News

Japanese tourists to the capital of France are often struck with a bout of Paris Syndrome.

That is according to French newspaper Journal de Dimanche which reports that around a dozen Japanese people every year need psychological treatment after visiting the city.

Japan's embassy in Paris has already been forced to send four tourists back home so far this year as Paris Syndrome kicks in.

The affliction is said to affect people in different ways, with two women having become convinced that their hotel room was bugged, while another thought that microwaves were attacking her.

These cases have been cited by a Japanese embassy official and the syndrome has been in the public mind since it was first outlined in the psychiatric journal Nervure in 2004.

'Fragile travellers can lose their bearings,' psychologist Herve Benhamou told Journal de Dimanche. 'When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis.'

The problem is thought to stem from the fact that many Japanese people regard Paris in such high esteem that when they visit the city they are ultimately let down by the reality.

'For us, Paris is a dream city,' said a Japanese woman named Aimi. 'All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own.'

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