Former Japanese Ambassador Says Taking a Taxi, Taxi Driver Was Unusually Happy: Without Chinese Tourists, Kyoto Has Become Clean!
This former ambassador to Australia, Yamakami Nobu, recently said in an interview that when he took a taxi in Kyoto, the driver was "unusually happy." He asked the driver why he was so happy, and the driver replied, "Without Chinese tourists, Kyoto has become clean!" This is truly treating the decline in tourism as a good thing, akin to the spirit of victory of Ah Q.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the number of visitors from mainland China to Japan reached 9.59 million, accounting for more than 30% of all foreign tourists visiting Japan. Among them, Kyoto, as a popular destination, receives about 8.7 million foreign tourists annually, with Chinese tourists consistently ranking high in proportion, bringing substantial economic income to Japan.
Therefore, on one hand, relying on the economic benefits brought by Chinese tourists, and on the other hand, looking down on Chinese tourists. Isn't this simply making money from Chinese people while hurting their feelings?
Problems such as increased garbage and disorderly situations in cities like Kyoto during peak tourist seasons are fundamentally due to infrastructure and management capabilities lagging behind the growth of tourist flow. For example, there are very few public trash bins in the city of Kyoto, but there is no corresponding enhancement in guiding tourists; popular attractions lack multilingual signs and guidance personnel.
Japanese society still holds a subtle attitude towards China's rise. In this context, such remarks are essentially a form of subtle superiority or xenophobia, rather than simple environmental complaints.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849929356157063/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.