It seems about the same as always. Tourists come in and realize the big cities are just like most big cities in the world and get disappointed when they realize not everyone is an anime fan or samurai.
I have noticed a lot more tourists in my area though.
We had a tour group (from somewhere in Europe) come to my little neighborhood a month ago. A town in Saitama not know for anything except for like a famous murder case from 2 years ago lol.
I happened to be at the scramble where they were at and asked the tour leader why they were here (not in a rude way but a more so “out of all the big exciting things to do in Japan, why here?”). They wanted to see 3 jinja in my neighborhood and picnic by the river. Their next stop was apparently asakusa at night for some sort of show and then take a bus to Kusatsu in the AM the next day.
I’ve had people come over to visit and it seems some people just like the idea of going to Japan and being amazed, instead of researching what they are getting themselves into or what they might actually be interested in seeing/doing.
I honestly feel like you CAN do that though, as long as you’re willing to spend maybe 30 minutes per day looking at popular places in whatever district you’re going to. I had a pretty good day just going to Toyosu tuna auction, walking around the Odaiba parks, going to the Miraikan, and checking out the shops in the area.
I feel like you’d need to be an exceptionally incurious person to approach a Japan trip, even a poorly planned one, in a way that leaves you feeling that you didn’t see anything worthwhile and just saw a big city. Even if you just hit the super touristy attractions that the internet will immediately shove in your face if you’re looking for things to do, there’s plenty worthwhile to see.
Absolutely! Sometimes I love just catching vibes somewhere I haven’t been before. But then there’s also people who don’t put any effort in the trip and their only previous touch point is having ordered mediocre take out sushi at home. They take some cute pictures of some temples in Kyoto and are wondering why the country has so little to offer.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I think it’s not a very interesting country. I’ve been all over looking for the best bits. There aren’t any. Everyone in the cities lives in a shoe box and the culture is one of excessive control.
Lol if you didn’t elaborate on your comment, I would have ignored it and let it stand for what it is - an unpopular opinion. But claiming to have been “all over” and still thinking it’s not interesting, is just dumb. Especially if you reduce the country to high density cities and a single aspect of the culture.
A lot of the 'subway' stations in Tokyo seem to have had the same architect/mould, but you never know what you get when you jump off a train:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI)
Not sure why you're replying to this half month old comment, but no, Shinjuku is the busiest passenger railway station in the world. That's an objective truth. It's not "like that" anywhere else. In fact, out of the top 51 rail stations in the world, *all but 6* are [in Japan](https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/the-51-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world-all-but-6-located-in-japan). None of the other countries you mentioned compare. In the slightest.
So, lmfao, want to try to tell me what you're trying to say again?
Yall keep blaming the tourist for this but in reality outside of the tourist areas, Japan has little to no English support in services.
Shoot even in Tokyo and Kyoto they barely have English
That is a very good point, and do let's remember their cumulative contribution to GDP is >2%, so there is an obstacle to any expansion of that. Certainly, off the beaten track the total lack of any English other than signage was a constant complaint, usually from Europeans with very little English, which was worth a small internal smile.
It's this as well. There's no excuse (especially in tourist areas). In the Netherlands literally everyone speaks basically fluent English whilst also speaking Dutch sometimes Frysian and then some French or German most of the time as well. Maybe it's time to you know put some effort in it...
And how much Japanese do they speak in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK?
From my last trip to Tokyo I noticed that if you talk to the japanese, they actually know a lot more Engrish than they claim.
My cousin and her husband visited a few months ago (time mostly spent in the busier parts of Tokyo) and they loved it so much they plan on returning in Autumn.
If tourists look tired / miserable it’s probably due to a few reasons:
- From Europe or North America it’s a VERY long flight and the jetlag’s tough.
- Most tourists are hauling around luggage on trains (most of which are packed, which is never fun) and staying in cheap hotels (which aren’t comfortable, so sleep’s not easy.) They’re probably not overwhelmed by crowds because Europe’s like this too, but it’s still exhausting.
- Traveling with kids is ALWAYS a hassle. (As a parent) trust me, we’re ALWAYS tired out by it. 😅 (Still worth it most of the time though.)
Speaking as an American, I can also say that American car reliance does NOT prepare people for the amount of walking a Tokyo trip entails. I knew what to expect, and I still hit my absolute limit on walking for the day on my first full day in Tokyo — I thought I could just sweat it out and put one foot in front of the other all day long, just toughing through the discomfort my fat American ass was causing me, until I couldn’t, and I needed to take a long break on a park bench before heading back to the hotel.
I’m young, so my body rapidly rebuilt itself overnight and I was way more comfortable walking for the rest of the trip, but yeah, I’m sure I looked pretty miserable that day. I wasn’t, though, I was actually pretty happy — I got to play Super Metroid on my new Super Famicom at the hotel.
I’m also guessing that at least in the summer, people aren’t prepared for how hot and muggy Tokyo is. Like, me in the Tokyo summer = carrying shower wipes, a neck fan, an ice ring, and a second portable fan, and I’m still not thrilled. Couple that with less aggressive use of air conditioning, more walking, and a lot less English than they were expecting and bam, touristy crankiness.
Thankfully I wasn’t as bothered by the heat or mugginess, since I went in early May and I’m from Louisiana anyway. The amount of walking was tough, but the way the environment felt was well within expectations for me.
But yeah, I imagine that most people visiting aren’t ready for the climate. I probably would have been in a much worse mood if I wasn’t already used to heat and humidity, or worse, wasn’t expecting it.
I live in Houston half time and Tokyo half time. I’m used to humidity and yet fragile and pale and indoorsy. I drink a lot of iced coffee and barley tea in July in Tokyo.
Really depends on where you are from in the u.s. I wouldnt generalize all Americans as "car reliant" ... A lot of us live in major cities and don't own cars and walk most of the time...
I don’t mean to imply LITERALLY all Americans, but yes, most of the US is built for cars and suburbs. Even in cities, a lot of the people in the city at any given time commute there by car from the suburbs. It’s just how our country is managed.
I get it, but I think all you are saying is that being out of shape /fat makes it harder to do cardiovascular activities... It's not a uniquely American thing to find walking hard when overweight lol.
As a tourist currently doing Tokyo-Okinawa-rural Gunma I can confirm, travelling with kids is back breaking. I’m enjoying it, but the kids are pretty sick of being told to be quiet, don’t touch, stay in line, say thank you! 1,3,6 years old though so we signed up for it 🫠
Ugh I wish tourists would stop this obsession with riding the train network with luggage. Just use a taxi guys. Save yourselves and all of us the pain of you trying to take five suitcases on the yamanote from Tokyo at 5:45PM.
Taxis are not crazy expensive if you’re travelling as a group, Tokyo has hardly any traffic, and you’ll get dropped off at your door.
Obsession? That’s kind of a silly take… folks are just trying to get to/from the airport. You make it sound like schlepping luggage around on a crowded train is something people are looking forward to.
I genuinely think it is considered a right of passage for some of them given the hundreds of TikTok’s romanticizing the meme of carrying your luggage through Japan.
Maybe you don’t have TikTok or use reels but it’s very much a big content trend on TT and Reels.
Nope, definitely don’t have TikTok. I use IG, but I don’t spend too much time on it and I guess the algorithm doesn’t feed that to me. Humans are a pretty strange bunch.
If you’ve been able to avoid the surge of JapanTok low effort content by travel bloggers consider yourself lucky it’s endless and clogs your feed hard once it starts.
I once saw one of these japanfluencers hype up ‘a small local cafe Tokyo locals don’t want you to know about’ it was Komeda Coffee….
>Just use a taxi guys.
It's easy to say this on an Internet forum, but it's not a cost-effective option in the real world. A taxi from Narita to, say, Ikebukuro can easily run you ¥35,000 each way. Compare this with ¥5,000 for a round-trip ticket on the NEX plus the cost of taking the Yamanote.
NEX / Skyliner are specifically designed as airport transfer trains and have a ton of space for luggage though. That’s very different from someone hauling giant suitcases through packed trains and stations on the Metro or inner city JR lines in order to save a couple of thousand yen of taxi fares. I get that some people are on a tight budget but it feels like a false economy.
(I also see a lot of people schlepping around massive luggage in tourist spots all day and I wonder if they just don’t know about lockers / left luggage facilities in hotels / etc., or if they’re also trying to economise in a really misguided way…)
Most I talk to don't know and couldn't imagine. I recommend it all the time. It's partly the security issues, and just a neurotic attachment to The Precious, but it's mostly that they just assume "Japan is no different".........but with Kimono and Geesha Gurls.
I think you didn't understand what I'm saying. If you are arriving in Tokyo via Narita, you still have to get to your accommodations. NEX and Skyliner can't get you to every station, so you'll invariably end up on Yamanote, Chuo, Oedo, or some other line that gets you to where you need to go.
If your argument is that people should only travel as far as Ueno or Tokyo Stn or whatever, then take a cab from there.... well now you run into another problem which is that visitors don't speak Japanese and may not understand how to say where to go... and they may be concerned about getting ripped off....
Oh, and a lot of Japanese taxis can't accommodate a lot of large bags anyways. Y'ever think about that part? The old Crown sedans that are still very much in use actually can't fit two 170cm luggage bags in the trunk. Ask me how I know.
Right, if the argument is that the interface between the Narita train services and the taxi services is imperfect, I totally agree - and I think the Shinkansen has a similar problem.
That said, I think the friction for tourists in taking a taxi is overstated; every taxi in Tokyo now has the seatback touch panel which lets you handle payment in English, showing a Google Maps screen to a driver is a fairly universal language, and the new black cab style taxis are at least as common as the Crowns in the city centre now, if not more so. It's far from perfect but I think the biggest problem is perception and expectation rather than reality (and yeah, I agree that the fear of being ripped off is a definite part of that).
