An Osaka-based restaurant chain has apologized after one of its stores put up a sign refusing service to Chinese nationals. The act, which violates Japanese law, highlights the problematic ways some Japanese restaurants are responding to misbehaving or demanding tourists.
SASAYA store is closed after incident
The store in question belongs to SASAYA Holdings, which operates various izakaya-style restaurants focused on different aspects of Japanese and foreign cuisine. The chain has most of its stores in Osaka, with a few in Tokyo and Fukui. It also runs two stores in Honolulu.
The controversy apparently involves the store Sumibi Yakitori HAYASHIN. According to news reports and the company itself, the store posted a sign in Chinese saying, “Since so many people lack manners, we refuse service to Chinese customers. Thank you for your understanding.”
(Interestingly, SASAYA’s Chinese language apology names the store at the center of the controversy. The Japanese language version, however, does not.)
The store had apparently opened just recently. In an apology posted on its website, SASAYA said the store put up the sign without permission and that it was in violation of corporate policy.
“Up until now, our company has always welcomed foreign and Japanese customers equally. We run all our stores under a policy of providing the highest service possible. Nothing about this policy is changing.”
According to Sankei Shimbun, the company has not only pulled down the sign—it’s closed the store in question. Restaurant review site Tabelog currently lists the store’s status as unknown.
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Japanese restaurants vs. Chinese tourists
Some Japanese restaurants have dealt with what they perceive as rude foreign tourists in less than ideal ways. I reported last year, for example, on a restaurant in Tokyo’s Okubo neighborhood that put up a sign refusing service to Chinese or Korean guests.
In Japan, restaurants are within their rights to refuse service to rude or disruptive customers. However, targeting people by nationality violates the 14th Amendment of Japan’s Constitution, which ensures equal treatment of all residents.
Besides rude behavior, some Japanese restaurant owners have been complaining that foreign tourists, particularly Chinese tourists, have a bad habit of no-showing their reservations. This has recently become a point of discussion on Chinese social media. A person who handles restaurant bookings in Japan for Chinese visitors posted on the social media service RED about how they had three tourist groups no-show their reservations.
No-shows and rude behavior are, of course, unacceptable. However, as SASAYA acknowledged in its swift response, there are better ways to handle this than posting racist signage.
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Sources
大阪の飲食グループ、1店舗で特定国籍者を入店拒否 謝罪文は中国語 「マナー」巡り物議. Sankei Shimbun
