Japanese politics is a usually steady ship, verging on the boring most of the time.
Not anymore.
Last Sunday, a once obscure far-right party, Sanseito, surged from one to 15 seats in the elections, making them a serious contender in Japan’s political scene.
With their “Japanese First” slogan, riffing off US President Donald Trump’s “America First”, they have truly ruffled the feathers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its embattled prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.
It is, but we should also examine why so many Japanese are fed up with tourists. People go there and act like assholes, interrupt people’s commutes and disrupt their lives - all while extolling the virtues of the simple Japanese way of life.
Tourists always act like assholes according to the locals. The local customs aren’t always understood. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a single place who says they love the behavior of tourists— except perhaps the people benefiting from those tourists.
The article mentions people jaywalking, which is annoying but seems pretty innocent. Trash, etc… the solution is clean the trash up… using all that tourist money. A solution could be to tax the tourists or the tourist industry. But I think we know that most governments are corrupt and only a fraction of that money will ever make it back, and even then it will probably be embezzled or misspent. I get it though, I used to live near a tourist area and they were so fucking annoying. But the only solution would be to get rid of tourist attractions, and some of those attractions are part of the local culture.
When cultures clash, the foreigners are always the assholes. It’s all relative, especially as the tourists stay far less accountable for the consequences of their actions.
Ah yes, the simple Japanese life: work insane hours until you die.