Bad tourist behavior has made headlines in Japan as the country plans to welcome 40 million visitors next year. However, a recent spate of headlines shows bad traveler behavior is something of a global epidemic. In the latest incident, a pair of Japanese tourists are in trouble in a country where “causing trouble” is, shall we say, an unsound strategy.
The incident occurred in January but just came to light in the past few days. As reported by FNN (and re-enacted by the station in one of Japanese TV’s famous 3D model scenes), the pair traveled to the Great Wall of China, the famous 4,000-year-old structure that draws millions to see and walk part of its 13,170 mile length.
The man and woman, however, planned to do more than walking. According to the report, the man dropped his pants while his female companion recorded his posterior for posterity on her smartphone.
The two were nabbed in the act by a police officer and arrested for public indecency and disturbing the peace. The two got off easy: for some reason, Chinese authorities decided not to prosecute them. Instead, they were held for two weeks and then deported.
According to J-Cast, the pair said they had no intention to mock China and were just “pulling a prank.”
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the incident occurred on January 3rd. The two were apparently part of a tour group visiting the Great Wall. A spokesperson for the Ministry emphasized that Japanese citizens should follow a country’s local laws (and, I’d inject, common f%&!ing sense) when traveling.
Misbehaving tourists the world over
As you can imagine, this isn’t going over well in China. Some Chinese social media users reportedly called for the couple to be forced to issue a public apology. Some have even called for all Japanese people to be banned from entry. (This is the same kind of hyperbolic racism we witnessed last year in Japan when a Chinese YouTuber urinated on Yasukuni Shrine.)
Meanwhile, many in Japan expressed embarrassment. Except on Japan’s right, where some questioned whether the pair were actually Japanese and might not be Koreans instead. (They were not.) Others brought up an incident in January where a Chinese woman defecated on the street in Shibuya.
The incident makes it clear that idiocy transcends nationality. Last week, for example, news broke of American influencer Sam Jones’ visit to Australia, where she made headlines after snatching a baby wombat away from its mom. The act caused outrage in Australia, which takes pride in protecting its native wildlife.
Japan has had to deal with its own form of misbehaving tourists, which includes everything from trespassing through the private quarters of Kyoto’s geisha district to no-showing restaurant reservations. Others have engaged in dangerous behavior that, in one case, has gotten them killed.
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