Even though the autumn foliage season has ended, Kyoto continues to attract tourists from both within Japan and overseas. In November, a sign posted in such a restaurant in Kyoto became a hot topic on social media. [Photo] The actual sign: This sign says “Fully booked” in English and Chinese, with “Those who can read Japanese are welcome to enter” written underneath. While some have made fun of the move, calling it a “Reiwa-era version of no-one-else-welcomes” or a “typical Kyoto sarcastic remark,” there have also been voices of understanding from restaurant workers busy catering to tourists. However, does the act of “selecting customers based on the languages they can speak” not constitute racial discrimination? We asked lawyer Daisuke Sugiyama, who is an expert on issues surrounding foreigners, about the legal merits of this. (Kuramoto Nao) ■Why Kyoto restaurants avoid foreign tourists First, let’s look at the current situation in Kyoto, which is under pressure from overtourism. In Kyoto, a city known as a tourist destination, many restaurants welcome foreign tourists, but some establishments are struggling to accommodate them due to a lack of staff who can speak foreign languages or being too busy to use translation apps. The bar run by Takumi Harada (pseudonym, in his 50s), who runs a bar in Kyoto’s downtown area, is no exception. “Honestly, I understand why they put up that poster. My store has had many problems with foreign tourists in the past. The most common problem is payment issues. We charge a 1,000 yen cover charge, but even if we explain it clearly when customers enter the store, they often refuse to pay when it comes time to pay, saying they “didn’t know.” “I was once told, ‘I don’t have enough money, so I’ll go to the ATM and withdraw it,’ and when I asked them to leave their passports behind just in case, they yelled at me.” (Harada, same below) Harada is not good at English, so he communicates using apps and broken English. Even though they posted job advertisements looking to hire part-time workers who are fluent in foreign languages, they hardly ever get any applications in this seller’s market, and the staff currently only consists of two student part-timers. “Some days it’s a one-man operation. There are only 20 seats inside the restaurant, and on weekends it is filled only with Japanese customers. In this situation, we don’t have the resources to deal with foreigners, so we only accept them when we have the time.” Harada continues that in the past, they would accept them, thinking, “They’ve come all the way here, so…” but as a result, “it often ended up exhausting me.” “After we show them to their seats, they often just look at the menu and then leave… It makes me feel exhausted when I think that I could have guided other customers. So, when we were busy and didn’t have time to serve customers, we started refusing them, but then we started getting the lowest ratings on Google reviews saying things like, “They wouldn’t let us sit there even though there were empty seats,” and “It’s racist to only allow Japanese people into the restaurant.” It’s unbearable.” ■Is discriminating between customers based on their language racism? The store with the controversial sign may have been facing similar problems to Harada. Is allowing only Japanese speakers or Japanese people to enter a store not considered discriminatory under the law? Sugiyama responded, “Accepting only speakers of a particular language may be discriminatory, but it is not necessarily illegal.” “First of all, Japanese law does not make judgments such as ‘this is discrimination, so it’s wrong, or illegal.’ When an act of distinguishing between things occurs, we first evaluate whether its purpose and effect are unjust, and then determine whether it is problematic or illegal. In other words, there is no point in discussing whether it is discriminatory or not. What is important is whether the behavior is legitimate or unjust.” (Sugiyama, same below) According to Sugiyama, “Since there is no legal requirement to provide services in English or Chinese, if the only service available is in Japanese, then saying that “if you cannot understand Japanese, we cannot accept you” does not seem to be unfair treatment.” “Of course, the poster in question may be a ploy to exclude foreigners, and any movement across society to exclude foreigners on the basis of language is not acceptable. However, at this point in time, it would be excessive and unrealistic to impose an obligation on individual stores to provide services in foreign languages. Furthermore, “freedom of economic activity,” which determines what type of business to conduct and with whom, is also a human right. In the case of a clash between human rights, if one side is to be set aside, it will not go ahead unless there is a corresponding justification and necessity for doing so.”
The full text below is at the source. Bengoshi JP News December 16, 2024 09:59.
>>1 The menu is in Japanese only, and the restaurant only speaks Japanese. This is fine. The only currency accepted is the Japanese yen. Only Japanese is spoken. That’s fine.
84Man with glasses ◆34sbtdf0kgnx.Dec. 16, 2024 (Mon) 12:59:34.45ID:+ZrOZ+Un
As expected of Kyoto. Foreigners who understand Japanese are welcome, so there’s no racism and it’s well done. I think this will become popular among privately owned stores all over Japan that want to refuse foreigners.
All you need to do is decorate the doorknob with something similar to Hakone craftsmanship and put up a sign in Japanese explaining how to open it lol.
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