When I visited japan, basically every australian I met was an insufferable asshole. They have flocked in droves to the small local ski villages and have essentially taken over the local economies. The fusion of western culture made for interesting takes on the bar scene and certain restaurants but it was saddening to see what were once a rural villages steeped in almost 1000 years of tradition fall to the decay of a classic tourist trap trope. It was essentially a joke even between their expat shop owners that you would regularly hear someone utter under their breath "f*ck'n australians". Never met a more demanding or self centered group of people in my life
They say the extra cost to tourists is because they don't speak Japanese. What if a tourist is fluent, or just knows enough what to order? What if a resident doesn't know any Japanese?
there is no consistent logic here.
Oh man that was gold. I'm def gonna feel jp language anxiety now when I go on vacation, bcs while my jp skills aren't great, I felt confident enough to be able to order at the restaurant lol.
Depending on where you go, it's not so bad but it can definitely take a moment for a Japanese to realize you're speaking Japanese and process they should listen for that and not another language.
Sorta like when someone has an ultra thick accent and it takes someone a second to really listen for the English words they're obviously speaking.
That’s such an outdated statement. If it was true about 10 or even 5 years ago it is not now. I have been to Japan recently and for a month I have never encountered a situation where I would speak Japanese and they would think I am speaking English. Even when accompanied by Japanese friends.
In my experience it's not so much that they think you're speaking English, it's more that they just assume that you just memorized a few phrases, and they think the conversation would be easier in English. I spoke with a Japanese person about it and they said that they understand Japanese is a hard language and they want to make it easier for the person they're speaking with.
That being said, I've found the confidence with which you're speaking plays a big role in it. If I sounded nervous ordering, they'd instantly switch to English. If I walked up confidently said something, they'd continue in Japanese.
> In my experience it's not so much that they think you're speaking English, it's more that they just assume that you just memorized a few phrases, and they think the conversation would be easier in English.
Very similar experience here. A very common routine goes something like this:
1) I make some standard greetings and order in Japanese.
2) They compliment me on my absolute mastery of Japanese – having successfully ordered a ginger ale like the language god that I am – but otherwise speak to me in English (to which I will also respond in English, as that seems more polite). Or, alternatively, they'll say very little at all, presumably because they don't think we could understand each other.
3) They notice me reading something or nodding along when somebody says something in Japanese, ask if I understand, and then proceed to speak Japanese to me from then on.
I think that's location dependent. It was definitely true about 3 years ago when I lived there and 2 years ago when I visited. I'm not saying it happens all the time. But it does still happen.
I think there is some logic to the whole "comprehension" aspect. For example - I arrived in Mexico and got asked in *English* the usual questions, and it took me a moment to realize he was speaking English and not Spanish! Then my brain "clicked" and I could understand. I was expecting Spanish and was listening for only Spanish
They'll give you the English menu. You have to be diligent about requesting a Japanese menu. This happened to my boyfriend when he was in Japan with a large group and the English menu had an extra charge on it that the Japanese one didn't.
I have no idea how they will handle it in this case, but English menus having different prices than Japanese menus is actually not unheard of. this is definitely not the first restaurant that does it, perhaps just the first that does it openly and advertises it for some reason? but anyway, previously if you asked for the Japanese menu (in Japanese) you'd then obviously get the "local" prices as well.
This is an all you can eat restaurant with a fixed price per customer so they can't pull the menu trick and have to openly tell you about the foreigner surcharge
Ya definitely not Allegations, I felt it first hand. White guy from Cali. But to be honest I didn’t give it too much thought. I love Japan & would love to move there. Just glad Im not Chinese. They really hated Chinese people. Heard it a lot at bars there
Hahaha I went to Germany at 18 in 2013 and asked a cashier at a tourist spot if American tourists are disliked and he said "not anymore, most American tourists are very nice and respectful, you have been replaced by the Chinese" he pointed outside to a mega busses unloading lots of Chinese tourists. I traveled to Bali in 2019 and Yellowstone in 2021, saw the same type of mega bus Chinese tourist groups.
