Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Two stories about friction over foreigners surfaced on the same day. British media, citing intelligence sources, reported that Ireland's hardline "New IRA" is planning a violent campaign to expel migrants—said to include 24-hour ultimatums to leave and intimidation—against a backdrop of housing strain and unease over crime, with authorities on alert. The plan is known only through those media reports, and the original account, any official statement, and the concrete details remain unconfirmed, so calling it a "military expulsion operation" outright overstates what is established. Separately, a clip of a Chinese tourist who couldn't cross where there was no crosswalk—and complained that Japanese cars won't yield to pedestrians—spread on social media. The date, location, and full context of that clip are unverified, so stretching it into a judgment about a whole nationality is a distortion. With inbound tourism surging, manner friction is highly visible, and the reflex to invoke "when in Rome" runs strong; some also read Europe's sharpening anti-migrant mood against Japan's own debate over accepting foreigners.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Follow the local rules — Most invoked "when in Rome" and said visitors should understand the destination's traffic laws.
  • Comparisons with China's roads — Firsthand accounts and hearsay that China has few crosswalks or harsher penalties for violations.
  • Skepticism toward violent tactics — Cool-headed points that Ireland's force won't win public support, backfires, and that the real targets should be politicians.
  • Media criticism — The charge that outlets deliberately provoke irritation to rack up page views.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

A Chinese tourist blames Japan's crosswalks

Reactions to a clip of a tourist who couldn't cross where there was no crosswalk and complained that "Japanese cars don't stop."

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "How do they handle this back home, I wonder?"
  • "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
  • "I don't think they'd be able to cross in China either, lol."
  • "In China, cars come charging even on a green pedestrian light—you have to glare at them to warn them off. What people often do in Japan—speeding up to let a car go first while you're on the crosswalk—is very dangerous over there. The car assumes it'll pass right in front of you at speed, so it ends up looking like the pedestrian darted out."
  • "Trash media deliberately irritating Japanese people to rack up page views."
  • "There aren't even crosswalks in China, right?"
  • "Japanese private-car drivers are heartless demons—they treat pedestrians and cyclists as the enemy."
  • "For a country where nothing's a problem as long as you don't actually collide no matter how dangerous it is, they've got some nerve complaining that cars won't stop and it's dangerous."
  • "In China, crossing where there's no designated crosswalk is illegal, and there are penalties—you lose points and even get your passport confiscated, right? For them it's subtraction, and once you run out of points you supposedly can't get a job, advance in school, or get married."
  • "Is that so? Back when I knew China there were no crosswalks to begin with. When I asked a Chinese person why, the answer was that running over a person costs at most 3 million yen in compensation while a car costs 10 million, so the car takes priority. Maybe it's changed recently?"

Ireland's "New IRA" and a reported plan to expel migrants

Japanese readers respond to reports that the group is planning a violent anti-migrant campaign.

Comments:

  • "This one, there's just no helping it."
  • "But honestly, the point about going after the politicians first is really true. The ringleaders, for some reason, are never the ones who get attacked."
  • "If it's illegal and violent, you won't win ordinary people's support—so it backfires. They might even be doing it on purpose, like those right-wing sound trucks."