Ha, Paris, the city of lights, the most romantic city in the world, with old monuments and where life is wonderful! But reality is not the one found in movies, and when tourists come and visit the city, they can feel terribly disappointed at the end of their stays. It has a name, the Paris syndrome, diagnosed in 1986 by psychiatrist Hiroaki Ōta, especially in Japanese tourists.
Because they kept idealizing Paris and France watching movies like “Amélie”, for instance, Japanese people visiting the city feel swindled. In the 1980’s, Japanese mass tourism started in France, Paris being considered in the collective imaginary as the city of fashion and luxury. But once on site, the difference with reality is major.
Psychanalyst Eriko Thibierge-Nausi told Geo that people the most impacted were young Japanese women, “some of them ended up with tremendous debts, others felt there was a massive gap as for the way they have been welcomed because they thought they will be treated like princesses”. A confusion that was really impressive in 1980, by causing antisocial behaviors, anxiety because of people’s looks, and even hallucinations.
This syndrome does not only apply to Paris, of course, as it is part of the “traveler’s syndrome”. This is a feeling that can be felt by any tourists all around the world if the city they thought exceptional does not match their expectations. The Florence syndrome can hit tourists who are too exposed to works of art, for instance. Today, it happens less thanks to Internet, enabling to find out more ahead of the travel. Japanese tourists yet can struggle fitting in the Parisian way of life and be disturbed by the fact French services do not work like theirs.
