Otaru is among the most lovely cities in Hokkaido Prefecture. Located on the coast of Ishikari Bay, Otaru is known for its preserved canal district, illuminated by streetlights after sunset, and roads that rise steeply from the shoreline making for dramatic broad views of town and sea, particularly from the vantage level close to the highest of the slope often known as Funamizaka (“Ship-viewing Hill”).
Image: Pakutaso
However, being a picturesque place means numerous individuals coming to take photos, and Otaru, like a lot of Japan’s hottest tourism locations, is scuffling with points associated to overtourism from overseas vacationers who, inadvertently or not, aren’t following Japanese etiquette norms. As proven within the news report under, vacationers have been standing in the course of public roads to line up their pictures simply as they like them, and there have additionally been incidents of vacationers encroaching on non-public property to snap photos or create their very own shortcuts from Point A to Point B.
So to deal with the issue, Otaru has determined to dispatch ninja.
Mercifully, the ninja gained’t be incapacitating offenders with shuriken, blowgun darts, or different shinobi weaponry. Instead, Otaru Next 100, a area people outreach group made up primarily of native residents of their 20s, is making a collection of multilingual poster-style consciousness graphics in an effort to regulate vacationer habits in a method that’s informative and direct whereas nonetheless being playful and non-aggressive.
“I think it’s simply a matter of [foreign tourists] not knowing the rules, and not that they’re intentionally choosing to break them,” stated Otaru Next 100 member Noriaki Ikeda. “What we need is to have them enjoy sightseeing while understanding [what is and isn’t OK].”
So far three posters have been produced, cautioning vacationers to maintain out of personal property, not stroll in the course of the street, and particularly to not stand in the course of the street and pose for photos.
Sure, the English translations may very well be higher. “Local people are in trouble,” for instance, sounds extra like locals themselves have been caught doing one thing fallacious, when what the poster is actually attempting to say is that native individuals are troubled by vacationers’ habits. Still, it’s clear what every poster is saying to not do, and the way in which all of them cordially begin with “Thank you for coming” and embrace the hope that guests will “enjoy Otaru” communicates that the ninja/metropolis don’t have any beef with overseas vacationers themselves, and that it’s solely the demonstrated harmful/thoughtless actions that they need to cease.
There are at the very least seven extra ninja manners posters deliberate, and so they’ll be proven by the Otaru Next 100 official Twitter account as they’re accomplished.
Source: Otaru Next 100, FNN Prime Online, NHK News Web
Images: Otaru Next 100
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