mkjr

it used to be that you looked up the local niceties before travelling but that seems to have gone out the window.

oh well. it is lack of regard for simple rules that ruin it for many.

even now, with tsukiji clammed down on everyone tom, dick and harry that calls themselves some sort of food expert, such visitors still can not obey ONE SIMPLE RULE...turn your F'ing flash off....

i can only imagine the frustration of locals that see such blatant disregard of some pretty simple rules that they have to follow daily...not smoking on the streets while walking is one that tourists have a complete inability to follow in Japan....the notice does set out some pretty simple things.

stut

It's the scowling faces in the leaflet that do it for me. Actually has the effect of making the whole thing vaguely comical, which I hope was the intention...

To be fair, it's mostly common sense (OK, I didn't know about the bike-parking thing until I stumbled upon it by accident in a non-travel book). However, many do seem to leave their common sense for collection on return to their home airport. I believe World Duty Free offer this service at Heathrow.

5khours

1. YMMV but IME the signs would be more effective if they were written in a certain Asian language rather than English.

2. In the 70's there were a lot of pretty ill mannered Japanese international travelers. A bit of tolerance might be expected.

3. IMHO it's ironic that the Japanese use the expression "akimahen" to admonish their guests for rude behavior.

pdxkankuu

This. All day, every day, this. This is exactly how I describe it when I talk about these issues with tourists in Japan, and with folks (friends mostly) in america. It's not an amusement park, it's a country. Where people live. That maiko in gion is not walking around for your entertainment. Have some respect.

And no, it's certainly not just americans. Foreigners from all over the world do this. But most non-asian foreigners probably don't realise that many of the "japanese" people they see in the really popular tourist spots aren't actually japanese. >.>

I think the pamphlet is great. I don't think it'll help a lot, but one can always hope. *le sigh*

pdxkankuu

Why is this ironic?

basscadet75

That's true but in my experience Asian tourists are *generally* better behaved than western tourists. I say generally because there's obviously a range of behaviors on both sides. But most Asian countries have a similar groupthink mentality to Japan, a similarly long history (so they understand that historical things aren't just tourist attractions), and they often share the same religions and understand the customs.

It is true that it's not just Americans, though. I pretty distinctly recall getting on a public bus in Kyoto that was about half filled with an Australian high school class. They were running up and down the bus, literally yelling back and forth at each other, throwing things, and just generally being little jerks. Their guardians made no attempt at curbing this behavior. The Kyoto residents on the bus looked pretty annoyed but of course said nothing. But I did notice many residents who were waiting for the bus at various stops did not get on once they saw this group; they chose to wait for the next bus. They knew what to expect.

I've heard people from European countries being just as loud, though, both in small and large groups. It's definitely not only Americans, although the ironic thing about Americans is that we notice it more when it's us, because we know it gives all of us a bad name.

Pickles

You seem to leaving out Asia's biggest country from your assessment. The citizen travelers of that particular country are well-known as being the biggest country bumpkins these days. And the reputation is well-deserved.

acregal

Indeed.

There are two issues I have with this. First is that, as others have pointed out, it's full of frowning people - what a great way to welcome tourists. The second is the behaviors there. How many tourists are going to rent a bike, then ride around drunk on it? How many are going to make a restaurant reservation, then not show up? The only people I ever really see taking train pictures are Japanese guys (to be fair, I took a picture of Doctor Yellow when I saw it). The thing about making room for others is absolutely hilarious because an average person here has no qualms about stopping in some really inconvenient place (such as right after a ticket gate, or right after stairs).

I find that it ignores some things - I take the bus in Kyoto a lot, and not only are the signs on the bus terrible (saying that the bus doesn't give change, but in reality you have to break bills of 500 yen coins first), but most people do stuff like wait until the end before they think about getting change ready.

nishimark

Yeah, but the money flows like a river from their wallets.

Pickles

And it doesn't smell, even if the holders do, sometimes. They do get an open arms welcome, at least by Japanese standards.

5khours

+1

pdxkankuu

Have you ever met an Aussie before?

Or, like... anyone from Portland, OR? =D

armagebedar

Let's keep the discussion limited to Kyoto's initiative and not devolve into slurs against people of a given ethnicity/nationality/citizenship, shall we?

Regards,
armagebedar
Japan forum moderator

Kannai

Kyoto and other places in Japan have been inundated with tourists in the last couple years. I live in Japan and have been to Kyoto at least a dozen (probably closer to twenty) times in the past twenty years, and going back this summer I could not believe how many foreign tourists there were from elsewhere in Asia, Europe, etc. etc. On one popular street in Gion, the only Japanese people I saw were the guy I was with and a delivery driver. Pretty much the same thing at some temples. I spent three days in Kyoto (taking my visiting family around) telling them I couldn't believe how many foreigners there are. Of course they had nothing to compare with so....

Japan needs the tourism money and this influx of tourists is great in that respect. It's also great because maybe it will get a few more people to see the utility of studying in English and help lead to improvements in the horrid way English is taught here. At the same time, the surge in foreigners is pretty overwhelming, I'm sure, for the folks that live in any touristy areas. (I'm amazed at the increase in tourists in Yokohama, where I live, over the past few years, and I'm on the edge of Tokyo.) And it's undoubtedly leading to some awkward situations and problems because of cultural differences.

This poster is just Kyoto trying to cutely remind visitors that customs are different here. In the past, many/most travelers got guidebooks and read all about cultures before they came, at least on the plane ride over. Now I think most people just try to wing it with Trip Advisor and whatnot. That makes it that much less likely that people are going to get the behavior tips they need. Typos notwithstanding, this is cute and friendly, not rude—or at least that's clearly what they're going for. And it's not overkill. Some folks clearly need it.

stut

I did notice on a recent visit that certain places (particularly Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Gion and Inari) were much more heavily touristed than on previous visits, but found the distribution of tourists rather odd. For example, Ginkaku-ji was really busy, but the rest of the Philosopher's Path, and the temples and shrines along the way were really quiet. We pretty much had Eikan-do and Konchi-in to ourselves!

The distribution of tourists was notable, too. The Western tourists were much more interested in Gion and Kinkaku-ji, whereas Arashiyama and Uji were much more frequented by Asian tourists.

Outside of Kyoto, the little pockets of concentrated tourism were interesting too. Much has been made in the travel press about Kanazawa, with the arrival of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, and (Hida) Takayama is now listed as a must-do in many travel guides. So why was there such a large concentration of, for example, Spanish tourists in the latter (to the extent that, in several shops, signs were in Japanese and Spanish)? I suppose you see this kind of bunching all over, but it was particularly noticeable on this trip.