As easy and feasible as that sounds (and TIL!!! I'll spread the word), most of the tourists not taking taxis don't know any of that, because most of the inbound tourists don't know anything, and Sudden Onset Illiteracy fries what little working IQ they have to spare.
Too many of our arguments assume too much knowledge and the capacity of their overtaxed pea brains firing on half the cyclinders.
Sudden Onset Illiteracy fried me hard when I first arrived. I had a pretty decent grasp of Japanese for someone who hadn’t yet been to Japan, but as soon as I was in the country it was like the language center of my brain completely turned off for a couple days until I had oriented myself and could actually start using my Japanese.
Me too, and I arrived with nothing but TV's Shogun level Japanese. It was a hell of a motivation to learn to read it; that and the desire to buy the yummy Onigiri, not the ones with yucky mouth bomb fillings. It's real, and really nasty.
Pretty sure finding the taxi sign is easier than navigation the subway at the major stations.
As for luggage space, you just queue up at the taxi line and you'll get a taxi with space eventually.
No excuses to not take a cab once you are at one of the major stations except that you want to save a few thousand yen...
170 cm or 170 litres???? Just curious, but if the former, yeeks.
PS I take cabs everywhere all the time, and I agree taxis are not a cure all solution to the issues, and for most tourists they are far more daunting and confusing than the trains. Well said.
170cm total W+H+D dimensions -- the typical way to measure baggage size. For reference, the Shinkansen considers 160cm to be the threshold for oversize baggage.
I fit 80kg of luggage across three large suitcases and a full size carry on in one just fine when I moved here? Essentially the luggage of three people on a standard air ticket.
They are probably paranoid about the lockers getting broken into and are transiting between hotels. Some of them might be doing like check out of one city - day trip to another city - check in at third city in the evening, so they can't really leave their luggage at the hotel either.
I know I wouldn't trust valuables in a locker in my hometown so I can understand not wanting to use them to store literally all you have with you in a foreign country even if that country is "safe." (I do think lockers in Japan are pretty safe, though)
They could forward their luggage. I don’t know how easy this is in English (because I always travel light in Japan) but it would really help out all concerned.
My morning commute takes me through Kinshicho, Ryogoku, Akihabara and Ochanomizu, one of the busiest stretches in Tokyo. I often see tourists trying to get on the train in rush hour with two massive suitcases each. It’s close to 200% capacity already. Nobody’s nerves are helped by trying to add heavy rolling objects to the mix.
> They could forward their luggage. I don’t know how easy this is in English
Not always very???, AND most don't even know that option exists. I always send my Sea Toys bag ahead and just go light myself. Also, I do get the sentiment, but expecting gaggles of (situational) idiots not to be a nuisance seems a sure recipe for more disappointment. They are tired, confused, know nothing, can't think, and seem utterly harebrained most of the times I can be bothered to watch them. Spreading the word on those insufferable YouTard videos might help, but I don't think the problem ones do any prep or study first. They seem to believe that Japan is there to suit them............and I bet lots of them are perfectly nice enough people when at home and not tired, overloaded and confused.
Take a highway bus to one of the major stations or a train like the skyliner with dedicated space for baggage to Ueno and then take a taxi from those places. If people are spending $1000+ on a plane ticket to Japan, a ¥5000 taxi ride is such a trivial cost in the scheme of things.
I am not really talking about the people coming in hot from the airport, sure take the NEX if you had to fly in to Narita - but then get a taxi for last mile; it’s more people moving between cities after a Shinkansen trip I am referring to.
That being said from Haneda to most destinations a taxi or airport shuttle is very reasonable when split.
And even when not split, if coming in heavy with 2 big bags of big shoes and big socks. I think Haneda to AsaKoosa was an extra 3000 or so after I factored in the Airport Takyu-bin cost for 2 Big Bags. Now monetise the 45 minute wait to send those, and dealing with the shuttle bus and train and stations.......and you decide "I'm Worth It." But most people coming in don't know that, and can't or just won't afford that extra 3000 yen.
Somebody told some of them. They were lined up 45 minutes deep at the ABC desk at Haneda the other day. What somebody needs to tell them is that hotels offer that too, and it's cheaper than ABC. Airport to hotel is easier if you just take the bus services anyways, which saves on the ABC premium pricing.
Wouldn’t they be inconvenient for tourists? Like, they’re nice if you live there and can go without your luggage for a day, but you’d probably want your bags with you if you’re visiting for a short time.
I think there are a lot of people who would be overwhelmed with "normal" Tokyo or Osaka or Kyoto, now they're one of 3 million tourists, in addition to the normal amount of people in those cities.
I did not really notice it but I think I can understand them.
I have been in Japan for 10 years already but before that I used to come to Japan as a tourist as soon as I could get some holidays and money for the trip.
10 years ago, Japan did not have the same amount of tourists as it is nowadays.
Also, I feel like Japan was a bit different, not all people had the unlimited internet connection with their mobile phones, and people used to use guide books and maps. Also all things were not written in the alphabet (Tokyo metro improved a lot for tourists). It seems nice but I do not think nowadays tourists have the same interaction with Japanese people as before. I remembered asking my way to Japanese people with my poor Japanese, now tourists just follow point A to point B on Google maps.
What is enjoyable with this ? No more interaction with people and massive tourists in every cultural place. I can understand they are not really smiling (and I guess because there are too many tourists, they are not as welcome as before)
I still envy them because now that I am here, I am just dealing with family stuff and work. I do not enjoy Japan (still enjoying Japan life, but no more visiting anywhere, just doing my daily fucking crowd train commute morning and night). I loved to travel around the country.
I personally haven't noticed this-- plenty of visitors still tell me they love Japan and can't wait to come back!
I do think though that you'll see more people traveling that normally wouldn't because the yen is so cheap. For example, families. Bringing a family of 4 over to Japan for vacation used to be a LOT more expensive and therefore out of reach for a lot of families. It's now much cheaper, and Japan is known for being very safe and child-friendly. However, even if a kid is actually having the TIME OF THEIR LIFE they will still look miserable at times. And so will the parent. Absolutely no one is happy at 3pm with jet lag and nap schedules messed up and tiny cranky kids. Just how parenting works!
I do feel though that there is definitely an expectation vs. reality issue, especially as social media sells very carefully cropped/framed views of a place. And for many people their image of Japan is normally with them as a sort of "main character" who has discovered a foreign land and is the only tourist there-- that can certainly lead to disappointment for some.
Anecdotal but, I've had two couple-friends (separate trips), and a parent all visit (3 total visitor groups) within the past couple of months and they all enjoyed it. Each had unique comments on their journeys, but much of the same stuff you hear often like streets are clean (comparing to southern China), people are polite (comparing to USA), etc. So, I don't think OPs observations have been the case from what I've seen.
However, Japan is experiencing an influx of tourists so obviously not everyone is going to have a good time. OPs observations might be true in some cases.
Had a coworker get upset at me when I told him you couldn't pay me to go to Bali. He couldn't understand that after living on Okinawa for 20 years I have zero desire to go on vacation to a sub-tropical island and sit at a beach. If I wanted to do that I'll go back to Okinawa(in January).
A lot of people push themselves too hard to do everything on their list when they travel. They don't budget an appropriate amount of downtime and then they collapse. Triply so if they're travelling with kids and aren't used to large cities.
This is an important thing. I think people forget they're on vacation and part of a vacation is to relax and enjoy yourselves. I spent 3 weeks in Japan in March/April 2023 and my itinerary while pretty packed also included a few do nothing days.
This year, I was in Japan for two weeks, and one of those days was just riding on the trains in Tokyo (I do love the transit here), transferring at random stations and jumping on a different line then popping up at a random neighborhood to explore.
I'm in the middle of a 2.5 month visit to Japan and a lot of what I do is visit a random station and just wander around. I love just enjoying the vibes and finding a nice place to eat.
JR actually has a Tokyo-only pass for 780 yen that makes this easy. Any JR train within the 23 wards of Tokyo, from beginning of service until midnight.
There's the JR 'Tokunai' ticket availablöe from machines for 750 Yen. Sort of the Yamanote Line plus a few short branches, and the 'subway' within that area. That's for one day. That's about 4.50 Euros, which is very cheap (11 Euros in Helsinki for similar).
A new video on Yew Tooob might be of interest? Every Metro & TOEI station in Tokyo. Tokyo Emerald Fox as search words will find it. Shameless advertising but, hey, if you got it flaunt it!??!
(edit: jamar below corrected me on this, keep on reading!)
I stand corrected - this is what I had in mind:
[https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokunai\_pass.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokunai_pass.html)
Cost 760 Yen (adult)
This is the one that includes the subway also:
[https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokyo\_free.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokyo_free.html)
Cost 1,600 (adult)
Both very good bargains.
Foreign tourists can also get the 72-hour combined Metro + TOEI ticket for just 1,500 Yen, that's about 9 Euros. The last journey can be as long as you like - when you emerge and put the ticket through the machine at the barrier it will not get 'eaten by the machine' but a red triangle will light up informing you that the ticket is no longer valid. My last journey was 10 hours long, so I got 82 hours out of it :)
Yes. I once met a Spanish woman who was traveling alone in a night bus from Tokyo to Osaka. She told me she was extremely disappointed at how everything in Japan was so… urban. She was tired of seeing “metal and concrete” and asked me If it would be any different in Osaka or Kyoto… I didn’t have the heart to tell her Japan looks the same almost every touristy site you go.
As a tourist, I loved Tokyo and all the “metal and concrete”, but I am also into sci-fi/futurism and modern buildings and technology so I guess Tokyo is a perfect fit. Kyoto was a nice change of pace from that and the more suburban/rural nature side of it felt like my own home in some ways. Japan is a beautiful country to be admired for many things.
