Japan is investigating allegations that a group of foreign YouTubers rode trains without paying and stole food, reports The Guardian. One YouTuber being investigated is a Cypriot named Fidias Panayiotou. He has over 2 million YouTube subscribers, where he goes by Fidias.
In one video, Fidias locks himself in a bullet train bathroom and fakes illness when confronted by a ticket collector. He then boards another train and promises to evade fares again. Other clips show him and his friends begging for money to buy tickets and sneaking into a hotel breakfast buffet meant only for guests.
Fidias' YouTube followers love his illegal stunts, but others accuse him of "abusing Japan's reputation for safety and hospitality," reports The Guardian.
From The Guardian:
"Another strange, annoying YouTuber from abroad emerged. In addition to this guy Fidias, the three others should be arrested," one [social media commenter] said.
Another wrote: "Japan is one of the safest countries in the world. I don't want visitors to destroy the environment. If there are a lot of foreigners like this, we won't want them anymore."
Overcrowding at popular sight-seeing spots, as well as bad behaviour such as drinking on the street and littering, have prompted the government to draw up measures to reduce over-tourism, including steep rises in train fares and campaigns to attract visitors to lesser-known rural areas.
"In some areas and during certain periods, bad manners associated with inbound tourism has had an impact on the lives of local residents," the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said recently.
Fidias later posted an apology, in which he professed ignorance of Japanese behavioral standards.
The fact that YouTube monetizes these nuisance bloggers makes them complicit. It's only a matter of time before they get hit with a lawsuit for profiting from and rewarding this reckless behavior.
