Japan VS Foreign Tourists: A Worsening Situation 

NOTIFICATION SQUAD: A step too far or a necessary move? Honestly, it's probably for the best, but let's hope this doesn't lead to a crackdown nationwide in the long run.

I am honestly digusted that someone would pull *anyone's hair* in public, not to mention that of a Geisha!? Like, *where* in the world would that be okay? Even most 5 year olds know not to do that. Seriously. Wtf?

i feel like people today dont understand how much of a luxury being able to visit another country is.

It especially ruins it for us foreigners who live here indefinitely and aren't tourists because to the locals we're all seen as a tourist. Even my wife who is half but has lived in japan her entire life, went to school and worked in japan entirely is still occasionally treated as a foreigner and has even been asked for a residence card "foreigner ID card" before and is also constantly double checked to actually be the name she says she is.

I went to Kyoto recently and participated in a dress-up/cosplay activity for maiko/geiko/geisha. Part of the experience was walking around Gion in full costume. It's obvious I'm not a real geiko, but there were a lot of people staring, pointing at me, taking pictures, that sort of stuff. What I experienced was just a fraction of what these women and girls go through. Maiko start their careers as professional geisha at 15-16 years. Imagine being that young and harassed every day just trying to go to work. It's scary, and what the city of Kyoto is doing is completely understandable.

Its sad to see a few bad apples spoiling the experience for everyone else

"Japan has ettiquete you might not be accustomed to." I didn't realize the simple rule of "If you wouldn't do it at home, don't do it at all," is so difficult to understand.

I believe tourism is not as important as preserving a nation's culture. Visiting Japan is one of my dreams and when I'll get there, I'll do my absolute best to be respectful. It baffles me that some people think a country exists only to entertain them.

I feel honoured to have visited the Geisha district in Kyoto back in 2008 i think it was, hardly any tourists there and it was so atmospheric. I was nervous to even LOOK at a Geisha or Maiko because I thought it was rude, i can't even comprehend what these tourists are doing. It is extremely sad.

This pisses me off. I’ve always wanted to take a trip to Japan and it sucks that people are ruining it for me before I even get the chance to.

i feel strong second-hand embarrassment just hearing about this. i can't imagine being so shameless as to treat a place i'm a guest at like it's a lawless playground.

It really angers me when people graffiti on shrines, temples, and other sacred/historical places. Especially with shrines. I am Shintō but I live in America, and to be able to go to a shrine is a beautiful experience I could only hope for. That someone would damage any holy place is absolutely insane. So many people hold these places highly. It’s disgraceful.

I just came back from a two and a half week trip to Japan, which tried my best to be educated so i may be respectful and still had overwhelming felling of being unwanted everywhere i went. For context, I'm a 35 f and have studied japaness and loved the culture. Still felt that no matter how hard I tried, it all came down to japan not wanting me there simply because I wasn't japaness.

Unfortunately it is not just in Japan. We have a huge problem here in Hawai'i with tourists who disrespect the locals,the historic areas and leave trash everywhere. It's sad, and the locals are fed up and there are cases of young men going around and mobbing tourists.

It’s not just Japan. I’m from Utah and tourist vandalize things our national parks for frequently than I would like. It is just sad.

Before I went to Japan in December last year I did a bunch of research on Do's and Do Not's because even though I heard most people say some Japanese people won't care, I really want (as a foreigner) to show my respect to their ways of life and their culture. I was looking forward to doing things that would otherwise bother me in my own country of New Zealand.....things like holding on to my rubbish because rubbish bins in Japan are scarce, being quiet on public transport etc. So to see this is not only sad but quite infuriating. I hate that respectable foreigners who have the common sense not to carve their names into ancient shrines have to miss out on some of the more fascinating and historical sides of Japan because a bunch off assholes can't help themselves. 95% of me completely understands the ban but man that 5% of me is thinking come on man. Especially when it comes to the treatment of geishas. I really hope this nonsense stops soon.

