Comments by "PeterC" (@peterc4082) on "The Japan Reporter" channel.

  1.  @antonsiberian  How many tourist spots around the world have you visited? Is say Paris a faceless tourist hole? Or Singapore? Or Cape Town? Or Prague?
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  2.  @Frivals  Exactly. They can simply not let people in the way the US does it. Also they can charge for visa, eg $1000 per visa per person.
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  3.  @emippe226  America built Japan. The modern world was basically invented in the West, it started with the British. But the foundations of the modern world are largely Western and Japan got all of that for free. India did not get it. China did not get it. Japan got it for free. Japan was feudal, agreed to ally with the Western powers and got the tech transfer. What did they do to deserve any of that? Did Japan have gold? Diamonds? Nope. Then came WW2. Japan decided it needed to enslave Asia to become what they are now. They lost. They were treated very amicably. Of course America bombed them terribly, Americans also bombed the Germans and later Iraqis. But America then assured security for Japan and allowed Japan to have access to resources and Western markets. Slowly Western brands like GE and Philips and Blaupunkt died out and Japanese took over. Then when it became too much Americans made some changes to this agreement which put some natural limits on Japan. After all the modern world is run mostly by the US, they assure the security of the global trade. Russians and Chinese are challenging that now. Russia is a war monger but China is doing things peacefully. But people need to know that much of Japanese tech is Western in origin. Even Toto Washlets are originally American. The original patent was in the US and Toto purchased it to get Japanese people to ditch squat toilets. Just think 30 years ago squat toilets were still a thing in Japan. Maybe even later than that. I don't have hate for Japan but some people there have hubris. That's not good. Tourists should be tolerated. If not, then just have an entry visa regime but the that will destroy Japan's image and Japan relies on her image for sales. Japanese people hate tourists but tourists are there because their government wants them there. Tourists mean soft power. With a rising China and an endless supply of resources China can get from Russia and weakening USA, can Japan really afford to lose their softpower? I only want Japanese to be more like Americans and Europeans and other people who are more tolerant of tourists. I'm not even saying they need immigrants, just tourists.
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  4.  @kathleencove  I'm from the EU Kathleen, I'm an MD by profession. Racially I'm white and hold dual citizenships. Pronouns are he/him, if you want that. That's all I will say. I think people who are invited into a country by the government should be treated fairly and accorded respect. This goes for all countries.
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  5.  @dottieland7061  Europe is hardly a mess. Secondly this is about tourism.
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  6.  @muralk3153  When you say best public toilets, can you provide a scientific peer reviewed study to prove this. Because as a scientist I have no idea how you would judge a best toilet. I find toilets all over the world to be very good, well it depends but many if not most are more than acceptable. As for the washlets I know Japanese people who refrain from using the public ones. Because Italians and Spanish haven't had NO FOREIGNER signs for decades even when tourism is low and did not have TV stations which blame foreigners. They also don't employ mayors who blame foreigners even when the foreigners are less than 1% of the population as Tokyo had. Because these countries where applicable also apologised properly for WW2 and did not raise protests and force action when monuments to Japanese atrocities are erected in non Japanese cities. Bali is a beach setting. I have no problems with the authorities fining individuals for bad behaviour. I have problems scapegoating all tourists and creating prejudice against all visitors. If someone behaves badly there is the police to manage them. What do you mean the West has done far more damage? How long did Japan occupy China/Korea? About 10 years or so. What did they do in Nanking and other places? The Japanese even executed German (their allies) civilians. Mark Felton has a film about that. A sign saying NO FOREIGNERS allowed and your explanation illustrates. One is Japanese people pretending to be incompetent, and the other reason is racism. Again prejudice against all people is WRONG. Why do you support this. It's not modern and developed. If you can't speak other languages, put a sign saying, ONLY JAPANESE LANGUAGE SPOKEN HERE, COME WITH YOUR OWN INTERPRETER. What if a foreigner speaks Japanese? Or has an interpreter? Or uses AI on their phone which is pretty good these days? Come on. This is 2024 and not 1850 when Japanese people saw these strange men for the first time. (I know they met other Europeans earlier). I am criticiall of many Japanese because they are developed. Please don't say rational people because that implies that other people are not rational. That's implicit racism already. Please try to see the nuance here. Japan on the one hand you claim is made up of rational people, but people who put NO FOREIGNER signs in their establishments. Really? Is that rational? No, that's just bigoted. And in fact wicked if the person who put such a sign was rational. What do you mean those who condemn Japan for the past of WW2 are indulging in the same today? What does this mean? I'm against wars of aggression. I support Ukraine and NATO in helping Ukraine resist Russian aggression. I haven't gone into a town with a sword to have a head cutting competition. Anyway if you love your Japan you will want them to get their act in order. If they don't want tourism they have to be equal to all visitors, local and foreign. If they want fewer foreigners impose restrictions on tourist visas. I don't mind that. Japan however is reluctant to do this because it creates a negative view of their country and hospitality. Look how Japanese are welcomed in Europe, Brazil and US. No issues. But Japan does not reciprocate. Does not even try. It's quite sad. Have a good day.
