"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

"Japan’s picture ID before World War II"

Images and text borrowed from The Japan Times, 2/2/16.

[T]he Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo currently has an exhibition of tourism posters and other promotional material from the 1920s and ’30s. It is a fascinating and at times unusually beautiful glimpse into how different art movements, regional craft practices and the spirit of the times contribute to forming commercial visual culture.

Given that the function of a promotional poster is to seduce you, with perhaps only a few seconds in which to do it, you can expect to feel pandered to — complex history and culture, beautiful landscapes and far-east exoticism have been condensed into powerfully sweet eye-candy. A surprising range of media were employed in this, including traditional woodblock prints, painting and photography. For many of the exhibits, the level of creativity and design is very high, commensurate with the desire to show off Japan at its best.

Apart from this, the exhibition is a great opportunity to consider how Japan’s national identity was constructed in the interwar years. It should be no surprise that the “come hither” message relied heavily on sexuality to catch the viewer’s eye. Many of the posters use images of young women in kimono as a stand in for Japan as a whole.

In a 1911 poster for the South Manchurian Railway by artist Renzo Kita, a demure female companion sits across from us in a railway carriage with the sun setting behind an ancient stupa in the window behind her. The poster is sponsored by Thomas Cook, and is in the style of an Edwardian illustration. The copy tells us that the new rail link brings London “within a fortnight’s journey from Tokyo, Peking and Shanghai, thus saving much time and money, as well as the tedium of a long sea-voyage.”

Our female companion is depicted in a style characteristic of the Gothic period to portray aristocratic or sacred figures; languid, expressionless, elongated and pale. Her blue kimono is decorated with white lilies, symbolic of chastity and purity. On her obi is a butterfly, the symbol of the soul, and perhaps a nod to the opera by Puccini, which had premiered seven years earlier. The undergarment below the kimono is a warm ruddy orange, and using a visual pun common to shunga (erotic prints), appears at the edge of the sleeves as wrinkled slit-shaped orifices. The artist seems to be the same Renzo Kita who later created the solemn historical painting “Last Moments of Admiral Yamaguchi,” which commemorates the admiral’s death in the 1942 Battle of Midway.

...

“Visit Japan: Tourism Promotion in the 1920s and 1930s” at the The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo runs until Feb. 28; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ¥430 (includes admission to the “MOMAT Collection”). Closed Mon.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/02/02/arts/japans-picture-id-world-war-ii/

Exhibition website: http://www.momat.go.jp/english/am/exhibition/visit_japan/

"JNTO launches video contest for non-Japanese"

From The Japan Times, November 30, 2015.

The Japan National Tourism Organization has announced it will hold a video contest for non-Japanese tourists and residents as part of a campaign to promote the country through foreigners’ eyes.

Those who wish to participate in the”My Japan Story Video Challenge” contest should post a locally shot video to any of the JNTO’s social networking accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Weibo and Youku with the hashtag #MyJapanStory.

The videos must not exceed 10 minutes in length and must be submitted by Jan. 30, but there is no limit on number of videos.

The submissions can feature scenery, tourist spots, food, traditional culture or anything in Japan the participants feel is appealing.

Any non-Japanese can take part in the contest regardless of age, nationality or level of experience, including professional filmmakers, it said.

The JNTO will announce the winners in February based on criteria including content and number of shares. The prizes may include an airplane ticket to Japan and traditional Japanese crafts.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/30/national/jnto-launches-video-contest-for-non-japanese/

JNTO website: http://myjapanstory.jnto.go.jp/en/

"京都のあきまへん ~AKIMAHEN of Kyoto~" // Manners for Tourists in Japan

Article from Japan Today, 9/6/15:

Kyoto creates infographic to show tourists how to visit politely

With thousands of temples, beautiful gardens, geisha and maiko (geisha-in-training), and more history than you can shake an encyclopedia at, Kyoto is the place to be when visiting Japan. So with so many tourists from around the world crowding into the city, a few are bound to step out of line.

Thankfully TripAdvisor Japan created a handy infographic showing how to politely visit Kyoto. Kyotoites are understandably protective of their city and its cultural and historical treasures, and some will not hesitate to correct you if you’re doing something rude or wrong. So to be sure that everyone is on the same page, here are a few simple rules to keep in mind when you visit this wonderful city.

A lot of the rules are simply covering the basics, such as no smoking outside designated areas, not bringing your own food or drink into a restaurant, and not taking photos too close to the train tracks.