Thanks for making content like this mate. I hope from the bottom of my heart it will teach some people simple manners

I moved to Japan 10 years ago. When I came here I visited Kyoto and it wasn’t very busy, I saw two Maiko and politely asked for a photo, it was no problem, my Japanese friend took the photo for me, we said thank you and went about our day. I can’t believe how much tourism has changed in just 10 years.. 10 years later, I still live here.

The "dress yakuza as geisha" concept just sounds like a Goro Majima encounter idea. Some random tourist just getting their skull fractured by a mad man wearing an eyepatch

In fairness, in Norway we also have had to use illustrations in restrooms for chinese tourists, some of whitch are actually hillarious 😂😂

Love your take on this and thanks for sharing!

Many tourists don't seem to know the difference between Disneyland and reality. In my former guise as the world's worst tour guide I ended up loudly instructing my overseas language students not to touch the horses or the soldiers at Horse Guards Parade in London. "This is not Disneyland. These are military horses and these are real soldiers." I detected a grin from the soldier on horseback. (They do attack unruly tourists.)

As a foreigner, many tourists forget we are guests. There must be a respectful way to learn from each other…

Another great video Chris, highly entertaining as always 👏

Thanks for bringing awareness to the problem

unfortunately so many tourists treat foreign countries like theme parks and don’t even consider that it’s a real place with people living their everyday lives just like them back home, like they think the whole country exists only to entertain them and stops existing when they get back on the plane… the ban might be an extreme measure but i do get the sentiment, like you mentioned here in italy it’s barely any better, we just can’t afford bans because they would tank the economy

Who can forget Logan Paul's shenanigans in Japan? He and his cronies 'threw' coins in the most holy temple; they waved a dead fish and squid at people at the Shibuya crossing; they dressed as Pokemon and ran screaming into malls, streets, restaurants. The worst was when they visited the forest known for suicides. They found a person who had sadly taken his life(hanging). Logan and friends filmed the scene while giggling and narrating it on video!

I remember staying in a hostel located near the entrance of Gion. It was such a nice place. The lack of basic etiquette, respect, and just common sense in some tourists is absolutely shocking to me, and often spoils travelling for everyone else as local residents slowly become reticent to tourists.

I first visited Kyoto in 2008. There were very few tourists. Then i visited Kyoto again in 2019. You could hardly traverse some of the sites due to the massive numbers of milling visitors. Also there were signs of disapproval aimed at tourists at the time. It was a stark difference and I was very aware of it. Things change and understandable when you have such massive numbers visiting. I will always consider my time in Kyoto (and Japan) as very special.

My last family trip years ago took us to Kyoto. In one of the shops selling souvenirs my mum was unwrapping the gifts to check the item one by one, that would have been ok but then she was not putting them back properly. And I saw the poor young shop lady putting each one back into its plastic wrapper. I had to tell my mum to stop it. Ive never felt so embarrased to be a tourist in Japan...

This is tragic. I went to Japan recently and one of my biggest fears was people looking at me as a foreigner in a negative way. However, I was treated so kindly that and the joy I felt when everyone I interacted with seemed so excited to meet me and see that I was interested in their culture. I am frustrated that these kind of people give many Japanese people a negative perspective of foreigners.

As someone who wants to visit Japan I'm very grateful previous tourists managed to ruin the experience for everyone else!

I literally just got back from a 2 week trip there and it went really well for us. I was in a kinda big group but we had a great time. It’s unfortunate that all this is going on.

I went to Japan 5 years ago, with my 5 year old daughter with bright red hair. She got a lot of attention from the locals as they're not used to see young children with red hair (and my daughters hair is very bright) but not once did she get her hair grabbed and pulled, nor was she stopped and asked for photographs, but instead the Japanese were very respectful and looked embarrassed when we caught them looking. The only ones who were noticeably paying attention were (and this is so cliche) were teenage girls, who would fall about in giggles and whisper 'kawaii' to each other. Not that my daughter minded, she worked it out very quickly and would try to attract their attention. The lesson is simple - Japan will be respectful to you as an outsider, so you should be respectful back.

