Meiwaku Gaikokuji - the Nusance Foreigner
This is another crazy crime story, this time involving foreigners.
Foreign visitors are at an all time high in Japan, and with it, the number of incidents where these visitors are behaving badly have also increased. The media have created a new term for these people - meiwaku gaikokujin, which translates as nuisance foreigner.
This particular incident took place at the Family Mart convenience store in Udagawacho, near Shibuya Center Gai in Tokyo on the night of August 7th. The foreign individual climbed up to the roof above the brightly lit signboard after 9:30 pm. A friend followed him up. A staff member of the store came out and gestured to them to come down, but the two ignored the requests and started yelling "I did it!" People on the ground were yelling "Get down, the police are coming!" They were not quick enough, and these two, along with another friend who was on the ground taking photos were arrested.
As a foreigner, I am embarrassed by their bad behavior and feel these incidents give all foreigners a bad reputation. In addition, these incidents and behaviors go against the Japanese way of life and culture. Have you witnessed anything like this where you live? Have you been involved in any type of incident like this?
4 comments:
That is embarrassing. I've never been to Japan, but my son visited and he said the Japanese were so polite and well-mannered. I'm sure this kind of behavior is shocking to them.
Nope -- I've never been in anything like this. And yes, a bit embarrassing. Maybe not surprising, though.
Such a 'meiwaku foreigner'! Shame on him!
I fully agree that foreigners like this give the rest of us hardworking, obedient and sensible foreigners a bad name.
The good thing is that he will sober up in the nick! Apart from the other punishments he will receive, a 5-year entry to Japan ban will probably be given him. So with some luck, he will not revisit Japan soon.
I know that as a foreigner in Japan, it is sometimes hard to fit in with all the unspoken rules, like not talking too loud or not bowing your nose. However, this is something else, and I can't imagine this behaviour would be considered okay where those people came from!
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