Nuisance Foreigners
Nuisance foreigners in Japan has become a popular talking point of late, and for good reason.
Ever since Japan reopened it’s borders to tourism post pandemic, there have been numerous accounts of foreigners, often “influencers” coming to Japan and causing problems for the local residents.
There are cases of unsolicited photography of women in kimonos, dodging train fares, disrespecting sacred sites, snapping small branches of cherry blossoms from the trees as a souvenir, and much more.
While these people are by far in the minority of visitors to Japan, they are becoming a considerable problem for Japanese and foreign residents alike.
Trying To Fit In
Of course, I write this myself as a foreigner in Japan. I am not a temporary tourist, I am a resident and the husband of a Japanese woman. While I am not and never will be Japanese, I do try my best to be mindful of the differences between our cultures and to fit in as best I can.
I appreciate and respect the culture and customs of Japan. Sometimes I may not understand something, but I would never purposefully be a nuisance.
This is the main difference between this troublesome minority of foreigners and the rest of us.
Over the past decade more foreigners have been taking up residence, living and working in Japan than ever before. The vast majority of foreign residents, myself included are mindful of our cultural differences, and try to fit in as best we can.
Contrary to this, it seems that nuisance foreigners actively find ways to disrespect, cause trouble and generally treat Japan as their own personal theme park.
Who Are They?
So who are these “nuisance foreigners” and where do they come from?
If only it was as simple as finger pointing a specific people and place, but the truth is it’s not.
From (typically) Western influencers attempting to grow their views with asinine stunts, to general disrespect, particularly from those of neighbouring countries, the mentality that Japan is simply a background or personal theme-park to exploit for selfish reasons is unfortunately a growing issue.
What Are They Doing?
Here is a quick summary of the antics these individuals get up to, it is by no means an exhaustive list but should give you a pretty solid idea…
Harassing Geisha in Kyoto for photographs.
Not only without permission but even when the subject obviously does not want to be photographed.
Disrespecting Shrines.
Performing pull-ups on Tori gates.
Driving Go-Karts around busy central Tokyo streets.
I genuinely have no idea why this is still not illegal…
There have been crashes, and in one case the store front of a ramen shop was smashed in…
Often governments can be slow to react to things, particularly in Japan. Therefore it is solely on the visitors to this country to exercise good judgement and simply not get involved.
Shibuya is NOT a race track, it is an exceptionally busy part of Tokyo, with many distractions and dangers to complicate the situation.
Climbing on, shaking and picking from Sakura (cherry blossom) trees.
Sakura (cherry blossom) trees are incredibly important in Japanese culture.
They take a long time to grow, some of these trees are quite old. The blossom is delicate, the trees fragile and can be easily damaged.
They only blossom for a week or so and therefore the Japanese people really cherish the moment and respect the trees for the joy they bring.
Climbing, shaking, picking and taking souvenir branches is simply disrespectful vandalism, and should not be done for any reason.
Spraying or carving graffiti into shrines and bamboo forests.
Playing loud music on trains.
Playing loud music, shouting, dancing and doing backflips on trains, anywhere but particularly in Japan is simply out of order.
Japanese trains are often described as being like moving libraries. People respect that it is a shared, limited space and excessive noise only serves to irritate and inconvenience others.
Shared spaces in Japan are, for the most part, clean, quiet and understood to be for the benefit of everyone.
Logan Paul, a famous YouTuber with over 19 million subscribers filmed himself visiting and making jokes about a forest which is a well known suicide spot.
His footage disrespectfully included the body of an apparent recent suicide.
Johnny Somali, another famous content creator eventually arrested in Osaka for trespassing, after previous “stunts” such as harassing women in public, creating conflict with resturaunt staff and shouting “Hiroshima, Nagasaki. We do it again” in public places.
After his arrest, in January 2024 he was fined $1400 and kicked out of the country, it is unlikely he will be allowed to enter in the future.
Later that same year, November 2024 he was arrested in South Korea for more disruptive behaviour, he is still in South Korean jail, awaiting trial and facing a potential 10 year prison sentence.
Fidias Panayiotou, yet another content creator was caught hiding in the toilet on a bullet train after attempting to travel across Japan without paying, while competing against three other YouTubers for a prize of $10,000, all the while documenting it for his 2 million-plus subscribers.
He was also found out to be sneaking into hotels posing as a guest, for free breakfast.
To add insult, he was later elected by the people of his home country of Cyprus to the European Parliament as an independent MEP.
You get the idea… There’s more, but let’s move on.
What Can Be Done About It?
The government say they are talking about ways to action against this behaviour from foreigners, but as with most things it won’t be fixed overnight.
However, some actions already being taken include:
- Closing off certain streets and areas to tourists.
Parts of Kyoto’s historic Geisha district are now completely off-limits to any non-residents of the area. - Limiting access to public transport and services.
Tokyo has incredibly efficient, high capacity local public transport infrastructure, but most of Japan doesn’t.
Areas with limited seats and schedules are starting to limit or even deny access to tourists, as it was starting to affect the ability for locals to go about their daily business and lives. - Banning photography and filming in certain public areas.
Again, mainly in Kyoto’s historic areas, but also an increasing amount of “NO CAMERA” signs in private businesses all over Japan. - Introducing a tiered entry fee scheme for public attractions.
It is currently unknown if the foreigner tier is limited only to inbound tourists, or if this will include legal foreign residents too, but essentially foreigners will be charged over ¥1000 more for entry into certain attractions. - Blocking certain popular photo spots.
Famously the local government of Fujikawaguchiko, an area near Mount Fuji, temporarily blocked the view from a particularly popular photo spot which featured a view of Mount Fuji above a Lawsons convenience store.
The visitors would block the road and amass at the optimal spot for a photo, without contributing to the local economy or considering their negative impact on the locals. The wall was eventually taken down, but it may very well go back up again come peak season.
I am sure more things are being done by local governments and town administrations but the best thing would ultimately be if tourists simply respected the places they are visiting.
Japan isn’t standing alone in the face of these issues, as all over the world foreign tourists are increasingly causing problems and disrespecting the local areas which they visit.
It is leading to increased hostility towards tourists, which overtime could result in a decline in local economies which rely on tourism to provide a much needed boost to small businesses.
If things continue on this trajectory, not only will visiting other places become more and more challenging in the face of hostility, limited services and increased fees, but it could also have a detrimental impact on those very areas which depend on (controlled and well managed) inbound tourism.
Final Thoughts
I love Japan… I am grateful every day that I am allowed to live here.
I am not perfect, but I do make a conscious effort to be as respectful as I can be. I try to learn about and blend into the culture as best I can.
There is a well known English phrase “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.
Unfortunately in recent years it seems that phrase is being disregarded by enough people, that tourists are getting a bad name for themselves.
When foreign tourists disrespect the destinations, it wont be long before the local people start to see every foreigner through the same lens, tourist or resident.
I just hope that this problem is managed effectively soon.
If you visit Japan please don’t be the nuisance foreigner!
Japanese people are quick to help out and be hospitable to visitors, don’t misinterpret their hospitality as a free ticket to do as you please.
Thank you for reading!
