Internet Tourists

Tourist attractions can take many forms, but very few expected Boo the Ninja Dog to become as much of a tourist attraction as he has. And yet, in Kyoto, Japan, tourists have come running to see the 9-year-old Pekinese in his ninja costume, complete with a sword strapped to his back. Boo the Ninja Dog roams the city unhindered, and tourists often set out with the goal of finding him in the city. He has been seen in such varied places as the grounds of Kiyomizudera temple, or Nijo Castle, according to Chieko Hara of asahi.com. Both of these sites are major tourist attractions; obviously, Boo knows how to play to his tourist audience well.

Boo’s owner, a 66-year-old man named Atsushi Nishi, was quite fortunate to have stumbled upon such a perfect idea for attracting the attention of tourists. He first put Boo into his ninja outfit for an annual period costume period called the Oharame Jidai Gyoretsu in 2008. Boo’s outfit was a hit, so Nishi decided to let others bask in the ninja-dog’s glory. And bask tourists have, as they flock to Boo with cameras and smiles.

The popularity of Boo the Ninja Dog is attributable both to the brilliance and humor clothing the dog in ninja costume, and also on the somewhat unpredictable nature of the Internet. If it weren’t for tourists seeing the dog, taking pictures of him, and making them available for others to find and enjoy, Boo’s popularity might not be such as it is today. But with the Internet making the world smaller and smaller, it is easy enough for individuals in American tourists to find out about ninja dogs in Kyoto before they have even come to Japan, so that when they do arrive, they make it a point to seek the ninja dog out.

Using the memetic nature of the Internet to attract tourists is difficult, as memes are very difficult to actively control, or even to begin. But Boo clearly represents a success case of a meme being spawned to draw in tourists, something for which Nishi and Kyoto itself must be grateful. It is entirely imaginable that in the future, countries and cities the world over may implement similar techniques to call tourists to their locations, as memes are often significantly more powerful methods of attraction than any tourist agency, brochure, or website ever could be. Much as Kyoto clearly has ample tourist attractions all on its own, Boo the Ninja Dog could easily have been the Internet meme necessary to tip several tourists over into coming to the Japanese city.

The story of Boo the Ninja Dog shows, if nothing else, the power of the Internet to spread knowledge and stories which can lead to some real world effect. When tourists can be affected so much by an Internet meme, spread only through photos and stories of Boo’s appearance, it makes clear the Internet’s power to affect the real world through shared information. One can only hope that in the future, the example of Boo the Ninja Dog will be followed to bring other fun and entertaining elements of the real world to digital tourists the world over.