Never been to Japan and have always wanted to go. But life continues to get in the way. It makes me sad that there are people in the world who are just okay with ruining experiences for everyone else including those who want to go and haven't been able to go yet.

Another great video, as always. Thank you.

I lived in Iwakuni when they were renovating the shrine on Miyajima. While the shrine itself was in need of repairs, it was extremely sad to learn at the time why the torii gate needed to be worked on. Such disrespect. I would say banning tourists from places may be a necessary evil, but I would also say the blanket banning of all who "look" like tourists to them (Japanese) would be a step too far. Residents who actually live here shouldn't be banned, and very often it is the case that residents are more respectful than some Japanese, yet we consistently get treated and talked to on a daily basis as if we're mere tourists.

I'm currently in Japan as a tourist, the amount of loud obnoxious tourists is astounding. However the locals are all quite happy and polite as soon as I attempt what I feel is the bare minimum of courtesy , learning please and thankyou and TURNING YOUR PHONE ON SILENT ON THE TRAIN and just in general not being a twat. Honestly back home in Aus I work in tourism related stuff, and the same issues exist, and I don't know if it's just proximity and population, but mainland asia seeems to have the most disrespectful tourists I've ever seen.

I think it's good to be reminded about the kindness of a host country allowing tourists in at all. Too often tourists may think their tourist money is desperately wanted and that, because of that, they are allowed to defile the host country. (What's with wanting to defile?)

Currently in japan. Spent 5 days in Kyoto. Was super bummed at how many carvings I saw in the bamboo forest. Also in amongst the bamboo around Fushimi Inari. Also while hiking up the mountain found people on two occasions stepping places they shouldn't, just to get their perfect photo. And I was hiking that at 7am. My soul hurts thinking what happens around there at peak hours.

The gladiator edit is absolutely glorious

Went to Kyoto a few months ago and can confirm that according to a local guide we got they disallowed pictures in the area because a tourist (he suspected Chinese but not 100% sure) got angry and pulled a Geisha’s hair and threw a lit cigarette down her kimono which burned her because she didn’t wanna take a picture with them. Immediately after the no pictures signs every 30 feet popped up

I was so excited to see the street and the buildings too 😭

I lived in Kyoto for two years. Gion is such an amazing place to be able to explore. Like it’s not hard to be respectful of the culture and people. I will never understand how people can be so reprehensible.

I think part of the reason is that recently Japan has blown up as a tourist destination on social media. A few years ago, most people didn't consider visiting Japan unless they already had some interest or understanding of the country and culture. However now people are going there because they saw it on Tiktok or Instagram, without bothering to do any research. I recently started working for a travel agency and it doesn't help that the tour operators feature pictures of geisha and other women in kimono heavily in their brochures, as if they are some sort of tourist attraction. Sometimes they give bad travel advice as well - one pack I printed out for a customer said "you should ask permission before taking someone's photo and you might have to pay them a fee".

It honestly makes me quite mad that some tourists can't just behave normally. Anyone with common sense and common decency wouldn't do stuff like carve their names into a temple or shrine etc. Unfortunate that this is also ruining the experience for everyone else...

I just came back from a vacation in japan. We were able to visit gion and it is stunning but we also saw a lot of tourists just ignoring the signs and take photos. We also saw a lot of the bamboo that got carved into, not only in the bamboo grove but also on mt. itari, when we hiked up a route that is not full of tourists. Some of those places have a really nice way to leave something at the place without needing to carve your name into something. On the way up to the top of mt. inari we came to a small place with a waterfall and a shrine, there was a board were people left pictures of themselfs and also notebooks to write into. The same we saw in other places, we didn't write or leave a picture but we loved it. You don't need to write or carve your name on/into anything to leave a mark in japan if you want to. We talked about other tourists a lot because of the disrespectful things we saw. It is not hard to follow the little rules that are put up and are mostly common sense. I feel sad knowing that there will be places we will probably not be able to visit if some tourists can't get their shit together but I also understand it. Japan is beautiful and it would be a shame if its beauty would get destroyed by mindless tourists, that are not able to differentiate between a trashcan and a toilet.