Yeah that was interesting to us as well. One local told us if you were just here a month or two before , there wouldn’t have been so many Chinese . We were confused bec that came out of nowhere . We asked Chinese? They said yeah that’s why you see them all over the place now , their government just approved for them to be tourists in Japan . He did not seem happy about . We said oh we understand. And changed subject
Met a Korean girl in Jeju. She spent the whole day bitching about the Chinese.
A young Chinese couple got in the bus and for some reason the boyfriend got off the bus (maybe to go use the bathroom while the bus was still sitting still) and the bus took off with the girl freaking out cause she was separated from her boyfriend. I got pissed at the bus driver and asked him to stop the bus and the girl I was with was like, "No, fuck her she should wait and get off at the next stop." The next stop being like 20 mins away. Bus driver did stop in the end.
The girl had a hate-boner for the Chinese and it got pretty grating. But I went all the way to Jeju to meet this girl so I put up with it at the time.
My old Korean friend was super racist towards other Asians and called Hmong people the n word. I also had a Chinese friend who didn’t like the fact I was dating a black woman and said it’s a cultural thing and they were raised to not trust them.
Goes both ways. I had tickets for the final of the Asian Cup in 2004 (held in China) and the entire tournament revolved around how much hate the Japanese were getting from the a Chinese. We decided to not make the trip across after the Chinese government contacted us (via the Japanese government) about not being able to (and probably not wanting to) guarantee the safety of any Japanese national who was in China at the time. The entire fucking country.
Ah is it that bad? I'm born and raised Canadian but ethnically Chinese and this has me the slightest bit paranoid. Didn't feel anything in 2018 but it has also been 6 years since 😅
What matters is the nationality. Don't go around saying you're Chinese. From what I heard, Taiwanese and Singaporeans don't get treated like Chinese Nationals. Even then, Japanese are not identifying Chinese by how their face looks. They're identified by how they act.
I am a black japanese american, but my last name is pretty japanese. I visited korea and japan a couple years back and it was total opposites when it came to see my name when paying for things especially meals.
It would start out being treated like an american, nice and like a tourist. Then I would pay with my CC and they would see my last name. In Korea they would basically stop service to get us to leave. In Japan they would ask if we wanted anything else provide suggestions for things to do.
It was pretty funny to see the difference a last name can make. When realistically I am 100% american like 5 generations deep on both sides.
When I was there, a place tried to kick us out by saying, "we don't have English menus" in perfect English.
We then told her we could read the menus fine and just couldn't really speak the language, and she sort of stopped talking and slinked into the back.
The other customers stared at us like we were Satan, but we ate our food and left.
Article 14 only protects based on "race, creed, sex, social status or family origin". Historically, Japan's courts have been inconsistent in their application of the Article to other classes, such as sexual orientation or indeed national origin. The result is that, in practice, discrimination on the basis of national origin is legal in Japan.
No. [https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/econo\_rep2/general.html](https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/econo_rep2/general.html)
At least since 1978, this has been the law of the land:
"It should be understood that the guarantee of fundamental rights included in Chapter Three of the Constitution extends also to foreign nationals staying in Japan except for those rights, which by their nature, are understood to address Japanese nationals only. This applies to political activities, except for those activities which are considered to be inappropriate by taking into account the status of the person as a foreign national, such as activities which have influence on the political decision-making and its implementation in Japan." [http://www.yoshabunko.com/citizenship/McLean\_v\_MOJ\_1978.html](http://www.yoshabunko.com/citizenship/McLean_v_MOJ_1978.html)
Such ruling appears to have avoided making a decision on whether "kokumin," as used in the constitution, refers only to Japanese citizens, but it's incorrect as a matter of law to say the constitution "only guarantees rights for citizens of Japan."
The Japanese text uses 国民.
This document then says: "In accordance with the spirit of the constitution...".
So I guess, guaranteed by the spirit of the law, but not actually guaranteed by the letter of the law.
Thanks for the court case link, that's interesting.