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  7.  @antonsiberian  It's a discussion. People come to Japan because JP government makes the place seem welcoming but it's really not the case. It seems many Japanese are too insular, even in 2024. Maybe the JP gov should stop lying. I don't know.
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  8.  @antonsiberian  Who am I to judge them? Well then how come the Japanese government encourages and promotes tourism abroad? What was the whole Cool Japan campaign? Of course I can judge. If a matter pertains to me, as I am a target of Japanese ad campaigns, it matters. Tourist hotspots should be accommodating to different cultures and should have an international feel to them in terms of amenities. If you want more tourists and tourists do 2 important things: 1 BRING IN MONEY. 2. GENERATE SOFT POWER. Both are needed by Japan. The Yen is low, well tourists actually increase the Yen's value. They buy stuff and in so buy Yen and drive up its price. They leave their money behind in Japan and don't use Japanese amenities, eg don't use hospitals or police. That benefits Japan. Tourism creates work and helps people meet other people and maybe expand their horizons. I understand some people don't like tourists but I don't like TV stations throwing fuel on the fire and I don't like NO FOREIGNER signs or signs 'teaching' foreign tourists not to eat and walk the streets at the same time. That's just crazy to me. Not the walk and eat but the gall and the attitude and arrogance to teach people who your government advertised to to now behave because some locals will be offended by walking and eating. Well then maybe Japan must become like North Korea. Eh?
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  9.  @muralk3153  Head cutting competition was what occurred in Nanking during WW2. Japanese officers had a competition who could cut off the most heads of Chinese POWs. Their scores would be sent back home to Japan and published in at least one newspaper. My point was that the West had colonised countries, and I am aware of that. But Japanese colonisation was far more brutal. Look up what Japanese did in Nanking and you'll see that it was Weterners even a German guy who helped save Chinese women and children from Japanese soldier rampages. Remember that Japan went into China with her army. China never invaded Japan. Yet China gets a bad rep because of anti-Chinese propaganda. Japanese were worse colonisers than Europeans were. At least by the 1920s.
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  10.  @muralk3153  1. You gave your anecdotal speech, I provided my anecdotal speech. What is your point? You made a blanket statement, I never made one. You're creating a strawman. You said Japanese toilets are the cleanest in the world based on your own views. I said you did not give proof of the claim. I then told you what two of my friends say and that is as WOMEN they don't use the feminine wash on public washlets. I don't know if it's just irrational or maybe they've encountered UTIs from this or maybe they and their circle or other Japanese don't. I never bothered to ask them. By the way are you a man or a woman? It may explain your lack of understanding of female hygiene issues. The washlet was patented in the US. You can read the wikipedia article about it. Toto bought the patent. You can read Wikipedia about it. Why do you say I have negative bias? Why must I, a well educated, multilingual, WHITE guy have to experience racism for there to be racism? Why is it about me? There are NO FOREIGNER signs in Japan. That's racist on its own. You said that maybe the proprietors had a negative experience with foreigners. So that means ALL foreigners are bad by default? Dude that's the conclusion of your reasoning. I'm not sure what giving aid, means. Most countries give aid. So are you saying that Japan can buy the right to allow some of their people to have xenophobic attitudes? That makes no sense. Come on. Where did I say Japan as a country was arrogant. Some Japanese obviously are arrogant if they prejudiced against foreigners. I know people who married Japanese and had those Japanese families totally estrange the person who married the foreigner. Is that acceptable behaviour? Have a good day.
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  11.  @muralk3153  Yes but only Japan attacks cities which create WW2 memorials to Japanese war crimes. I would like Japan to be more open to criticism and be like the West and other nations.
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  12.  @muralk3153  What dislike of Japan? You're the one who dismissed my own anecdote about actual Japanese women who dislike public washlets. Does that mean I dislike Japan? You need to stop reading things into people's comments. What evidence do you have that I dislike Japan? I dislike NO FOREIGNER signs. Does that mean I dislike Japan? What's the logic here? Why are you attacking me? If you can't argue the points, don't attack the interlocutor. Come on.
