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Hi Blog. Here’s the latest entry for the Rogues’ Gallery of Exclusionary Establishments, where a bar in Okinawa refuses all “customers from overseas” (=”Japanese Only“) to enter the bar. The difference is that the media took it up and ran them through the wringer of logic. Not to mention they faced government scrutiny, which history shows makes all the difference. It came out poorly for the bar, so they took the sign down. Good. Debito Arudou, Ph.D.
(courtesy Okinawa Times)
Okinawa pub posts ‘Japanese only’ admission sign based on some shaky logic
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24, courtesy of Eric
TOKYO: Outside an izakaya (Japanese pub) in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, a notice had been posted the management. At the top was an illustration of a cute cheerful samurai, bowing deeply as in greeting, but the words below were decidedly less welcoming.
The first line of the notice, written in Japanese, translates to “Because our staff can only speak Japanese,” which is repeated immediately below in English. After that, though, the notice continued in English only, declaring: “Japanese Only (sorry) We don’t allow customers from overseas to enter our bar.”
▼ A photo of the notice
Bars with Japanese-customers-only policies aren’t unheard of in Japan, but they’re becoming increasingly uncommon in the modern age. Moreover, when you do come across such establishments, they’re generally dedicated bars, with menus almost entirely consisting of drinks, and often the presence of hostesses or “floor lady” pseudo-hostesses. Izakaya, on the other hand, are essentially restaurants, where customers are expected to order both food and drinks, and it’s competitively rarer for them to have such exclusionary admission policies.
[Ed: Clearly the author didn’t do much research.]
According to local newspaper Okinawa Times, the notice had been posted since at least a year ago, during which the management has turned away non-Japanese would-be customers. Eventually the sign came to the attention of two members of a Naha residents group that reported it to various government departments, including the Naha City Tourism Division and Okinawa Convention Bureau. This prompted a visit by members of the Tourism Division in August of this year in which they asked the owner to take the sign down, especially in light of increasing numbers of overseas travelers visiting Okinawa following the lifting of pandemic protocols, but the owner refused to do so.
The owner claims that the notice wasn’t meant to be taken as discriminatory intent, saying “We only have one person working the dining hall, and one person in the kitchen, so we don’t have time to spare for customer interaction. We have no intent of discriminating.” Coupled with the sign’s disclaimer that the staff only speaks Japanese, that would seem to indicate that the aim of the no-customers-from-overseas rule was to eliminate time-consuming communication problems, but if that’s really the case, the more appropriate policy would have been “Customers must order in Japanese.” It’s pretty short-sighted to make a blanket assumption that all non-Japanese diners will be unable to speak Japanese, given that the number of people living outside Japan who’ve still acquired some basic proficiency with the language is higher than it’s ever been, as is the number of non-ethnically Japanese residents of Japan, most of whom can order food and drinks in the language without difficulty. Even if the owner’s concern was foreign customers asking for changes in how their food is prepared, something far more common at restaurants outside Japan than within it, a sign saying “No menu substitutions allowed” would be sufficient and succinct.
With the sign getting increased attention, the owner has apparently rethought the Tourism Division’s request to remove it, and at some point in September it was taken down, with the owner saying “The writing was incorrect.”
However, he also added “What I want the government to do isn’t to try to attract travelers from other countries, but to teach people about izakaya culture.” But if what he really wants is a broader understanding of izakaya drinking and dining traditions, presumably on a global scale (since Japanese people are already familiar with those traditions), it’s hard to see how turning people away because they’re not Japanese was going to accomplish that.