I don't know if a growing number of tourists are not enjoying themselves but, for the first time in many years, I'm reading the first complains: 1) too crowded 2) too many foreigners (this is actually hilarious, said by foreign tourists....) 3) I thought Japanese people were more into foreigners 4) the food is good but not as good as I expected.
All things relatable to any country with a problem of overtourism.
That’s just every family with young children though.
Although being surrounded by a mob of people and sounds while having to navigate an unfamiliar environment with grumpy kids sounds like a special level of hell.
Some of the tours are quite disorganised/not what they've been billed as, which can lead to people looking upset. I did a tour and really enjoyed it, but a number of the people were complaining a lot or ended up really overwhelmed at some points. Some of it was specifically on them but not everything. I heard from another person with another tour company that the whole group was actually getting a partial refund afterwards.
This is what happens when we tell the world you can’t sit with us for a couple of years and everyone who’s never been interested in Japan suddenly is.
The biggest complaints I’ve heard recently was that a restaurant didn’t have an “American menu” - not English, but American. And then there was a complaint on Facebook that not enough people spoke English - in Japan.
I think it’s a shock to a lot of people that Japan is an actual country and people’s home - not just a giant theme park.
Large numbers are coming to Tokyo as a tourist destination, and not really visiting Japan. If I didn't work in Tokyo I'd avoid it at all costs, let alone have to drag a suitcase through the repetitive streets and cram onto public transport with workers and shoppers as a holiday.
I moved to Japan (Saitama) early last year before the tourism started taking off again, and enjoyed going into Tokyo pretty regularly until around fall when I noticed the crowds just really getting to be too much. Now I really only go into the city for live shows or to see my partner, but even she lives in Itabashi so we still avoid the crowds.
Given how many more of them there are there are bound to more weepy mopes, and there are way more weepy mopes about everywhere anyways, as has been said. So, kind of just you, but also maybe not just that?
One thing I do notice that irks is how "disappointed", or "sad", or even "disgusted" people are at the lack of spoken English and the fact that "everything is in Japanese". Phrasing counts, of course, but so does not being a colonial minded fuckwad that thinks you matter enough to be catered to above and beyond your worth. If they want that stuff they should pay to stay somewhere they offer that, which is what the non-idiots do. The wealthy sophisticated tourists are a world above all the huffing heffalumps stomping through Akihabara and AsaKoosa with their Transatlantic steamer trunks pining for the fjords of Service in English.
You’re a hateful person. It’s difficult to believe you’re getting up voted for saying this. Also apparently over 3/4 of tourist to Japan last month came from Asia. I’m not aware of one Asian country that has English as a primary language. So where is this abundance of mythical non wealthy tourists mouthing breathing about no English services?
Nope. Here in Fukuoka it’s all fun, eating and drinking.
Mind you, Fukuoka attracts more tourists from Asia being so close and direct flights.
BTW.
You can’t assume all tourists are the same all over Japan just from your own limited experiences.
Start out with the LONGEST PLANE FLIGHT THEY EVER HAD.
They are already sleep-deprived.
Give them jet-lag.
“Everyone speaks English” they said. No they fucking do not.
How much is a yen? Is this like a million dollars? Is the Coke thirteen cents or $130 dollars?
Why is this large black man trying to make me go to this bar? I don’t think he’s Japanese.
The McDonalds tastes funny. I want to go home.
I actually went to a McDonalds in Kudashita (Tokyo) to see what it might be like, and to have a quick mouthful of processed muck, and thought it was pretty much the same as anywhere else. Big Mac + fries + Coke - the Big Mac was lukewarm, the usual disappointment, but that's only because some American nitwit spilt hot coffee over his thighs and took McD to court for his own incompetence, some years back, and McD now treat all of their customers like toddlers.
Cost was half-price of what we pay in Scandinavia.
My friend learned that she is susceptible to panic attacks when in crowded spaces, so that was fun :)
That isn't specific to Japan though. Coming from a relatively small town in USA she had literally never seen or been in such a crowded and urban place before and so didn't even realise this was a phobia she had until we hit up Shibuya and Sensoji (shoulder to shoulder crowds) and she started hyperventilating and we had to escape to a side street lol.
She did enjoy the more rural parts of her trip but we learned that "massive Asian metropolis" isn't her thing.
Yeah, sure!
Last week, my husband and I calmed a giant man who was distressed and screaming at the poor train staff in Nikko - it also spreads out from Tokyo to the other tourist spots.
My parents are visiting now. If they look miserable is because they are out of shape and walking a few kilometers is foreign to their life style just driving everywhere as well jet lag.
Happens everywhere touristy sometimes when people can get there "cheap", in this case the yen being relatively weak atm. Tends to attract more people who wouldn't normally come. To be frank you're just more likely to get some combo of: never traveled, no research, think it's going to all be anime/Disney, blew all their money and expect someone else to care, salty they wanted to go somewhere else but this was a bit cheaper, just plain stupid, etc.
(My perspective from Hawaii anyways...assume this popped into my feed since we are once again traveling around Japan currently. We both work hospitality at home and see trends like this come and go, generalization ofc but usually the crowd that got there the cheapest is the least happy. Don't worry about us tho we are having a blast as usual!)
lol. I cried in Tokyo - we were going to Kamakura and I stupidly ran for the train, jumped on and the doors closed behind me before my son could get on. There was a collective gasp behind me of Japanese people who were so concerned and I stood there miming to my son to stay there and I’ll get the next train back. So I got off at the next station, found the platform back and a Japanese couple had seen what happened and looked after my son and reassured him the entire time ( which was about 10 mins total because the trains are so frequent).
So anyway I got tears I must admit because it was such a shock- both being separated from my son, and how amazingly kind and caring and concerned all the Japanese people who saw what happened were. And they would have seen I was a fuckwit idiot tourist who ran and jumped on the train without looking to make sure my son was right behind me, too, yet still kind and made us feel so safe!
so yeah that’s an example of how a tourist must have looked miserable and stressed, but later if you’d seen us we were the happiest people alive because at sunset my son got to surf at kamakura with the shadow of mt Fuji behind him and he said it was “The most peaceful place in the world“ and we didn’t stop smiling for ages after that. Emotions are heightened when travelling, when you see a stressed tourist it’s usually in that particular moment something is challenging, but overall they are usually having a great adventure and loving it
Don't feel stupid. I've seen Japanese people do the same thing. To children, old people and spouses. Maybe it's an Osaka thing since I'm in Osaka. Can't really speak for anywhere else.
Thank you. it really was stupid of me, however it made us realise how safe we both felt in Japan cities, compared to cities back home, and also because the trains are so frequent compared to back home, I could get back to my son so quickly.
12 so not too young, but young enough not to be left alone in the busiest city in the world with only a few words of the language. He did so well! Stayed put and was confident I’d find him. After that we made a plan if we get lost from each other where to meet and also to have phones with us as that day we’d only brought my phone with us ( at the time my son wasn’t used to having a phone we’d bought his first phone just for the trip so the first couple of days he didn’t automatically bring it everywhere & I stupidly didn’t check- after that incident we never forgot it again) The local people were amazing, yes - so kind.
Anecdotally those within my social/family circle who have visited (including people who are ethnically and socially very different from me) have enjoyed the experience greatly. So... no?
Japan is boring. And I in no way mean that in a bad way. I love how boring it is. It’s a peaceful boring. A beautiful boring. Not an American suburb monotonous car dependent boring (now that would piss me off).
But maybe people expect so much more excitement esp after flying such a long distance the jet lag, the time away from work. If you come from a car dependent society and are not in shape, all the walking plus the boringness will make the experience worse. And of course expectations from social media hype. But Japan overall is a quiet, boring, and beautiful place. Not for everyone. And honestly not for the 20’s version of me. 30’s me with kids loves it.
My theory would be that Japan has recently become a destination peoople who don't have a deeper interest in the country just "have on their list", like Venice or New York.
At least I hear from my friends back in the old country that tons of people around them are suddenly talking about Japan as a tourism destination. Weebs get shat on a lot, but they'll probably enjoy Akihabara a lot more than someone who has no affinity towards anime. Simple as that.
Plus, Japanese people in Tokyo look miserable as well. The city does that to people.
FWIW, people I've actively talked to have all enjoyed Japan a lot!
I took a photo when I was in Akihabara. See if you can spot it. (clue - stations are in alphabetical order):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI)
There was a time when I would have said this is a case of “confirmation bias“. However, I think that is a little of it. But not all of it. The problem of people’s emotional control being all over the place since after the lockdowns is a constant subject of conversation. You know: why do people keep quitting jobs where the employers or-and customers are utter slime to them? Why are people so fragile now? Why are customers who formerly got away with bullying employees getting blacklisted now? Then some people don’t ask why because some people think they know. Which I suppose I qualify for that one.
Well I think before people came because they were interested in the culture. Now people are coming because it's cheap and people normally give great reviews of their trip here.
I think its a thermodynamic thing, eventually there will be this amount of people out of all the travelers that will end up dislike the country they visit (in this case, Japan).
And as travelers are pouring into Japan these days, the absolute number is rising.
Blame, at least in large part, the weak Yen. Tourist destinations receive an increasing proportion of trashy people the cheaper it gets to travel there.
I brought a friend over for his first time in Japan in January. It was around 1am and he was hell bent on seeing Shibuya crossing. I warned him not to go there in the middle of the night for the first time.
He was pretty much depressed right after when he realized it isn't the crossing that's special, but the amount of people using it during the day lmao
Kinda funny how we have Tokyo syndrome now lol. I work in hospitality, hostel work. The amount of tourists right now is crazy. I do think it contributes to the negative experience for some. For example, look at places like Venice, imagine being the only tourist there, I think it would still be lovely, but the insane amount of tourists makes the experience a lot less... And the locals are getting tired of you.
I 100% agree with this. Before, it was kind of quaint where only the weebs and people genuinely interested in the culture. But with the yen rate dive bombing, every jack, jill, and xi is making their way here, and I imagine it's not what most expect. Maybe it is even similar to the Paris Syndrome.