Good stuff. I thought I'd leave this video fuming but you managed to deliver it with levity.

We were in the Kyoto bamboo forest and it is horrible that people carve in to the trees. We read a translated article from a Japanese news site, authorities were baffled by the behavior because there were signs telling you not to do it, and each language that was used to carve in to the trees had a notice in that language. Such a nice idea, we asked nicely, we know you understood we are baffled why you would still do it.

Why is the fine for defiling an ancient monument only 300.000 yen, that's way to cheap for such actions!

I was scared when I read an article recently that Japan is now Australia’s Top 5 Holiday Destination. Scared that Kyoto will be the next Bali…

I never thought that I would hear the phrase "kore wa pen desu" in another Abroad in Japan Video, yet there it was 😂

This reminds me so much of the tourists who mess with the military guard around Bukingham & St James's Palace. It's frustrating and just plain disrespectful when people do zero research into cultural norms and practices.

Me and my wife got married at Yasaka Shrine at Gion district. On the restaurant we held the celebration, which was nearby the shrine, there was a option to hire two geishas for 1 hour to entertain the guests, of course we took it. It was a great experience, none of the guests(almost all of them Japanese) had ever talked to a geisha before. Such shame seeing what’s happening there. The restaurant name is 菊乃井(Kikunoi)is surprisingly unknown and quite affordable for a 3 Michelin stars, I really recommend the food.

I've always been fascinated with Japanese culture and history as it just felt "different" in a way, but I think what it really is, is their maintaining of cultural traditions and art forms and stuff.

One key point regarding tourists being banned from certain streets within Gion. The only areas that are off limits are the smaller private roads, unless you have a reservation at one of the establishments in the area.

As an introvert, Japan COVID times were the best time to explore Japan for a tourist like me (military stationed in Japan). There were no loud tourists walking down the streets on the weekends and hotel prices wasn't as expensive. Japanese people were also more friendly because they weren't so busy tending to customers.

Misbehaving tourists is a major problem all over the world. I've seen tourists steal corn from a farmer's field in Iowa (jokes on them as it was flint corn, not sweetcorn), dump silver carp in the Arkansas River, litter in Yellowstone, and walk in front of a mountain bike trying to cause an accident in Tahoe. Laughing because the rider almost wrecked dodging them. There is a reason I don't travel much anymore.

That was sad that I was going to go over there and go trial a Komodo now it’s gone. This is too sad for me now. I will always love their culture and their way of living

Banning foreigners altogether is beyond the line. I agree that there must be control, though. The best compromise I can figure is establishing limited size tour groups overseen by licensed guides and a strict code of conduct that leaves no leeway for boorish behavior. I know I have hopes of visiting Japanese historical sites and would be _VERY_ miffed if I couldn't sightsee temples or castles, or worse, was forbidden from talking to a geisha and asking questions about their profession. It's a fascinating analogue to the Western bard.

I used to work at the New England Aquarium in Boston MA, and I quit because the tourists were so bad. So many people would throw things into the penguin enclosure that the penguins could choke on, and I even saw an ADULT, not even a child, GRAB the TAIL of a stingray and pull on it. These people are beyond saving

Honestly if everyone treated different cultures respectfully this wouldn’t have happened.

It's not often i actually laugh out loud, but that "Ivan + Haley 23" in the Gladiator coliseum got me

Flashbacks to 2004/2005 when I was a royal guard stationed outside the Norwegian palace, when bus-loads of japanese tourists would engage in pretty much the same behavior. Not saying one thing justifies the other, just pointing out that they're not exactly great tourists either. Practice what you preach type of deal.

its a problem everywhere. tulip farmers here in the Netherlands had to put up signs asking people (ineffectually) to not stand in the tulip fields and trample the crops. Unfrotunatly people seem to forget the places they are on holiday in are peoples homes an businesses. they aren't well curated open air museums or amusement parks.

