Megumi Hayashibara, a prominent Japanese voice actress, sparked debate with a blog post criticizing foreign tourists’ behavior and comparing them to “invasive species.” She expressed concern about Japan’s cultural identity and political apathy, urging Japanese people to vote and prioritize tax allocation for domestic needs. While some criticized her comments as hate speech, many agreed with her views on foreign tourists’ behavior.
by SkyInJapan
30 comments
We forgive you PieceOfXenophobicCrap-sama, because Neon Genesis.
Invasive species is harsh but she’s not completely wrong about the behavior of some (but not all) foreign tourists. I find myself complaining about them as well and I’m a foreigner too!
Oh yeah, Saihara/Haibara.
Kyoto is basically uninhabitable now, I can see the point being made.
I’m not japanese and I understand her…
I was in Japan in 2019 and saw so many disrespectful attitudes from so many tourists that they embarrassed me.
She’s right. Preservation of Japanese culture is the responsibility of the Japanese. You can’t endlessly mutter mendokusai, muri, and shikata ga nai, and expect things to change. If you’re tired of the shitty work culture and lack of freedom and time it affords, then you, the Japanese, need to change it.
More and more stories about how Japan hates foreigners or tourists
That post was a complete load of waffle, probably best that she reads lines someone else has written since her writing is all over the place.
She is completely right.
She’s not altogether wrong, but she could probably be more delicate in her delivery. That said, not my fight, I’m just a frequent visitor. I love Japan and have spent a lot of time there over the last 20 some odd years for both business and pleasure, and I have seen firsthand the problems that have arisen with (some) foreign tourists over that time, but I’m not a resident, and it’s completely fair to expect them to want to do what they feel is right to preserve their way of life and culture.
As a foreigner living in Japan, I support her.
It’s not just because she called out some rude tourists, but also because she believes in prioritizing support for her own citizens.
I honestly don’t get why people are criticizing her for the second part.
Personally, I judge how respectable a country is by how well it takes care of its own people — not by how much it tries to please foreigners.
Update:
Why are so many people throwing around terms like “dehumanizing” or “racist”?
In the original text, she was saying that Japanese people are like the local crayfish, and some rude foreign crayfish come in and bully them.
Isn’t that just a pretty normal metaphor? How is that suddenly racism?
On my recent visit to Japan, I found the anti-foreigner sentiment was a bit more palpable.
I’m okay with hating tourists and their inconsiderate behaviour. Right on, lass.
I wonder how this kind of thinking affects people living in the country, given that there might be a perception of anyone not obviously Japanese as tourists.
Looks like the MAGA spirit is not only American
Lol this is not hate speech.
It’s really an unfortunate aspect of the social media age that artists whose work you have fond memories of can so easily sour your image of them by dashing off insane political posts.
She needs to read some Joseph Nye and learn what soft power is.
It’s been 25 years since I re-patriated, and I have one burning question about continuity of Japanese culture: do they still do lots of low-production value TV shows on local ramen and/ or bento shops?
As someone who helps travelers engage with Japan on a deeper level through my work, I’ve got to say… this isn’t just a tourism problem. This is a *civilizational* problem.
There’s something tragic about watching a culture slowly erode… Not from war or colonization, but from within. From neglect. From apathy. From the hypnotic glow of smartphones that feed us culture like fast food instead of a home-cooked meal made over generations.
I talk to Americans almost daily in my line of work. Many want to visit Japan. *Few understand it*. And when they go, they’re not looking for meaning. They’re looking for spectacle. Convenience. Comfort. The same dopamine hit they’d get in Vegas or on Instagram. They’re ***tourists*** in the most literal sense. As historian Daniel Boorstin once put it, “*The traveler was active. He went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive. He expects interesting things to happen to him…*”
But let’s not act like this is a one-sided collapse. Japan has problems too. Real ones. A society built on rules and respect is destined to grow politically indifferent. Generations have been conditioned to obey, not question. The LDP has held power since ***1955***, and that grip has consequences. People stop believing their voices matter. They retreat into the familiar. They vote less. They protest rarely. It’s peaceful, but at what cost?
Culture is not self-sustaining. It’s like a garden. If you ignore it, the weeds will come. Some of those weeds are external (disrespectful tourists for example.) But some are internal. If Japan wants to thrive in the 21st century, its youth will need to pick up the trowel. They’ll have to choose engagement over comfort. And foreigners? We need to stop acting like showing up gives us a free pass to disregard everything that’s sacred.
Immigrants have a duty too. And I say this as someone from a country that has allowed multiculturalism to become a euphemism for cultural amnesia. America is vast. Japan is not. What gets swept under the rug in America will cause a tripwire in Japan. The stakes are different.