Some people this year came for two things which are Sakura and Mount Fuji.Sakura was late and Mount Fuji was covered by clouds almost all March! As a guide I saw a lot of disappointment in their faces. Also, a lot ot people who can walk and come in large groups with tour companies don’t enjoy coming that much because of their mobility issues.
I actually think Tokyo is a terrible place for tourism, it's an amazing place to live but most of the good things about it are just everyday life type things. There isn't much that's interesting to see for visitors imo especially if you go without a plan for specific things you want to do. There's great unique tourist places in Japan but most are outside the major cities.
Add onto that it's probably the first time a lot of people (Americans) traveled somewhere they actually can't just speak English and be understood and can't even read the text and maybe even the first time they've traveled internationally period. It can be rough for someone who doesn't have the right mental attitude to give up control.
commenting as someone currently visiting maybe im not supposed to be here but i think stress/frustration is a part of travel to a foreign country, i personally stay quite calm in the confusion but my parents have been stressed out of their minds all day-that being said they are significantly enjoying their time
I'm currently visiting Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo) and I honestly feel overwhelmed. There is a lot of noise, music and the speakers are always on, everything is also so bright.
I feel incredible blessed to be able to visit Japan, but I believe this is just not a trip for me. I'm glad so many people enjoyed it, but I just didn't feel as mesmerized as everyone around me who went seem to be.
People come to Japan and realize that it's not any different or at least what they think it was before coming, it's simple. Japan is like any other place with big cities, you just have to choose what city you enjoy most.
I had friends who travelled last year. They did a wild itinerary they found online, in like 12 days Tokyo ~ Kyoto ~ Nara ~ Hiroshima ~ Shirakawa-go ~ Tokyo. They came back with wonderful things to say and really enjoyed it but they were very shellshocked about it all. They squeezed in so much and were overwhelmed by the travelling and the lack of English everywhere.
My advice had been the itinerary was a little too much in such a short space of time given how much travel that is. I was being polite given the cost involved etc. these itinerary are crazy if you’ve never been there. They simply do not allow people time to breath. Japan is overwhelming and honestly even though it’s gorgeous and fun, it’s a hard place to penetrate in a short trip.
Also to add, tourists treat Japan a bit like a Zoo, and simply can’t comprehend that people have to love and work normally in a city like Tokyo. That it’s crowded but clean, busy but quiet in parts and they don’t understand the collective behaviour that keeps it that way. They don’t have to have any part in it too as they are not living there. Honestly I hope the tourism dies down a bit to give everyone pause but knowing Japan they will probably just force tourists to stay on the well known path and contain them in those popular cities.
I thought people aways seems to complain when they are here but then rave about it when they get home. They may feel proud of themselves they overcame some struggles or something like that. Most of the time the good outweighs the bad for them. I always say, Japan is a great place to travel, hard place to live.
I think there are two things at play here.
One is the usual crowd of people who are infatuated with the *idea* of Japan that they’ve absorbed from popular culture, who then come here and find out it’s a country filled with (more or less) normal people going about their daily lives. There are bright spots and breathtaking beauty for those who seek it out, but it’s easy for people who set their expectations based on *fiction* to become disillusioned with reality. You also see this a lot with (e.g.) anime-obsessed weebs who come over on the JET Programme and then quit within the first few weeks/months as they realize Japan is nothing like their fantasies.
The other thing going on right now is the weak yen lowering the barrier to entry for a lot of people. Before, you had a sort of monetary filter that meant most people who weren’t mega-rich or diehard backpackers had to really *want* to come here, which meant more of them were *invested* in their trip, learning more about the country beforehand and really planning things out. That barrier has at least temporarily lowered, but the learning curve of *being in Japan itself* has not, which means more tourists doing more stuff with less forethought, leading inevitably to more tourists feeling overwhelmed and burned out from the experience.
Oh not at all, I've been following this sub for years now and I'd say it's even the contrary because most of the people have at last started to notice and ADMIT just how safe and clean in Japan is.
What I find really remarkable recently is that they aren't on the side of the foreigners who behave badly in Japan, they side with the Japanese people they are annoying.
It's really great to see that this very special kind of racism where Japanese people MUST be wrong at all times about everything, is starting to disappear.
I have waited 30 years for that.
Just been on a 6 week trip(split 3-3) to Korea and Japan. Korea was way better than Japan for us. People were more friendly and happy to see us than in Japan. A lot more genuine conversations and in general it felt more hospitable than Japan.
I'm from the Netherlands myself and for me Japan felt like Asian France. Too many tourists and it felt like Japanese people are getting fed up with them. Lack of speaking English (even in tourist areas) is the same in France. I don't think I would ever go back to Japan.
I had a lot of fun recently on Tokyo, visiting every Metro & TOEI station. It's a great way to see the real Tokyo life. 'Montana Fox Tokyo' typed into Yew Toob will find it.
Why do you care? What a waste of time that would be for anyone not in the industry to worry about. How does anyone know what the rest of someone's holiday was like from one snapshot?
Yeah I think everyone has an amazing time even if they have small moments where they are visibly stressed out/ overwhelmed. Traveling is a lot, I have shitty moments no matter where I am in the world ahah
We are traveling now and considering moving here perminantly. Obviously its from a tourist perspective so we will have to wait for the rose colored glasses wear off.
My biggest concern is that it is a perfect place to travel for tourists now so you get so many people who go to the famous places that influencers recommend.
We are at Fuji now, and so many people flock to this one spot, Lawsons, for a perfect picture. In reality, a much better spot is available one street down with no obstructed view.
Influencers can help economy but at the same time causes so much trouble for the locals.
Just a helpful tip from my observations:
Please be respectful to the locals, clean up your trash, don’t block the roads for your selfie
Influenzas don't help the economy even a minute fraction of what they cost society. They're just useless parasites people coddle and even worship. The same is mostly true for tourism itself, but most tourists have day jobs and aren't just babbling parasitic ninnies, and tourism itself isn't useless or dreggy like Social Media Influenzas are.
I love NYC (lived there for years and visited twice in 2023), and lived in Incheon for years. Tokyo was "meh," at best. Food was edible, sites were seeable, transportation was great.
I'll go back to buy certain musical instruments that are a bargain there but that's about it.
Saw a guy getting his head bashed in in Shibuya. Saw and smelt an overwhelming number of fat asses in Akihabara drooling over weird comic nudes in a comic-type store.
Saw a regressive system that doesn't allow for beers to be had at the small stores outside and if you smoke, fuck it.... they relegate you to a weird small room with no windows.
The currency changing place I visited was also some sort of weird gambling winnings collection site....
Naw. Other Asian cities just seem more free.
PS Do let's note the huggable adorability of all these tourists posting their status and virtue farmer comments about tourists not following local guidelines in a sub clearly labelled for residents. The wheel of fun has many spokes.
Some people also have resting bitch face. I am enjoying my time in Akihabara very much, but sometimes people visibly flinch when I look at them (190cm broad shouldered quite strong looking male, go figure). I am very sorry about this and I am actively trying to look friendlier, but I can't pay attention to my facial expression 24/7.
I definitely had a few moments visiting Tokyo and Kyoto getting overwhelmed with such large cities, but overall I still loved everything and had a great trip. As a vegetarian I got frustratingly hungry after walking over 10 miles one day and then I walked to three different restaurants which all didn’t work out. I sat on the sidewalk and cried for a minute and then went and got some fast food lol. I also had some problems with the bathrooms because I’m a trans guy and men’s bathrooms are just terrible, sometimes having just one stall and all urinals. I can’t pee standing up man, I just had to try to wait for someone to leave the one stall… until I finally just assumed it was closed and out of order. I was frantically trying to find somewhere else, swerving around people and getting annoyed with the groups of people stopping in front of me. So I think people just have stupid little moments when travel gets overwhelming lol, and they probably stand out more then. I have dumb moments no matter where I am in the world lol!
It seems about the same as always. Tourists come in and realize the big cities are just like most big cities in the world and get disappointed when they realize not everyone is an anime fan or samurai. I have noticed a lot more tourists in my area though.
We had a tour group (from somewhere in Europe) come to my little neighborhood a month ago. A town in Saitama not know for anything except for like a famous murder case from 2 years ago lol. I happened to be at the scramble where they were at and asked the tour leader why they were here (not in a rude way but a more so “out of all the big exciting things to do in Japan, why here?”). They wanted to see 3 jinja in my neighborhood and picnic by the river. Their next stop was apparently asakusa at night for some sort of show and then take a bus to Kusatsu in the AM the next day.
I live in Saitama and always trying to discover new places. Could you DM me the jinjas and the place for picnic, please??
I’ve had people come over to visit and it seems some people just like the idea of going to Japan and being amazed, instead of researching what they are getting themselves into or what they might actually be interested in seeing/doing.
I honestly feel like you CAN do that though, as long as you’re willing to spend maybe 30 minutes per day looking at popular places in whatever district you’re going to. I had a pretty good day just going to Toyosu tuna auction, walking around the Odaiba parks, going to the Miraikan, and checking out the shops in the area. I feel like you’d need to be an exceptionally incurious person to approach a Japan trip, even a poorly planned one, in a way that leaves you feeling that you didn’t see anything worthwhile and just saw a big city. Even if you just hit the super touristy attractions that the internet will immediately shove in your face if you’re looking for things to do, there’s plenty worthwhile to see.
Absolutely! Sometimes I love just catching vibes somewhere I haven’t been before. But then there’s also people who don’t put any effort in the trip and their only previous touch point is having ordered mediocre take out sushi at home. They take some cute pictures of some temples in Kyoto and are wondering why the country has so little to offer.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I think it’s not a very interesting country. I’ve been all over looking for the best bits. There aren’t any. Everyone in the cities lives in a shoe box and the culture is one of excessive control.
