Some
Japanese tourists suffer a shock when visiting Paris. Having idealized Paris as
the perfect romantic European city for a long time, once in the city they feel
disappointed with what they find.
A BBC article by Caroline Wyatt describes this
situation as follows:
A dozen or so
Japanese tourists a year have to be repatriated from the French capital, after
falling prey to what's become known as "Paris syndrome". That is what
some polite Japanese tourists suffer when they discover that Parisians can be
rude or the city does not meet their expectations. The experience can
apparently be too stressful for some and they suffer a psychiatric breakdown.
Around a million Japanese travel to France every year.Many of the visitors come
with a deeply romantic vision of Paris - the cobbled streets, as seen in the
film Amelie, the beauty of French women or the high culture and art at the Louvre.
The
reality can come as a shock. An encounter with a rude taxi driver, or a
Parisian waiter who shouts at customers who cannot speak
fluent French, might be laughed off by those from other Western cultures. But
for the Japanese - used to a more polite and helpful society in which voices
are rarely raised in anger - the experience of their dream city turning into a
nightmare can simply be too much. This year alone, the Japanese embassy in
Paris has had to repatriate four people with a doctor or nurse on board the
plane to help them get over the shock. They were suffering from "Paris
syndrome". It was a Japanese psychiatrist working in France, Professor
Hiroaki Ota, who first identified the syndrome some 20 years ago. On average,
up to 12 Japanese tourists a year fall victim to it, mainly women in their 30s
with high expectations of what may be their first trip abroad. The Japanese
embassy has a 24-hour hotline for those suffering from severe culture shock,
and can help find hospital treatment for anyone in need. However, the only
permanent cure is to go back to Japan - never to return to Paris.
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