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  13.  @Soviet-federation-m7n  You're quite rude.
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  14. I suppose it's just the way they do things. They repeat what they think works for them.
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  15.  @SpikoDreams You have a healthy, kind and civilised view of tourists and visitors. Tourists are people who have traveled often very far, have spent a lot of money, spent time traveling in discomfort, are tired, spend their holidays and money in the country they visit. They have to return home to go back to work in their 9 to 5 and sometimes longer hour job. The world is big. They could go anywhere, or go to a local destination in their own country or just stay at home and relax, but they chose to come to my country, I am happy with that. For me, they don't have to try to speak the local language. As long as they have basic civility - like not spit in my face, hit me or damage my property, they are 100% welcome. Non travelers don't know how difficult it is to travel. Travel is expensive. Travel is not comfortable. Travel is disruptive.
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  16.  @FiZc  Japanese workers are more expensive and not better to European workers in Eastern Europe. Sorry Japan, we will take it all away from you.
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  17. Dude, Johni and Logan were two cases. Japan has 3 million tourists every month. Vast majority are normal people. Also don't expect people to walk on eggshells. People behave the way they do at home and most of the vsitors are middle class and reasonably wealthy. They behave well.
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  18.  @renegadesigma  I've traveled to many places and for the most part I've seen well behaved tourists 99% of the time. In fact I'd say 99.9% of the time. Out of 1000 people, maybe one was badly behaved - as loud, or littering or drunk. I think much of this is Japanese people joining the international society. They have to adapt. We've put up with multi-culti tourists and I think they need too as well. It's a good experience for them to be less insular. If you go to London you will see people from every culture and country there, same for Paris, I don't know why Tokyo must not be like this. Japan is rich and famous and not a backwater. It must be cosmopolitan and Japanese people must agree. Japanese people are welcome and respected in EU and other countries, Japan must reciprocate, if Japan wants to be in our clubs. And Japanese people want to be in our clubs. By clubs I mean G7, OSCE, etc. Japan even has liaison office with NATO now.
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  19. No, not everyone is foreigner. Japanese are also foreigner. Before Japanese came there were people on these islands, for example Ainu. These are true Japanese. Japan is also a country of immigrants.
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  20. You've said this so well. Thank you.
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  21.  @kathleencove  Oh I see you're an expert now. I didn't know. Point was that Japanese engineers are capable of solving far more complex. Actually cans which close on their own or are weighed down are very easy to implement. You're making up excuses.
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  22.  @AlwaysPim  Maybe they should replace them. Maybe instead of irrational responses they should learn from other countries where there is more terrorism. Or maybe they just don't care.
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  23.  @kathleencove  I haven't seen differential pricing for tourists. Only thing I've seen were discounts for pensioners, eg local pensioners. That's also a questionable practice. That's not to say that does not happen, maybe it does. I just haven't seen it. I wish you'd stop the personal attacks. You need to interact with other people charitably and politely.
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  24. In Switzerland, you can't really tell a white foreigner from a white local, ok by dress maybe or car license or if he opens his mouth but it's not as obvious. In Japan, every non (short) East Asian looking fellow is a gaijin. It could be the former CEO of SONY Corp but it's still a gaijin.
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  25.  @denmaakujin9161  This is silly. How about just asking people not to come to Japan. Charge $1000 per visa. I'm all for it. I say let's stop ALL FOREIGN TOURISM to Japan. Japan is too precious to corrupt with us foreigners.
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  26. I don't see anything wrong there. The employee is a salaried worker who has to follow general rules and 9 out of 10 times if a foreign race person buys stuff it's just better to make sure the sizes are correct. The woman was just taking a survey. You didn't have your residency permit stamped to your chest. Again 99% of foreigners in Japan are likely to be tourists or short term business travelers. Most working people don't have time to consider the rare exception and nobody is there to be microagressive to you. And let's face it, you Americans can be obnoxious too. Poms and Yanks are some of the worst. Japan has a xenophobia problem (as do many other countries), even pandering to racism as in these video reports, but these two examples were ordinary behaviour. I would not have been offended.
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  27.  @ii4826  But you put NO FOREIGNER signs. Tell me why Japan government advertises to foreigners eg Cool Japan and then if foreigners come to spend money some people hate on them? Maybe stop. We don't have to come to your country. Besides the earthquakes would be too dangerous anyway. You are welcome in the EU, as long as no war here.
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  28.  @windblownleaf6450 Japan is a collectivist country. Japanese emperor wants tourism and Japanese people should fall in line. Nuff said.
