The Spirit of Yokoso (Welcome) Japan

I often wonder these days about how Japan going to welcome the many tourists from China who will begin to visit this country in large numbers from this summer because of newly relaxed visa regulations. It is not enough to merely have things written in Chinese and rely on Chinese tour guides. There has to be a concerted effort to give the visitors personal encounters as well.
Recently, I traveled to Kansai (Kyoto) with some American friends. I found, to my dismay, that signs and instructions in English were still missing at vital junctures on the trip. It was surprising to me that after all this push for tourism, even in a well-prepared city like Kyoto, there are still loopholes in communications that pose barriers to travel by foreigners. However, what I found out from my friends was that what was more important to them, were moments of connecting with the local people. When all the sightseeing was over, they didn’t care about the gaps in language, what they seemed to cherish the most was the warm hospitality they found in Japan.

But I worry that Chinese tourists may not find that same hospitality. I remember an experience I had a couple years ago at a Tateshina Onsen Hot Spring. I was enjoying a soak in the rotenburo (outside bath), when suddenly a group of about twelve Chinese women from the Shanghai area plopped down in the pool beside me. Thinking I didn’t understand Chinese they just carried on with their chatting. The Chinese tour guide then began a long lecture on how unfriendly the Japanese are. She said that in all her years of coming to Japan she had never made a Japanese friend. At that point I couldn’t help myself any longer and spoke up in defense of Japanese friendliness and the importance of making contacts with Japanese communities. The tour guide kind of lost face and later I felt sorry for her that she has missed out on her own Yokoso Japan experience, and even though she was bringing people to Japan, she didn’t relay any personal touch or introduce the country in a positive light.

That reminds me of the kindest welcome one could ever have that I experienced in Kyushu many years ago. It was Golden Week and my husband and I tried to stay ahead of the crowds as we traveled by train. Yet when we finally made it to our destination, Ibuski, the place was packed. A taxi cab driver took us around to all the hotels and pensions in the town, but there was not a single room available anywhere. It appeared we would have to return to Kagoshima on the next train and not have a chance to take in the famed “jungle baths”. As we headed back toward the station, the cabbie was muttering to himself. Finally, he blurted out, “If you don’t mind hearing the voice of the dispatcher all night, you may stay at my place.” He said that he was going out drinking with his friends after he got off work and that it was sure to be an all-nighter. He’d drop us off at the baths and we could go to his place anytime. “Just go to Yasuko’s Hormone Yaki Grill, every cab driver will know it”, he laughed as he dropped us off. So after the bath experience, we asked another cabbie to take us to Yasuko’s, and he practically fell out of the cab in surprise that out-of-towners, including a foreign-looking lady, would know of their cabbie hangout.Yasuko greeted us to her one-room bar and even treated us to drinks. The cab driver’s tiny bachelor pad room was nearby. It was cozy, clean and had fresh sheets. Sounds of the wireless dispatcher’s voice lulled us to sleep. That was the ultimate Yokoso Japan spirit.

I don’t think that many of us today would offer our beds to complete strangers, but if we want to welcome a flux of tourists from China, we have to make an effort for personal contacts, or else they will all return home with only having SEEN things and not know the friendliness that Yokoso implies.