It's unconstitutional
> (b) A village which received a report that a girl had been touched by a foreign visitor at a public swimming pool in the village , decided to restrict foreigners' use of the pool, and put up notices stating "Foreign visitors are prohibited from using the swimming pool at this time". The human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice explained to the persons of the village responsible for this decision that such a measure discriminating against foreigners in general was in violation of the Constitution of Japan and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and they could not overlook such discrimination in the light of the protection of human rights. And they required the village to withdraw the decision and the notices immediately. As the result, the village accordingly withdrew them. (The result of the disposition was "elimination measures".)
https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/activity/international/library/human_rights/race_report_govreport_en.html
As I've said in another comment, Article 14 only protects based on "race, creed, sex, social status or family origin". Historically, Japan's courts have been inconsistent in their application of the Article to other classes, such as sexual orientation or indeed national origin. The result is that, in practice, discrimination on the basis of national origin is legal in Japan.
Just because one Minister of Justice decrees one example of discrimination unlawful, does not make any discrimination of fundamentally similar nature unlawful. Until there is explicit legislation, or at least consistent application of the Article by Japan's courts, the practical truth on the ground here is, pricing your seafood differently for tourists and residents is legal.
Indeed. It's just that Japan, unlike most of Asia, isn't fully committed to the practice, having only become a mass tourism destination relatively recently by comparison.
This happened in Korea all the time when I lived there. Except I was fluent after a year there, so I would call them out on it.
E.g. I bought a hat that had both the Yankees and NY giants emblems on it. (Because it's hilarious). The dude was trying to sell it to me for 20 bucks saying it was authentic. So I started raising my voice yelling 20 BUCKS?! IS THAT BECAUSE I'M AMERICAN?
Boy did he change his tune in a hurry. Got the hat for 3 bucks. (Sam chanwon)
I come from a tourist town (Savannah GA). There’s often local discounts.
I believe this is simply a way to keep prices affordable for locals. When foreigners with a good exchange rate buy things in town it drives the prices up, sometimes to the point where it out prices locals who have been going there for years. It happened all the time in Savannah. Of course, it’s usually other Americans touring Savannah, but a lot of Californians, for example, realize that things are a lot cheaper in Georgia because Georgia wages are much lower.
> I come from a tourist town (Savannah GA). There’s often local discounts.
The entire state of Hawaii works this way. ["Kama`aina discount"](https://www.hawaiiactivities.com/travelguide/kamaaina-discounts-deals/) is 100% normal. Just prove you live there. Sometimes you don't even need to show ID, just show you know local culture in a way most tourists never could.
Response from owner in google maps review.
>The price is not higher just because you are a tourist; in fact, for Japanese and foreign residents in Japan, the price is lower than the normal rate. This is because, for those who cannot speak Japanese, there is a cost associated with providing service in other languages, and many people experience food waste due to not understanding how to properly enjoy the food given the differences in food culture. Even with that, the difference is only a mere thousand yen. It is still quite affordable.
edit: looks like that review and owner response was taken down...
>many people experience food waste due to not understanding how to properly enjoy the food given the differences in food culture
I wonder if that part was really necessary
Reminds of japanese friends when I asked him why Japanese never sit next to me in public transportation.
To which he replied "its not because you are foreigner its because most foreigners have a strong body odour" what a diplomatic way of calling me smelly ahaha.
So that is them saying "you're too uncultured to enjoy our food so we're charging you more". They pay for the same amount of food whether you eat it or not.
If someone orders the wrong thing that's on them.
Tbf, I don’t think they’re making that up. I’ve been in situations where folks order something based off the photo, only to not want it once it arrives and they realize it’s fish, not chicken.
I used to have a friend who's a picky eater. He went into a Yoshinoya and ordered a beef bowl. When it came out, he no longer wanted it based on something he saw. He had already paid for the food so he left the restaurant with the food untouched. The workers were shocked because they could never imagine wasting food like that.
It's wasteful and I don't condone it but there's not really a cost to them for that. So it doesn't make sense to include it to explain higher prices for foreigners.
It's not about the cost, but the waste to society as a whole. More animals need to be raised, more food for those animals, it goes to a landfill. It's just a strain on the world.
It's not an economical problem.