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  29. We need to ban Japanese products in response because you took our jobs in the 1980s. Damage to us was also huge. Do you want to play that game?
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  30. Women decide if they will fall pregnant. Unless you think guys will get pregnant.
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  31. Dude, the Japanese government advertises tourism. They want tourists. If their own government wants this then who are you or the Japanese Reporter to complain or TV stations. Japan is about collectivism. It's all about harmony and the state itself. Ordinary Japanese who complain about tourists are being the dirty gaijin here. They are behaving in an a-Japanese way. If the government says you take in tourists and you host them, you do so. It's for the good of the society as a whole. If it wasn't then the government whose head is the Japanese emperor would not want tourism and facilitate it. The Japanese who complain are weak and soft, and the Japanese of the 1940s would commit mass suicide if they saw how p-ssified people have become. If the government ordains it, individual Japanese man or woman, you OBEY and you FOLLOW. End of story. What I see is bad behaviour from the Japanese. If you don't want tourists, petition your government to stop tourism. Otherwise you voted the government in, you live with it. Pathetic behavour.
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  32.  @gordo6908  Well the effects continue. In the old days there was pressure to marry and have kids. Now it's about the lifestyle. If the guy marries, how can he continue to fap to that?
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  33. To replace the population they would need to import foreigners for like >100 years.
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  34.  @rsuriyop  Don't live in Japan. Weebs.
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  35.  @doderiolarkisso4038  They can isolate but PLA maybe will still visit.
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  36.  @missplainjane3905  You don't even need Fr citizenship. You get Permanent Residency in any EU nation and you are like a Frenchman. EU is one big coutry. How? Well find a job. Be born there. Sometimes political asylum.
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  37.  @MrL702  It won't appreciate much.
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  38.  @ii4826  Yes. And one guy out of 3million. Most media does not know. And most media treats Japan well abroad. Generally people have a favourable view of Japan. So people sometime expect high standards.
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  39.  @chariothe9013 This is not about immigration, it's about TOURISTS. Have you been to the Notre Dame in Paris? It's an actual church, it's sanctified. Yet you have 1000s of tourists walking through it during Mass and they take pictures and talk and so on. There are signs asking them to be respectful, but we don't see people especially Catholics moan about how terrible this is. We don't do this. Some of these Japanese people need to get over their superiority complex. Japanese tourists themselves behave poorly abroad. Not necessarily by littering but by crowding up and being intrusive and disruptive. But they get a pass. They should do the same here or they should simply stop all tourism.
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  40. The same is said for Europe and even US. The rest of the world is catching up. The West had an advantage with the Industrial Revolution but now even Chinese make CPUs and India is sending rockets to space.
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  41.  @captainobvious9188  You Americans have it best. You guys print US dollars because you are the world reserve currency for now. Chinese will one day take that over, but for now your Fed can just print dollars.
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  42. Japanese want to be lonely because they're perfectionists.
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  43.  @dottieland7061  Why can't Japan be like Europe? Japan wants to be European and copied almost everything from us but didn't copy the best = tolerance and individual value.
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  44.  @kathleencove  That really isn't my problem.
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  45.  @muralk3153  Are you saying people work 24/7? I engage with people here about topics which take my fancy. And I'm sorry what do you mean deep insecurity about being belittled? Are you ok? Why the personal attacks?
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  46.  @muralk3153  Did I say they were unhygenic? I told you that Japanese women I know, ok it's one particular mother and daughter, mom in her 60s, daughter in her 30s, avoid public washlets as they consider them unhygienic. They're Japanese people, living in Japan. Anyway where did I say there were unhygenic per se. Secondly, I did say that they're not always effective. There seems to be misunderstanding here.
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  47.  @28-r8b  Nobody is entitled but once they let you in, you are entitled to be afforded protection. There are international treaties governing that. Also read what your passport says. This is about Japan letting people in LEGALLY and then some Japanese complaining about tourists. Maybe they should rather complain about their government instead.
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  48.  @GustafUNL  Last I checked, I did not attend Davos. No I'm not a globalist.
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  49. Japan is not competitive. You were more competitive than European worker, but China/Viet worker is better than you. Look you are living beyond your means. You will have to become poor like before Meiji.
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  50. You're a weeb. If you're going to Japan 9 times already and you feel ashamed and you think ordinary civil behaviour is not enough, then you are not well adjusted. Maybe speak to a counsellor. Because there is something wrong here if you are this careful. And if ordinary Japanese or your friends are this easily offended, then maybe you should not be befriending these people. This sounds like the Stockholm Syndrome.
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