Japanese town politely requests tourists stop eating while walking
You are welcome to walk through Kamakura, and to indulge in the city's local delicacies, but please don't do both at the same time.
Kamakura, in the Japanese prefecture of Kanagawa, is home to both the largest Buddha in the country and Komachi-dori, an extremely busy stretch of road. It's only 1,200 feet long, but the road boasts several shops and places to eat, and sees 50,000 to 60,000 visitors daily, Japan Today reports. Kamakura is having a hard time keeping up with the amount of trash that comes with the street's popularity; not only does the city have to send employees down there regularly to clean, but the garbage and dropped food also attract wildlife.
Last month, the city came up with a plan: Just ask people to please stop eating while walking. No one will be arrested or fined for chowing down on the go, but they will have to walk by several signs kindly asking them to take a seat. It's not just about the mess, either; CNN reports that most people in Japan consider it rude to eat while doing a physical activity, because you're not giving your food the attention it deserves.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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