From climbing onto the Hachiko statute to shaking cherry blossom trees for pictures, can we blame Japan for wanting to introduce new entry rules for tourists soon?
In a video posted to social media, a male tourist was caught trying to rouse a resting deer in Nara Park with his feet before being loudly scolded by Japanese content creator Harada Masakuni.
Though the act seemed harmless enough, the man was still taken aback and gave an embarrassed smile before apologising.
The deer in Nara Park are deemed sacred and are a protected species in Japan.
A Japanese-speaking woman was seen asking “What’s wrong?” and saying that Harada was “so scary”.
It’s said that Harada is a popular YouTube personality and that he recently volunteered as a patrol officer in Nara Park following increased incidents of tourists attacking the deer.
Though the tourist’s nationality wasn’t confirmed, he was heard speaking Mandarin to his friend who asked what happened and explaining why he was being shouted at.
Considering more than 200 people a year are injured by the deer, a wounded ego is a far better alternative, right?
The video drew of course drew angry netizens to comment, many of whom say they are sick and tired of hearing about uncouth tourists spoiling it for everyone else.
“Are the many signs around the park not obvious enough,” read a comment while another criticised the man’s Japanese-speaking companion for not understanding the seriousness of what he had done.
One even wrote: “Some people need to undergo cultural orientation before they are allowed into the country.”
However, some netizens tried to calm things down and pointed out Harada overreacted and was also rude to begin with and is lucky for not being attacked himself.
Some have also urged everyone not to paint all Mainland Chinese with the same brush.
This isn’t the first time tourists have been reported for bad behaviour when it came to the deer in Nara.
In July earlier this year, a man was filmed kicking the animals, while another man was arrested in 2021 for fatally injuring a deer with an axe.
Is it any wonder that many are asking who are the real beasts in this world?