Refusal of Service: Rumor vs Reality

Hi All,

At present, I'm currently refining my accommodation for my upcoming holiday and came across on hotel on Rakuten which stated:

"We only speak Japanese. Please speak Japanese".

I personally don't have trouble with this as I know the vast majority of this is related to the staff feeling as though they can't provide the level of service they see as acceptable if you can't communicate with the customer.

However, it actually got me thinking a bit more philosophically about how this is dealt with by us westerners who have a different perception on how the world works.

Personally, I've never been refused service I believe due to my inability to speak Japanese (apart from when a restaurant was full or very close to full and I'm a single customer).

I know this might be a big assumption - but I personally feel that most refusal of service probably occurs either in the host bars which might have complex rules with cost for people who don't speak the language, or possibly businesses who may be run by an older couple who don't feel comfortable speaking English (or can't) and may have been burnt with a previous transaction with a foreigner because the foreigner did not fully understand the total costs (due to lack of being able to communicate easily).

The only reason I'm asking this is because I've been completing a lot of research lately (due to not having much to do in my current country) and I've noticed a lot of communication about this topic in both blogs, youtube videos and forums.

On an odd note - I've actually often found that service from people that don't speak English is often best in places that never or almost never get western tourists - such as the countryside....

As such - I'm asking for peoples general knowledge of this topic on the topic.

If I questioned this occurring to me in some out of the way places in Japan - then it's possibly a question that other people may have as well when I should know better myself....

I have traveled rather intensively around Japan for over 10 years and never encountered a refusal of service. Then again, my activities in red-light districts have been rather limited and I can communicate in Japanese to a certain degree.

I feel that most of the refusals occur in red-light districts and are usually caused by troubles caused by foreign customers in the past (particularly American military personnel and Russian sailors).

It is also possible to misinterpret "refusals" as discrimination. For example, one guide book claimed that Pontocho during the summer-terrace season is not foreigner-friendly because the author got refused at an establishment that still had a lot of empty tables. The author concluded this must be discrimination, but the fact is that at many restaurants in Pontocho it is virtually impossible to dine on the summer-terraces without prior reservations.

There also exist certain establishments (especially ryokan) whose owners feel uneasy about having customers that can't communicate with the staff. There are various reasons for this: the worry of how to handle foreigners in case of an emergency or other troubles; the worry not to be able to provide them with the degree of service they strive for; the worry that the foreign guests cause inconvenience to other customers by not knowing the local customs (especially in terms of meals and bathing). These lodgings naturally won't advertise in international booking websites, and the average Western tourist is unlikely to get into contact with them.

that simply means that they don't provide special service for non-Japanese-speaking people. or, they provide their service in Japanese (language). it does not mean that the service is for Japanese (people).

are you thinking that non-English-speaking people have to provide special services for English-speaking ones ?

Hi Ken,

I guess what I'm trying to put across is that us westerners may see denial of service as being racist/xenophobic when it's actually most likely Japanese people not having the skills or feel comfortable dealing with another language which they don't speak.

I've come across a lot of opinions which tends to suggest the former in my recent research (I've got lots of spare time at the moment) and I guess that I don't support this assumption.

I'm hoping that other people read this post and note that possible denial of service is

(1) Very rare

(2) Almost always happens due to previous negative experiences in being unable to communicate (most particularly in relation to payment)

(3) The workers cannot communicate in English, or feel as though their service will be unacceptable to their standards if the customer can't communicate in Japanese....

the official language is Japanese. everything have to expressed in Japanese (language) firstly. you can only read English in Japan and judge without knowing Japanese (language).
I never see the signs, "ŠO�‘�l‚¨’f‚è" or "“ú–{�l�ê—p�h.

I think the origin of racism is from westerners, white people. not from the colored people.
historically, Japan has no racism. there were the discrimination against Chinese, Koreans, and so on. those are the reason of different languages and cultures. ( I think Japanese, Chinese, and Korean are almost the same race. indistinguishable by appearance)
collisions induced by language and culture differences always happen all over the world. it is not a racism. exclusiveness of others always happen. it is natural.
if you conclude these collisions are from racism, you have a potential thought of racism still.

