Japanese Tourists

I just came back from a two month stint in Japan. Yes they do many ridiculous things themselves but the thing that baffled me the most was the number of touristy photos they would go out of their way to take. I went to Disney Sea in Tokyo (awesome, thanks for asking) and the longest line was to take a photograph with Mickey Mouse. And let's face it, Mickey's a doucebag. And hangs out with douchebags.

I've done extensive statistical analysis* and apparently New York City is the number one tourist spot for Japanese citizens ages 2-death. I imagine this statistic takes into account that one-year-olds are prejudiced assholes worldwide, but that's another post for another time.

Think about going all the way to Disney Sea (still awesome, FYI) and the one thing you really want to do is get a shot with Mickey Mouse. Now think of how much bigger the Statue of Liberty is then Mickey. At least twice as big right? Maybe even three times. So the lines there are probably two, three times as long because of Japanese tourists taking photographs. I wouldn't know about that personally; I don't think self-respecting New Yorkers go there unless they have someone from Japan to go with.

I get the going to major tourist sites though. That's all fine and good. Plus I believe every out-of-towner should have a photo of the Statue of Liberty because if you don't acknowledge Ellis Island then you're not acknowledging how all of our last names got messed up and that's just bigoted. I mean, who are you? A one year old (I should probably post something about them soon)?

Here is the mind boggling thing: Japanese tourists will take a photo of anything. I don't know what they are trying to prove. Will your friends back home not believe you rode on a subway? That you ate a meal in a restaurant? That you stood next to a tree in a park? I guess they don't have those things in Japan. Oh wait, you sort of do only it's not as cool as our's.

I can't fault the couple pictured above though. Those ceramic hats are too damn inviting. The MTA should just tile "Take photos here" in Japanese and get it over with.


* I have never done nor know how to do statistical analysis. In fact I'm not sure I even know what that means.