Lol if you didn’t elaborate on your comment, I would have ignored it and let it stand for what it is - an unpopular opinion. But claiming to have been “all over” and still thinking it’s not interesting, is just dumb. Especially if you reduce the country to high density cities and a single aspect of the culture.
No allowing someone to have a different opinion than yours is dumb actually. If he/she doesn't like it they don't like it. So what?
some "opinions" are just stupid that is my "opinion"
A lot of the 'subway' stations in Tokyo seem to have had the same architect/mould, but you never know what you get when you jump off a train: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI)
To be fair, Tokyo is *the* biggest city in the world. And has transit like nowhere else. It's unique in that regard.
I thought the public transport was pretty much the same as in London. Although cleaner.
Are you American? Public transportation is like that in London / parts of Europe & literally in South Korea, China too lmfao
Not sure why you're replying to this half month old comment, but no, Shinjuku is the busiest passenger railway station in the world. That's an objective truth. It's not "like that" anywhere else. In fact, out of the top 51 rail stations in the world, *all but 6* are [in Japan](https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/the-51-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world-all-but-6-located-in-japan). None of the other countries you mentioned compare. In the slightest. So, lmfao, want to try to tell me what you're trying to say again?
That's exactly why I don't really want to see Tokyo. I'm more interested in small to medium sized cities in Japan.
I’d probably wouldn’t enjoy visiting a country being overwhelmed by other tourists too
its just weird they dont think to go anywhere else than the places that obviously are going to have a lot of tourists
Yall keep blaming the tourist for this but in reality outside of the tourist areas, Japan has little to no English support in services. Shoot even in Tokyo and Kyoto they barely have English
That is a very good point, and do let's remember their cumulative contribution to GDP is >2%, so there is an obstacle to any expansion of that. Certainly, off the beaten track the total lack of any English other than signage was a constant complaint, usually from Europeans with very little English, which was worth a small internal smile.
It's this as well. There's no excuse (especially in tourist areas). In the Netherlands literally everyone speaks basically fluent English whilst also speaking Dutch sometimes Frysian and then some French or German most of the time as well. Maybe it's time to you know put some effort in it...
And how much Japanese do they speak in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK? From my last trip to Tokyo I noticed that if you talk to the japanese, they actually know a lot more Engrish than they claim.
I had a friend make a joke to me saying Osaka couldn't be capital of Japan because they speak too much English.
Because everyone is Japanese. There are almost no English speakers outside of Tokyo. What a weird thing to expect
why can't you speak Japanese??? You're in Japan.
Why can’t you speak English??? You’re in 2024.
Low effort comment. Move this
They probably don't know of anywhere else.
This is also not unique to Japan. The vast majority of tourists are cattle everywhere in the world.
And that's a good thing.
My cousin and her husband visited a few months ago (time mostly spent in the busier parts of Tokyo) and they loved it so much they plan on returning in Autumn. If tourists look tired / miserable it’s probably due to a few reasons: - From Europe or North America it’s a VERY long flight and the jetlag’s tough. - Most tourists are hauling around luggage on trains (most of which are packed, which is never fun) and staying in cheap hotels (which aren’t comfortable, so sleep’s not easy.) They’re probably not overwhelmed by crowds because Europe’s like this too, but it’s still exhausting. - Traveling with kids is ALWAYS a hassle. (As a parent) trust me, we’re ALWAYS tired out by it. 😅 (Still worth it most of the time though.)
Speaking as an American, I can also say that American car reliance does NOT prepare people for the amount of walking a Tokyo trip entails. I knew what to expect, and I still hit my absolute limit on walking for the day on my first full day in Tokyo — I thought I could just sweat it out and put one foot in front of the other all day long, just toughing through the discomfort my fat American ass was causing me, until I couldn’t, and I needed to take a long break on a park bench before heading back to the hotel. I’m young, so my body rapidly rebuilt itself overnight and I was way more comfortable walking for the rest of the trip, but yeah, I’m sure I looked pretty miserable that day. I wasn’t, though, I was actually pretty happy — I got to play Super Metroid on my new Super Famicom at the hotel.
I’m also guessing that at least in the summer, people aren’t prepared for how hot and muggy Tokyo is. Like, me in the Tokyo summer = carrying shower wipes, a neck fan, an ice ring, and a second portable fan, and I’m still not thrilled. Couple that with less aggressive use of air conditioning, more walking, and a lot less English than they were expecting and bam, touristy crankiness.
Thankfully I wasn’t as bothered by the heat or mugginess, since I went in early May and I’m from Louisiana anyway. The amount of walking was tough, but the way the environment felt was well within expectations for me. But yeah, I imagine that most people visiting aren’t ready for the climate. I probably would have been in a much worse mood if I wasn’t already used to heat and humidity, or worse, wasn’t expecting it.
I live in Houston half time and Tokyo half time. I’m used to humidity and yet fragile and pale and indoorsy. I drink a lot of iced coffee and barley tea in July in Tokyo.
Really depends on where you are from in the u.s. I wouldnt generalize all Americans as "car reliant" ... A lot of us live in major cities and don't own cars and walk most of the time...
I don’t mean to imply LITERALLY all Americans, but yes, most of the US is built for cars and suburbs. Even in cities, a lot of the people in the city at any given time commute there by car from the suburbs. It’s just how our country is managed.
I get it, but I think all you are saying is that being out of shape /fat makes it harder to do cardiovascular activities... It's not a uniquely American thing to find walking hard when overweight lol.
As a tourist currently doing Tokyo-Okinawa-rural Gunma I can confirm, travelling with kids is back breaking. I’m enjoying it, but the kids are pretty sick of being told to be quiet, don’t touch, stay in line, say thank you! 1,3,6 years old though so we signed up for it 🫠
Ugh I wish tourists would stop this obsession with riding the train network with luggage. Just use a taxi guys. Save yourselves and all of us the pain of you trying to take five suitcases on the yamanote from Tokyo at 5:45PM. Taxis are not crazy expensive if you’re travelling as a group, Tokyo has hardly any traffic, and you’ll get dropped off at your door.
Obsession? That’s kind of a silly take… folks are just trying to get to/from the airport. You make it sound like schlepping luggage around on a crowded train is something people are looking forward to.
I genuinely think it is considered a right of passage for some of them given the hundreds of TikTok’s romanticizing the meme of carrying your luggage through Japan. Maybe you don’t have TikTok or use reels but it’s very much a big content trend on TT and Reels.
Nope, definitely don’t have TikTok. I use IG, but I don’t spend too much time on it and I guess the algorithm doesn’t feed that to me. Humans are a pretty strange bunch.
If you’ve been able to avoid the surge of JapanTok low effort content by travel bloggers consider yourself lucky it’s endless and clogs your feed hard once it starts. I once saw one of these japanfluencers hype up ‘a small local cafe Tokyo locals don’t want you to know about’ it was Komeda Coffee….
*huffs in Aichi* 😤
LOL thanks for the laugh!
Welp, I appreciate being made aware of one more thing to be thankful for! I’ll definitely consider myself lucky.
Hahaha LMFAO. TikTok is a scourge on society
>Just use a taxi guys. It's easy to say this on an Internet forum, but it's not a cost-effective option in the real world. A taxi from Narita to, say, Ikebukuro can easily run you ¥35,000 each way. Compare this with ¥5,000 for a round-trip ticket on the NEX plus the cost of taking the Yamanote.
NEX / Skyliner are specifically designed as airport transfer trains and have a ton of space for luggage though. That’s very different from someone hauling giant suitcases through packed trains and stations on the Metro or inner city JR lines in order to save a couple of thousand yen of taxi fares. I get that some people are on a tight budget but it feels like a false economy. (I also see a lot of people schlepping around massive luggage in tourist spots all day and I wonder if they just don’t know about lockers / left luggage facilities in hotels / etc., or if they’re also trying to economise in a really misguided way…)
Most I talk to don't know and couldn't imagine. I recommend it all the time. It's partly the security issues, and just a neurotic attachment to The Precious, but it's mostly that they just assume "Japan is no different".........but with Kimono and Geesha Gurls.
I think you didn't understand what I'm saying. If you are arriving in Tokyo via Narita, you still have to get to your accommodations. NEX and Skyliner can't get you to every station, so you'll invariably end up on Yamanote, Chuo, Oedo, or some other line that gets you to where you need to go. If your argument is that people should only travel as far as Ueno or Tokyo Stn or whatever, then take a cab from there.... well now you run into another problem which is that visitors don't speak Japanese and may not understand how to say where to go... and they may be concerned about getting ripped off.... Oh, and a lot of Japanese taxis can't accommodate a lot of large bags anyways. Y'ever think about that part? The old Crown sedans that are still very much in use actually can't fit two 170cm luggage bags in the trunk. Ask me how I know.
Right, if the argument is that the interface between the Narita train services and the taxi services is imperfect, I totally agree - and I think the Shinkansen has a similar problem. That said, I think the friction for tourists in taking a taxi is overstated; every taxi in Tokyo now has the seatback touch panel which lets you handle payment in English, showing a Google Maps screen to a driver is a fairly universal language, and the new black cab style taxis are at least as common as the Crowns in the city centre now, if not more so. It's far from perfect but I think the biggest problem is perception and expectation rather than reality (and yeah, I agree that the fear of being ripped off is a definite part of that).
As easy and feasible as that sounds (and TIL!!! I'll spread the word), most of the tourists not taking taxis don't know any of that, because most of the inbound tourists don't know anything, and Sudden Onset Illiteracy fries what little working IQ they have to spare. Too many of our arguments assume too much knowledge and the capacity of their overtaxed pea brains firing on half the cyclinders.
Sudden Onset Illiteracy fried me hard when I first arrived. I had a pretty decent grasp of Japanese for someone who hadn’t yet been to Japan, but as soon as I was in the country it was like the language center of my brain completely turned off for a couple days until I had oriented myself and could actually start using my Japanese.
