Photography Do’s & Don’ts

What You Need to Know in Japan

I was getting visibly uncomfortable…

For several minutes, the museum attendant had been trying to tell a group of tourists in broken English that photos were not allowed. As is sometimes the case, they weren’t having any of it and continued to snap shots of the ancient relics with abandon. This was not the first time I had encountered something like this but still, it rubbed me the wrong way. After all, cases like these have become more frequent as of late. As if this breach in etiquette weren’t already egregious enough, I later saw the same group wildly branching selfie sticks indoors.

There’s no doubt that Japan is currently seeing a massive influx of foreign tourists. Year-on-year, the number of visitors continues to rise and the government has set a goal of welcoming 40 million tourists by 2020. Unfortunately though, not all visitors respect Japan’s many rules on how to behave in an overly crowded society. Whether through a lack of caring or ignorance, I’ve seen countless faux pas while chronicling Japan’s travel assets.

When it comes to photography, good behavior usually comes down to basic common sense. That said though, it’s clear that many visitors are obviously unaware of the rules. As I expect more from my readers than the common tourist, I’ve put together the…