{"id":17322,"date":"2023-10-11T12:32:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T19:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17322"},"modified":"2023-10-12T06:27:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T13:27:43","slug":"japanese-only-sign-on-bar-in-naha-okinawa-okinawa-times-and-japan-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17322","title":{"rendered":"“Japanese Only” sign on izakaya bar in Naha, Okinawa (Okinawa Times and Japan Today). Removed after govt scrutiny and media exposure."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0Here’s the latest entry for the Rogues’ Gallery of Exclusionary Establishments<\/a><\/strong>, where a bar in Okinawa refuses all “customers from overseas” (=”Japanese Only<\/a>“) to enter the bar. \u00a0The difference is that the media took it up and ran them through the wringer of logic. \u00a0Not to mention they faced government scrutiny, which history shows<\/a> makes all the difference. \u00a0It came out poorly for the bar, so they took the sign down. \u00a0Good. \u00a0Debito Arudou, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(courtesy Okinawa Times)<\/p>\n

Okinawa pub posts ‘Japanese only’ admission sign based on some shaky logic<\/h1>\n
116 <\/span>Comments <\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24, courtesy of Eric<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/japantoday.com\/category\/national\/okinawa-pub-posts-‘japanese-only’-admission-sign-based-on-some-shaky-logic?\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n

TOKYO: <\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>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.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first line of the notice, written in Japanese, translates to \u201cBecause our staff can only speak Japanese,\u201d which is repeated immediately below in English. After that, though, the notice continued in English only, declaring: <\/em><\/strong>“Japanese Only (sorry) <\/em><\/strong>We don\u2019t allow customers from overseas to enter our bar.”<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u25bc A photo of the notice<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Screen-Shot-2023-10-05-at-9.12.35.png\"<\/div>\n

Bars with Japanese-customers-only policies aren\u2019t unheard of in Japan, but they\u2019re becoming increasingly uncommon in the modern age. Moreover, when you do come across such establishments, they\u2019re generally dedicated bars, with menus almost entirely consisting of drinks, and often the presence of hostesses or \u201cfloor lady\u201d pseudo-hostesses. Izakaya, on the other hand, are essentially restaurants, where customers are expected to order both food and drinks, and it\u2019s competitively rarer for them to have such exclusionary admission policies.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Ed: \u00a0Clearly the author didn’t do much research<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Eventually 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.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The owner claims that the notice wasn\u2019t meant to be taken as discriminatory intent, saying\u00a0\u201cWe only have one person working the dining hall, and one person in the kitchen, so we don\u2019t have time to spare for customer interaction. We have no intent of discriminating.\u201d\u00a0Coupled with the sign\u2019s 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\u2019s really the case, the more appropriate policy would have been \u201cCustomers must order in Japanese.\u201d It\u2019s 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\u2019ve still acquired some basic proficiency with the language is higher than it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 \u201cNo menu substitutions allowed\u201d would be sufficient and succinct.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With the sign getting increased attention, the owner has apparently rethought the Tourism Division\u2019s request to remove it, and\u00a0at some point in September it was taken down, with the owner saying \u201cThe writing was incorrect.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, he also added\u00a0\u201cWhat I want the government to do isn\u2019t to try to attract travelers from other countries, but to teach people about izakaya culture.\u201d\u00a0But 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\u2019s hard to see how turning people away because they\u2019re not Japanese was going to accomplish that.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0Okinawa Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Japanese from Okinawa Times
\n\u5165\u5e97\u62d2\u5426\u306e\u5f35\u308a\u7d19\u3002\u82f1\u8a9e\u3067\u300c\u30b9\u30bf\u30c3\u30d5\u304c\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u3057\u304b\u8a71\u305b\u306a\u3044\u305f\u3081\uff0f\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u306e\u307f\uff08\u3054\u3081\u3093\u306a\u3055\u3044\uff09\uff0f\u6d77\u5916\u304b\u3089\u306e\u304a\u5ba2\u3055\u307e\u306f\u5165\u5e97\u3055\u305b\u307e\u305b\u3093\u300d\u3068\u8a18\u3059\uff1d\uff19\u6708\u3001\u90a3\u8987\u5e02
\n\u6c96\u7e04\u30bf\u30a4\u30e0\u30ba\u30002023\u5e7410\u67082\u65e5 Courtesy of KM and JK
\nhttps:\/\/www.okinawatimes.co.jp\/articles\/-\/1232333<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\u7d4c\u55b6\u8005\u306f\u300c\u30db\u30fc\u30eb\u62c5\u5f53\uff11\u4eba\u3001\u30ad\u30c3\u30c1\u30f3\u62c5\u5f53\uff11\u4eba\u3067\u63a5\u5ba2\u306b\u6642\u9593\u3092\u5272\u3051\u306a\u3044\u3002\u5dee\u5225\u306f\u610f\u56f3\u3057\u3066\u3044\u306a\u3044\u300d\u3068\u4e3b\u5f35\u3059\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n

