Tweet of the Week #90: Tokyo Residents Pissed About Being Excluded From Go To Travel Campaign

Japan’s Go To Travel initiative to revive tourism started earlier this week. But the government booted Tokyo residents out of the festivities in light of the recent steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the metropolitan area. We thought it couldn’t get any worse than the misconception that the campaign would pay for foreign visitors’ trips to Japan, and then this happened. The decision to partially proceed with the Go To campaign fueled an outburst of anger on social media. 

Go To(o Fast)

Understandably, the Japanese government faces a terrible situation, and the desire to support the industry is commendable. But was crafting a travel campaign with a significant stimulus budget amid a pandemic the right move? Early on, Japanese folks questioned the timing of the initiative to boost domestic tourism.

…why is commuting to work on a crowded train okay, but going on a trip bad?

The serious resurgence of cases in Tokyo pressured the government into reviewing their plans. Politicians started calling for a partial rollout of the Go To campaign, and some municipalities actively expressed their desire that people stay home. 

After meeting with a panel of experts on preventing the Go To campaign from spreading the coronavirus to prefectures that were spared the outbreak, the government decided to exclude folks from Tokyo entirely. As for cancellation fees, tourists and businesses were left in limbo until the government opted to cover only up to 30% of the cost.

小池都知事
「“GoTo”の再考を求める」

国
「じゃお前ら除外な」

完全に当て付けな件w#GoToキャンペーン #東京対象外 pic.twitter.com/Wx0CM1slCd

— R2@化学系零細リーマン (@R2_chem0ryman) July 16, 2020

小池都知事（こいけとちじ）

「“GoTo”の再考（さいこう）を求（もと）める」

国（くに）

「じゃお前（まえ）ら除外（じょがい）な」

完全（かんぜん）に当（あ）て付（つ）けな件（けん）w

#GoToキャンペーン 

#東京対象外（とうきょうたいしょうがい）

= 

“[Tokyo] Governor Koike

‘Ask GoTo to be reconsidered’

Country

‘So we’ll exclude you.’

Lol, that was said completely to annoy her

#GoTocampaign

#Tokyoexcluded”

The halfway measure sparked sharp criticism from the netizens, feeling that their government stubbornly refuses to backpedal once again. With hundreds of new cases daily in Japan, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures are also in the hot seat to be excluded from the travel deal. 

Here a selection of Japanese tweeps’ reactions when the 東京対象外 (Tokyo excluded) measure was announced. 

Go To Work

「Go To キャンペーン」って税金でやるわけだから都民怒るよね。いつかは対象になるんかな？

というか、満員電車での通勤がオッケーで旅行がダメな理由は何？w#東京対象外

— tomo｜会社を世界一使い倒すパパ (@popo_hamu_s) July 16, 2020

「Go To キャンペーン」って税金（ぜいきん）でやるわけだから都民（とみん）怒（お）るよね。いつかは対象（たいしょう）になるんかな？

というか、満員電車（まんいんでんしゃ）での通勤（つうきん）がオッケーで旅行（りょうこう）がダメな理由（りゆう）は何（なに）？w

=

“Because the Go To Travel campaign is funded by taxpayers, citizens are angry. When will they be included? 

Or rather, why is commuting to work on a crowded train okay, but going on a trip bad? Lol”

An excellent observation, we might say.  

Loophole

GOTOトラベルキャンペーンで東京発着のみ除外って意味が無い。

例:東京都民が横浜まで移動し、横浜発着のツアーに参加でキャンペーン対象になる(はず)

不公平な上に抜け道がある運用ってダメでしょ。
感染拡大防止なら中止か延期しか無いと思うのだけどね。#東京対象外

— ぶち (@buchirou) July 16, 2020

GOTOトラベルキャンペーンで東京発着（はっちゃく）のみ除外（じょがい）って意味（いみ）が無（な）い。

例（れい）:東京都民が横浜（よこはま）まで移動（いどう）し、横浜発着のツアーに参加（さんか）でキャンペーン対象になる(はず)

不公平な上（ふこうへいなうえ）に抜（ぬ）け道（みち）がある運用（うんよう）ってダメでしょ。

感染拡大防止（かんせんかくだいぼうし）なら中止（ちゅうし）か延期（えんき）しか無いと思（おも）うのだけどね。

=

“It makes no sense to exclude only Tokyo arrivals and departures in the Go To Travel Campaign.

Example: a citizen who moved from Tokyo to Yokohama, participating in a tour to/from Yokohama is eligible for the campaign (in principle)

On top of being unfair, an operation with a loophole is no good, right?

If you want to prevent the spread of the infection, I think you can only postpone or cancel.”

Surely, excluding Tokyo is easier said than done. We can only sympathize with all the government staff and the hospitality industry who have to deal with the aftermath of this decision. 