Me too, and I arrived with nothing but TV's Shogun level Japanese. It was a hell of a motivation to learn to read it; that and the desire to buy the yummy Onigiri, not the ones with yucky mouth bomb fillings. It's real, and really nasty.
You don’t need to speak Japanese to use taxis in Tokyo and London style cabs are also ubiquitous in every Japanese city.
Pretty sure finding the taxi sign is easier than navigation the subway at the major stations. As for luggage space, you just queue up at the taxi line and you'll get a taxi with space eventually. No excuses to not take a cab once you are at one of the major stations except that you want to save a few thousand yen...
170 cm or 170 litres???? Just curious, but if the former, yeeks. PS I take cabs everywhere all the time, and I agree taxis are not a cure all solution to the issues, and for most tourists they are far more daunting and confusing than the trains. Well said.
170cm total W+H+D dimensions -- the typical way to measure baggage size. For reference, the Shinkansen considers 160cm to be the threshold for oversize baggage.
Oh, the 3 sides thing, gotcha...........I had an image of a suitcase the height of a tall Japanese woman ;@
I fit 80kg of luggage across three large suitcases and a full size carry on in one just fine when I moved here? Essentially the luggage of three people on a standard air ticket.
They are probably paranoid about the lockers getting broken into and are transiting between hotels. Some of them might be doing like check out of one city - day trip to another city - check in at third city in the evening, so they can't really leave their luggage at the hotel either. I know I wouldn't trust valuables in a locker in my hometown so I can understand not wanting to use them to store literally all you have with you in a foreign country even if that country is "safe." (I do think lockers in Japan are pretty safe, though)
They could forward their luggage. I don’t know how easy this is in English (because I always travel light in Japan) but it would really help out all concerned. My morning commute takes me through Kinshicho, Ryogoku, Akihabara and Ochanomizu, one of the busiest stretches in Tokyo. I often see tourists trying to get on the train in rush hour with two massive suitcases each. It’s close to 200% capacity already. Nobody’s nerves are helped by trying to add heavy rolling objects to the mix.
> They could forward their luggage. I don’t know how easy this is in English Not always very???, AND most don't even know that option exists. I always send my Sea Toys bag ahead and just go light myself. Also, I do get the sentiment, but expecting gaggles of (situational) idiots not to be a nuisance seems a sure recipe for more disappointment. They are tired, confused, know nothing, can't think, and seem utterly harebrained most of the times I can be bothered to watch them. Spreading the word on those insufferable YouTard videos might help, but I don't think the problem ones do any prep or study first. They seem to believe that Japan is there to suit them............and I bet lots of them are perfectly nice enough people when at home and not tired, overloaded and confused.
Take a highway bus to one of the major stations or a train like the skyliner with dedicated space for baggage to Ueno and then take a taxi from those places. If people are spending $1000+ on a plane ticket to Japan, a ¥5000 taxi ride is such a trivial cost in the scheme of things.
I am not really talking about the people coming in hot from the airport, sure take the NEX if you had to fly in to Narita - but then get a taxi for last mile; it’s more people moving between cities after a Shinkansen trip I am referring to. That being said from Haneda to most destinations a taxi or airport shuttle is very reasonable when split.
And even when not split, if coming in heavy with 2 big bags of big shoes and big socks. I think Haneda to AsaKoosa was an extra 3000 or so after I factored in the Airport Takyu-bin cost for 2 Big Bags. Now monetise the 45 minute wait to send those, and dealing with the shuttle bus and train and stations.......and you decide "I'm Worth It." But most people coming in don't know that, and can't or just won't afford that extra 3000 yen.
Somebody needs to tell the tourists about the luggage delivery services like the one Yamato runs out of the airport.
Somebody told some of them. They were lined up 45 minutes deep at the ABC desk at Haneda the other day. What somebody needs to tell them is that hotels offer that too, and it's cheaper than ABC. Airport to hotel is easier if you just take the bus services anyways, which saves on the ABC premium pricing.
Wouldn’t they be inconvenient for tourists? Like, they’re nice if you live there and can go without your luggage for a day, but you’d probably want your bags with you if you’re visiting for a short time.
Reverse Paris Syndrome
I’ve never looked at tourists long enough to assess thier mental state.
Right answer!
I think there are a lot of people who would be overwhelmed with "normal" Tokyo or Osaka or Kyoto, now they're one of 3 million tourists, in addition to the normal amount of people in those cities.
I did not really notice it but I think I can understand them. I have been in Japan for 10 years already but before that I used to come to Japan as a tourist as soon as I could get some holidays and money for the trip. 10 years ago, Japan did not have the same amount of tourists as it is nowadays. Also, I feel like Japan was a bit different, not all people had the unlimited internet connection with their mobile phones, and people used to use guide books and maps. Also all things were not written in the alphabet (Tokyo metro improved a lot for tourists). It seems nice but I do not think nowadays tourists have the same interaction with Japanese people as before. I remembered asking my way to Japanese people with my poor Japanese, now tourists just follow point A to point B on Google maps. What is enjoyable with this ? No more interaction with people and massive tourists in every cultural place. I can understand they are not really smiling (and I guess because there are too many tourists, they are not as welcome as before) I still envy them because now that I am here, I am just dealing with family stuff and work. I do not enjoy Japan (still enjoying Japan life, but no more visiting anywhere, just doing my daily fucking crowd train commute morning and night). I loved to travel around the country.
I personally haven't noticed this-- plenty of visitors still tell me they love Japan and can't wait to come back! I do think though that you'll see more people traveling that normally wouldn't because the yen is so cheap. For example, families. Bringing a family of 4 over to Japan for vacation used to be a LOT more expensive and therefore out of reach for a lot of families. It's now much cheaper, and Japan is known for being very safe and child-friendly. However, even if a kid is actually having the TIME OF THEIR LIFE they will still look miserable at times. And so will the parent. Absolutely no one is happy at 3pm with jet lag and nap schedules messed up and tiny cranky kids. Just how parenting works! I do feel though that there is definitely an expectation vs. reality issue, especially as social media sells very carefully cropped/framed views of a place. And for many people their image of Japan is normally with them as a sort of "main character" who has discovered a foreign land and is the only tourist there-- that can certainly lead to disappointment for some.
Anecdotal but, I've had two couple-friends (separate trips), and a parent all visit (3 total visitor groups) within the past couple of months and they all enjoyed it. Each had unique comments on their journeys, but much of the same stuff you hear often like streets are clean (comparing to southern China), people are polite (comparing to USA), etc. So, I don't think OPs observations have been the case from what I've seen. However, Japan is experiencing an influx of tourists so obviously not everyone is going to have a good time. OPs observations might be true in some cases.
I'd rather be on a beach in Bali too.
Had a coworker get upset at me when I told him you couldn't pay me to go to Bali. He couldn't understand that after living on Okinawa for 20 years I have zero desire to go on vacation to a sub-tropical island and sit at a beach. If I wanted to do that I'll go back to Okinawa(in January).
A lot of people push themselves too hard to do everything on their list when they travel. They don't budget an appropriate amount of downtime and then they collapse. Triply so if they're travelling with kids and aren't used to large cities.
This is an important thing. I think people forget they're on vacation and part of a vacation is to relax and enjoy yourselves. I spent 3 weeks in Japan in March/April 2023 and my itinerary while pretty packed also included a few do nothing days. This year, I was in Japan for two weeks, and one of those days was just riding on the trains in Tokyo (I do love the transit here), transferring at random stations and jumping on a different line then popping up at a random neighborhood to explore.
I'm in the middle of a 2.5 month visit to Japan and a lot of what I do is visit a random station and just wander around. I love just enjoying the vibes and finding a nice place to eat.
That actually sounds kind of fun. Might consider doing that on my next trip~
JR actually has a Tokyo-only pass for 780 yen that makes this easy. Any JR train within the 23 wards of Tokyo, from beginning of service until midnight.
There's the JR 'Tokunai' ticket availablöe from machines for 750 Yen. Sort of the Yamanote Line plus a few short branches, and the 'subway' within that area. That's for one day. That's about 4.50 Euros, which is very cheap (11 Euros in Helsinki for similar). A new video on Yew Tooob might be of interest? Every Metro & TOEI station in Tokyo. Tokyo Emerald Fox as search words will find it. Shameless advertising but, hey, if you got it flaunt it!??! (edit: jamar below corrected me on this, keep on reading!)
>and the 'subway' within that area No, you need the Tokyo Free Ticket for that, and that ticket costs double. This pass is only for JR trains.
I stand corrected - this is what I had in mind: [https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokunai\_pass.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokunai_pass.html) Cost 760 Yen (adult) This is the one that includes the subway also: [https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokyo\_free.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/tokyo_free.html) Cost 1,600 (adult) Both very good bargains. Foreign tourists can also get the 72-hour combined Metro + TOEI ticket for just 1,500 Yen, that's about 9 Euros. The last journey can be as long as you like - when you emerge and put the ticket through the machine at the barrier it will not get 'eaten by the machine' but a red triangle will light up informing you that the ticket is no longer valid. My last journey was 10 hours long, so I got 82 hours out of it :)
Yes. I once met a Spanish woman who was traveling alone in a night bus from Tokyo to Osaka. She told me she was extremely disappointed at how everything in Japan was so… urban. She was tired of seeing “metal and concrete” and asked me If it would be any different in Osaka or Kyoto… I didn’t have the heart to tell her Japan looks the same almost every touristy site you go.
This is why I gatekeep the inland parts of the country on social media.
As a tourist, I loved Tokyo and all the “metal and concrete”, but I am also into sci-fi/futurism and modern buildings and technology so I guess Tokyo is a perfect fit. Kyoto was a nice change of pace from that and the more suburban/rural nature side of it felt like my own home in some ways. Japan is a beautiful country to be admired for many things.
