Don’t fuck with the Japanese justice system

Goddammit, don't fuck up the perfect tourism spot, influencers.

Japan is probably the highest trust society in the planet. You regularly walk into Lawson’s or 7-11 in tokyo that have no employees visible and very few cameras if any. You self check out and are on your way.

Meanwhile in the bay area more and more regular goods in supermarkets and drug stores are locked in boxes you need to find an employee for to unlock.

Trust in society makes everything more convenient and easier, it’s an invisible tax multiplied into every daily transaction and the US is in the “close to critical failure” state with almost nobody trusting anyone. No experts, no government, just snakecharmers like Don who change trust for blind faith. And make no mistake, people who have to question every interaction every day eventually are so worn down, the snakecharmers can pick them up by selling hope that you only trust them and all will be ok.

This is no coincidence. Common narratives in the west, through the GDP lens declare Japan a depression ridden shithole doomed by demographic decline - But the GDP lens misses an entire variable.

Quality.

In the west, we have sold quality to growth. A phone that breaks every year sells a new phone. A dish made with lower quality ingredients makes more profit. Quality of life and convenience in Japan is incredibly high. Stuff works. Reliably. Your train is never late. Our escalator doesn’t break down. Your power doesn’t go out. Your food is generally high quality. There a small convenience store every 50 meters - no trips to large walmart megastores requires.

Yes Japan has issues, this isn’t about otaku fawning here - this is about the fact that we sell quality in the west for profit which does not fly in Japan and if you visit Tokyo in 2023 from SF or Seattle, .. the contrast is stark. Somehow every car got replaced with electric or hybrid versions. The trains running on Yamanote are new. The connectivity 5G. Shit just works. The food is highly affordable and it’s quality hasn’t declined.

Of course people visiting from low trust societies without social compact to not fuck shit up are going to behave like barbarians. Especially when this behavior is incentivized by views / engagement or monetisation.

I’m with Singapore on this one. Someone who uploads a video like that should be caned and their social media accounts force wiped to start over to disincentive any possible gains

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A rise in the antics of nuisance influencers in Japan, who are accused of duping train ticket collectors and pretending to be homeless to get cash, has caused consternation in the country as tourism number near their pre-pandemic levels.

One of the suspected fare dodgers, known online as Fidias, posted a video to his 2.38 million subscribers over the weekend showing him and three others evading rail staff and blagging free food.

While Panayiotou’s followers applauded his audacity, the reaction from other social media users was overwhelmingly negative, with some accusing them of abusing Japan’s reputation for safety and hospitality.

Overcrowding at popular sight-seeing spots, as well as bad behaviour such as drinking on the street and littering, have prompted the government to draw up measures to reduce over-tourism, including steep rises in train fares and campaigns to attract visitors to lesser-known rural areas.

The influencer, who has since turned to boxing and professional wrestling, was labelled “disrespectful” and “disgusting” after he joked with friends about discovering the body in Aokigahara forest, a notorious suicide spot at the base of Mount Fuji.

Earlier this year, several people were arrested after they posted videos of themselves interfering with food in revolving sushi and other fast-food restaurants, forcing the industry to take emergency hygiene measures.

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