“I hate the way some foreigners behave!”

The quote is from FTV’s news report about Tsukiji fish market banning tourists from its tuna auctions because large numbers of foreign tourists were not obeying the rules:

If you feel like skipping back in the video and watching the whole report, you’ll find:

Scenes of foreign tourists disobeying rules and getting in the way of business at the fish market.
Big warning signs in English that many foreign tourists have chosen to ignore.

Having visited Tsukiji myself and experienced the feeling of being part of a crowd of tourists obstructing the movement of actual workers, I can completely understand the decision to ban tourists. A visitor to Tsukiji would have to be blind not to notice how those with actual business at the markets have a great deal of difficultly driving their vehicles around tourists and getting their work done, and let’s face it – most of the tourists are foreigners.

However, it wouldn’t be fair to simply blame this on rude foreign tourists – Tokyo’s tourism authorities and the Tsukiji market itself allowed things to develop to such a level. Tourism agencies and tour books have promoted Tsukiji’s tuna auctions as one of Tokyo’s major tourist attractions. The government wanted to attract more international tourists, but nobody bothered to adequately prepare Tsukiji for the expected increase in foreign visitors.

On a recent visit to Yokohama’s Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium, I witnessed a system that I believe would work quite well at Tsukiji. Before entering a special zone of the aquarium that lets visitors get extremely close to animals, everyone is placed in a room and made to watch a 5 minute video explaining rules and safety procedures. The video was multilingual, and all visitors were also given pamphlets explaining the rules in Japanese/Chinese/English/Korean. Even visitors who didn’t speak any of those languages would have been able to easily understand the rules through the simple images in the video. The aquarium also had a lot of staff on hand to monitor the situation, although I did not witness a situation that required them to issue warnings to visitors. If Tsukiji wants to make itself a tourist destination, it could do so if it enacted a similar system. The costs of implementing such a system could probably easily be covered if they charged an entry fee.
[hat tip to Darin]

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23 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - December 6, 2008 at 7:15 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

r0ck

Maybe they should try to think of a solution instead of simply outlawing stuff. What about guided tours? You have numbered groups of maybe 20 each that get a clear instruction up front, all pay a fee and will be responsible. Take their ID data when they come in and you’ll know who’s missing if someone goes to touch a tuna. That way the guide can intervene when they get to nosey. They could make extra money from tours like that. Their current solution would effectively ban everyone who’s not trading fish from experiencing this.
- helical
  
  So their solution was to ban tourists. And even then, it’s only for a month centered around the busiest season around New Years.
  They could have said only authorized personnel from the beginning, but I think they have been amazingly tolerant and accommodating so far. Access to those area for tourists are a privilege and not a right.
  - The Overthinker
    
    Now that tourists can’t visit Tsukiji, why not butt in to any other place where the business of Japan is being conducted? Just walk on up to the NEC headquarters and nosey around their offices….
- parcivale
  
  They should charge for entrance to the market. When people pay money for something it tends to concentrate their minds and they’ll act more appropriately.
  
  Hopefully, when the market completes its move to Shin-Kiba they’ll put in something approximating a Visitors’ Centre and elevated platforms so people will be able to watch things close-up without getting in the way. Of course that will considerably cut-down on the coolness factor but you can’t have everything.
  - helical
    
    I actually think the elevated platform and built-in separation of dealers and tourists is a good idea.
    
    I know I’m being difficult, but the introduction of a fee may make some people more tamer, but I can well imagine another segment of the crowd suddenly become more unruly.
    “What do you mean ‘I can’t watch them up close’!? I PAID you people to get in for chrissake!”
Mister M

Some foreigners are good example for Japanese society; however other foreigners cause a bad image. That is definitelly regreetable.

If foreigners respect laws and cultural rules, the Japanese would not look down to other foreigners, and they would respect their worldviews. But since it does not happen, it has a tendecy to worse the relationship between the Japanese and other foreigners.

Unfortunatelly, many foreigners do not understant this part. Discrimination and racism are common thing for some Japanese, but still we as a foreigners can change their bad image that they have towards us by our good example. If we can share a good example for them and never give up, they will change for better; otherwise, the problem between foreigners and Japanese will never solved.
- http://www.victorymanual.com Alex
  
  It’s not foreigners in Japan – It’s tourists. Anywhere. Including mega buses of Japanese tourists filling the sky with a lightning storm of camera flashes. Tourists are obnoxious. And it’s much better to be a tourist than to deal with one.
Jeef

sorry, I kinda have to say I’m not surprised. While the bad will always outshine the good so this is not a blanketed generalization, a LOT of foreigners, Americans in particular (and I’m American btw) in Japan don’t have a reputation about respecting local rules (or anywhere for that matter) and treat a lot of things in Japan like a amusement park, or a weird yellow fetish freak show – it’s not hard to imagine that Japanese people would see things like a bunch of foreigners actually picking up fish with their bare hands to take a picture and not feel the need to take drastic measure. I probably would if I was in that position and my ACTUAL JOB was being hindered on a daily basis by a bunch of people gawking at fish all morning.
Level3

