エコノミスト・エスプレッソが日本で外国人の観光が新たな問題を作り出しているかもしれないという記事。東京と京都は確かにそれを言えるかもしれない(住んでいないのでわからないです)それよりも面白かったのは、「観光公害」と「ツーリズムの汚染 pollution 」という表現の仕方。公害は鮮明な汚染であり、ヒステリーの多くはあいまいさを含む汚染。今日の外国人観光についても、pollution と言えるのか、「今年の英語」の toxic がいいのか(笑)
Too much of a good thing: tourism
Japan’s government releases the nation’s latest tourism numbers today, amid signs of fatigue with the unfamiliar influx of foreigners: a record 28.7m visited last year, a three-fold rise since 2008. Analysts predict a once unthinkable goal of 40m may be hit by 2020, even without the Tokyo Olympics. In a country once largely overlooked on the global tourism trail, the figures are being trumpeted by the government. But not everyone is happy. Tokyo’s already crowded buses and trains are even more congested. Businesses in Kyoto, the country’s ancient capital, moan they are being overrun by hordes of noisy gaijin . Such complaints—and fears of a popular backlash—have triggered a survey of local governments to discover ways tourists and residents can rub along. Yet there is no turning the tide. As the population falls and the economy shrinks, the one thing worse than “kanko kogai”, or “tourism pollution”, says one expert, is no tourism at all.