Go to the other side

GOTOキャンペーン東京対象外ということで、「東京を経由せずに、所沢、越谷、浦和、松戸を経由し、西船橋に至り、幕張や舞浜まで行ける」武蔵野線が、夢のトラベルラインとしていまここに爆誕したわけか。 pic.twitter.com/y6Jyf3xBsA

— SOW＠ぎぶみーじょぶ (@sow_LIBRA11) July 16, 2020

GOTOキャンペーン東京対象外ということで、「東京を経由（けいゆ）せずに、所沢（ところざわ）、越谷（こしがや）、浦和（うらわ）、松戸（まつど）を経由し、西船橋（にしふなばし）に至（い）り、幕張（まくはり）や舞浜（まいはま）まで行（い）ける」武蔵野線（むさしのせん）が、夢（ゆめ）のトラベルラインとしていまここに爆誕（ばくたん）したわけか。

=

“With Tokyo’s exclusion from the Go To campaign,  isn’t the Musashino line, which can go up to Funabashi, as far as Makuhari and Maihama, via Tokorozawa, Koshigaya, Urawa and Matsudo, without going through Tokyo, bursting onto the scene as the dream travel line as a result?”

地図に落とすとこんな感じ pic.twitter.com/hlJNyWUHul

— Кусковой сахар/角砂糖 (@Keio_KO27) July 16, 2020

地図（ちず）に落（お）とすとこんな感（かん）じ

=

“How it looks when you lay (the path) on the map.”

That’s what we call an epic detour to go from A to B. 

Wannabe Tokyo

https://twitter.com/Ryo_koumei_m/status/1283689797836353537?s=20

赤羽（あかばね）国交大臣（こっこうだいじん）
）

「東京からのGoToはダメだぞ！」

東京ディズニーリゾート

「そうだぞ！」

ららぽーとTOKYO-BAY

「そうだぞ！」

東京サバゲーパーク

「そうだぞ！」

東京ドイツ村（むら）

「そうだぞ！」

あっ！お前たちは！

全員（ぜんいん） 東京のフリした千葉（ちば）じゃねーか！

=

“Minister of Foreign Affairs in Akabane

“You can’t use Go To from Tokyo!”

Tokyo Disney Resort

“Yes!”

Lalaport TOKYO-BAY

“Yes!”

Tokyo Sabage Park

“Yes!”

Tokyo German Village

“Yes!”

Ah! You guys!

Aren’t you all in Chiba, pretending to be Tokyo!?”

Nearby prefectures often try to play on Tokyo’s popularity when naming new places of business. Still, even Japanese folks felt it was a stretch to rename Ibaraki Prefecture’s airport, located a mere two hours away from the metropolis, the Tokyo Ibaraki International Airport. The project was, luckily, abandoned. 

Go To Cancel

A poll held on July 18 and 19 by the Asahi Shimbun revealed that 74% of Japanese voters oppose the government’s Go To campaign. Netizens started a petition on change.org, calling for the subsidy program to be canceled and the funds to support Japan’s healthcare system. 

まだ22日にはなっていません。今からでも、日本政府はGoToキャンペーンと称する愚劣な「二階幹事長や自民党と利害関係のある旅行代理店業界と広告代理店を儲けさせるための人命軽視の政策」は中止すべきです。

今ならまだ中止できます。#GoToキャンペーンを中止してくださいhttps://t.co/FRGlpM2mcP

— 山崎 雅弘 (@mas__yamazaki) July 20, 2020

まだ22日（にじゅうににち）にはなっていません。今（いま）からでも、日本政府（にほんせいふ）はGoToキャンペーンと称（しょう）する愚劣（ぐれつ）な「二階幹事長（にかいかんじちょう）や自民党（じみんとう）と利害関係（りがいかんけい）のある旅行代理店業界（りょこうだいりてんぎょうかい）と広告代理店（こうこくだいりてん）を儲（もう）けさせるための命（いのち）軽視（けいし）の政策（せいさく）」は中止すべきです。 今ならまだ中止できます。 #GoToキャンペーンを中止してください

=

“It’s not yet the 22 and even at this point the government’s stupid Go To campaign which is just a cover-up for ‘a policy disregarding human life so the travel agency industry and advertising agencies that have interests with the chief secretary Nikai and the LDP can make money’ should be canceled. We can still cancel it now. #PleaseCancelGoToCampaign”

Using the noun わけ to make a conclusion in Japanese

For such a small noun, わけ surely can give learners quite a headache. 

Coming from the kanji 訳（わけ）, which translates “reason, meaning, cause” (but also “translation”), わけ is usually written with hiragana when used to make a conclusion. The troublesome part is to untangle the nuances that わけ conveys in positive sentences.

• To make a logical conclusion

窓（まど）が開（ひら）いていますね。寒（さむ）いわけだ。

=

The window is open. As a result, it’s cold.

A: 毎日（まいにち）日本語（にほんご）を勉強（べんきょう）しています。= I study Japanese everyday. 

B: 上手（じょうず）に話（はな）せるわけだ。 = No wonder you can speak good Japanese. 

• To insist on the reason or fact that lead to the conclusion

１ヶ月（いっかげつ）で4キロ（よんきろ）太（ふと）りました・・・運動（うんどう）しなかったわけだ。

= I gained 4 kg in one month… it’s because I didn’t do any exercise. 

• To reword a conclusion

いつも最後（さいご）に帰（かえ）る田中（たなか）さんが帰りました。つまりオフィスには誰（だれ）もいないわけだ。

= Tanaka, who is always the last one to leave, went home. In other words, there’s no one at the office.

Vocabulary

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