You see, we Americans are trying to export our dumbasses to other countries. 😉

But I seriously think that a lot of people worldwide, when they see some tourist being a jerk, they ASSUME that person is an American, instead of making the more probable choice, that it’s one of them damn Canadians! 😉
No, but going by the numbers, a white tourist is more likely to be a European, and since quite a few Japanese couldn’t tell many European tongues from English, they just want to assume all assholes are American, instead of French.

And which countries have long-ass vacations that would allow people to come all the way to Japan? I’m looking at you, Europe.

But seriously, Canadians are so nice, except them friggin Quebecois. They’re asshats. And they speak French, too. Coincidence?
- The Overthinker
  
  “No, but going by the numbers, a white tourist is more likely to be a European”
  
  Which numbers?
  - http://www.japanprobe.com James
    
    He might be right.
    
    If one were to ignore the fact that some tourists from both America and Europe are not white, the latest stats show:
    
    Total European tourists in 2008: 59,560
    Total American tourists in 2008: 54,169
    
    http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ttp/sta/PDF/E2008.pdf
    
    However, if you remember that some of the 33,000 members of the U.S. military stationed in Japan like to go sightseeing from time to time, Americans outnumber Europeans.
    
    If you were also to add Aussies, Canadians, and Kiwis into the mix, number of tourists from non-American Western nations would be more than the number of American tourists/military people.
Bruce Smith

Being a tourist = being ignorant. The same applies to non-Japanese tourists in Japan and Japanese tourists outside Japan.

That said the Japanese government and Japanese tourism industry should try to find a way to create properly supervised tours of Tsukuji. This is a business opportunity.
Marco Polo

I disagree with everyone who’s posted here. The Japanese have acted completely correctly here, viz: not charge visitors to enter the market; assume all visitors know the “cultural rules/norms”; assume that even if they don’t know, they SHOULD (when in Rome, do as the Japanese do); when those damn furners DIDN’T obey the unstated cultural expectations, the Japanese bit their tongues, bottled it all up, and then…. EXPLODED IN VICIOUS, BOILING ANGER!!!!! This is, of course, the culturally normal way to react to furners. The solution is to place some armed samurai every 50 paces, and instruct them to simply decapitate anyone who steps out of line (but don’t tell anyone where “the line” is, tee-hee, anyway, Japanese can’t tell because they don’t know, and anyway, “silence is golden”).
phauna

It’s a market, not a petting zoo. Who would want a picture next to a huge dead fish anyway?
momonga

I wonder who gave them the idea of going there on first place. Japan has so many other historical and natural sites, museums and galleries,why would anyone head to such a stinky, noisy place. Besides, as far as I know, there are similar markets, which offer not only fish but other products too, all over the world. And there are similar fish markets in almost every city with developed fishery. Just get on the train and visit Shizuoka or Niigata if you are so much into watching bloody disemboweled fish.
- Tetras
  
  Because people love sushi/sashimi worldwide and they see the fish market as the place where it all happens.
  - The Overthinker
    
    Because Americans arrive in Tokyo jetlagged and demand something to do at four in the morning.
Shijoshi

Japanese people are not in a position to comment on public behaviour. On a daily basis, I witness them pushing and shoving, not giving up their seats for elderly, pregnant women, people on crutches. I saw someone push in front of a blind man once, to get a seat on a bus. And you really don’t want to be going about your daily business when it’s tourist season in Kyoto. When they have had a good look at their own public behaviour, then I’ll have a listen to what otherwise seems hypocritical, and xenophobic.
Pingback: More video about the Tsukiji tourism ban | Japan Probe()
Pingback: Justin Leach » More video about the Tsukiji tourism ban()
KBS

Well if the Tsukiji Market is going to bitch and moan over this why don’t they petittion Japan’s Emperor to expel all foreigners from Japan, close the borders and return to the Pre-Commodore Perry Age. Japan, your two-faced hidden contempt for everyone and everything non-japanese is tiring. You play these games and now your Xenophobia is well known. You are welcome to do whatever it is you do on your little island. The world will continue without you. I can’t wait for China and South Korea to consume you and pay you back for all your crimes against them.
samuel welsh

understand , foriginers who ignore this rule should be banned
samuel welsh

understand , the fish market during office hours no photos

“I hate the way some foreigners behave!”

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