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I have had the same experience. To push down on this the Japanese feel shame in not being able to communicate to you if you do not speak Japanese. It makes them

I have had the same experience. To push down on this the Japanese feel shame in not being able to communicate to you if you do not speak Japanese. It makes them uncomfortable. Being able to manage some basic Japanese helps so much to build a warmer feeling in your interactions. It does not have to be perfect but you have to try. There is a bar I love that is known for not being friendly to non-Japanese. However that is not the case. They pride themselves on their level of service and they feel they cannot meet that level if they cannot communicate to you. If you go with someone that speaks Japanese you are fine but alone they will tell you they are booked (if you look non-Japanese). I have been there enough and my Japanese is good enough that that I can walk in no issues. Once I walked in with a group of foreigners and a new person rushed up and told me in broken English "all full". As soon as I asked for a member of staff I knew in Japanese the persons face dropped and he apologized and sat us. I spent the night translating for my party and everyone has a great time (and my Japanese is quite child like!) There is another place I frequent that has the same staff for the last 12 years! They smile when I walk in, even if it has been 1/2 a year! It's going to be almost a year now with this pandemic but I promise when I get back I will see the same faces and they will still know my favorite scotch.

laurieg 6y ago
Perhaps it's a bit reductive, but your story reads like "I went to a restaurant I like and they nearly refused service due to my ethnicity". A similar thing has happened to me and it doesn't make me want to go back.
- smukherjee19 6y ago
  (This is replying to both your comment and its parent comment.) I sometimes run into that kind of behavior, especially when my first impression is my looks rather than my voice. But then I think of it like this: they probably have to deal with many foreign customers, "most" of whom cannot speak Japanese. Or they might not have been exposed to many foreigners that they know there are foreigners who can speak Japanese. At the same time, Japanese society puts consideration for others at one of the higher priorities when interacting with people, and is seen everywhere and highly evaluated by many. So it feels natural for the person to assume that I, as another one of those foreign people, most likely cannot speak Japanese. Also, they could try speaking to me in Japanese, but it'd be inconsiderate of them if I didn't know Japanese. So many a time the default, and very likely considerate route out is broken English to the best of their abilities. I know this makes people like us who do know the language a bit bad, but then again, we're still a minority so I wouldn't read too much into it. :) Of course, if the person in question knows you know Japanese, yet keeps talking to you in English, then it might be better to assume something is not right. :)
- myrandomcomment 6y ago
  I understand it could be looked at that way. The point was that it was not because they do not like foreigners, but because they feel they cannot uphold their service standards if they cannot communicate. Maintaining the expected quality service and reputation for that excellence is the only thing that matters and not doing so would bring shame. It is a very uniquely Japanese view on things and I do not in this case see it as racist. The reality is that the Japanese think very differently then most western (EU/US) and it can be very hard for outsiders to understand or even relate.
- njwi332 6y ago
  As a counterpoint to the sibling replies, I speak fluent Japanese and was still refused entry to a local izakaya in Hakodate. It wasn't about the language, I made plenty clear that I could speak it well. They just didn't like foreigners. Racism and discrimination is definitely a thing here, and I certainly wouldn't go back to that restaurant. However it's only happened once in a year of living here and never in Tokyo, only a ruralish city, so I don't take it as an indictment on Japanese people. I'm sure there are plenty of bars in rural America or Australia (where I'm from) that would have been equally unfriendly to someone of Asian ethnicity. At the end of the day you just have to decide not to let it ruin your day that there are some bad eggs in the bunch, no matter which country it is. *Caveat though that I've heard it is much worse here for people from China than it is for white foreigners such as myself. If it made up a significant portion of my experience it would be hard to live here comfortably.

laurieg 6y ago

Perhaps it's a bit reductive, but your story reads like "I went to a restaurant I like and they nearly refused service due to my ethnicity". A similar thing has happened to me and it doesn't make me want to go back.

smukherjee19 6y ago
(This is replying to both your comment and its parent comment.) I sometimes run into that kind of behavior, especially when my first impression is my looks rather than my voice. But then I think of it like this: they probably have to deal with many foreign customers, "most" of whom cannot speak Japanese. Or they might not have been exposed to many foreigners that they know there are foreigners who can speak Japanese. At the same time, Japanese society puts consideration for others at one of the higher priorities when interacting with people, and is seen everywhere and highly evaluated by many. So it feels natural for the person to assume that I, as another one of those foreign people, most likely cannot speak Japanese. Also, they could try speaking to me in Japanese, but it'd be inconsiderate of them if I didn't know Japanese. So many a time the default, and very likely considerate route out is broken English to the best of their abilities. I know this makes people like us who do know the language a bit bad, but then again, we're still a minority so I wouldn't read too much into it. :) Of course, if the person in question knows you know Japanese, yet keeps talking to you in English, then it might be better to assume something is not right. :)
myrandomcomment 6y ago
I understand it could be looked at that way. The point was that it was not because they do not like foreigners, but because they feel they cannot uphold their service standards if they cannot communicate. Maintaining the expected quality service and reputation for that excellence is the only thing that matters and not doing so would bring shame. It is a very uniquely Japanese view on things and I do not in this case see it as racist. The reality is that the Japanese think very differently then most western (EU/US) and it can be very hard for outsiders to understand or even relate.
njwi332 6y ago
As a counterpoint to the sibling replies, I speak fluent Japanese and was still refused entry to a local izakaya in Hakodate. It wasn't about the language, I made plenty clear that I could speak it well. They just didn't like foreigners. Racism and discrimination is definitely a thing here, and I certainly wouldn't go back to that restaurant. However it's only happened once in a year of living here and never in Tokyo, only a ruralish city, so I don't take it as an indictment on Japanese people. I'm sure there are plenty of bars in rural America or Australia (where I'm from) that would have been equally unfriendly to someone of Asian ethnicity. At the end of the day you just have to decide not to let it ruin your day that there are some bad eggs in the bunch, no matter which country it is. *Caveat though that I've heard it is much worse here for people from China than it is for white foreigners such as myself. If it made up a significant portion of my experience it would be hard to live here comfortably.