Wednesday, February 5, 2020

"Japanese manners videos show how to be a 'really cool' traveler in Japan"


Image and text from Japan Today, 2/5/20.

Japan is currently in the midst of a tourism boom at the moment, with 31.9 million foreign tourists traveling to the country in 2019, breaking the previous record for the seventh year running.

Now with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics roughly half a year away, tourist numbers are set to swell even further, prompting the Japan Tourism Agency to create a number of etiquette videos to educate travelers on some of the finer points of everyday Japanese life.

Ten videos in total have been released, covering everything from communal bathing to how to ride the trains, with the central theme based around the fact that tourists can be “really cool” by taking care to consider others during their travels.

While the new awareness campaign recalls the “Cool Japan” marketing concept promoted by the government in recent years, it also contains a wealth of useful information for visitors. So how should foreign travelers escape the ire of Japanese locals by being considerate to those around them? ...[T]ake a look at the videos...


Of the ten, I will include three in this post. The first two are about taking photos in public in Japan:

Taking Pictures Part 1



Taking Pictures Part 2



The third one is about public transportation. It gives advice to give up priority seats to pregnant women and senior citizens. But it does not mention disabled people...

Public Transportation



What??? So much for barrier free and accessibility...

The other videos deal with Walking on the Streets, Traditional Buildings, Public Baths and Hotels, Restaurants and Public Spaces. Check them out (if you want) at the source below. And check out the reader comments as well. Some readers have said that perhaps some Japanese people themselves should watch and heed these videos...

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/japanese-manners-videos-show-how-to-be-a-'really-cool'-traveller-in-japan

No comments: