamanote Line as some kind of gymnastics equipment, and those who look to be his acquaintances laughing at his behaviour.

The reactions to the Fujikawaguchiko story and @ahoy_cubism’s post on X have been very similar. On the one hand, there are many people who criticise the bad behaviour of foreigners visiting Japan. One the other hand, although not as numerous, some consider that Japanese people should put up with the bad behaviour if it is not harming anyone in particular. There has also been a small number of reactions who claim that it is racist for Japanese people to criticise the bad behaviour of tourists, since there are also badly behaving Japanese people who do not get called out as much as tourists who behave badly.

‘only having fun…’

Unsurprisingly, most of those who thought that Japanese people are overreacting when they say that tourists who behave badly are being disrespectful do not seem to be Japanese people. Many question what is wrong with tourists having fun and enjoying themselves if they are not harming anyone. This kind of response is very indicative of the gap between Japanese culture and western culture.

Western culture tends to be more about laissez-faire and individuality, whereas Japanese culture, and indeed many East Asian culture, tend to be focused on societal harmony and stability. Take for example the issue of wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic: many in western cultures considered that mandated mask-wearing was infringing on individual liberty. Contrast this with many East Asian cultures, including Japan, which saw less opposition to mask-wearing mandates, and more widespread acceptance of mask-wearing with a view to try and slow down the spread of COVID-19. Even outside of any mandate to wear masks, many in Japan and East Asian would often wear masks in public, especially after SARS hit China and Hong Kong in 2002 to 2004.

When viewed from that prism, perhaps it is not as shocking that many responses from Japanese people criticise tourists for behaving badly, but many non-Japanese responses focus on the fact that the tourists are simply having a good time without harming anyone. However, it does beggar belief that some non-Japanese people feel that they have the right to dictate what the Japanese people should or should not be offended by in their own country.

Is criticising badly behaved tourists racist?

There are those who even claim that the criticisms of tourists behaving badly is a sign of Japanese xenophobia. If one openly criticises the bad behaviour of tourists in the same as as they would openly criticise similar behaviour as perpetrated by Japanese natives in a comparable manner, then to simply claim that instances where the same person had openly criticised tourists as racist ignores the context of their general disdain for any bad behaviour.

This is not to say that criticising the bad behaviour of tourists can never be xenophobic. For example, if one were to only showcase bad behaviour of tourists but ignore similar bad behaviour when perpetrated by Japanese natives, then there may be legitimate questions as to why that person only wanted to showcase the bad behaviour of tourists. Any narrative attached to pictures or footage of badly behaviour tourists can also come across as xenophobic, even if the initial intention was not xenophobia.

However, on a practical level, it is unlikely that the bad behaviour perpetrated by tourists which Japanese people complain of is similarly perpetrated by native Japanese people, or at least on the same scale. Native Japanese people are unlikely to be trespassing on private property in order to ‘do it for the ‘Gram’. Native Japanese people are unlikely to be blocking roads in large numbers in order to take a photograph of a convenience store. Native Japanese people are unlikely to be photographing the geiko and maiko of Kyoto without permission.

The devil, of course, is always in the details. But to simply label any grumbles that Japanese people might have over bad behaviour from tourists is simply lazy at best and disingenuous at worst. Xenophobia absolutely needs to be targeted, but if its done in a lazy and disingenuous manner, then all that will do is detract from claims of xenophobia which are actually real.

Is social media, in part, to blame?

Whilst social media does not make people behave badly per se, it does seem to contributing to people going out of their way to get those ‘Instagram moments’, even if doing so would involve doing stupid things, or things which just make one stand out like a sore thumb. When Pokémon GO was all the rave when it was first released, the news was flooded with stories of people being in places where they should not be in order to catch a Pokémon. The whole social media FOMO phenomenon, I would say, is also contributing to similarly stupid behaviour where people are simply focused on getting that Instagram moment without necessarily thinking if whether they should be doing what they are doing to get those photos.

Should they be plucking cherry blossom flowers off the trees in order to get that shot? Should they be climbing into the cherry blossom trees in order to get that Instagram moment?

‘Travel influencers’ also need to be more responsible with their content. Rather than simply showing destinations, they should also aim to educate people about the culture. Talk about any dos and do-nots. This is not to say that education is the sole responsibility of ‘travel influencers’, but with how widespread social media use is, they have quite a substantial role to play in helping people understand the destination to which they are going.

Concluding remarks

Ultimately, travellers also need to educate themselves and not assume that behaviour they can get away with back home would be equally acceptable when visiting a foreign country. For example, whilst it may be acceptable that you can speak on your mobile telephone whilst on a train in your home country, it really is not acceptable to do so in Japan.

Although the context of this piece is about the Japanese disdain for badly behaved tourists, actually learning about the culture and laws of where you are visiting, no matter where that might be, is actually very essential. For example, you probably need to know that many prescription medicines such as codeine and sleeping pills are illegal in Indonesia, and avoid packing such in your suitcase!

Also take the time to learn some of the native language before a visit, as often being able to speak and understand a bit of the local language can unlock many more exciting and unique experiences when travelling.

As the saying goes: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.