Flying between London and Rome last week, I made friends with a couple of Japanese girls also flying home after a trip to London, Paris, and Rome.
They seemed as lost culturally in Europe as I was in Japan — clueless about the history, architecture, and cultural traditions, barely able to get past one-word communication (yummy, cold, expensive, beautiful, difficult are the Japanese words I remember, and the English words I hear from them)…but having a great adventure nevertheless.
I’ve always observed with a special wonder Japanese travelers snapping photos as if snaring memories of their trip. The clichéd image of Japanese tourists is taking photos — generally of each other — at famous places in Europe. On the flight I did something I’ve always wanted to do: I asked them to let me see all the photographs on their camera.
Along with all the “I was there” photos, I found some fun cultural memories: In Rome — cats (a cliché they’d heard of), no interiors (perhaps they didn’t want to pay or didn’t need to see), and focaccia (a favorite food). In Paris — chocolate (I remember Almond Roca was the most exciting thing an American could bring a friend in Tokyo), the Eiffel Tower bursting with lights (I called it “Tokyo Tower” to get an easy stretch of giggles), and McDonalds (pronounced mah-koo doh-nal-doze in Japanese…would you like a “big-oo mahk-oo”?). The London shots included a series of theatre marquees (they loved the plays) and making peace signs in front of Big Ben. (I wonder why young, female Japanese tourists always make a peace sign when they pose.)
The final shot in their collection was the crazy, curious American tourist they made friends with on the plane ride home who wanted to see all their photos. I knew they would want to take my photo.
Remembering how hungry I was for understanding and connecting with a local person in my Japanese travels, I can empathize with Japanese travelers treasuring making contact with a “local” like me (regardless of how fleeting or seemingly insignificant that contact might be). Now I, too, am a memory in a camera, somewhere in Japan.
I was on a RS tour of Turkey a couple of years ago, and at one of the museum tours, we had some free time so we were wandering around, snapping pics (not forbidden in this museum). A very nice man offered to take my picture in front of one of the statues, to show its size and as I was giving him a crash course in using my camera, he said laughingly, I’m Japanese, I know how to use a camera. We had a good laugh as his ethnicity finally dawned on me.
A friend and I were on an extended visit to Greece, & Turkey(as part of a tour), Germany, Austria, & Italy (Back Door style)in 2004 and at first were annoyed with the proliferation of Japanese tour groups everywhere we went. But gradually we came to admire their absolute hunger to see and understand the rest of the world. They were “touring” in far greater numbers than Americans, and obviously relishing the experiences. As “Back-Door-aphiles” we all agree that to understand the rest of the world we have to get out there and experience it, but the Japanese seem to have learned that lesson especially well.
Standing in line for train tickets in Paris, I observed a sight that really brought home how lucky we are. A young Japanese couple was attempting to buy tickets. They came armed with English to communicate on their big trip to Europe. The ticket person made a clear “no English, only French” statement and I had a feeling they were in trouble. We felt confident on our big city trip that English was a pretty safe bet, but to be on the safe side I had been silently rehearsing how to request tickets in rusty French. This couple did not have the option. I really admired how brave they were and it made clear to me why many Asian tourists go the big-bus route. We can as Rick says “hop over the language barrier” pretty readily with English and Patience, but if you have only limited English and no “high school French or Spanish” it could be very overwhelming.
I have seen the Japanese tourists all over Europe and the US and they always seem to explode out of their busses to quickly take pictures of the current site – the best was at the Mt Ranier visitor center area that was piled high with ice and snow yet in July and the Japanese women hiking in high heels!
Rick, here is a Snippet, written too late to make it into the copy of the Snippet Book I gave to you. === In front of the castle in Heidelberg, Germany, as we have seen many times, fifty Japanese tourists were standing in three rows, as if they were a choir. Tourists took their turn to run from the choir, snap a photo, and return to their place in the group. I stood in front of them, raised my arms as if I was the choir director, and started to lead. I heard no music, but did hear and see the people cheer, and heard a lot of laughter. I asked the guard at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, “Is a Japanese tourist permitted on the grounds without a camera?†He laughed. Each and everyone of them, has at least one camera. It’s difficult to see art in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, without also seeing a Japanese tourist taking a photo of their mother. When they get home, they tell people, “Didn’t mother look nice in front of … … !†==== And a writing Gem. ==== When someone volunteers to take your picture, make sure the photographer is elderly or handicapped, so you can out run him and retrieve your camera, if you have trusted the wrong person.
