• Professorozone@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Tourists who can afford to fly on an airplane and therefore presumably understand how a toilet works are actually defecating in yards? I admit I didn’t read the article but it doesn’t pass my smell test.

    • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      Lots of narrative building going on in this thread. I’m in another comment chain where the case is being made that Japan has the best maintained and widely available toilets in the world and yet people are still choosing to break into homes to use the bathroom and defecate in the open despite this. Hard to believe anyone can genuinely buy this so one can only assume that the underlying intention is, rather than having a discussion in good faith, to pit this on one group of people while absolving the organizers of any accountability.

      Which is their prerogative but it’s important that they acknowledge their bias. Japan is headed towards an alarming demographic collapse with 40% of its population being pensioners by 2046. Tourism is one of the few industries that will keep their economy and social services afloat, so I do genuinely hope they figure this out, for their sake.

    • theyoyomaster@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      You would be surprised what percentage of the world, even those with access to air travel, aren’t that familiar with a western or Japanese toilet. Now shitting on someone’s yard is a different issue all together but I’ve seen plenty of hotels with signage in the bathroom of how to use the toilet and specifying that you need to be in the shower when taking a shower.

      • Professorozone@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Talked to a friend that lives in Japan and he was confused about the defecating thing but definitely corroborated the dislike for Chinese tourist groups.

  • A_cook_not_a_chef@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Maybe I’m too Usian to understand this but the article doesn’t call out tourists from any particular country. So it’s odd to me that China is being called out so much in the comments.

    • bossito@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      People know… If this news was from somewhere in Europe everyone would be blaming the Brits in the comments. It’s known…

      • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 days ago

        I doubt it.

        Americans and Brits tourists here in Europe do indeed have a certain reputation, but Chinese tourists have such a bad reputation that Brits and Americans are welcomed with open arms.

        The biggest problem are the groups though. Any group is going to behave badly, nationality doesn’t matter. And that in combination with how different Chinese culture is in some aspects just has given them a bad reputation worldwide.

    • darthinvidious@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Seems odd to me as well. I feel like we need proof other than strangers on the Internet just making claims.

    • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      tourists shitting in the street is a “china bad” dogwhistle. i used to live near a tourist destination so i’m used to that blending in with my tinnitus

    • Bloomcole@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      China bad, even when it’s good.
      Extreme mental gymnastics to twist literally anything . The US certainly isn’t innocent on this.
      So obvious and absurd it has become a meme and something to ridicule.
      Example

  • udon@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    My impression overall here is that most tourists try to behave very well. I see people from my home country offer gentle gestures like carrying an elderly person’s bag up the stairs that they would not do at home.

    The problem are the 3 fuckers among 10000 who behave like shit, and the fact that there are so many tourists especially in high season.

  • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Maybe Japan could just, you know, erect public trash cans like so many other countries.

    • kcuf@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      I was amazed there weren’t public trash receptacles when I was there (I was only there for a couple days though, maybe I just missed it).

        • kcuf@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          I was pretty confused about what to do at one point. I bought a water from a 7/11 while walking around in Tokyo and didn’t know what to do until an old lady it a subway market (also kind of wild) took it, washed it, and put it in her backpack when I gestured for the trash.

            • kcuf@lemmy.world
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              3 days ago

              Smart. I stopped there at the end of the trip, and I figured Japan would be the least of my worries, so I was under prepared for this issue.

      • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Yeah. So? Most reactions to terror attacks are very irrational. This is among them.

        • cash@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          We don’t have bins in lots of train stations here for similar reasons. Doesn’t mean people are shitting on the fucking ground to make up for it.

          • hydroptic@sopuli.xyz
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            4 days ago

            “No trash cans?! Goddamnit, all I wanted was to throw my candy wrapper away but now I’m going to shit on the ground on principle”

            • woelkchen@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              Trash cans against littering, public restrooms to relieve themselves.

              Not really too hard of a concept to grasp.

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    It really is just tourists that people are talking about whenever right wing lunatics talk about borders.

  • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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    4 days ago

    I don’t get it. I’ve never been on vacation, and people say that makes me “culturally stunted”, but then I look into visiting places, and see nothing but locals complaining about tourists doing the most horrific shit.

    It would check out that imperial cultures think that pissing off locals is a culturally enriching activity, but I’m a better person than that.