Bro, even as a tourist, I got a taste of the rude apples. I was in Kyoto at Kiyomizu-dera standing on the edge of the path where you could get a view of the pagoda and the temple without fighting a crowd. It was in the afternoon and the balconies within the temple were filled with people. Until suddenly, I was forcefully shoved to the side at Kiyomizu Temple by some random tourists who just wanted a group photo. They didn't ask me to move. That action was beyond rude like I was just an NPC to them. Rather than cause a scene, I just went home after that to cool off. I just went to other Kyoto places insanely early in the morning to avoid these people. Like, I understand the excitement, but you've gotta have even the slightest level of respect. I can't with these people.

While I am on board with the ban for the sake of protecting Japan and its people & culture from misbehaving tourists, part of me feels sad because I really so badly want to visit Japan and treat it with the respect it deserves. But there are too many uneducated tourists who don't even show a lick of decency and think the whole world is a theme park. As long as we can realize that the places we travel to are not theme parks and are actually countries with everyday people living local in the same way we do, then we can be able to learn something from this and have a sense of humility when we come to visit.

I don't think it's going too far to ban foreign tourism in certain areas if the ones who are doing the defiling aren't paying adequately enough for their disrespectful acts. It sends a message to the rest of the world not to be a dick if you're visiting another land.

It's sad to hear that. When I was over ther in 2015 on exchange for 3 months my host family took me to the same place and I felt so honoured becasue while in a hair pin shop a Geiko came up to me and asked if she could have a photo taken with me. One of the many highlights of my time there. I hate that people don't have the common respect you should have for people and their culture.

After 4 trips to Japan (2006 - 2018) and falling in love with the people and their wonderful country, it breaks my heart that anyone would disrespect this absolutely beautiful, clean, orderly place! My kids were taught as I was to respect rules and to know right from wrong. A basic thing that is missing in so many people in the world today. I am from the US and I always felt that I was representing my country as mush as myself while visiting Japan. Chris, so many experiences we had in Japan were gifted us by your awesome channel! While bans will definitely affect those who visit and would never be a problem they are worth that if Japan and the Japanese people can protect their heritage and culture. Thanks for the opportunity to see more of Japan through your delightful eyes!

4:27 pay your editor a Christmas bonus this year. That was a stroke of *genius* 😂😅😂

I have to say what I allowed myself while being a tourist in Japan. There is the Hozukyo train station the one you could get lucky arriving into if you skip getting off a train at Arashiyama station. It is a beautiful bridge over the river between mountains station from which you can get off into the wilderness. So there after a 5 min walk there is an old red bridge with a pretty dusty metal. And this dust was where I wrote my name with a finger and a date of visiting. It was in 2019 and to my surprise when I came back to the same spot in 2022 that dust and my sign was still there. Felt pretty mind boggling.

I think the best solution would be to actually make examples to deter bad behaviour. Slap a massive fine and deportation, no one likes paying thousands in fines and being humilitated by being escorted by police to the next available flight. I know its hard to babysit every tourist and its sad it has come to as far as banning foreigners. Im half japanese and after the logan paul and that somali guy incident ive become more angrier towards people who make mockery of the privilege of visiting a country and ruin the fun for everyone else.

in Portugal we had a french tourist lady spray paint red one of our oldest monuments by the river, the amount of money it took to recover the monument to a fairly decent state was quite a sum. Needless to say that after that nobody can come as close to the monument and cops patrol the area even more now. People can't be respectful, if you can't be respectful don't go visit other countries.

That Gladiator moment was a classic

sad too see for sure, but if the situation is better this way, good for them.

When my wife and I visited in October, we noticed the "no photography" signs in that area. Apparently, we were the ONLY ones who noticed because it looked like a damn rave with all the flashes at night.

My aunt travelled to Japan a few years ago and told me amazing stories about the country. I really hate when people ruin the experience for others.