Oh man if taking pictures was a crime I’d be a convicted felon in for a life sentence. Ever since I bought my digital 3 years ago I have gone wild with it and I am not talking over the top I am talking crazy wild. I like to snap everything I can so in different compositions so that when I get home and upload it to my website (that now has over 30,000 pics in 3 years) anyone who can’t go to Europe for lack of funds or time can visit through my pics. I don’t just take pics of buildings but I love to people watch and capture real people doing real things and real people living how they really do. My most “authentic” were of the Russian people, I really felt like some of these pictures told the real story -almost photojournalistic. My best friend says his pictures are his souveniers. I love meeting up with Japenese photographers because I get to oogle and drool over their mega bucks lens on their Nikon and we have a common thing to talk about. I think cameras/photography is a common universal language and where I might not approach a perfect stranger to talk to about small chit chat I will boldly appraoach another photographer and talk to a fellow photographer and viola we have a conversation going on. No one has yet told me to beat it.Photography is a great hobby and allows me to express my creativity without fear of criticism.
This reminds me of a wonderful experience I had with my father in Ireland. We decided to get one of those faux Victorian photos taken at the Bunratty Folk Park and while they were being developed the photographer asked us to wear our Victorian costumes around the village. As we wandered from shop to shop we drew a crowd of Japanese school children who snapped pictures of us as if they were paparazzi and we were pop stars. My father has since passed and I am delighted to think that somewhere in Japan there exist photos of a tall American in a top hat enjoying the first day of his magical Irish experience.
I would be interested in your experiences going to a place(like Japan) where you aren’t an “expert.” (like the way I am where ever I go.) How would you prepare, what would you read, how would you pack if you didn’t know…etc. and what would you take pictures of?
Should I assume Rick does not travel with a camera? It would have been fun if you had taken the photos of the two girls and posted it on the blog . . . then they could really show their family they had been there, done that! KathyM, glad I’m not the only one who takes hundreds of photos on a trip. I too love my digital camera and I about ready to upgrade. For our last RS tour, my son-in-law had to have his own digital camera when he was off doing things without my daughter and I. So now we have 3 cameras plus sharing photos with our travel partners. From my last trip, I thought to myself how many ways did I really have to shoot St. Stephen’s in Vienna? :-) Hope you are storing those photos on an external hard drive . . . just to be safe!
Audrey-LOL- my middle name is obsessive compulsive -on the hard drive and DVD’s and the website also has a service where they can make backups if you need it. I think I read somewhere Rick said he has a Nikon D40. I have a Nikon D40 and two Canons P2IS and P5IS. But according to my photography club the Nikon is the only “true” camera. I walk around with my two cameras because the Canon has the zoom where I can get a picture of a flea off a flying bird but there is something so stunning about the Nikon outdoor. Plus the Canon I can make little videos-that upload to the website so you can watch little movies.
Rick- I’m a little surprised. After all the trips you’ve taken to Europe, surely this isn’t the first time your image found its way into a Japanese camera? I fondly recall posing with a group of Japanese tourists after a particularly raucous night at the Hofbrauhaus. Somewhere in Japan, somebody is probably saying “I drank that American under the table!”… which was quite true…
You struck a chord with me saying you were a memory inside someones camera. I used to own a touristy antique cigar vending business in the Tourist/Bar section of Atlanta. What made it so popular was the vending cart…It was a 1965 Jeep mail truck repainted black and had antique cases in the back where we sold cigars during the craze of the late nineties. We had a million people take our pictures and we met very famous people like Edwin Moses the Olympic Athlete, Patrick Swayze, The Mayor at the time, Atlanta Braves Players, Dan Marino, etc etc the list goes on and on. It was never a chore nor a bother to pose with so many people.
I have never owned a digital camera, and I must admit I don’t know why, but many times I like a film photo better. I think that some of the photos on my site, taken by a two-bit film camera, 40 years ago, are softer and better, then many of the millions of digital shots on the Internet. == One year my daughter and family were visiting her husband’s relatives in Italy. On the last day of their vacation they lost their digital camera. A couple of days after they got home, the phone rang, and they found that a young man found the camera, looked at the photos, recognized the apartment building where they had visited. He then knocked on doors at the building until he found someone who knew of a lost camera. Wonderful. == Another Gem. == Artists with easel and palette, and photographers with a neck full of camera straps, attempt to capture the charm of this venerable city.
I store my photos on Costco and then can share via Email. Costco’s website is wonderful and worth the membership just for the photo service. You can do everything from home. Mr. Humberd, I have tons of prints (way too many) with my digital camera. I haven’t given in to the true digital world. My photos from 1980’s in England are wonderful (Minolta 35mm Fugi film . . . the Japanese again!) :-) I still have a Pentax 35mm with zoom but use Canon digital with zoom. It fits in my pocket slips into my RS vest side pocket while hanging by a strap around my neck. KathyM: we must be related because my middle name OCD! Happy travels. Cheers to all! Oh yes, the a Japanese photo peace sign is on the March ETBD newsletter. Love the new Italy tour . . . sounds perfect!