Once again, the concept of racism is your culture, not Japanese culture.

I think you have some people also in other countries who would feel awkward with serving a customer who doesn't speak their language. Whatever OP's researching, I don't think it's just in Japan. It just happens in a human world.

I live in a Western country which is not my country of origin and where I look like a proper foreigner. I've never come across shops or hotels officially stating, 'We only speak our own language. Please speak our language', and I speak/understand their language fine. But some staff do make their mind up that I don't speak the language very well. For example, in this place, I subscribe to their service and need to visit there once in a while. There are always free standing staff who approach customer who is waiting in a queue. They know I'm waiting my turn queuing up behind customers who is being served. They wouldn't want to come near me, in case they are unable to communicate with me. I try to make an eye contact and they just don't want to notice me and notice another customer coming in.
I've experienced this type of thing in a city centre, an inner city area and countryside. T
(Please don't get me wrong. I do come across many decent, professional and civil staff, too. )

If OP says that Japanese hotel's statement could be taken as denial of service, I think my experiences are it, just in a different, silent and unofficial form. I wouldn't want to waste my time analysing it. I simply don't go back, if I have other choices, or speak and ask for assistance, if I really need something in a particular place.

That hotel's statement is very blunt and could taken in a bad way. But they told you that they don't speak English. I think they just tried to clarify with their limited English, not in Japanese, that they simply don't speak/understand English, even though you keep pushing in English. Maybe in a peak season, they are not able to spend extra 10 - 15 minutes to make each other understood.

This is a bit off topic, but my husband doesn't speak Japanese at all, except 'Thanks' and 'Excuse me'. When we stayed in Japan, he was very good getting what he needed in hotels, shops, pubs, cafes, etc. You can only expect certain requests in such places. He expressed to them what he needed. If they didn't understand his language, he used a gesture and anything he could think of. Once they knew what he wanted, they got relaxed and did their best to help him.
I wouldn't be able to be comfortable like him. I'd need to know a language at a certain level.

Sorry, if I misunderstood anything and wrote anything irrelevant. I just thought I'd write my thought. I hope you'll pick a hotel where you get a decent service with or without whatever language.

"We only speak Japanese" is fair, I too get annoyed with some people's sense of entitlement to being served in English. But "No foreigners allowed, period" is not unheard of either. And ken can say whatever nonsense he wants, that's racism. Or xenophobia if that's what you want to call it, that doesn't make any difference.

Just to go on a slight Segway - I do feel as though Japan has less racism and xenophobia than most Asian countries but it definitely does exist - but it's not mainly against European or other western people (if we forget about reverse racism - where one race gets positive treatment because of the color of their skin).

It's mainly against other Asian such as Filipino's, Koreans, Chinese and other SE Asian countries. The number of people involved in this is small - but they are there!

When I used to live in Japan, my workplace used to be near the South Korean embassy and we would often have a van driving up and down stating not very nice things. However - this probably represents 0.01% of the population.

On another note - I do feel as though other countries in the region are more xenophobic than Japan. Some of my co-teachers in my current country have stories of Korean students being chastised by Korean taxi drivers for speaking English and attending an international school.

When I used to live in Taiwan - the biggest insult you could do to your girlfriend was to dump her for a Filipino. This is mainly because in that country Filipinos either were domestic help or involved in the illegal prostitution trade.

But back onto what I was trying to say - albeit with too many words the first time.

Refusal of service is rare and almost never happens because of racism. As such - it's something that a potential tourist does not need to worry about and that the warnings on this being a problem are overstated and need to be ignored.

In the many decades of traveling around Japan as a Japanese, I do have seen one sign saying they refuse people from a specific country, and I do have read about a sign refusing people from a spedific region within Japan.

But it's against the law (and also not practical) to generalise and refuse, for example, "the British" or "the Tokyoites" or what not. On the other hand, it's alright (and practical) to refuse those who don't speak the local language.

