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'Perfect Japan' posts spark Gen Z social media backlash
Japan saw a record 42.7 million tourists in 2025 as a viral Gen Z trend romanticizes its culture, sparking local complaints and event cancellations over overtourism.
- Gen Z social media users are fueling the 'Japan effect,' a growing trend satirizing the often-romanticized image of the Asian country and critiquing stereotypes surrounding its portrayal in popular media.
- Japan welcomed a record 42.7 million tourist arrivals last year, driven by the chronically weak yen and booming popularity of anime franchises such as Pokemon.
- French YouTuber Rocky Louzembi defines 'Japan glazers' as people who put the country on a pedestal, while some visitors perform experiments joking 'Japan is clean but not THAT clean.'
- Residents of Kyoto and other hotspots have expressed exasperation with crowds, prompting authorities to cancel a cherry blossom festival featuring a view of Mount Fuji this year.
- Seio Nakajima, a professor at Waseda University, notes people associate the country with 'carefully composed visuals,' while Marika Sato highlights that reality often differs from the anime world.
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources30
Leaning Left3Leaning Right6Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Center
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources are Center
55% Center
15%
C 55%
R 30%
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