The stunning temples and gardens of Kyoto are something my family and I will never forget. The rude tourists tugging the kimono sleeves of beautifully dressed and made-up maiko and asking them to pose like Disney World characters for a photo is something we would like to forget. The city of Kyoto hopes that its new brochure aimed at curbing gaijin impoliteness will allow maiko to go about their business in public without being mobbed.
The infographic-style brochure also describes 17 other akimahen ("do not") for tourists to be mindful of. They range from the mildly annoying (giving a tip to a server) to the criminally egregious (riding a bike while drunk, which is punishable by up to five years in prison). With the exception of the no-tipping custom and the automatic taxi doors (I try to close the door every time I ride a taxi in Japan and the cabbies hate it because it probably stresses the mechanism), almost every akimahen on the list is just common sense.