So I would interpret the "Please speak Japanese" sign as a way of saying, "We are not willing to learn your language, so speak our language and adjust to our custom and manners."

Things like this happen when the venue is fed up with visitors who are noisy or don't obey the rules or don't act like a typical local would. For example, I do know a Japanese friend who volunteered to show around some tourists in Japan, and a tourist ended up sharing from other people's plates when he was only paying for a course that doesn't include that dish. The restaurant started complaining about it and it turned into a mess.

So for example, I would suggest that it would be quite alright for a Caucasian or African who have been living in Japan like a Japanese and know the custom well to use the venue, but for a first-time tourist it may be quite an adventure.

Personally, I would also assume that owners who put up signs like these are shy rather than mean. They don't have the guts to ask you to leave once you become annoying, so they shut people out from the beginning. They can actually be nice once you get to know them.

On a side note, I often am refused service outside Japan when I speak to them in English which is not their language. I remember a clerk who just frowned, went away and never came back. But I went back pointing out a phrase book, and the same clerk became very helpful. I thought that was fair enough.

Uco, I am curious as to what region of Japan they forbade to serve? Do you mind sharing?

As for myself, I have seen 1 public "No foreigners" sign. It was on a door. I was walking by but it made me stop to look at what kind of establishment it was, and sure enough, it was some sleazy place with "girls" and whatnot. I don't know the reason for the sign, but I tend to assume that they've had bad experiences with foreigners who don't "know the rules" and it caused problems. I could be wrong, though. Who knows?

One more instance was at a temple in Kyoto. They held up a sign that said "We don't serve foreigners" but went on to explain that a guided tour was required and it was all in Japanese. But I asked in Japanese that if I would listen to the tour if I could join and I was permitted with no problem.

I have been there another time and was not shown the paper. I wonder if they have stopped doing that. They did have a monk the second time who spoke limited English, so perhaps they weren't as worried.

As a note about "racism". I myself find the term is used too loosely by Westerners. The term describes very specific racial separations of power and ownership of land/property that is really only found in post-colonial societies, specifically those with significant white populations.

The word "racist" is so loaded and connected to events and ways of treating people that simply do not apply to places that avoided that history. I never use that word when talking about discrimination in Japan. It just doesn't work.

Rabbityama - I think Uco was referring to another country. It would be interesting to hear the country nonetheless..

Ironically - this is actually more of a problem in my home country of Australia (albeit a small one). There are a few rare cases of people not serving people who don't speak English, along with the same happening for people who don't speak the main language of the restaurant.

I'm also noticing a pattern. The only sign close to a refusal of service I've ever seen was for a Filipino Massage Parlor which stated "Foreigner must not have temporary visa" or something similar.

Another time I also wanted to enter a temple in Kyoto and they were very reluctant about selling me a ticket and kept of pointing to the next temple next door. Once I got the idea that 'no cameras' was the potential problem, I said 'iie camera ok" and the monks face beamed with a big smile and he happily sold me the ticket.

On a side note - some of my favorite memories of Japan are being taken around a temple or even Sake brewery in Japanese - you somehow manage to understand the basics of what is going on and it's a great memory. I do however shy away from being on a Japanese speaking tour when I'm the only person to avoid embarrassment of the tour guide not being able to communicate with anyone.

Uco, I am curious as to what region of Japan they forbade to serve? Do you mind sharing?

I'm afraid I do mind sharing and feel that it is unneccesary. But, yes, this was a region in Japan, and it was also quite a few years back. Nowadays there is more awareness, so hopefully we won't be seeing any obviously discriminating signs and attitudes any more. Just to be fair, I did sympathise to the owner, because the sign was set up in an area where the small percentage of workers from the certain region tend to show bad drinking habits.