Been there 7 years ago and it was absolutely beautiful. I can’t say it was empty, but it wasn’t overcrowded and you had plenty of time to enjoy the views and take some photos. Except Ginkakuji, that one was already exploding from tourists. This year though, Kyoto was probably the saddest thing I’ve seen all through my one month travel. It was barely impossible to even move at most nice areas. It was unbelievably dirty, I was so shocked - Told my family beforehand how clean it was there and was proud to show it to them. As most of you probably know, Japan doesn’t really have a lot of possibilities to throw away your trash while your outside, except the bins for plastic bottles and cans. Wherever there were such, the place was overflowing with trash - absolutely disgusting. The tourists tried to shove every kind of trash inside, almost clogged every single bin and just threw the rest next to it after that. Everywhere where there was a lot of tourism, I didn’t even want to use some of the toilets. Everywhere where there were none, the toilets were the cleanest place you could imagine - Not comparable to any other country I’ve been to. Altogether I still had another great travel through the absolute nicest country in this world, but I feel so sorry for the Japanese. It’s unbelievable how much has happened since I’ve been there the last time. Since I‘ve been travelling around the whole country for the third time now, I’d like to share some lesser knows places in Japan, where you can enjoy the culture, everything great about Japan, and really feel the atmosphere and feel what Japan is about. But after experiencing the changes and seeing this video, I decided not doing that is probably the better decision. I‘d be devastated if Japan banned tourists from certain places or activities, but if that’s the only way to help the situation, then please do it! I also know that nowadays many Japanese, especially younger people, are more open to foreigners, immigrants, tourists, or whatever and want their country to also be more international and open. But I‘m sorry to say you don’t know what problems it brings, especially in such a well-functioning, respect based society. I, as a foreigner myself, really beg you not to do it and protect your unique country!

Sadly, it seems this is common behavior around the world. I was in Olympia, Katakolon at the Olympic ruins in Greece in 2017, people were climbing the ruins to take pictures. They have volunteers who sentry and when they see someone doing this behavior, they blow a whistle and right away call out the tourist.

I am a foreign resident in Japan and this news made me both angry and very sad. I live near Kyoto and spend time in Gion frequently. With the government making that decision, I fear I can't go anymore without attracting ire. I'm very sad, but I also understand the decision. Edit: I also don't think the 10,000¥ fine was ever applied, which didn't help the situation. I've told tourists before that the sign clearly says no pictures, and they felt free to ignore it because there were no consequences (beyond me, another foreigner, berating them). I want to make it clear I have never so much as followed or addressed a geisha or maiko when I've seen one (they are busy and I respect their personal space). I know that's not the case for everybody.

I live and work in an outdoorsy tourist area in California and it seems since covid people have lost thier minds. Any respect for locals or the natural beauty is right out the door.

Its a bit of a mixed bag for me, I had my second trip to Japan this Christmas through New years. I really wanted to get out out see more than just Tokyo this time. You get enough people in an area there are always going to be bad apples. Over new years I saw literally 10's of thousands of people packed into Kyoto. For the most part everyone I saw was very respectful. I certainly saw some real SoB's from time to time but it was very few. That said I worry that some of this is an excuse to keep other nationalities out of areas regardless of tourism or not. While my stay in Kyoto was amazing my stay in Osaka was absolutely terrible. In the week I was there I was rode into the wall by people on bicycles several time, even though there are clearly signs that are huge AF that cycling on the sidewalk is not allowed. I was not allowed in several bars that were in the main tourist hub and generally people were not polite at the restaurants I went to, I would be seated but the hospitality I experienced in Kyoto and Tokyo as a patron just was not there a lot of the time. It was incredibly draining and I was so happy to get back to Tokyo for my final few days where the acceptance of foreigners was genuine.

