‘Perfect Japan’ posts spark Gen Z social media backlash

Japan’s tourist boom has forced some authorities to take action. Read more at straitstimes.com.

TOKYO – Take an everyday video on any suburban transport network, add anime-style music and a rosy filter, and it’s suddenly a scene from the Japanese holiday of your dreams.

That’s the “Japan effect”: a Gen Z social media trend satirising the often-romanticised image of the Asian country, which welcomed a record number of visitors in 2025.

Residents of Kyoto and other tourist hotspots have expressed exasperation with selfie-taking crowds, and now an online backlash against Japan fever is growing.

The short video posts on platforms like TikTok show how even just the words “Tokyo, Japan” with a cherry blossom emoji can make an otherwise banal street scene more appealing for some users.

“The point is to make fun of Japan’s ‘cute’ image online, with all its cliches and stereotypes,” 25-year-old French YouTuber Rocky Louzembi, who analyses internet culture, told AFP.

Along with the chronically weak yen, the booming popularity of anime and game franchises such as Pokemon is drawing tourists to the nation.