Pakistan evacuates 77 Japanese tourists from trouble spot in north

Tourists go there either for thrill or lack of common sense. 77 ! Japanese usually have no knowledge of outside culture because lack of understanding. I said usually, not for all. Makes me think of movie " hunger games" in which entertainment without other consideration is the leading factor.

@tmarie: Agreed and remember it well. The young man thought it would be interesting to visit a war zone and got his head cut off for his trouble.

The problem is, you cannot TELL some people not to do something or NOT to go someplace as that only increases their curiosity and desire to see if you're BSing them. Many times they're never heard of again or suffer tragic events. This group was lucky with a capital "L" that the government of Pakistan took action in their behalf. Hats off to Pakistan and hope these people learned a valuable lesson. " Next time I think I'll go to Hakone onsen.".

J-folks are surprisingly naive about world affairs,especially older folks, and gladly sign up for any tour like it was 1965.

"incidents involving Sunni and Shiite communities"

This is not surprising.

Go tell that to the parents of Shosei Koda the Japanese guy who went to Iraq in 2004 and was murdered after only being there a couple of weeks.

I do remember many being rather ticked off that the Japanese government paid to send his body home. I am hoping these tourist paid for their own tickets out.

I am all for the freedom to travel to dangerous places. But if we have to go get your dumb risk-taking ass, you should damn well be given a bill for the trip!

Pakistan tourism. Now there's an oxymoron for ya.

I heard that there are quite a few parts of Pakistan which are safe for tourists as long as they take reasonable precautions, and I don't know enough about this story to be able to judge how much of a risk that these 77 Japanese tourists were taking...

...unlike almost everybody else here, it seems.

I'm really very impressed that there are so many Pakistan tourism and security experts frequenting these boards.

FnC

These people are adventurers (thrill seekers) rather than tourists. One wouldn't even want to go to these places for business, much less for sightseeing.

Wow! 77 Japanese in a region where sectarian violence is common. This reminds me of the article where two Japanese tourists wandered into the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002 during a month long Palestinian militant siege and battle “by mistake,” and were rescued by journalists. Goes back to that misbelief that no one dislikes the Japanese. Go tell that to the parents of Shosei Koda the Japanese guy who went to Iraq in 2004 and was murdered after only being there a couple of weeks.

Loving the headline: "caught in curfew".

(Not like they have been caught in sectarian clashes or anything.)

Interesting that these clashes have not been reported in the international news but seem to be confined to Pakistani and some Indian news sources.

Although Pakistan is torn between different factions/sects, I believe that the answer or the peace between the parties will eventually be found there, and the majority will come to see what is real and right, and what is trouble- making for some unrealistic illusory idea. It will be a compromise that everyone will recognize is realistic, I guess.

Pakistan is still an experimental Islamic state and I wish the best for them.

Japanese are the most respectable nation in this time, they love and respect to everyone and earn as return . Pakistan love Japan and Japanese people , as someone said LOVE conquered the all. I agreed we should be careful traveling to the trouble areas.

I have been to Pakistan once - it was different there. There were so many carpet shops there and people tried their utmost to provide me with the best entertainment. I never felt endangered there, only confused.

I know a Japanese guy who makes it a hobby to visit as many "dangerous" / politically unstable countries as possible in his holidays - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar - and last I heard he was enquiring about North Korea. When I asked him about the possibility of kidnappings etc he replied that "Everyone likes Japanese people so we have no danger!" So I guess there are many with his same mentality!

Exporting Tourism (Checkbook Diplomacy) has been a long-time ODA strategy with the Japanese government. As long as the JTB's, NTA's, Kintetsu's, and other regional wholesalers maintain their closeness to their prefectures, the central government will allow travel despite advisories. In fact, the law is that the tour operator "ensure the safety" so within that parameter, exporting Japanese goodwill even to countries us Westerners might think are "marginal" is part of Japan's external policy.

"Where do you want to go for vacation?" "I want to go to Pakistan!"

*facepalm

I would hope that common sense would prevail, rather than if there is a travel restriction in place.

Hahahaha! Thanks for making me laugh!

Some people love going to world hotspots to see the scenery, or the history or to go climbing/hiking or even just because tghey are hotspots.

I am alwaya amazed that their home countries oput so much effort in to rescuing them when they get kidnapped or arrested or worse.

Why people want to tour Pakistan, Afghanistans, Iran, Iraq, etc. right now, is beyond me.

You would be surprised at how many people really don't pay attention to what is going on around them. I am sure the J-gov has issued travel advisories, but if they are like some of the Japanese I know, they like to think that nothing bad will happen to them, and that if they do get into some trouble they can get themselves out of it by just talking to the people, not really knowing that there is a diffrent mindset to other parts of the world than there is in Japan.

The Japanese govt DOES give people WARNINGS, but some fools are just too stupid to pay attention to these warnings and they go to these crazy parts of the world, and then they get into trouble etc..

may be there is no travel advisory from J-govt (?)

I would hope that common sense would prevail, rather than if there is a travel restriction in place.

I was wondering the same thing when I saw this on the new. Why do people go to politically hostile countries, when they know that there is a possibility they can get stuck there????

What really aggravates me is when they get kidnapped, arrested, or stuck there, WE the taxpayers have to bail them out. Makes me sick.

Why people want to tour Pakistan, Afghanistans, Iran, Iraq, etc. right now, is beyond me

may be there is no travel advisory from J-govt (?)

Why people want to tour Pakistan, Afghanistans, Iran, Iraq, etc. right now, is beyond me.