Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Two sets of viral videos from Shenyang — streets so flooded that fish were said to be swimming through them, and a collapsed underground-garage retaining wall that appeared to be packed with construction waste rather than proper fill — slotted straight into a long-running Japanese internet genre of mocking Chinese "tofu-dreg" construction. Neither event could be traced to primary news reporting or official announcements, so the details remain unverified. At the same time, a visiting YouTuber accused a Kyoto restaurant of charging foreigners more than Japanese customers; viewers pointed out that the video never compared prices for the same menu items, the accusation was widely judged unfounded, and the restaurant's review pages were flooded with hostile ratings anyway. With inbound tourism and "dual pricing" already hot-button issues in Japan, the combination set off both defensive anger on the restaurant's behalf and a more pragmatic argument that Japan should adopt official two-tier pricing. The YouTuber's nationality was reported inconsistently, described as Chinese in some accounts and Korean in others.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Floods as an annual ritual — The dominant reaction to the Shenyang footage was weary mockery: "it's a yearly tradition," an "aquarium" you could enjoy as a theme-park ride.
  • Distrust of construction quality — The waste-filled wall drew "exactly as imagined" scorn, but a notable minority turned the mirror on Japan, recalling domestic cases of debris-filled structures.
  • Backlash against the pricing accusation — Commenters attacked the claim's lack of evidence, mocked the accuser sarcastically, and flagged the contradictory nationality in the headline; some argued dual pricing exists everywhere and Japan should formalize it.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Shenyang streets turn into a "giant aquarium"

Videos said to show a flooded Shenyang cityscape with fish swimming through the streets spread as a "giant aquarium" spectacle.

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "At this point it's an annual tradition."
  • "Looks like you could enjoy it as a theme-park attraction."
  • "There are literally fish swimming, lol."
  • "What a filthy aquarium… 🤮"
  • "And it's free? That's China for you."
  • "Honestly impressive that the water doesn't get inside."
  • "They can't manage flood control properly because they're keeping up a tradition that goes back to the Three Kingdoms era."
  • "Good job on the sealing, well done!"
  • "An aquarium with no aquatic life is just a water tank…"
  • "Chinese buildings are sturdy after all — and here everyone kept calling them 'tofu-dreg construction' or 'built out of bamboo.'"

A collapsed garage wall spills out construction waste

Footage said to show a rain-collapsed retaining wall in an underground parking garage revealed large amounts of construction waste inside.

Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "An everyday sight in China."
  • "The one where they peeled open a car hood and found instant noodles inside cracked me up."
  • "China, exactly as imagined."
  • "There's probably mercury and asbestos mixed in as a matter of course. That's no environment for people to live in."
  • "Collecting that much junk in this day and age seems like the harder job."
  • "It's strange this even makes the news. Makes me suspect they're hiding something far worse."
  • "But if you think Japan is fine, you're dead wrong."
  • "In Japan too, wood and construction waste came out of a highway pier that broke in an earthquake, remember?"

A tourist YouTuber's "foreigner pricing" claim backfires

A video accusing a Kyoto restaurant of charging foreigners higher prices was found to lack any same-menu price comparison, and the accusation backfired.

Masa
Masa
@masanews3
·

【胸糞】バ韓国人YouTuber"CKOONY"、「この日本のレストランは外国人だけ価格を高くしている！」 「日本語メニューを要求したら気まずそうにしているぞ！」と嘘情報を拡散 結果「京町家 ごはん 高瀬川くりお」の口コミが バ韓国人によって荒らされてしまう💢🦁  Show more

Watch on X
Image
Image
Reply
Read 592 replies
美々
美々
@bibi7170
·

YouTuber CKOONYの動画見てきたけど、この女は本当に韓国人なの？左の店員さんからの質問に自分は中国出身で彼が韓国人って答えてるけど🥺韓国人のふりした中国人が日本のご飯屋の偽情報流してる？胸糞悪い動画だった🥹そんなに日本嫌いなら中国にずっといたらいいと思う💐

Image
Masa
Masa
@masanews3

【胸糞】バ韓国人YouTuber"CKOONY"、「この日本のレストランは外国人だけ価格を高くしている！」 「日本語メニューを要求したら気まずそうにしているぞ！」と嘘情報を拡散 結果「京町家 ごはん 高瀬川くりお」の口コミが バ韓国人によって荒らされてしまう💢🦁

Watch on X
Image
Image
Reply
Read 7 replies

Comments:

  • "That restaurant tasted bad, by the way."
  • "Why does the headline ignore the Korean companion's existence?"
  • "It's a country where the crying child gets more rice cakes — a whole different mindset." [Translator's note: refers to a Korean proverb meaning the squeaky wheel gets the grease.]
  • "It's true that Japanese people set dual prices for foreigners. The Japanese must never be forgiven." [Translator's note: written as sarcasm mimicking the accusation.]
  • "And your evidence is?"
  • "Dual pricing exists in every country. More to the point, why are Chinese tourists in Japan at all? Is Xi fine with that? His own people are thumbing their nose at him lol."
  • "The headline says 'Chinese,' but this is about a 'Korean' YouTuber, isn't it? What's going on?"
  • "There's no Japanese food here for the likes of you!!" [Translator's note: a riff on a famous Japanese TV catchphrase.]