‘Perfect Japan’ posts spark Gen Z social media backlash

TOKYO – Take an everyday video on any suburban transport network, add anime-style music and a rosy filter, and it’s suddenly a scene from the Japanese holiday of your dreams. That’s the “Japan effect”: a Gen Z social media trend satirising the often-romanticised image of the Asian country, which welcomed a record number of visitors in 2025. Residents of Kyoto and other tourist hotspots have expressed exasperation with selfie-taking crowds, and now an online backlash against Japan fever is growing. The short video posts on platforms like TikTok show how even just the words “Tokyo, Japan” with a cherry blossom…