Overtourism as of October 2023

[Alice]

My theory is that he keeps starting fistfights with the immigration interviewer.

He’s Javert and the interviewer is Jean Valjean.

 

[ZeroTolerance]

Speaking of tourism, I just went to Kawaguchiko.

Did not expect it to be so tourist centered, a bit disappointed to be honest.

 

[Durg50]

Speaking of tourism, I just went to Kawaguchiko.

Did not expect it to be so tourist centered, a bit disappointed to be honest.

I hate to ask, but what exactly were you expecting?

 

[Tabanico]

Speaking of tourism, I just went to Kawaguchiko.

Did not expect it to be so tourist centered, a bit disappointed to be honest.

Kawaguchiko is fucking rammed with tourists. Domestic and forrens. I have to go there every weekend to see my daughter. During lockdown and if I leave first thing or last thing in the day it takes me 90 minutes by car. Otherwise it now takes at least three hours just because of the volume of people going there. It's a great place though, if it weren't for all the crowds!

 

[ZeroTolerance]

I hate to ask, but what exactly were you expecting?

I usually wing it, so I didn't do that much research into it. It's on me but damn.

 

[Tabanico]

You should have gone to the wine cave instead. Literally the world's greatest place. Wine 'tasting' untrammelled by anything other than time and your liver for about 1100 yen.

 

[MrDuBois]

I went to Kawaguchiko in February with friends and it was amazing. I don't really know where all the other tourists went but we pretty much arrived at the station and then just Google Maps'd around the nearest lake and over a bridge, saw some small hidden shrines, got incredible, clear shots of Fuji. Maybe other areas are packed and the fact that it was not in Spring/Fall helped but I loved the place.

 

[Tabanico]

Yeah there are definitely places to go that aren't full of tourists. It's a bit away from the lake, but there are nice camp/glamping sites if you take the road out to Stella Theater and follow it out, and the 全国育樹祭 記念広場 park has amazing views. Also in that direction is a camp site that has biking tracks and, like, an assault course? Dunno what else to call it, lol. And there is this place if you like coffee and croque monsieur.

This post has been brought to you by the Yamanashi tourist board.
(Ironically - or not, I don't even know what that word means any more - I nearly actually helped the Yamanashi tourist board once. But my boss decided that whoever it was who called him from the Yamanashi tourist board to ask him if I could help used the wrong level of keigo or whatever so he turned them down without asking me.)

 

[MikeH]

Also in that direction is a camp site that has biking tracks and, like, an assault course?

It should be an adventure trail or adventure park, unless they have AKs and if they do count me in.

But I do have to admit I love the name フォレストアドベンチャー・フジ. Let's English!

 

[Hardcastle]

Hear hear on the etiquette video.

Before the Chinese tourists section was banned on Reddit, I had seen a few of the guides specifically for them posted.

First thing that comes to mind is: No upper-deckers in the toilet. No standing on the toilet seats (OMFG).

 

[AussieDude1991]

Hear hear on the etiquette video.

Before the Chinese tourists section was banned on Reddit, I had seen a few of the guides specifically for them posted.

First thing that comes to mind is: No upper-deckers in the toilet. No standing on the toilet seats (OMFG).

Every air BNB that I've been in the last 3 weeks has physical signs on the back of the toilet door soo must have got really bad at one point

 

[Azrael88]

I’m currently travelling around Western Japan (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Osaka etc). Sure some of the famous tourist spots like Miyajima are full of tourists, but if you stray off the beaten path just a little bit there you won’t find many tourists around. Went to Okunoshima and Onomichi the day before and it was a pretty chill overall with mostly locals.

 

[Azrael88]

Hear hear on the etiquette video.

Before the Chinese tourists section was banned on Reddit, I had seen a few of the guides specifically for them posted.

First thing that comes to mind is: No upper-deckers in the toilet. No standing on the toilet seats (OMFG).

Oh it gets worse, in my country I once saw someone shit in the trashcan in the public toilet because there were way too many of them waiting for their turn 🤢🤮

 

[Keihan]

Hear hear on the etiquette video.

Before the Chinese tourists section was banned on Reddit, I had seen a few of the guides specifically for them posted.

First thing that comes to mind is: No upper-deckers in the toilet. No standing on the toilet seats (OMFG).

