By Caroline Wyatt
BBC News, Paris
A dozen or so Japanese tourists a year have to be repatriated
from the French capital, after falling prey to what's become known
as "Paris syndrome".
That is what some polite Japanese tourists suffer when they
discover that Parisians can be rude or the city does not meet their
expectations.
The experience can apparently be too stressful for some and they
suffer a psychiatric breakdown.
Around a million Japanese travel to France every year.
Shocking reality
Many of the visitors come with a deeply romantic vision of Paris
- the cobbled streets, as seen in the film Amelie, the beauty of
French women or the high culture and art at the Louvre.
The reality can come as a shock.
An encounter with a rude taxi driver, or a Parisian waiter who
shouts at customers who cannot speak fluent French, might be
laughed off by those from other Western cultures.
But for the Japanese - used to a more polite and helpful society
in which voices are rarely raised in anger - the experience of
their dream city turning into a nightmare can simply be too
much.
This year alone, the Japanese embassy in Paris has had to
repatriate four people with a doctor or nurse on board the plane to
help them get over the shock.
It was a Japanese psychiatrist working in France, Professor
Hiroaki Ota, who first identified the syndrome some 20 years
ago.
On average, up to 12 Japanese tourists a year fall victim to it,
mainly women in their 30s with high expectations of what may be
their first trip abroad.
The Japanese embassy has a 24-hour hotline for those suffering
from severe culture shock, and can help find hospital treatment for
anyone in need.
However, the only permanent cure is to go back to Japan -
never to return to Paris.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6197921.stm
