Italians amazed at fallout in Japan over graffiti

Very very interesting, so much for those blasting these japanese students and whatnot, looks like many of the Italians themselves are like, so what. As article states more graffitti in English and Italian than Japanese. Much ado about nothing I suppose, move on folks.

This just proves to all those people a while back who accused the Japanese of being irresponsible vandals that the Japanese are far more responsible than the rest of the world (in general, not always).

The problem is that the original articles on the graffiti "scandal" gave zero context, and made it look like only Japanese tourists were defacing the sites. Nobody bothered to mention that graffiti is a big problem in Italy and that the sites were already defaced. Big difference. And no doubt if an Italian tourist resigned from his job because he had got drunk and threw up in Shinjuku station, Japanese people would be pretty amazed too.

Lets not mix up terms here. The teacher didn't resign. He was sacked... for something he did on his honeymoon 2 years ago on the other side of the world that noone even noticed until he decided to come clean about it.

The Japanese workplace is ruthless. The bastard of a principal just destroyed this young man's career for a trivial lapse of judgement. He should sue for unfair dismissal.

And no doubt if an Italian tourist resigned from his job because he had got drunk and threw up in Shinjuku station, Japanese people would be pretty amazed too.

Defacing a cathedral is a little different than getting sick in a train station.

This just proves to all those people a while back who accused the Japanese of being irresponsible vandals that the Japanese are far more responsible than the rest of the world (in general, not always).

Uh, in what way?

Todays Graffiti tomorrow's World Heritage site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti#History

IMHO, graffiti in/on public places and spaces is totally uncalled for! But even more so on a World Heritage and especially by an adult! I think the coach got what he deserved. He is supposed to be setting an example for the children and this is not it. In turn, the school set the example by canning his arse! Now, hopefully the children learned from their actions.

Lesson Learned: Next time you plan to graffiti on walls; DO NOT put your full name, your school's name, home address, keitai number, cup-size, etc etc etc.!

Graffity is always been a social problem it reflects a type of pschological dissorder caused by modern living, people want to be recognized and not seen, like tinted windows on cars and limos. I belive that such punishment will not resolve the issue but insted all should be admitted to psychiatric care for finding the root of the problems.

I saw this on TVnews few weeks ago and I felt its too severe a punishment to sacked a teacher just for that reason! maybe if he had written something else in english he wouldn't be caught. Why not ask the Church's staff in Forence if they know about tourists writing graffiti's? maybe it's allowed.....and let them write to the school and the education board so that the teacher can return to teaching.

I think the coach got what he deserved.

So he deserved to lose his career for one silly incident like this? It was probably done as an inane act of romance between him and his wife - like throwing coins into Fontana di Trevi or sticking their hands in the Bocca della verita. Just another part of their honeymoon tour. Probably even saw it in a movie somewhere.

Yes it was stupid, but I don't think it is something he should lose his career over.

He should apologise to Italy,pay for the cost to fix that graffiti,get reduction of his salary for few months...that's about it!Sacking him is ridiculous since he will never do it again at anywhere except at his own property.

The whole reason they were caught was because some Joe Japanese tourist saw it and "reported" it. Jackass.

A week suspension would have been in order...Not even that, what the hell does your job have to do with your vacations? LOL! They could have just made him pay a fine to Florence Italy, do they believe in fines in Japan? haha. They treat pety criminals like lepers in Japan, I think it's disheartening. They're all about respect there but it's not very respectful to make an employee resign for something that could have been settled an alternate way...

Not to mention, "grafitti" seems very common a thing to do once there, they should provide walls for people to do this on if it's that big of a deal.

Just like in Australia ,you will see graffitis just about everywhere...it is not nice,it is nuisance and kids who do these things always do so when nobody is around.If they EVER get caught,the penalties are some kinds of cleaning up their messes.That is all.

While I think sacking the coach was excessive, graffiti is a form of vandalism, the destruction of property and should be treated as such, as opposed to just a small "nuisance" as it is often treated in the West. There should be consequences for defacing property, especially something with as much historical and cultural significance as the Duomo.