Source: Okinawa Times
///////////////////////////////////////////
Japanese from Okinawa Times
入店拒否の張り紙。英語で「スタッフが日本語しか話せないため／日本人のみ（ごめんなさい）／海外からのお客さまは入店させません」と記す＝９月、那覇市
沖縄タイムズ 2023年10月2日 Courtesy of KM and JK
https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/1232333
那覇市の居酒屋が入り口に「ジャパニーズオンリー」と書いた紙を張り、外国人の入店を拒否していた。国籍による違法な差別で、市民グループが気付き、行政に相談した。現時点で店側は張り紙を取り外しているが、客や通行人を傷つけていた事実は残る。行政による支援や啓発の必要性も浮かぶ。（編集委員・阿部岳）
張り紙は「スタッフが日本語しかしゃべれないため」と書き、さらに英語で外国人の入店禁止を伝える内容。１年ほど前に張り、実際に入店を断ったこともある。拒否された客は「非常に悲しい」とネットに投稿している。
経営者は「ホール担当１人、キッチン担当１人で接客に時間を割けない。差別は意図していない」と主張する。
ただ、国籍だけを理由にした入店拒否は人種差別撤廃条約に反する。静岡地裁浜松支部は１９９９年、街頭の店舗は一般に開放されていると指摘し、外国人の入店を拒否した宝石店に損害賠償を命じた。
那覇市の居酒屋の張り紙を偶然見つけた市民グループの２人は、市の各部署や沖縄観光コンベンションビューローに相談して回った。「沖縄カウンターズ」のメンバーは「これを見た外国人がどれだけ傷つくか。でもいきなり炎上させるのではなく、行政も一緒に円満に解決したかった」という。
相談を受けた市観光課は８月、店を訪問し、「観光客が増える中、好ましくない」と撤去を打診したが、店側は応じなかった。市の担当者は「権限がなく、お願いしかできない」と説明する。
最終的に本紙が９月、取材に訪れると、経営者が「文面は間違っていた」と撤去した。一方で「行政はただ海外客を呼ぶのではなく、居酒屋文化を伝えてほしい」と求める。
問題解決に向けて行政にかけ合ったもう１人、「多文化ネットワークｆｕふ！沖縄」のメンバーは「観光行政も人数や収入だけでない、文化の相互理解につながる観光を目指してほしい。店側が相談できる場所も必要ではないか」と投げかける。
４月に施行された県差別のない社会づくり条例は、事業者に差別解消に向けた努力を求めている。条例の検討委員だった白充（ペクチュン）弁護士は「国籍のみを理由とした入店拒否は条例に抵触しており、実効性が問われる。県民一人一人の意識変容に加え、県が周知徹底する努力も必要だ」と話した。
ENDS
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11 comments on ““Japanese Only” sign on izakaya bar in Naha, Okinawa (Okinawa Times and Japan Today). Removed after govt scrutiny and media exposure.”
„However, he also added “What I want the government to do isn’t to try to attract travelers from other countries, but to teach people about izakaya culture.” But if what he really wants is a broader understanding of izakaya drinking and dining traditions, presumably on a global scale (since Japanese people are already familiar with those traditions), it’s hard to see how turning people away because they’re not Japanese was going to accomplish that.“
Sorry, but was it „izakaya culture“? You literally just sit down and order your food, just like in any restaurant in the world. There is literally no „culture“ involved here. The iwner is just a typical racist oyaji who thinks that foreigners will ruin the „wa“.
Furthermore, „ Bars with Japanese-customers-only policies aren’t unheard of in Japan, but they’re becoming increasingly uncommon in the modern age. Moreover, when you do come across such establishments, they’re generally dedicated bars, with menus almost entirely consisting of drinks, and often the presence of hostesses or “floor lady” pseudo-hostesses. Izakaya, on the other hand, are essentially restaurants, where customers are expected to order both food and drinks, and it’s competitively rarer for them to have such exclusionary admission policies.“
Yeah, I heard this excuse from a lot of apologist NJ. I‘m sorry, but even if this were true (which it isn‘t), it would still be an issue because foreigners should have the right to enter any establishment they want. I really don‘t care if you‘re a michelin star restaurant, or a hostess bar/soapland. Equal rights and obligations for everyone please. Also, I don‘t see German or Dutch „houses of pleasure“ excluding Japanese customers.
Also who wants to bet with me that drunk and entitled oyaji are causing way more problems for the staff at izakayas and other establishment than any foreigner on a yearly basis? Funny how there‘s never a sign that says „Please no drunk nomikai oyaji, our staff can‘t handle you.“ But I guess that‘s part of Japanese culture, so it‘s ok.
The owner is just a typical racist oyaji who thinks that foreigners will ruin the Wa“.
100% spot on. Except as I said elsewhere, Okinawa is hardly “pure” Japan per se. Anyone who buys into that is tacitly enabling the assimilation of a minority into a monolithic Japan where “there is no racism because we are all Japanese” (yeah, right)
FYI Ikebukuro bordellos did discriminate a few years ago, I saw one of them with a sign saying that this is so that they prevent crimes or something ROTFL
Why do they always refuse at first? Ganko Oyaji syndrome? Its paralyzing a lot of business opportunities in Japan! Anyway, a few takeaways (no pun intended)
-he also added “What I want the government to do isn’t to try to attract travelers from other countries, but to teach people about izakaya culture.”
