Are Okinawa Station ticket machines "calling out Taiwanese tourists" for buying too many tickets? Station staff: It's all a misunderstanding!

▲ Taiwanese tourists in Okinawa spotted a special notice posted at the station specifically for them. (Photo / Screenshot from YouTube)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

Recently, there were reports that some tourists noticed a special notice at the ticket machines in Okinawa’s transit stations specifically addressing Taiwanese visitors, reminding them that one-day passes cannot be purchased in bulk by a single person—only one per person at a time. This reignited heated discussions about the need for better “travel etiquette” among Taiwanese tourists. However, Okinawan authorities have now clarified: “It was all just a misunderstanding!”

A well-known Japanese-language teaching Facebook page recently shared a photo taken by a friend visiting Okinawa. The photo showed a notice directly posted on a local ticket machine, addressed to Taiwanese tourists, reminding them that only one one-day pass can be purchased per person and not in bulk. This led some to wonder if certain Taiwanese tourists had been monopolizing the ticket machines, affecting other Japanese passengers’ ability to buy tickets—hence the specific mention.

According to TVBS reports,Staff at Makishi Station clarified that the purpose of the notice was not to “warn” Taiwanese tourists, but rather because they often saw many Taiwanese visitors facing difficulties with ticket purchases. However, station staff sometimes had to go to the platforms and couldn’t respond to questions immediately. To prevent passengers from waiting too long, they prepared an explanatory notice to post near the ticket machines.But it’s possible that translation errors led to misunderstandings among many passengers. The Okinawa Taipei Office also stated that to avoid further confusion, the notice has now been removed.

%The staff at the station did not "call out" Taiwanese tourists, but were providing an explanation. For the video on YouTube, please forgive us if it has been deleted.