I recently went to a tropical butterfly house in the UK. Had to tell three separate groups of adults not to grab or pick up the butterflies - I'd have thought it was common sense, but seemingly not. Sometimes it's lack of awareness, and people sort themselves out when they're made aware - but sometimes they keep right on with their behaviour. Depressing.

i think it’s amazing that japan is taking measures to protect its nation and culture, no matter how sad it is for tourists

I was part of a tour group conducted by the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and I saw a Chinese tourist throw his drink can behind a stack of crates at the Imperial Palace. The fact that he went out of the way to throw it in a hidden spot tells you that he knew littering was not allowed, but he littered anyway.

While I understand what theyre going through, but to ban ALL foreign tourist because of what, probably less than 1% of the tourist did is kinda extreme. I just hope this plan to ban all foreign tourist made by the oh-so highly local japanese government is not one of those reactionary plan that's gonna be good for the short term, but causing damage in the long run. Cause I'll be honest, other than I cant visit kyoto in the future, I'm kinda worried about the local economy too.

Respect is a huge part of love. I pray we love always. Keep Japan Japanese!

At first I was sad when I heard I won't be able to visit that part of Kyoto when I eventually visit Japan. But after some research I learned that those streets are privately owned and the area was never really intended to be publicly available and it only stayed open out of consideration for tourists who might not know that they are trespassing. Even though it's a bit sad I won't be able to go there, I fully respect their decision to close it off so everyone living and working there can do so in piece.

As someone who’s always wanted to go to Japan but never had the chance, this pisses me off 😢

It will also affect local businesses in the Gion area. There are many guesthouses and small hotels in that area, I wonder if they will have to shut and move if foreigners are not allowed to enter that area.

They should do a permit system, where A) you have to pay, which will act as a disincentive and B) have limited number of people who can enter which makes things easier to track so if anyone does misbehave, they can have their permit revoked and forced to leave the area

I'm currently in Japan and just finished my trip in Kyoto. I saw So many tourists take photos where there were signs saying not to. Being rude to locals. It was embarrassing. I saw locals getting mad at me just for existing there. 😭

I'm from Ireland and that was a big part of my upbringing because ireland is also an island nation mostly cut off from the west that only recently modernised. We have some of the most ancient lands and structures around. It would baffle me if people started carving into ancient castles in our country that is a big no no

ok congrats on 1.3 mill views in 7 days!

That's so sad. Years a go I bumped into a Geisha one evening in Gion, waiting at the lights to cross the road, I asked if it was ok to talk and she gave me a few moments to have a chat about the Miyako Odori, I had tickets the next day and she said she was in the show. It's a moment I cherish from a time when the only other tourists I would see were Japanese.

One thing I’ll always remember from visiting Japan is visiting local restaurants to try local cuisine, and a bunch of them immediately assuming I wanted sushi and trying to shoo me out while telling me off for ‘wanting sushi’. I can only assume the experiences they’ve had to have that reaction to me simply walking in. People suck. To be clear, they were always very apologetic the moment I was able to explain what I wanted, usually by pointing at an outside menu and saying kore. And the food was always lovely, just felt really bad for everyone involved.

Tourists as a combined group ruin everything but it is tragic if they start equating all travelers or maybe even their local foreign-looking residents with tourists.

Chris I just recently discovered your amazing videos about at least a month ago, and they bring much humor and joy on your experiences. It really makes me sad that some people can be so disrespectful and ruin it for others who want to embrace a beautiful culture through your eyes, and enjoy the comedy you provide as well. Seriously dude, a few days ago I watched on RU-vid Natsuki and Joey's ASO video and it was amazing. Also the episode with the Mt. Fuji climbing was epic. I know you do crazy challenges, but I would love to Natsuki doing his own version of a Japanese tea ceremony. Honestly the few videos I have seen brought me peace calm and serenity, but I would love to see your guys take on it, especially with Natsuki. Honestly I think he is a cool dude who could make anyone smile and uplift them when they need a good chuckle. Keep making great videos, and I'm sure Ken Watanabe doesn't want to maim you. The dude actually made a move with Ryan Reynolds about Pokémon for crying out loud. Take care and looking forward to more of your wonderful experiences.

I saw some videos of tourists harassing the palace guards in the UK recently, people genuinely think other countries are theme parks