Here again: Re Fred: I lost my camera case with batteries and extra disks in Vail, CO. We retraced all of our steps and stopped in shops & Lost & Found with no luck. I wrote it off. As we were leaving Vail, we walked past the plaza fountain and I looked up. There was my camera case! Everthing was intact. We had stopped there earlier to take photos and I set it down. When we retraced our steps, it wasn’t there but later it was. A year earlier my friend left a package in Vail and she called the restaurant and they sent it to overnight. Nice people in Vail, CO!
The best thing about digital cameras is thestorage capacity. On average for a 3 week holiday in Europe I take about 2500 photos. It takes a lot of effort to sort through all of that after the trip and put it into some sort of coherent easy to show slideshow. Even with all those photos some of my best memories are when the battery died and I just enjoyed being wherever I was without constantly snapping away. There is something to be said for putting away the camera occasionally.
The peace sign is a photo must here in Japan… I find myself doing it too, since my students and cousins do it for almost any picture. Via Wikipedia, the origin – “During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only 3rd in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs. However, the precise origin of the overwhelming popularity of the sign as used in photographs was clarified and revealed in a series of Japanese variety programs from September-November 2007 the first of which was the popular Down Town DX. The man responsible for popularizing the V sign is a Jun Inoue (Junji Inoue at the time) a popular thespian known for roles in television dramas, films and commercials. In 1972 he appeared in a series of commercials for the Japanese camera maker Konica in which he ‘photographed’ in a number of ‘candid’ poses all with one thing in common, he was flashing the V sign. According to Inoue, the idea for the sign was an ad-lib based on his perception of its popularity overseas.”
Having a just out of teen years son my question on the V for peace sign is, was the gesture the straight up peace V like we had in the 60’s OR was it a V sideways or almost sideways which is that stupid ‘gansta’ sign that all the kids get from the rap music that may have originated with Pulp Fiction. I am seeing that sideways V sign everywhere with kids, it’s the ‘cool’ thing to do. Having seen it everywhere is the UK and the EU it’s probably just another exportation of American culture along with coke, McD’s and Starbucks.
The photo of the Japanese tourists shows them giving the traditional V peace sign from the 60’s. The photo is in March tour news email from Rick. Cute photo!
Thanks Audrey, I’ll check it out, thanks…and thank God it is the regular V, I hate that gangsta V and the baggy pants, flashing the underwear, slouching posture…don’t get me started.
The peace/v sign isn’t just localized to Japan, it’s everywhere in east Asia. I’m living in Korea, and everyone does it here. Same for every other Asian country I’ve visited.
Put “Peace Sign†in Google and get millions of hits. Put “Churchill, Peace Sign,†and you will get 142,000 hits. For my Generation, the Peace Sign belongs to Winston Churchill, and WW II. Those stories on Google give all kinds of bad definitions for the two finger salute, starting thousands of years ago. Some of the stories give terrible reasons why Churchill used that sign. But for the WW II generation, it belongs to Churchill, and winning the war!! Everyone got a thrill when they saw his photo. And I will give the one finger salute to any punk kid who misuses that patriotic, war winning, salute.
I am going to hate myself in the morning for going down this road. The V for victory sign was first originated by Churchill during WWII that is chipped in stone; the peace sign with the circle with the upside down V for victory was during the Vietnam era was well you can guess what that mean. The V for victory with the palm facing away from you is for just that peace and V for victory, the V with the palm facing toward you in the gangsta style means the same thing as the middle finger. And where do we get the middle finger connotation. When the English archers were beating the French and were captured their middle arching or bowing finger was cut off so when the english wanted to taunt the French that they still had their good bow finger they flashed them the middle finger. Why did we have to go down this road..way too much information, right?
KathyM == There’s an old parlor game where each person is to describe themselves in one word. For better or worse, most everybody agrees that in both its positive and its negative connotations, my word is accurate. My word? Curious! Would it surprise you to hear my second middle name is “Trivia.†If you don’t believe that one, just read my posts on Rick’s Blog.
I love the reader’s reactions to Rick’s blog. I do not love when reader’s chat back and forth on a blog designed to ‘catch up with Rick’. One of you has 7 out of 27 postings – just on this one topic! Thank you for re-reading the guidelines for a success blog.
