A Chinese college student influencer stirred controversy by saying she would show how to travel in Osaka, Japan, for about 20,000 won in Korean currency and then engaging in various "nuisance" behaviors. As criticism mounted in both Japan and China, the video was deleted.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong reported on the 8th that a travel influencer named "Yi Kexu" undertook a "poverty travel" in Osaka and faced strong criticism on social media (SNS) in China and Japan.
Yi Kexu is a 21-year-old student at Hainan University in China and has 200,000 subscribers on a mainland China SNS platform. During immigration inspection at Kansai International Airport, she ignored a "no filming" sign and filmed while saying, "I'm entering little Japan right away."
In an airport restroom, she washed her hair in the sink and dried it with a hand dryer. While taking the Nankai Electric Railway into downtown Osaka, she did pull-ups on the train's hand straps.
She also lay across multiple seats on a quiet bus and loudly sang a song titled "Love my China (愛我中華)."
After arriving downtown, she went into a restaurant saying she would "teach how to drink water for free," asked for a cup, and drank the complimentary tea. She left without ordering food.
When visiting a market, she grabbed and ate fruit meant for sampling. After Yi Kexu ate seven grapes, the vendor finally cleared away the plate of fruit.
A Japanese internet user said, "Truly shameless." A Chinese internet user said she was "a cancerous presence for China's international image." As criticism continued, Yi Kexu deleted the video.