However there may be some others that surprise you. Each rule has an “akimahen” rating (“akimahen” meaning “don’t!” in Kyoto dialect) which goes on a scale of one disappointed face to three really angry faces. Here we go!

Don’t smoke or litter! The ancient kami (gods) are watching you!

Not smoking or littering is considered a common courtesy around the world, but with so many historical landmarks and UNESCO world heritage sites around, it is especially important to keep the great outdoors of Kyoto as fresh and clean as mother nature made it.

As far as tipping goes, it is usually frowned upon in all parts of Japan. But if you really want to let someone in Kyoto know that you appreciated their service, a simple okini (pronounced like “oaky knee” and meaning thank you in Kyoto dialect) would be a perfectly nice gesture.

Speaking from personal experience, if you are unable to ask an elaborately dressed maiko for a picture, snapping a quick photo in stealth mode from a respectful distance is also an option. But don’t blame us for any finger-wagging that may ensue.

Bicycle laws in Japan have become a lot more strict recently, especially in Kyoto where the streets are very narrow. It’s a very popular city to bicycle in, and they can’t have drunken cyclists leaving their bikes all over the place or there would be chaos.

Not standing in line in an orderly fashion and making chefs sad are problems that are increasingly cropping up in the news in Japan. It takes only a few incidents to ruin things for everybody, and no one likes the taste of chefs’ tears in their food, so let’s be courteous of other people, people.

Many buildings and artifacts in Kyoto are centuries, sometimes thousands of years, old, so it is very important to prolong their life as much as possible. Touching them or taking pictures with the flash on can damage artifacts, so it is essential to pay attention to all signage when sightseeing.

Removing your hat and sunglasses may seem strange at first, but this is one of the etiquette rules that isn’t about preservation, but making sure no one feels uncomfortable. Japan is just coming around on allowing hoodies up during the day, but sunglasses and hats are still signs of shady behavior and can make some people feel uneasy.

So what do you think? Do you agree with Kyoto’s rules of etiquette? Or does it make it seem like too uptight a place that you’d never want to visit?

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/kyoto-creates-infographic-to-show-tourists-how-to-visit-politely

I would disagree with the article in terms of taking stealth photos of maiko (or anybody/anything else). And removing hats and sunglasses in sacred places and/or when praying isn't so hard to understand (it's not about whether or not Japanese people are uncomfortable about hats and sunglasses!) - would you wear a hat or sunglasses in a church? Looking at the original poster, a lot of the "rules" seem to be "common sense" about being polite in public in Kyoto. I think the photo etiquette warnings are useful. Perhaps tourists without much knowledge of Japanese culture might appreciate such advice, especially regarding broken rules that could end up with fines. But many of the comments by readers at the Japan Today article seemed (overly?) offended by the poster. Check out their comments.

Trip Adviser Japan webpage: http://tg.tripadvisor.jp/news/graphic/kyototourism2/

"Hiroshima eyes tourist boost with cat’s-eye view of city streets"

Photo and text borrowed from The Japan Times, 9/4/15.

Tourism bosses in Hiroshima Prefecture have come up with what they hope will draw more feline-loving visitors: a Google-style street view for cats.

Billed as a world’s first, officials this week launched an online map that explores the streets of the port city of Onomichi from the “purrspective” of a four-pawed visitor.

“We decided to focus on cats because they know everything about the city, including the back streets,” a tourism spokesman at Hiroshima Prefecture said.

He added that the city of about 150,000 people is known for its many felines and has a street known as “Cat Lane.”

The map is based on the perspective of Lala, a fluffy kitty with emerald-colored eyes, who lives with a local hair salon owner.

So far the map covers just two streets but plans to expand its reach are in the works using a camera attached to a stick that hovers 20 cm above the ground.

Viewers can trace what Lala — appointed the head of the prefecture’s “back street tourism” division — sees from her low-level perspective.

The unlikely feline-focused tourism bid is not Japan’s first.

Wakayama Prefecture drew thousands of tourists to a regional train station where a cat served as nominal stationmaster.

Tortoiseshell-colored Tama was credited with single-pawedly saving the provincial Kishigawa Line after being appointed master of tiny Kishi Station.

With the regional railway losing money, the station lost its last human employee in April 2006, passing on the mantle to Tama, who delighted in strolling around her own office wearing the formal uniform cap of Wakayama Electric Railway.

After Tama’s death in June, a new cat took over the position.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/04/national/hiroshima-eyes-tourist-boost-cats-eye-view-city-streets/#.Vevgqs5ZG2w

Hiroshima Cat Street View: http://hiroshima-welcome.jp/kanpai/catstreetview/