Every year, about a dozen Japanese tourists are sent home to the "Paris syndrome"

Paris is a city held in high regard in films and television. There's a romantic vision of cobbled streets, beautiful women and high culture and art. While this is for the most part true, Paris is also a very busy and active city that does not always resemble the highly stylized vision that is usually put on film.

Every year, about millions of Japanese tourists come to Paris with that image of the city in their heads, only to face the reality that the city is not entirely how they pictured it. And the reality of it can cause shock. Tourists might have encounters with rude taxi drivers, or waiters who are rude to people who don't speak fluent French.

The shock causes about a dozen tourists a year to have a nervous breakdown so intense, that the Japanese embassy has had to send back tourists with a doctor or nurse on board of the plane to help them get over it! The term "Paris syndrome" was coined by a Japanese psychiatrist who works in Paris. Culture shock is such a problem that the embassy also has a 24-hour hotline for those who are suffering and need help!