Perhaps it's the wording of it that is the problem? For me personally, dating "Please speak Japanese" sounds quite xenophobic too, as of to say you're in our country, speak or language. Whilst for visiting tourists who are there for maybe a week or 2,is this a reasonable thing to expect?
If the wording was something else like "We are sorry that we may be unable to serve in English" wouldn't this express more what others appear to be saying that it is they are afraid that it would be out of their ability to post the best service?
I tried to get by mostly on body / sign language and I didnt expect them to know English. When I went to Korea Town for lunch I found their English support was almost non existing. For one restaurant we apologised and left because they only had a Japanese menu and no pictures, but sometimes I found that merely asking in a restaurant for an English menu, we would get a sense of "oh here we go, another entitled English tourist who thinks everywhere should have English menus". If you dont ask you never know though right?
I think for the most part though Japan does go out of its way to make visitors feel welcome though.

As a note about "racism". I myself find the term is used too loosely by Westerners. The term describes very specific racial separations of power and ownership of land/property that is really only found in post-colonial societies, specifically those with significant white populations.
The word "racist" is so loaded and connected to events and ways of treating people that simply do not apply to places that avoided that history. I never use that word when talking about discrimination in Japan. It just doesn't work.[/

You may want to realign your personal definition of what racism is.

From the Oxford English Dictionary:
A belief that one�fs own racial or ethnic group is superior, or that other such groups represent a threat to one's cultural identity, racial integrity, or economic well-being; (also) a belief that the members of different racial or ethnic groups possess specific characteristics, abilities, or qualities, which can be compared and evaluated. Hence: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against people of other racial or ethnic groups (or, more widely, of other nationalities), esp. based on such beliefs.

If the discrimination in Japan is based off of the person/people not being Japanese, then that by its very definition is racism.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%89%E9%81%93%E5%87%BA%E4%BA%BA

his behaviors are similar to YAKUZA. Is this a typical westerner, as you expect ?

Ken - I don't think you fully understand this thread.

The whole point of this thread is to basically say that denial of service either does not happen, but if it does it's either

(1) A miscommunication because both parties do not speak the same language

(2) Something bad has happened in the past to a certain business (such as sailors or badly behaved westerner) which has cost the business money

I'm sorry that I don't know the fully story about the person you showed a link in Wikipedia link to - but all of the people in this thread have responded in saying that denial of service in Japan is a rumor and not a reality (or that's how I read it anyway).

In the one case (from a long time ago) that was mentioned - it was because of the bad behavior of a western person.

I originally put this thread here to disagree with what I saw on the internet when people said Japan has a problem with denial of service. There is no problem - and if it does occur it normally happens for a reason (mentioned above).

As such - I am not attacking Japan but supporting it. None of the posters have attacked Japan and all have basically agreed that refusal of service does not happen or it's a miscommunication - which is expected when people cannot easily speak to one another.

My hope was to reduce any fears any people may have in relation to having this problem.

My last hope is that this thread dies and is replaced by other 'off topic' topics....

I guess this is the problem with the written word - the meaning of what is written is always different depending on who is reading it (aka - no context.

R.I.P: Refusal of Service Thread 26.5.2015

To the guest who responded with the Oxford definition, that definition does not take into account the history of the term and the assumptions made when a person uses the term. As I said, the term is very strongly bound to Western imperialist thought and history. Oxford is not the best source in a sociological discussion about actual human interactions and perceptions. I think you'd be better served by opening your mind instead of throwing the term racist around to describe everyone

Sorry Rabbityama but THE definitive dictionary of the English language has more weight than you interpretation of what a word means. You don't have to accept it, that's fine.

Rabbityama, I agree to some extent that westerners might throw the R card around too much but I strongly disagree that Racism dosent apply in Japan, if that is indeed what you said. Any country in the world is capable if racism, if the generally polite and lovely Japan there will be bad racist eggs to be found.
I've never really found definitions from Dictionaries wrong....they are heavily researched before being compiled so even if they are not spot on they usually give a very good idea.
I wouldn't apply Racism to the OPs example, although it does flirt close to it, there is a lack of animosity that is associated with racism. Thinking about it, it probably helps those who would rather avoid establishments as such with minimal English support.
Personally I've never met any refusal of service, but I'm not sure I can totally disrepute this and say it is pure rumour based on some small incidences I hear from friends and family.