Taiwan and Japan have frequent exchanges. Taiwan is not only the top overseas destination for Japanese travelers during Golden Week, but Japan is also the most beloved travel destination for Taiwanese. Recently, a user on the forum BaoFei Commune exposed bad behavior by Taiwanese tourists in Japan — they parked a taxi in a convenience store parking lot for over half a day and were questioned by the police. In response, many Taiwanese netizens criticized the act as bringing shame to Taiwan, but Japanese netizens had a different take. One said that people with low quality exist in every country, and he wouldn’t think Taiwan is a terrible place because of this. Moreover, Japanese people really, really like Taiwanese.
The original poster (OP) said he often drives around Japan by himself. That day, he set off from Shinjuku in Tokyo heading to Yamanashi Prefecture to take stunning street photos of Mount Fuji. Using an app, he first found a local paid parking lot, then went to a nearby convenience store to buy some water and food. Before even entering the shop, he saw a police officer, a convenience store clerk, and an employee from a car rental company taking photos of five or six SUVs and sedans in the parking lot outside.
Out of curiosity, he listened in on their conversation. It turned out those vehicles were rented by a group of Taiwanese tourists, likely on a family trip, and they had occupied the convenience store parking lot for at least half a day. One of the cars was even parked right on the road at the store’s entrance/exit. The store contacted the rental company using the identification sticker on the vehicle, but the rental company couldn’t reach the renters, so they called the police. Eventually, the police placed a “illegal parking” ticket on the vehicle.
The OP said he has seen illegal parking in Japan before, and property owners have the right to demand drivers pay high fines for such violations. “When the police get involved, it’s not just about paying a fine — don’t even think about getting away with it. It wouldn’t be surprising if the police handcuffed and took the driver away. Most importantly, the offender must apologize to the property owner or store. Japan takes this kind of behavior very seriously.”
He concluded with a sigh, saying, “It was shocking to see such embarrassing behavior... and it was from tourists of my own country.” Taiwanese netizens also harshly criticized, saying things like, “Don’t bring Taiwan’s bad habits abroad and embarrass us,” “One bad apple ruins the bunch,” “Traffic violations in Taiwan have too light penalties, so no one takes them seriously,” and “Trust me, this kind of thing will keep happening.”
Compared to the outrage expressed by Taiwanese, Japanese netizens were much more forgiving. One Japanese netizen said, “Let me share my view on Taiwan from a Japanese perspective.” He doesn’t believe that Japanese people would think all Taiwanese are bad just because of one incident. People with low quality exist in every country. “Have you been to the U.S.? I went there once and found out that electric scooters being parked everywhere and crashing into things is actually true. But does that define the whole country? I don’t agree with that. Just be a good person yourself. And besides, Japanese people really, really like Taiwanese.”