One consequence of "Japanese hospitality" being widely known is that there are now swathes of tourists visiting with the expectation of getting their own "magical experience".
Some people living in places that have become tourist areas are putting up signs announcing their home toilets are not for public use. Because apparently some tourists have said things like "When I needed to use the bathroom and there was nowhere else around, I knocked on a random person's door and they were kind enough to let me use it!" So now a non-zero number of people go there with the expectation that they can (and possibly should) do the same.
Tourists used to be a novelty to Japanese. Now with over 40 million projected for this year, a massive rise from about 6 million in 2012, a large number of them taking extended vacations (in contrast to Euros who might hop a border for a weekend and boost tourist counts quickly), people are getting quickly burnt out with the entitlement many of them exhibit. To tourists, it's a magical, unique vacation and they must have the Ghibli experience someone else posted about. To locals, countless people are harassing you everyday demanding unreasonable things.
Also note that the article is about a guesthouse. It is a business and you pay for the service. It is not about getting inside random people homes because whoever is living there is too polite to kick you out.
The old lady in the article is so kind and polite because she respects you as a customer, takes pride in her job, and wants you to feel at ease. Service tradition really is something there. But don't get things wrong, it is still a business relationship.
> Some people living in places that have become tourist areas are putting up signs announcing their home toilets are not for public use.
I read that on r/Tokyo Reddit as well a while back. Quite shocking. It was some person complaining living near a large public park (possibly Shinjuku or Inokashira) about his personal premises being violated because toilet queues were quite long & people kept knocking at their door. Not sure if we both are referring to the same incident?
[For reference to others, there are enough portable toilets in these public parks to deal with tourist surge, but obviously no arrangement can handle 25000+ visitors everyday without having queues]
More ridiculous stories have popped up once in a while in japan tourist subreddits. This sakura blossom season, a British tourist couple were seeking legal recourse to avoid detention and move back to their home country ASAP after running over an elderly woman with the rental car. Some people probably don't take consequences in a tourist destination seriously.
> Nearly all the smaller countries would waive even up to a minister-counsellor’s immunity in that scenario.
Sadly, if the UK's experience is anything to go by, if it is a US government worker / diplomat they would be on the first plane home[1].
I fear it would be no different in Japan. The US would get away with it. Even more so in the Trump era where he would probably make some dumb threats to the country to force their hand.
Well yeah that’s why I said smaller countries… the big countries have minister-counsellors, sometimes even attaches, that are really significant people, and might get away with it.
Especially if it’s a cover for their actual position with a much higher rank.
I also think tourists, as a class, tend to be more entitled than others. They usually have money and also having spent money, they expect hospitality on their terms (realistically or not).
FWIW, I had a recent trip to Japan before news of issues with tourists, and I would describe my experience as "magical", not because of generosity of strangers though. None was needed. Naoshima in particular is magical on its own.
Im wondering if tourism isnt a net negative? The tourism industry thrives which means people move to that industry, then that industry becomes so big that politicians say the country can’t survive without it, then the culture vanishes . See the coffee shops in Shibuya with majority tourists, their manner is completely different.
I feel like every word in the title is deceptive: Someone you're renting a room from is not a "stranger", nor is their renting it to you "generosity", nor are you simply "getting by". "Enjoying the hospitality of small guesthouses and private hosts" would be much more accurate.
One consequence of "Japanese hospitality" being widely known is that there are now swathes of tourists visiting with the expectation of getting their own "magical experience".
Some people living in places that have become tourist areas are putting up signs announcing their home toilets are not for public use. Because apparently some tourists have said things like "When I needed to use the bathroom and there was nowhere else around, I knocked on a random person's door and they were kind enough to let me use it!" So now a non-zero number of people go there with the expectation that they can (and possibly should) do the same.
Tourists used to be a novelty to Japanese. Now with over 40 million projected for this year, a massive rise from about 6 million in 2012, a large number of them taking extended vacations (in contrast to Euros who might hop a border for a weekend and boost tourist counts quickly), people are getting quickly burnt out with the entitlement many of them exhibit. To tourists, it's a magical, unique vacation and they must have the Ghibli experience someone else posted about. To locals, countless people are harassing you everyday demanding unreasonable things.
