Chinese Tourists Caught Stealing Toilet Seat From Japanese Hotel

Hindsight is 20/20

Chinese tourists are showing that there’s no bottom in sight to their misbehavior as reports confirm that Chinese tourists are responsible for stealing a toilet seat cover from a Japanese hotel.

The Ningbo tourism bureau confirmed that tourists staying at a hotel in Nagoya, Japan had stolen a toilet seat cover that was kept underneath a bed.

After initially denying the accusations, the unidentified tourists admitted to taking the toilet seat. It was mailed back to the Japanese hotel, and the offending tourist has written a letter of apology. The Ningbo tourism bureau won’t identify the tourists in question, but deny they are from Ningbo, explaining that they left Ningbo airport on a chartered plane.

News of the incident went viral on Chinese social circles after it was revealed on an online platform for tour guides in China.

Chinese people reacted with shame to the story. One person said, “What an embarrassment for Chinese people. When in China, they lose their own face, but when outside China, they lose face for all Chinese.” Another wrote: “The foreign media is going to have a field day with this. I can see the headline now: ‘Chinese mainland tourist steals toilet seat from Japanese hotel’.”

The Southwest Economic Report lashed out at the tourists in its report by directly addressing them in this passage:

Just what were you two thinking in stealing a toilet seat? Is it because you heard everyone say that buying a toilet seat supports the Japanese economy. Did you think you two could collapse the Japanese economy and serve your country by doing this? Or are you so cheap that you can’t afford to buy your own toilet seat?
You two have made our countrymen lose their face, haven’t you? And in front of the Japanese!

Last December, a 64 year-old Xi’an woman was fined HK$2,000 for stealing a life preserver from a Cathay Airlines flight. This past May, two mainland tourists were seen sleeping in an ATM vestibule in Hong Kong instead of staying at a hotel.

Charles Liu

The Nanfang's Senior Editor