1. Jibun ga erai small business owner above the law? CHECK
2. Not interested in business from tourism? CHECK
3. You must OBEY THE RULES. CHECK. (so much for Omotenashi)
4. Absolutely zero compromise or flexibility? CHECK
5. Completely unrealistic, self-absorbed, pretentious, pompous goal or demand? CHECK.
6. WE JAPANESE used to further Exclusionism in whatever industry one is in? Related to #5. CHECK.
As in “Izakaya Culture- Sorry Gaijin san, you can never understand the inscrutablre and ancient mysteries of the Divine Izakaya Culture, except for the Venerated Sensei (restaurant owner)”
C’mon. Get real. Japan needs all the money it can get now. Lose the Xenophobic Mysticism and Complete the Transaction.
— Wow, that last sentence sounded familiar. Surprised it still echoes.
@ Doc Debito, Lose the Racism and Complete the Transaction should be a T Shirt. I’ll get round to it eventually.
Could you draw a cartoon of the bank teller in Canada quizzing you? Maybe with a speech bubble, “You don’t look Japanese.” or “Where are you REALLY from?” (Ironic as he was Asian and that’s what Asians usually have to suffer in the USA)
‘Lose the xenophobic mysticism’, they can’t. It’s all they got left as 150¥ to the USD decimates standards of living.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was wondering when this story was going to make its way to Debito.
When I first saw it on social media, I was shocked by the number of people with Stockholm Syndrome. They were clearly on the side of the owner, because “He shouldn’t have to deal with self-entitled foreigners”, that “US military personnel are a nuisance”, et cetera, et cetera. Funny how these commenters possess such ominousness. And no doubt that they would tie themselves into knots at a “whites only” sign.
One person was in Okinawa at the time and offered to visit the establishment with the acid test of whether he would be served due to his language ability or refused due to his appearance. Another commenter then criticized the former for exercising his “white privilege”!
I’m waiting to see an “Okinawans Only” bar.
Tangentially, is the owner a local Okinawan or a Mainland Japanese? If the former, then he has clearly bought into the propaganda of monolithic homogeneous Japan and the idea that he is a “pure Japanese”. Okinawa was and still is a different culture and ethnicity (self identified as Okinawan in US surveys up to the 70s) and in my thesis I wrote about how so called mainland investment mostly flowed back to mainland Japan i.e. Okinawa was treated like a colony. Ditto the Battle of Okinawa- pawns to be sacrificed.
However, if he is going to engage in this kind of discrimination then it really sullies the genuine efforts of Okinawans to preserve their separate culture and language; if its just going to be a case of sh*tting on someone “even lower” than you in the perceived racial hierarchy.
Or, perhaps he is trying to prove his Japanese-ness by excluding more visible minorities/NJs?
“I’m waiting to see an “Okinawans Only” bar.”
The Okinawans in my experience have been extremely welcoming of visitors from other cultures, while quite a few of them asserting their rich and separate culture. The late Shoei Kina comes to mind.
If there is an Okinawans Only Bar and it excluded Mainland Japanese, that would the ultimate Shoe on the Other Foot moment for the mainlanders.
However, I can’t say I have ever seen that in Okinawa, to their credit. Still, this shameful Izakaya owner could be the exception that tars their otherwise good reputation.
On the other hand, one sees this a lot in Japan itself, with its village mentality discriminating against other Japanese, in Kyoto etc.
“He shouldn’t have to deal with self-entitled foreigners”
– err, get real. 20% of Okinawa is US territory. And it used to be 100%. As mainland Japan has historically abused Okinawa and just treat it as a holiday destination, does he really think Japan cares? Kobe and Fukushima seemed low priorities so long as Tokyo is alright.
that “US military personnel are a nuisance”
-Oh, ok then. Well, as China recently claimed Okinawa as a part of China, withdraw the troops and see how that goes!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/15/china-okinawa-dispute-japan-ryukyu
I don’t particularly like the base personnel myself, but this guy just lumps the entire world in with a few bad apples. Just racism. And if he is a local Okinawan, then shame on him and good luck with being treated as an ethnic minority in Japan.
Sounds to me like the Okinawans took care of this business, correctly, on their own.
The shop owner was wrong for putting up a discriminatory sign, the locals recogized this, and the locals dealt with the issue.
There is a pretty significant reduction in these signs from 20 years ago. I do not know the reasons (could be economic, change of heart, who knows?)
Anyway it is nice to see the locals took action on this.