One parent of a student at the school said, “The punishment is reasonable because he defaced a world heritage site,”

I'll bet that parent would sing to a different tune if it was his/her darling child who's name was scrawled in kanji all over the cathedral!

Some local newspapers in Italy said: “security officials at the cathedral should monitor visitors’ behavior more properly.”

Absolutely, what the heck do they think their job is? To stand around looking tough (or flabby), waiting to be picked up (or laughed at) by nubile young ladies?

Defacing a cathedral is a little different than getting sick in a train station.

RofT, I'd agree with you on that, and your other comment, if what they were doing was actually defacing a cathedral. But they weren't, they were just adding to the graffiti that was already there, in other words it was already defaced. Maybe some people here don't see a difference, but seems clear to me. And seems that in Italy that is looked on as a social annoyance that most people don't approve of and don't want to see, but not something that gets you sacked or suspended from school. Pretty much the same as getting sick in a train station is looked on in Japan. No wonder they are surprised by the reaction.

I'd love to see these goons pull the same stunt on The Great Mosque in Mecca.

"Kenji 4 Yuri 4 ever!" THHHWWAAACKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao! Japanese soccer coach at Italy scrawls kanji upon Catholic cathedral and after translation it implies:

HE LOVES HER!

How nice.

Perhaps this attitude by the Italians helps explain the ridiculous amount of graffiti there. It's ugly and shouldn't be tolerated. It would do them good to adapt the Japanese attitude and response to vandalizing World Heritage Sites (or anyplace else for that matter).

"There's a time and place for everything." Young people need to learn this and older people in society around the world are responsible for teaching this BY EXAMPLE (not just with words).

"just adding to the graffiti that was already there, in other words it was already defaced"

Aha, so if everyone else is doing it it's OK, but if you happen to be the first one it is not? So if two people beat up one person and you kick him, too, it wouldn't count as physical injury, because the person was already beat up by others and already injured, too?

Great logic.

Aha, so if everyone else is doing it it's OK, but if you happen to be the first one it is not?

Where did I say it was OK? I said it was different. A clean wall with no graffiti is "not defaced". A wall covered in graffiti is already "defaced". Different situations. But clearly some people prefer to ignore that and blow things up out of proportion.

a) As is known, "the first cut is the deepest".

b) Why writing your name? Write the name of a co-worker who blocks your promotion.

Maybe I'm being too sentimental, but if the locals in Italy were overwhelmed by the gravity with which Japan took the defecing of irreplaceable cultural treasures, maybe this will have a positive effect on how Italians treat their own cultural artifacts. Who knows? Maybe they'll reverse the trend of defacing their own history.

communistic regime in Japan keep children away from doing such things, but I think this is very good at this point. On the other hand these young people along with "childish" teacher showed no respect for other culture and their real "wa" blew up. What do they think? "WE" Japanese are allowed to do what we want to?

Different cultures, different perspectives, but unfortunately in some cultures there are extremes that are severely taken too far. Still attempting to deface a mosque in mecca, wouldn't be so bad because the authorities wouldn't just slap a fine, they'd probably chop off your hands at the wrists - considering the appropriate punishiment of their culture.

Grafitti is a problem everywhere, its just part of the sub-culture of Popular Culture. Its what defines our generation, at least for some of us.

The thing is this stuff happens ALL the time in Italy. The Japanese seem to have thought that the students were alone in the stupidity and somehow made Japan look bad internationally. No such thing. Their graffiti definitely won't look any worse than the thousands others already there. So don't worry, move on with your life and don't feel ashamed or in need to apologise when I tell you I'm Italian.

Japanese are merciless toward those who make mistakes. Soooooooooooooo true

****KILROY WAS HERE1 This was left around a great part of the globe by American military during WW11. The Ugly American has been joined by the Ugly Japanese. They were a humble, well-mannered people for years after the war. Sad to say, many of them, company people and students, who come here for a short time are arrogant as hell. C'est la vie. The world has changed.

This is one of the rare examples of the punishment being out of proportion to the crime. In Japan, if you murder someone, you can frequently get away with 7 years in jail, sometimes less if its a family member or you do the apology thing. But, to destroy peoples lives, merely for adding to the already enormous amount of graffiti that others have left. This to me seems extreme.