Also note that the article is about a guesthouse. It is a business and you pay for the service. It is not about getting inside random people homes because whoever is living there is too polite to kick you out.
The old lady in the article is so kind and polite because she respects you as a customer, takes pride in her job, and wants you to feel at ease. Service tradition really is something there. But don't get things wrong, it is still a business relationship.
> Some people living in places that have become tourist areas are putting up signs announcing their home toilets are not for public use.
I read that on r/Tokyo Reddit as well a while back. Quite shocking. It was some person complaining living near a large public park (possibly Shinjuku or Inokashira) about his personal premises being violated because toilet queues were quite long & people kept knocking at their door. Not sure if we both are referring to the same incident?
[For reference to others, there are enough portable toilets in these public parks to deal with tourist surge, but obviously no arrangement can handle 25000+ visitors everyday without having queues]
More ridiculous stories have popped up once in a while in japan tourist subreddits. This sakura blossom season, a British tourist couple were seeking legal recourse to avoid detention and move back to their home country ASAP after running over an elderly woman with the rental car. Some people probably don't take consequences in a tourist destination seriously.
The latter case sounds more like mental derangement under stress.
I really doubt even lower ranking actual diplomats could reasonably expect to get away with running over an elderly Japanese grandma in Japan.
Nearly all the smaller countries would waive even up to a minister-counsellor’s immunity in that scenario.
Your skepticism is wrong in this case.
https://unseen-japan.com/ridge-alkonis-release-japan-reacts/
Your the third to seemingly not read my comment?
Obviously the USA is not in the category of smaller countries.
And it seems irrelevant anyways, military have different norms from diplomats.
19 year old solder, pardoned https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Jennifer_Laude
How does this relate to my comment?
> Nearly all the smaller countries would waive even up to a minister-counsellor’s immunity in that scenario.
Sadly, if the UK's experience is anything to go by, if it is a US government worker / diplomat they would be on the first plane home[1].
I fear it would be no different in Japan. The US would get away with it. Even more so in the Trump era where he would probably make some dumb threats to the country to force their hand.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Harry_Dunn
She was clearly an intelligence officer not a low level diplomat or staffer
Well yeah that’s why I said smaller countries… the big countries have minister-counsellors, sometimes even attaches, that are really significant people, and might get away with it.
Especially if it’s a cover for their actual position with a much higher rank.
So laws are for ordinary folk?
tourists visiting with the expectation of getting their own "magical experience".
Having unrealistic expectations go unfulfilled sounds like what a lot of Japanese tourists feel about Paris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome
I also think tourists, as a class, tend to be more entitled than others. They usually have money and also having spent money, they expect hospitality on their terms (realistically or not).
FWIW, I had a recent trip to Japan before news of issues with tourists, and I would describe my experience as "magical", not because of generosity of strangers though. None was needed. Naoshima in particular is magical on its own.
Tourism reliably destroys places. Southern Italy is another example where the sheer masses of tourists have completely ruined a whole area.
Don't forget that "tourists" also get stereotyped. There are respecting, caring and careful tourists, who don't try to overuse the hospitality.
Also, everything has become absurdly expensive for the locals. During covid you could often find a hotel for 10,000 yen.
> So now a non-zero number of people go there with the expectation that they can (and possibly should) do the same.
Is this actually common now?
The usual this is why we can't have nice things. Hospitality only thrives when it is not abused as an expectation rather than a privilege.
OMG, This reminds me of the ridiculous "50 years of travel tips" that showed up on HN a few months back
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43066720
Including gems such as:
-have your Uber driver take you to his mother's house so she'll cook for you
-crash a wedding, you'll be the "celebrity guest"
Im wondering if tourism isnt a net negative? The tourism industry thrives which means people move to that industry, then that industry becomes so big that politicians say the country can’t survive without it, then the culture vanishes . See the coffee shops in Shibuya with majority tourists, their manner is completely different.
I feel like every word in the title is deceptive: Someone you're renting a room from is not a "stranger", nor is their renting it to you "generosity", nor are you simply "getting by". "Enjoying the hospitality of small guesthouses and private hosts" would be much more accurate.