I was wondering if someone can truly explain to me the Japanese obsession with photographing what seem to us non-Japanese as truly banal travel minutiae. The question arises because yesterday, while my wife and I were sitting at a cafe/restaurant here in Hawaii, where we’re taking a brief vacation, two young Japanese women (early-to-mid-20’s, I’d guess) at a nearby table each took out a camera and photographed their lunches, which appeared to be essentially normal cheeseburgers with fries.

I’ve seen lots of Japanese tourists, and it’s not just a stereotype that puts them all with cameras in their hands. Another Japanese tourist we saw yesterday (this time a 20-ish young man) was videotaping his walk down a flight of stairs…and they were not particularly interesting stairs.

I just don’t get it.

I take travel photos, too, but I understand that it’s only with great forbearance that anybody will look at even the most interesting of them. I’d be fairly embarrassed to even think of showing someone a picture of my lunch unless it were still alive, or truly fascinating (like some things I’ve eaten in China). But there’s no way that urbane tourists from Japan can think a cheeseburger is fascinating.

So, can someone please explain the Japanese photographic compulsion to me, including whether the picture-taker expects himself or others ever to view those photos?