OK, these folks are just reinforcing the stereotype of clueless Japanese tourists. In a report from the BBC, we discover:

“Two tourists engrossed in their guidebooks and heading for the birthplace of Jesus Christ unwittingly wandered into the centre of a war zone on Tuesday.

“The Japanese couple were amazed to find that Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity was at the centre of a 16-day old siege between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.

“Palestinian residents of Bethlehem looked on in disbelief as Yuji Makano and his girlfriend Mina Takahashi walked through the debris towards the church seemingly oblivious to the evidence of war.”

TheJapanese couple explained that they’d been travelling for six months and hadn’t kept up on the news. Hello? Bullet holes! Tanks! Journalists in flak jackets! Look around you, world travellers. Geeez. Posted by kuri at April 19, 2002 09:35 AM