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\u76f8\u8ac7\u3092\u53d7\u3051\u305f\u5e02\u89b3\u5149\u8ab2\u306f\uff18\u6708\u3001\u5e97\u3092\u8a2a\u554f\u3057\u3001\u300c\u89b3\u5149\u5ba2\u304c\u5897\u3048\u308b\u4e2d\u3001\u597d\u307e\u3057\u304f\u306a\u3044\u300d\u3068\u64a4\u53bb\u3092\u6253\u8a3a\u3057\u305f\u304c\u3001\u5e97\u5074\u306f\u5fdc\u3058\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u3002\u5e02\u306e\u62c5\u5f53\u8005\u306f\u300c\u6a29\u9650\u304c\u306a\u304f\u3001\u304a\u9858\u3044\u3057\u304b\u3067\u304d\u306a\u3044\u300d\u3068\u8aac\u660e\u3059\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n

\u6700\u7d42\u7684\u306b\u672c\u7d19\u304c\uff19\u6708\u3001\u53d6\u6750\u306b\u8a2a\u308c\u308b\u3068\u3001\u7d4c\u55b6\u8005\u304c\u300c\u6587\u9762\u306f\u9593\u9055\u3063\u3066\u3044\u305f\u300d\u3068\u64a4\u53bb\u3057\u305f\u3002\u4e00\u65b9\u3067\u300c\u884c\u653f\u306f\u305f\u3060\u6d77\u5916\u5ba2\u3092\u547c\u3076\u306e\u3067\u306f\u306a\u304f\u3001\u5c45\u9152\u5c4b\u6587\u5316\u3092\u4f1d\u3048\u3066\u307b\u3057\u3044\u300d\u3068\u6c42\u3081\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n

\u554f\u984c\u89e3\u6c7a\u306b\u5411\u3051\u3066\u884c\u653f\u306b\u304b\u3051\u5408\u3063\u305f\u3082\u3046\uff11\u4eba\u3001\u300c\u591a\u6587\u5316\u30cd\u30c3\u30c8\u30ef\u30fc\u30af\uff46\uff55\u3075\uff01\u6c96\u7e04\u300d\u306e\u30e1\u30f3\u30d0\u30fc\u306f\u300c\u89b3\u5149\u884c\u653f\u3082\u4eba\u6570\u3084\u53ce\u5165\u3060\u3051\u3067\u306a\u3044\u3001\u6587\u5316\u306e\u76f8\u4e92\u7406\u89e3\u306b\u3064\u306a\u304c\u308b\u89b3\u5149\u3092\u76ee\u6307\u3057\u3066\u307b\u3057\u3044\u3002\u5e97\u5074\u304c\u76f8\u8ac7\u3067\u304d\u308b\u5834\u6240\u3082\u5fc5\u8981\u3067\u306f\u306a\u3044\u304b\u300d\u3068\u6295\u3052\u304b\u3051\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n

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\nENDS<\/p>\n

======================
\nDo you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org’s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0More details here<\/a>. Or if you prefer something less complicated, just click on an advertisement below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u00a0The difference is that the media took it up and ran them through the wringer of logic. \u00a0Not to mention they faced government scrutiny, which history shows makes all the difference. \u00a0It came out poorly for the bar, so they took the sign down. \u00a0Good. Two articles on this case are archived on Debito.org for the record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,75,54,28,43,34,35,4,13,11,68,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-japanese-only-signs","category-pinprick-protests","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-bad-business-practices","category-exclusionism","category-good-news","category-japanese-government","category-media","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-victories","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17322"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17332,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17322\/revisions\/17332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}