UH OH RVS that would be me.. I am named and shamed. I didn’t get involved in this thing until last month, you guys are old pros at it, most having been doing this for a six months or more. I usually don’t get into these blog type formats because you know for the most part blogs are usually self serving and gratuitous and not much fun. But when I saw everyone interacting with each other (having lurked a little before joining in) and exchaning ideas and challenging the thought process I have to confess I am guilty of not reading the guidlines I just went with the flow..sorry. It’s good to have a hall monitor around to remind everyone that someone else owns the blog and has rules that need to be followed. My apology.
Rick, in a recent visit to London my traveling partner and I were headed to the South Bank to enjoy the London Eye. We were guided by Sean Kelleher who you recommended in your London 2008 book. We encountered a couple trying to take their picture and Sean offered a solution accepted readily by the frustated young couple. Guess what culture!!! Incidentially, Sean was so fascinating that we forgot to take any pictures until the last evening. Our most memorable shot was a picture with Sean and his favorite Spanish Tour Guide, Montserrat Rodriguez, also a Blue Badge guide. He made the memories without having to reflect back on any pictures. Cheers
I just read the guidelines and if they were strictly enforced it would make this blog nothing more than a free marketing tool and one big ego stroke for Rick which I can’t believe was his intention. An open exchange between participants makes this lively and I’ve learned alot from other bloggers. Let’s face it the only people that post here are people who have similar ideas, you don’t see many conservatives on board here …and it gets pretty boring during some of the blogs when everyone keeps patting each other on the back because everyone is pretty much of similar ilk-it’s almost like inbreeding of ideas -nothing new or fresh because everyone thinks alike.. it’s good to have a little controversey to get the gray matter fired up. Of recent I learned alot from this blog in particular, the Kosovo blog and the marine blog but the others were not very mentally stimulating or challenging…just alot of Oh Rick I love you I love you and disconnected chatter The best ones were the ones that most people talked to each other, share, exchange ideas and maybe brings someone to a higher consciousness. No judgment here but to me RVS came across as kind of tightly wound and intense and maybe takes himself or herself too seriously, lighten up we are all adults I felt like I was getting a lecture from my dad.
Peter R, I have to disagree with you there. I tend to be more conservative to moderate and don’t agree with Rick on everything even though I love his travel philosophy and enjoy his tours. I definitely don’t agree with everyone on here but I do appreciate and can understand people’s perspectives on things even if I disagree. I have had different discussions on here with people and enjoy them despite differences we may have at times. I definitely try to challenge and create interesting conversation with my opinions and questions. And this is a good place to discuss what Rick writes about and even go off on tangents to bring about some good discussion in the process.
One more thing Peter – I wish there had been more discussion on the subject of Kosovo but appreciated the information shared on there as well.
Jeremy, when I said you don’t see many conservatives on the board I was particularly thinking of you and crediting you with being of a more moderate to conservative ;). I’ve read your posts and agree with just about every dang one of them. I agree with John from Jax, discussion is good and coming from two sides of polarized thought is even better no one wants to hear the same words of total agreement over and over, that gets mighty boring and then you lose interest in the whole rest of the blog. I don’t know about you but I HATE a yes man.
Actually, it’s definitely the V for victory–that’s what every Japanese friend and acquaintance has told me, anyway. After traveling to Japan to live and study, I find myself flashing it myself out of habit (though not as often when home in the states because I don’t want to be misinterpreted). It’s funny, because every time somebody pulled out a camera, everybody made a V and pretty soon you’ve got the habit too! As far as the “choir-style” picture taking syndrome goes, that’s also very much a cultural thing. In such a group-oriented society as Japan, it would be absolutely unthinkable for anyone to NOT have their photo taken with the group or NOT to have a chance to take a photo of everyone. At each and every group event I ever attended, when it was time for photos, everyone lined up “in the choir” after putting their cameras out front for one person to shoot or each took turns stepping out to take a shot with their own respective camera. Anything else would leave somebody out, and that’s a big no-no. Besides, it makes certain that you too have something to remember the experience by. Oh and BTW, I think somebody said this earlier, but if you’re in England and you give somebody the V with your palm facing towards yourself, that’s the same as giving them the middle finger here in the states. Not a good idea…
Almond Roca is also a great gift to give people in Wisconsin! I always bring some when I return from Seattle. (They’ve never heard of Mountain Bars either.)
Excellent write up, very interesting read!
I have seen the Japanese tourists all over Europe and they always seem to explode out of their buses to quickly take pictures of the current site – the best was at Westminster Bridge, London UK, last snowy January which was piled high with ice and snow, but with the tourists dressed like it was July with the Japanese women out in high heels!