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Kyoto cracks down on snap-happy tourists
Kyoto’s hard-pressed residents have had enough of tourists behaving badly.
The city’s historic Gion neighbourhood, famed for its Geishas, has announced a selfie crackdown.
It has banned photography on private property which includes on the districts private streets and in homes.
Tourists caught snapping away could be fined JPY10,000 ($92).
City residents have become increasingly angry at tourists’ behaviour, especially the harassing of Geishas for a photo.
Taking their photos without permission has become the norm while some geishas have been chased down the street for selfies and in a few cases tourists reportedly entered private homes without permission.
Kyoyo has been struggling with tourist overcrowding for some time and has previously sought to educate visitors in being more respectful to Japanese culture.
The city published an English-language etiquette guide two years ago to stem anti-social behaviour with a list of rules to abide by when visiting the city.
These included not riding a bicycle while drunk and smoking in public areas.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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