I recall hearing from Australian colleagues in Japan, years ago, that they'd had to institute new precautions in AUS thanks to the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, including signs in all the tour buses asking them not to spit on the floors, and signs in restaurants asking them not to throw their table scraps, wastes, chicken bones, etc., onto the floors. I don't know if this was actually true but it would not, at all, surprise me. Coming from a hometown that depends on tourism (unfortunately) you have to ask yourself--at what point does money finally take a backseat to basic fucking human decency and hygiene? It's funny, my accountant for the past fourteen years is a guy originally from Hong Kong, and he can rant and rave for hours about how much he hates "mainlanders." I never realized what his beef was until I started returning to Japan around 2012-ish and found downtown Osaka flooded with them.

 

[MrDuBois]

I’m currently travelling around Western Japan (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Osaka etc). Sure some of the famous tourist spots like Miyajima are full of tourists, but if you stray off the beaten path just a little bit there you won’t find many tourists around. Went to Okunoshima and Onomichi the day before and it was a pretty chill overall with mostly locals.

I mean...is that a surprise? Of course places like that will have few tourists - there's barely anything there. For me, "off the beaten path" means quiet/unexplored places in major tourist cities. And there are plenty of those in Kyoto, Tokyo and even on Miyajima itself. Onomichi is just a small-ass town people go to to start the shimanami kaido unless they really are into walking around the hillside and checking out shrines that are lodged between homes of residents. I enjoyed the town but it sure is a very out of the way place depsite being on route to Hiroshima.

 

[Alice]

Oh it gets worse, in my country I once saw someone shit in the trashcan in the public toilet because there were way too many of them waiting for their turn 🤢🤮

When you gotta go, you gotta go. 😆😆😆

 

[kazhaku]

A lot of the stories about how bad Chinese tourists can get are somewhat similar to stories of how American tourists were in the 1950s and 1960s post-World War II prosperity period. After some time, their behavior got better.

In my opinion Chinese tourists have generally gotten better these days than 10 years ago. I'm still pretty weary of the older ones, but the younger ones tend to know more about how to behave and can be somewhat ashamed of the behavior of unruly compatriots.

 

[Doggyfong]

In my opinion Chinese tourists have generally gotten better these days than 10 years ago. I'm still pretty weary of the older ones, but the younger ones tend to know more about how to behave and can be somewhat ashamed of the behavior of unruly compatriots.

There are generally 3 types of Chinese tourists(or the way I see it)
1.The old generation which doesn't give a shit about anyone but themselves
2.富二代 lit rich 2nd gen, kids that grow up with rich parents and think they own the world
3. Middle income that work hard for themselves

Totally fine with the 3rd, is the 1st 2 that pissed everyone off

 

[LittleBoy]

There are generally 3 types of Chinese tourists(or the way I see it)
1.The old generation which doesn't give a shit about anyone but themselves
2.富二代 lit rich 2nd gen, kids that grow up with rich parents and think they own the world
3. Middle income that work hard for themselves

Totally fine with the 3rd, is the 1st 2 that pissed everyone off

I try not to stereotype based off nationality. But... More often than not I encounter people who enforce such stereotypes rather than negate them

 

[Sudsy]

stories of how American tourists were in the 1950s and 1960s post-World War II prosperity period. After some time, their behavior got better.

And then it got worse again..... Millennial and (much worse) Gen Z American tourists are some of the most annoying self-entitled cunts you'll ever meet.

At least they're better behaved when they're drunk than the Aussies and Brits though.

 

[Sudsy]

At least they're better behaved when they're drunk than the Aussies and Brits though.

Late night thought:

If everyone who got drunk would behave like drunk Tabanico, the world would be a better place.

And the tabloids would be MUCH more interesting.

 

[SealedTears]

I try not to stereotype based off nationality. But... More often than not I encounter people who enforce such stereotypes rather than negate them

Not to stereotype, but whenever I saw some couple stopping to take a picture, it was always Chinese and it was the guy taking pictures for his instagram girlfriend

 

[LittleBoy]

Not to stereotype, but whenever I saw some couple stopping to take a picture, it was always Chinese and it was the guy taking pictures for his instagram girlfriend

I'm not a big fan of this... but not innocent as well. Not necessarily always Chinese for this act.

Stopping for a full blown TikTok though. Now that's something else. Definitely annoying

 

[kirayamato]

Not to stereotype, but whenever I saw some couple stopping to take a picture, it was always Chinese and it was the guy taking pictures for his instagram girlfriend

like this?

 

[SealedTears]

She's not wearing a pretty dress or kimono, so I'd say that's only 30% accurate. Iphone as the camera is 90% accurate