    • traxex@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 days ago

      I mean you could also just be a good tourist. Learn the language, understand the culture, be respectful. It really isn’t hard. Some of the most ignorant people I know are the ones who refuse to travel outside of their own bubble.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I’m gonna be real here, most of that’s great, but I ain’t learning Japanese to visit Japan, I’m just going to use a translator app and apologize

        • traxex@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 days ago

          Sure, I definitely think key words and phrases is great. More than that is going above and beyond. People will appreciate the effort.

  • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    Worth reviewing what type of sanitation services are available. If people are completely ignoring adequate public recepticles and bathrooms then that can be addressed a variety of ways but that seems relatively less likely in my opinion.

    Especially with people breaking into homes to use the bathroom. Hard to imagine anyone resorting to this except out of sheer desperation, which would suggest that the number of people being invited over is simply too many for the infrastructure to handle.

    If the infrastructure is inadequate to handle the volume of people then cancelling the event or limiting visitors is the responsible thing to do. It will come with an economic hit (I imagine quite a few businesses see increased sales volume during the festival) but for the dignity of both the tourists and residents it’s important not to stretch the existing infrastructure beyond capacity.

    Would be interesting to hear what the tourists perspective have been over the past few years, especially if the issue got this bad.

    • udon@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      You have never been to Japan, have you? If any country in the world has excellent public bathroom infrastructure, it’s Japan. Always clean, generally free, and within 1-2 minutes walking range.

      • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        The already existing infrastructure may be of good quality but it doesn’t really matter if the capacity isn’t there to meet the volume of people.

        In fact, let’s agree that your point is true. Wouldn’t people want to use those immaculately maintained facilities and, if they aren’t, could it be because the wait is too long?

        I have trouble buying a narrative that any person chose to skip over a widely available well maintained public toilet to break into a person’s home and use their bathroom. You should too.

        • udon@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I agree that most people wouldn’t opt for that, but most tourists also don’t behave like that. The vast majority behaves very well, they are somewhat aware of Japanese manners and try to adapt (sometimes in sweet, dorky ways, but who am I to judge, I probably look the same).

          There are a few people who do this and they ruin the image for everyone.

          The issue is not the infrastructure, really. It is excellent and in excellent condition, across the country.

          Imagine you have perfect toilets, some even designed by star architects, free to use for everyone and clean. And some fucker just decides to take a dump in someone’s garden, for whatever reason. Is that the problem of the infrastructure?

          • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
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            5 days ago

            Doesn’t matter how famous the architect who made the toilet was if there’s only one of them per 100 people at a tourist event compared to the one per 10 any other time of the year. I’ve seen lots of fancy toilets but none of them have been able to hold 10 butts at once.

            • udon@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Seriously though, Japan has the best toilet infrastructure in the world as far as I can tell, in terms of maintenance and quantity. Tourists don’t shit in people’s gardens in other countries as much, or at least it doesn’t get scandalized. I assume it doesn’t happen all that often here either, probably those were 1-2 cases that get hyped up. But toilet infrastructure is really the last thing you have to worry about.

              Also, it’s not like all of a sudden 1000 people spawn in the same spot and all have to take a shit within the next 2 minutes. I expect tourists, especially adults, to be able to plan their dumping schedule at least 10 minutes ahead in regular times. If there are a few emergencies, the Japanese toilet infrastructure can accomodate for them. There are not 1000 emergencies at the same time. Just walk for 2 minutes or across the street to the next convenience store and take a shit there.

              Other than that, the star architect toilet tour through tokyo is one of my recommendations for friends coming to visit. It’s really an experience!

          • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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            5 days ago

            For whatever reason? What could possibly be the reason? If the toilets are as remarkable and pristine as youve shared, it’s hard to imagine any reason someone would choose to do that. Unless you’re saying the tourist is doing it out of spite which still leaves us with the question of why.

            • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              5 days ago

              I imagine China doesn’t have the infrastructure Japan has and they’re simply doing what they’re accustomed to doing when travelling their own country.

              • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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                5 days ago

                You genuinely think a person would forgo a functional (let’s take udon’s word for it - world class) toilet to break into someone’s house in a foreign country just to use their bathroom? That doesn’t seem like a stretch to you?

                • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  4 days ago

                  Like I said, if they’re accustomed to bad infrastructure, why would they expect it elsewhere?

                  Besides that, tourists often travel in group. Even the best infrastructure can’t accommodate a large bus of tourists are once. I’ve been to Japan, the more touristy places actually have signs specifically addressing the Chinese on what not to do, so it does point at it being a larger problem there.

            • udon@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Bro has never been here and thinks he can make a reasonable argument

              • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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                5 days ago

                Feel free to make a counter argument based on your personal experience, if you actually have one. What would be the reason?