1. Fake monks soliciting 'donations' at temple sites
People dressed as monks approach tourists around Kyoto's temple districts, offering prayer beads or amulets as though they were gifts, then demand payment framed as a temple donation; a variant has the 'monk' offering a guided look around the temple and charging an excessive fee afterward. Japan Today reports the scheme at tourist sites in Kyoto as well as Tokyo, and genuine monks in Japan never approach visitors to sell items or tours.
Warning signs
- Robed 'monk' walks up to you instead of standing silently with an alms bowl
- Trinket or amulet pressed into your hand, then a price demanded
- Offer of an informal 'tour' of temple grounds for cash
- Claims the money funds temple repairs
How to avoid it
- Politely refuse any item or offer from self-described monks at Kiyomizu-dera, Gion or other temple areas
- Give only at official temple offertory boxes and counters
- Do not accept the item at all — once it is in your hand, the pressure begins
- Report persistent approaches to temple staff or a nearby koban
Sources
2. Photo-with-me charge hustle
A person or group, often women, asks a tourist to take a photo with them in Kyoto's busiest tourist areas. After the photo is taken, an exorbitant 'fee' is demanded, and the scammers create a loud public scene to embarrass the victim into paying. TheSmartLocal documents the trick as uncommon but specifically reported in touristy areas of Kyoto.
Warning signs
- Strangers actively inviting you to pose for a photo with them
- Costumed or dressed-up individuals lingering at photo spots
- Payment mentioned only after the shutter clicks
- Loud public commotion when you refuse to pay
How to avoid it
- Decline unsolicited photo invitations from strangers in crowded tourist lanes
- If you want photos with costumed performers, agree any fee explicitly before the photo
- Walk away from any post-photo demand; causing a scene does not obligate you
- Step into a shop or approach a koban if you are followed
Sources
3. Fake charity and disaster-relief collectors
Collectors working busy tourist spots and stations claim to raise money for disaster victims or orphanages, sometimes carrying fake badges or IDs and using rehearsed emotional stories. Documented as a recurring scam in Japan's tourist cities, it diverts money from real causes and targets visitors who cannot verify Japanese-language credentials. Legitimate Japanese charities do not typically solicit cash from tourists on the street.
Warning signs
- Clipboard, badge or ID flashed briefly as 'proof'
- Emotional pitch about earthquake or disaster victims
- Cash-only donation requested on the spot
- Evasiveness when asked for a website or registered organization name
How to avoid it
- Never give cash to street collectors; donate through organizations you look up yourself
- Ask for the registered charity name and verify it on your phone before giving
- Assume any approach in a tourist crowd is a solicitation and keep walking
- Report aggressive collectors to station staff or police
Practical safety briefing
- Airport arrival: Most visitors arrive via Kansai International Airport; take the JR Haruka limited express directly to Kyoto Station and ignore anyone in the arrivals lobby offering private car rides — unauthorized solicitors have been reported at Kansai as well as Tokyo's airports.
- Trusted transport: City buses and the subway with an ICOCA card cover the sights; licensed taxis (green plates) are honest and metered. If you take a jinrikisha rickshaw in Arashiyama or Gion, confirm the full price and route in writing before boarding — complaints about undisclosed pricing are the one recurring tourist gripe.
- Money & payments: Temple admission, smaller eateries and market stalls are frequently cash-only; withdraw at 7-Eleven or Japan Post ATMs. Expect restaurants on the lanes immediately around Kiyomizu-dera and other headline temples to charge a location premium — walking one street over cuts the bill substantially.
Official travel advisories
- US State Dept — Level 1 advisory; notes low crime overall in Japan but flags pickpocketing in crowded tourist areas and nightlife-district drink spiking and bill extortion nationwide.
Compiled from documented reports and government advisories. How we verify scams. Last verified July 2026.