Kamakura asks tourists to stay away amid pandemic

Strangely enough, as a very western looking Japanese citizen, I have been noticing more paranoia from regular peeps, stores, and others about “who I am”.

I got asked what I was doing and to not idle around while making a phone call outside my own building, and also got a “no tourists” when popping into an udon shop. :)

Instead of picking and choosing who can come, why not just close off the places tourists go to and parking lots?

got asked what I was doing and to not idle around while making a phone call outside my own building, and also got a “no tourists” when popping into an udon shop. :

disgusting. but as you know Japanese people cant get the virus from other Japanese people as much as they can from foreigners. can you tell us the name of the shop? they deserve to be named and shamed.

Sheer panic over this ‘state of emergency’

There is no right for anyone in Japan to attempt to limit freedom of movement!

Remember that shop that put a ‘no Chinese’ sign in the window at the start of the outbreak?

If they are serious about stopping tourists coming they should close the venues and tourist shops.

Without the legal powers to enforce it, this is the best they can legally do. However, I would have thought some local lateral thinking might be applied, like announcing that all vehicles will be stopped for road safety testing and searched for illegal substances or some sic so as to make it unappealing for people to travel there.

some such, oh for an edit button!

I heard that many Osaka pachinko punters did day trips to Kyoto, Shiga and Nara today before their respective shutdowns begin.

All that "peer pressure" and "respect for authority" is a myth.

Whenever,the Japanese seem to clam up upon my presence,a Westerner,I remind them that they look way more Chinese than I do.

You won’t miss much. Kamakura is a shabby little town with nothing much to see.

Vince Black

As a Japanese, all I can say is thanks, but don’t bother lol.

Discrimination is the N-O-R-M here. Best I can do is be comfortable in myself.

At the entrance to one eatery in the area, a sign has been put up refusing entry to tourists.

The owner recounted how a couple entered his store without face masks about a week ago. The tourists refused to put them on despite the owner's plea, saying they had heard the pandemic was almost over.

Many of the store's regular customers are elderly residents, and the owner does not want them interacting with tourists and possibly spreading the virus.

The sheer ignorance of this owner just boggles the mind.

Buddha's statue teaches something now. Refrain!

Well, close your damn shops then. How are you going to know who lives in Kamakura - it's not a village. These people would rather have infected Japanese than healthy foreigners inside their shops. Go for it.

The owner recounted how a couple entered his store without face masks about a week ago. The tourists refused to put them on despite the owner's plea, saying they had heard the pandemic was almost over.

Who were these tourist, must be watching fox news that the pandemic was almost over, and not wearing mask when asked.

Though the owner of the shop can simply say, no mask, no service.

how can you eat in these shops anyways with a mask on?

The article says “tourists”.

Some folk seem to be equating that with “foreigners”.

I hearg this time of year the givt building in kasumigaseki are very sepctacular and nice to visit with this time of year, decend on there en masse wiht out maskes and manners and disregard others safety, please do not use a maks and cough an sneeze as much as you like, spread ita much as u you can

I would stay away from Kamakura even without a pandemic, especially on a weekend, traffic-choked, crowded and unfriendly town that it is.

The article says the Kamakura mayor is urging “tourist” to not come to Kamakura.  He does not mention “foreigners”.  Normally, many, many Japanese nationals vacation in other parts of Japan, including Kamakura; I think he’s mostly referring to the Japan national tourists. Foreign tourists make up only a very small percentage of tourist in Japan.