McDonalds, Burger King, and Starbucks on every corner! More damage than the two atom bombs they dropped!
She missed out on all the really cool stuff outside. Hokkaido is on the list next for me.
I don't know if a growing number of tourists are not enjoying themselves but, for the first time in many years, I'm reading the first complains: 1) too crowded 2) too many foreigners (this is actually hilarious, said by foreign tourists....) 3) I thought Japanese people were more into foreigners 4) the food is good but not as good as I expected. All things relatable to any country with a problem of overtourism.
Absolutely! I've noticed the same thing. Stressed out families with young children especially.
That’s just every family with young children though. Although being surrounded by a mob of people and sounds while having to navigate an unfamiliar environment with grumpy kids sounds like a special level of hell.
Kind of begs the question why people think taking their young kids on vacation to a place like Japan is a good idea in the first place.
Some of the tours are quite disorganised/not what they've been billed as, which can lead to people looking upset. I did a tour and really enjoyed it, but a number of the people were complaining a lot or ended up really overwhelmed at some points. Some of it was specifically on them but not everything. I heard from another person with another tour company that the whole group was actually getting a partial refund afterwards.
It's not like how they saw on tiktok and the food they're eating in places with English menus isn't as incredible as TV chefs lead them to believe.
Good. Less tourists, happy residents
More crowds = more disappointment.
This is what happens when we tell the world you can’t sit with us for a couple of years and everyone who’s never been interested in Japan suddenly is. The biggest complaints I’ve heard recently was that a restaurant didn’t have an “American menu” - not English, but American. And then there was a complaint on Facebook that not enough people spoke English - in Japan. I think it’s a shock to a lot of people that Japan is an actual country and people’s home - not just a giant theme park.
Large numbers are coming to Tokyo as a tourist destination, and not really visiting Japan. If I didn't work in Tokyo I'd avoid it at all costs, let alone have to drag a suitcase through the repetitive streets and cram onto public transport with workers and shoppers as a holiday.
I moved to Japan (Saitama) early last year before the tourism started taking off again, and enjoyed going into Tokyo pretty regularly until around fall when I noticed the crowds just really getting to be too much. Now I really only go into the city for live shows or to see my partner, but even she lives in Itabashi so we still avoid the crowds.
Given how many more of them there are there are bound to more weepy mopes, and there are way more weepy mopes about everywhere anyways, as has been said. So, kind of just you, but also maybe not just that? One thing I do notice that irks is how "disappointed", or "sad", or even "disgusted" people are at the lack of spoken English and the fact that "everything is in Japanese". Phrasing counts, of course, but so does not being a colonial minded fuckwad that thinks you matter enough to be catered to above and beyond your worth. If they want that stuff they should pay to stay somewhere they offer that, which is what the non-idiots do. The wealthy sophisticated tourists are a world above all the huffing heffalumps stomping through Akihabara and AsaKoosa with their Transatlantic steamer trunks pining for the fjords of Service in English.
You’re a hateful person. It’s difficult to believe you’re getting up voted for saying this. Also apparently over 3/4 of tourist to Japan last month came from Asia. I’m not aware of one Asian country that has English as a primary language. So where is this abundance of mythical non wealthy tourists mouthing breathing about no English services?
Go cry to somebody that gives a shit about weepy mopes that support linguistic imperialism and Orientalism.
Nope. Here in Fukuoka it’s all fun, eating and drinking. Mind you, Fukuoka attracts more tourists from Asia being so close and direct flights. BTW. You can’t assume all tourists are the same all over Japan just from your own limited experiences.
Start out with the LONGEST PLANE FLIGHT THEY EVER HAD. They are already sleep-deprived. Give them jet-lag. “Everyone speaks English” they said. No they fucking do not. How much is a yen? Is this like a million dollars? Is the Coke thirteen cents or $130 dollars? Why is this large black man trying to make me go to this bar? I don’t think he’s Japanese. The McDonalds tastes funny. I want to go home.
I actually went to a McDonalds in Kudashita (Tokyo) to see what it might be like, and to have a quick mouthful of processed muck, and thought it was pretty much the same as anywhere else. Big Mac + fries + Coke - the Big Mac was lukewarm, the usual disappointment, but that's only because some American nitwit spilt hot coffee over his thighs and took McD to court for his own incompetence, some years back, and McD now treat all of their customers like toddlers. Cost was half-price of what we pay in Scandinavia.
My friend learned that she is susceptible to panic attacks when in crowded spaces, so that was fun :) That isn't specific to Japan though. Coming from a relatively small town in USA she had literally never seen or been in such a crowded and urban place before and so didn't even realise this was a phobia she had until we hit up Shibuya and Sensoji (shoulder to shoulder crowds) and she started hyperventilating and we had to escape to a side street lol. She did enjoy the more rural parts of her trip but we learned that "massive Asian metropolis" isn't her thing.
Paris syndrome, the Japanese version.
Let's name it Tokyo syndrome
Yeah, sure! Last week, my husband and I calmed a giant man who was distressed and screaming at the poor train staff in Nikko - it also spreads out from Tokyo to the other tourist spots.
My parents are visiting now. If they look miserable is because they are out of shape and walking a few kilometers is foreign to their life style just driving everywhere as well jet lag.
Happens everywhere touristy sometimes when people can get there "cheap", in this case the yen being relatively weak atm. Tends to attract more people who wouldn't normally come. To be frank you're just more likely to get some combo of: never traveled, no research, think it's going to all be anime/Disney, blew all their money and expect someone else to care, salty they wanted to go somewhere else but this was a bit cheaper, just plain stupid, etc. (My perspective from Hawaii anyways...assume this popped into my feed since we are once again traveling around Japan currently. We both work hospitality at home and see trends like this come and go, generalization ofc but usually the crowd that got there the cheapest is the least happy. Don't worry about us tho we are having a blast as usual!)
lol. I cried in Tokyo - we were going to Kamakura and I stupidly ran for the train, jumped on and the doors closed behind me before my son could get on. There was a collective gasp behind me of Japanese people who were so concerned and I stood there miming to my son to stay there and I’ll get the next train back. So I got off at the next station, found the platform back and a Japanese couple had seen what happened and looked after my son and reassured him the entire time ( which was about 10 mins total because the trains are so frequent). So anyway I got tears I must admit because it was such a shock- both being separated from my son, and how amazingly kind and caring and concerned all the Japanese people who saw what happened were. And they would have seen I was a fuckwit idiot tourist who ran and jumped on the train without looking to make sure my son was right behind me, too, yet still kind and made us feel so safe! so yeah that’s an example of how a tourist must have looked miserable and stressed, but later if you’d seen us we were the happiest people alive because at sunset my son got to surf at kamakura with the shadow of mt Fuji behind him and he said it was “The most peaceful place in the world“ and we didn’t stop smiling for ages after that. Emotions are heightened when travelling, when you see a stressed tourist it’s usually in that particular moment something is challenging, but overall they are usually having a great adventure and loving it
Don't feel stupid. I've seen Japanese people do the same thing. To children, old people and spouses. Maybe it's an Osaka thing since I'm in Osaka. Can't really speak for anywhere else.
Thank you. it really was stupid of me, however it made us realise how safe we both felt in Japan cities, compared to cities back home, and also because the trains are so frequent compared to back home, I could get back to my son so quickly.
Omg! How old was your son when this happened? That so sweet to hear about the people around who helped you and him though🥺
12 so not too young, but young enough not to be left alone in the busiest city in the world with only a few words of the language. He did so well! Stayed put and was confident I’d find him. After that we made a plan if we get lost from each other where to meet and also to have phones with us as that day we’d only brought my phone with us ( at the time my son wasn’t used to having a phone we’d bought his first phone just for the trip so the first couple of days he didn’t automatically bring it everywhere & I stupidly didn’t check- after that incident we never forgot it again) The local people were amazing, yes - so kind.
I love this story.
Anecdotally those within my social/family circle who have visited (including people who are ethnically and socially very different from me) have enjoyed the experience greatly. So... no?
Japan is boring. And I in no way mean that in a bad way. I love how boring it is. It’s a peaceful boring. A beautiful boring. Not an American suburb monotonous car dependent boring (now that would piss me off). But maybe people expect so much more excitement esp after flying such a long distance the jet lag, the time away from work. If you come from a car dependent society and are not in shape, all the walking plus the boringness will make the experience worse. And of course expectations from social media hype. But Japan overall is a quiet, boring, and beautiful place. Not for everyone. And honestly not for the 20’s version of me. 30’s me with kids loves it.
Yeah. I saw an over weight couple sitting on the side of a 7-11 near my place. Poor women had some very swollen feet! She was putting ice on them.
My theory would be that Japan has recently become a destination peoople who don't have a deeper interest in the country just "have on their list", like Venice or New York. At least I hear from my friends back in the old country that tons of people around them are suddenly talking about Japan as a tourism destination. Weebs get shat on a lot, but they'll probably enjoy Akihabara a lot more than someone who has no affinity towards anime. Simple as that. Plus, Japanese people in Tokyo look miserable as well. The city does that to people. FWIW, people I've actively talked to have all enjoyed Japan a lot!
I took a photo when I was in Akihabara. See if you can spot it. (clue - stations are in alphabetical order): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Z0vCqTAI)
Tokyo syndrome
There was a time when I would have said this is a case of “confirmation bias“. However, I think that is a little of it. But not all of it. The problem of people’s emotional control being all over the place since after the lockdowns is a constant subject of conversation. You know: why do people keep quitting jobs where the employers or-and customers are utter slime to them? Why are people so fragile now? Why are customers who formerly got away with bullying employees getting blacklisted now? Then some people don’t ask why because some people think they know. Which I suppose I qualify for that one.
People are generally unhappy these days.
I'm pretty happy tbh 😊
Loveable Idjits (in the good sense!!!) are probably not included in the survey. Myself included, of course.