In the end, we’re all guilty of cultural laziness. And if we don’t fix it, the only version of Japan left will be the one sold in airport gift shops. The kind with Hello Kitty and none of the heart. And that, to me, is not just sad. It’s *unforgivable*.
Tourist are an easy target, the fact that for the last thirty years Japan has done nothing to try and turn the tide of its demographic collapse, which is a bigger issue that the invasive species by multiple magnitudes, needs some reflection. Boomers controlling the government and the business elites creates this in acceptance of modern solutions.
I think she’s making a pretty big leap from “tourists being assholes” to “our manners/culture is at risk”.
With regards to tourists being assholes, there is no blanket solution for that. Well-meaning people will make mistakes because it’s impossible for them to completely assimilate with Japan’s incredibly long list of obscure social norms that lie outside of common sense in the time that they’re visiting, and assholes are gonna act like assholes regardless of their skin color or nationality. A perfect example is open container laws. No “normal” Japanese person walks around drinking booze, but you CAN according to Japanese law. It’s policed socially. A normal tourist who is on vacation may want to experience that as a novelty. Cynical (not all) Japanese people will then look at them and think “wow, a drunk tourist is ruining my country”. Then you of course have the asshole tourists who get hammered on the streets and get thrown in the drunk tank. The behavior is a spectrum, and a vast majority of people behave. Not to mention Japanese who may do the same thing but the police look the other way for them.
In the case of the student loan example, the Japanese are notorious for not claiming welfare. It’s seen as taking a handout and against the “gambaru” social expectation. However, Japan wants to project itself as a modern global power, so they adopt welfare reforms similar to what their peer countries have. But when minorities who live in Japan or students from abroad utilize these programs (because they aren’t subject to social-frowning-upon in their home countries like they are in Japan), as they’re legally entitled to, cynical Japanese people say they’re leeching off Japanese prosperity. I can’t remember off the top of my head, but the average amount of welfare claimed by Japanese citizens is incredibly low compared to other nations in their peer group.
It’s a talking point you hear in other countries, “foreigners are the source of XYZ problem”. Japan would rather gripe and point fingers after the fact than erect signs written in multiple languages conveying their unspoken rules to those who approach a temple/shrine/park. Some of what they complain about is justified, and if they want to limit access to their country then it’s up to them, but these problems often get blown way out of proportion and have no correlation to what the root cause is.
I love Japan, but finger pointing like this keeps real solutions from being made.
As much as I do agree with her on some of these certain topics, I do also believe that the way it was presented may end up preventing said progress from moving forward, especially with the invasive species quote. Words can be twisted and misconstrued after all.
…I suppose maybe my eventual trip to Japan will have to be postponed indefinitely. The current environment does seem like it’ll involve more potential instances of rising xenophobia I currently feel…
The people commenting here saying that she’s “MAGA in Japan” and simply another Japanese national hating on tourists clearly only skimmed the English version (at best).
The actual blog is entirely sensible, and the main gist of it is that she’s calling on more Japanese to exercise their right to vote and not be so politically apathetic.
And I agree. There is incredible hypocrisy on both ends of the political spectrum (in the West as well), with people being quick to complain but slow to take any action to make anything better.
You go to Japan for a visit..or any other country as a tourist..be mindful..that’s the least you can be in a foreign country. What’s so hard to understand about this?
Its true, a lot of tourists are disrespectful and ruining their culture. I’d be pissed seeing all that litter on the floor and treating workers with disrespect.
A bunch of people clearly never even read the original text. They just jumped to conclusions based on some random “translation” or headline and started yelling “racism” or “dehumanizing.” It’s honestly ridiculous.
She used an animal metaphor, saying the local Japanese crayfish were having their environment messed up by some rude, foreign crayfish.
And somehow, that got twisted into “racism” and “dehumanizing foreigners” by certain people.
Regarding the scholarships, her main point was that many Japanese students are still required to repay their student loans in full, while some international students receive partial or even complete waivers. She is simply advocating for prioritizing the allocation of resources toward supporting Japanese students.
And all of that was just a side note—her main point was encouraging people to vote, because voter turnout in Japan is really low.
Says the woman who has worked on animes that sexualizes women and children? HA
Loud annoying people coming over and being disruptive is seen as loud annoying and disruptive… I for one am shocked
Her blog post mainly focused on:
1) Crack down on foreign tourists who do bad things.
2) Use tax on domestic students over foreign students.
3) Go vote.
And these journalists are painting her as alt-right.