Kamakura passes ordinance against eating on the go

Mar 27, 2019 | News On Japan

Mar 27, 2019 (Japan Today) - Famous for its dozens of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, including Kotoku-in with its Great Buddha statue, as well as its cozy cafes and charming shopping district, the seaside resort town of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture, is one of the most popular day-trip destinations for tourists in the Tokyo area, with over 20 million tourists visiting every year.

After a busy day of exploring all the historical sights of Kamakura, many visitors end up in Komachi Street, the most popular and crowded shopping street in central Kamakura, filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, and all manner of stalls and shops selling delicious treats.

On any given day, Komachi street is filled with tourists walking along as they enjoy sweets such as crepes and ice cream, traditional Japanese sweets and crackers, dumplings coated in syrup or sweet fritters, and savory items like croquettes, skewered treats featuring local seafood, and more. Some tour guides and tourism sites mention Komachi Street as a recommended place for enjoying tabe-aruki é£Ÿã¹æ©ã (literally "eating while walking").

While many tourists consider eating on the go to be one of the enjoyable charms of Komachi Street, it would seem that the practice is not appreciated by all the residents of Kamakura.

According to a Kyodo News report on March 22nd (updated March 23rd), Kamakura City had been receiving a growing number of complaints from residents about "getting their clothes stained with ice cream or dumpling syrup when brushing past tourists." Therefore, on March 22nd, presumably in reaction to this and other complaints it had received, the city council passed an ordinance seeking an improvement of manners which includes "showing self-restraint when it comes to eating-on-the-go in places that are crowded with tourists." The provision is highly unusual for an official ordinance and has few, if any precedents in the 47 prefectures of Japan.

According to the report, the greatest number of complaints came from Komachi Street and the street leading from the Great Buddha in Kotoku-in to Hase Station on the scenic Enoshima Elecric Railway. In addition to clothes getting dirty, there were also numerous complaints about litter in the streets.

The ordinance, intended to encourage an improvement in manners, neither stipulates any fines nor imposes any sales restrictions on shops and stalls.

In addition to eating on the go, the ordinance also covers topics such as unsafe photo shooting (in the middle of the street or on railroad tracks), and cutting off bamboo stalks or other plants as souvenirs.

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