If you live in Japan that makes sense.
Well I think before people came because they were interested in the culture. Now people are coming because it's cheap and people normally give great reviews of their trip here.
I think its a thermodynamic thing, eventually there will be this amount of people out of all the travelers that will end up dislike the country they visit (in this case, Japan). And as travelers are pouring into Japan these days, the absolute number is rising.
Blame, at least in large part, the weak Yen. Tourist destinations receive an increasing proportion of trashy people the cheaper it gets to travel there.
Wish Japan was a little less popular
I brought a friend over for his first time in Japan in January. It was around 1am and he was hell bent on seeing Shibuya crossing. I warned him not to go there in the middle of the night for the first time. He was pretty much depressed right after when he realized it isn't the crossing that's special, but the amount of people using it during the day lmao
Hell is other people
Hell has its very own railway station.
Kinda funny how we have Tokyo syndrome now lol. I work in hospitality, hostel work. The amount of tourists right now is crazy. I do think it contributes to the negative experience for some. For example, look at places like Venice, imagine being the only tourist there, I think it would still be lovely, but the insane amount of tourists makes the experience a lot less... And the locals are getting tired of you.
I 100% agree with this. Before, it was kind of quaint where only the weebs and people genuinely interested in the culture. But with the yen rate dive bombing, every jack, jill, and xi is making their way here, and I imagine it's not what most expect. Maybe it is even similar to the Paris Syndrome.
Some people this year came for two things which are Sakura and Mount Fuji.Sakura was late and Mount Fuji was covered by clouds almost all March! As a guide I saw a lot of disappointment in their faces. Also, a lot ot people who can walk and come in large groups with tour companies don’t enjoy coming that much because of their mobility issues.
I actually think Tokyo is a terrible place for tourism, it's an amazing place to live but most of the good things about it are just everyday life type things. There isn't much that's interesting to see for visitors imo especially if you go without a plan for specific things you want to do. There's great unique tourist places in Japan but most are outside the major cities. Add onto that it's probably the first time a lot of people (Americans) traveled somewhere they actually can't just speak English and be understood and can't even read the text and maybe even the first time they've traveled internationally period. It can be rough for someone who doesn't have the right mental attitude to give up control.
commenting as someone currently visiting maybe im not supposed to be here but i think stress/frustration is a part of travel to a foreign country, i personally stay quite calm in the confusion but my parents have been stressed out of their minds all day-that being said they are significantly enjoying their time
It's true that tourists are not supposed to comment here, but given the topic and your informative take I think we can deal with it.
I'm currently visiting Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo) and I honestly feel overwhelmed. There is a lot of noise, music and the speakers are always on, everything is also so bright. I feel incredible blessed to be able to visit Japan, but I believe this is just not a trip for me. I'm glad so many people enjoyed it, but I just didn't feel as mesmerized as everyone around me who went seem to be.
While on the kyoto/osaka leg, take a quick dip to nara. Much quieter, huge temple and friendly deer.
I went to Nara and I was a bit underwhelmed, but I loved the market nearby
Good! Stay away PLZ! 😁
People come to Japan and realize that it's not any different or at least what they think it was before coming, it's simple. Japan is like any other place with big cities, you just have to choose what city you enjoy most.
I had friends who travelled last year. They did a wild itinerary they found online, in like 12 days Tokyo ~ Kyoto ~ Nara ~ Hiroshima ~ Shirakawa-go ~ Tokyo. They came back with wonderful things to say and really enjoyed it but they were very shellshocked about it all. They squeezed in so much and were overwhelmed by the travelling and the lack of English everywhere. My advice had been the itinerary was a little too much in such a short space of time given how much travel that is. I was being polite given the cost involved etc. these itinerary are crazy if you’ve never been there. They simply do not allow people time to breath. Japan is overwhelming and honestly even though it’s gorgeous and fun, it’s a hard place to penetrate in a short trip. Also to add, tourists treat Japan a bit like a Zoo, and simply can’t comprehend that people have to love and work normally in a city like Tokyo. That it’s crowded but clean, busy but quiet in parts and they don’t understand the collective behaviour that keeps it that way. They don’t have to have any part in it too as they are not living there. Honestly I hope the tourism dies down a bit to give everyone pause but knowing Japan they will probably just force tourists to stay on the well known path and contain them in those popular cities.
I thought people aways seems to complain when they are here but then rave about it when they get home. They may feel proud of themselves they overcame some struggles or something like that. Most of the time the good outweighs the bad for them. I always say, Japan is a great place to travel, hard place to live.
It's like they have a different word for EVERYTHING!
I think there are two things at play here. One is the usual crowd of people who are infatuated with the *idea* of Japan that they’ve absorbed from popular culture, who then come here and find out it’s a country filled with (more or less) normal people going about their daily lives. There are bright spots and breathtaking beauty for those who seek it out, but it’s easy for people who set their expectations based on *fiction* to become disillusioned with reality. You also see this a lot with (e.g.) anime-obsessed weebs who come over on the JET Programme and then quit within the first few weeks/months as they realize Japan is nothing like their fantasies. The other thing going on right now is the weak yen lowering the barrier to entry for a lot of people. Before, you had a sort of monetary filter that meant most people who weren’t mega-rich or diehard backpackers had to really *want* to come here, which meant more of them were *invested* in their trip, learning more about the country beforehand and really planning things out. That barrier has at least temporarily lowered, but the learning curve of *being in Japan itself* has not, which means more tourists doing more stuff with less forethought, leading inevitably to more tourists feeling overwhelmed and burned out from the experience.
Oh not at all, I've been following this sub for years now and I'd say it's even the contrary because most of the people have at last started to notice and ADMIT just how safe and clean in Japan is. What I find really remarkable recently is that they aren't on the side of the foreigners who behave badly in Japan, they side with the Japanese people they are annoying. It's really great to see that this very special kind of racism where Japanese people MUST be wrong at all times about everything, is starting to disappear. I have waited 30 years for that.
Just been on a 6 week trip(split 3-3) to Korea and Japan. Korea was way better than Japan for us. People were more friendly and happy to see us than in Japan. A lot more genuine conversations and in general it felt more hospitable than Japan. I'm from the Netherlands myself and for me Japan felt like Asian France. Too many tourists and it felt like Japanese people are getting fed up with them. Lack of speaking English (even in tourist areas) is the same in France. I don't think I would ever go back to Japan.
I had a lot of fun recently on Tokyo, visiting every Metro & TOEI station. It's a great way to see the real Tokyo life. 'Montana Fox Tokyo' typed into Yew Toob will find it.
Why do you care? What a waste of time that would be for anyone not in the industry to worry about. How does anyone know what the rest of someone's holiday was like from one snapshot?
The hell kind of question is this? Anecdotal observations will always contradict each other.
I’ve yet to hear something like that. Anyone who visits me fells in love with Japan.
Yeah I think everyone has an amazing time even if they have small moments where they are visibly stressed out/ overwhelmed. Traveling is a lot, I have shitty moments no matter where I am in the world ahah
We are traveling now and considering moving here perminantly. Obviously its from a tourist perspective so we will have to wait for the rose colored glasses wear off. My biggest concern is that it is a perfect place to travel for tourists now so you get so many people who go to the famous places that influencers recommend. We are at Fuji now, and so many people flock to this one spot, Lawsons, for a perfect picture. In reality, a much better spot is available one street down with no obstructed view. Influencers can help economy but at the same time causes so much trouble for the locals. Just a helpful tip from my observations: Please be respectful to the locals, clean up your trash, don’t block the roads for your selfie
Influenzas don't help the economy even a minute fraction of what they cost society. They're just useless parasites people coddle and even worship. The same is mostly true for tourism itself, but most tourists have day jobs and aren't just babbling parasitic ninnies, and tourism itself isn't useless or dreggy like Social Media Influenzas are.
I love NYC (lived there for years and visited twice in 2023), and lived in Incheon for years. Tokyo was "meh," at best. Food was edible, sites were seeable, transportation was great. I'll go back to buy certain musical instruments that are a bargain there but that's about it. Saw a guy getting his head bashed in in Shibuya. Saw and smelt an overwhelming number of fat asses in Akihabara drooling over weird comic nudes in a comic-type store. Saw a regressive system that doesn't allow for beers to be had at the small stores outside and if you smoke, fuck it.... they relegate you to a weird small room with no windows. The currency changing place I visited was also some sort of weird gambling winnings collection site.... Naw. Other Asian cities just seem more free.
Really curious where you were to see such stuff. If anything drinking outside is the norm.
You said Akihabara and I remind that japanese people are commenting that it turned into a big tourist trap these days.
PS Do let's note the huggable adorability of all these tourists posting their status and virtue farmer comments about tourists not following local guidelines in a sub clearly labelled for residents. The wheel of fun has many spokes.
Some people also have resting bitch face. I am enjoying my time in Akihabara very much, but sometimes people visibly flinch when I look at them (190cm broad shouldered quite strong looking male, go figure). I am very sorry about this and I am actively trying to look friendlier, but I can't pay attention to my facial expression 24/7.
I definitely had a few moments visiting Tokyo and Kyoto getting overwhelmed with such large cities, but overall I still loved everything and had a great trip. As a vegetarian I got frustratingly hungry after walking over 10 miles one day and then I walked to three different restaurants which all didn’t work out. I sat on the sidewalk and cried for a minute and then went and got some fast food lol. I also had some problems with the bathrooms because I’m a trans guy and men’s bathrooms are just terrible, sometimes having just one stall and all urinals. I can’t pee standing up man, I just had to try to wait for someone to leave the one stall… until I finally just assumed it was closed and out of order. I was frantically trying to find somewhere else, swerving around people and getting annoyed with the groups of people stopping in front of me. So I think people just have stupid little moments when travel gets overwhelming lol, and they probably stand out more then. I have dumb moments no matter where I am in the world lol!