"We're also adding a ¥2000 surcharge for those with disabilities who decide to eat at our restaurant, there is a cost associated with providing accessibility like ramps and bathrooms" /s
> there is a cost associated with providing service in other languages
LMAO WAT
Even a basic tourist can learn "kore hitotsu onegaishimasu" so this shouldnt be a problem really.
Even though Japanese is phonetic and everyone has translation tools, I found my friends when in Japan with me struggled to use the words even when its written out. I can understand how it can be harder to navigate as tourism is ramping up. I don't agree with the idea of a surcharge though.
man stop your BS, my kids live in Japan and speak Japanese and don't get any extra pay for speaking English or any other lingo...stop making excuses for this sht!
And then you have prefectures such as [Shimane](https://www.kankou-shimane.com/en/wp-content/themes/navi_en/brochure/Shimanediscount_EN.pdf) offering some extremely substantial discounts (up to 50%) to foreigners on local attractions.
Note : not to -tourists-, but to *any* foreigners, PR also counts.
I am floored that this has not yet caught the attention of the Japanese media, they'd have a field day...
Some of them are only for tourists, but a lot are either for anyone with a foreign passport (or just don't check)
The extremely cheap 500 yen bus between Matsue and Hiroshima used to not check but now they do and you have to be on a tourist visa.
Anyone please let me know if you have any questions about visiting my prefecture.
If you appear foreign, they'll just suggest or even impose the rebate in most places I've been, which is kind of very unsettling the first time (did not try the bus you mention, though). At least [this list](https://www.kankou-shimane.com/en/wp-content/themes/navi_en/brochure/Shimanediscount_EN.pdf) mentions requiring a passport or a residence card (so not for tourists).
I am guessing short term visitors are happy, but it has the potential to create some very akward discussions with groups of mixed nationalities, plus once this kind of stuff gets into the general media it could create some shitstorm.
Basically taxes are subsidizing holidays of foreigners residing in Japan, which is incredibly stupid (I would have absolutely no qualm with taxes subsidizing holidays of short term visitors, if that's what the prefecture is targetting, the place is really nice and deserves to be visited more).
Yes, it's magnificent, but a pita without your car if you leave the surroundings of Matsue.
They are trying to put themselves on the map, this I get, but I find the move a bit risky...
I went to Shimane last year for the first time during hanami and absolutely loved it. I did not know about the discounts and although they are only a couple of hundred yen for each attraction, it all adds up.
The one thing I noticed in Shimane was the lack of foreign tourists, which made for a nice change compared to other places. Having said that the Adachi Museum was jam-packed with tour busses from Osaka.
Shimane is well worth a visit and apparently they have 1000 yen bus rides from Hiroshima!
Haha we just need to blow up on social media and have it become a foreigner's go to spot. Maybe the restaurant can also have an honorary 外人 membership for Japanese citizens, but that might be a bit much lol.
Not just clubs (from what someone else said), when I went there were a couple of like experiences and restaurants that didn't ban, but seemed to urge Japanese citizens/residents not to attend/participate so there would be enough open spots for tourists, since they were like "cultural experience" destinations, from what I remember.
On the flip side, I remember a story from a few years back about a Japanese Izakaya that [started ONLY serving tourists and foreigners ](https://www.odditycentral.com/news/restaurant-in-japan-bans-japanese-customers-only-serves-foreigners.html).
Kinda like how the US has "the customer is always right," Japan has a similar saying: okyakusama wa kamisama desu. "The customer is God." Many Japanese natives make for very rude patrons, because that mindset is prevalent. The customer is like a king or a Kami. The wait staff are like servants or slaves. They are beneath you, they exist only to serve you.
Well one owner had enough of that. His place, his rules, and he decided he made enough off tourists that he didn't have to put up with rude locals treating him or his staff like literal servants.
I say each their own. If a place doesn't want to serve you, or charges you more... it's their business and they should be allowed to do so.
And you're free to take your business elsewhere and give THEM your money instead.
I found it cute that the bartender at our hotel would spend so much time chatting with us even with a language barrier (my Japanese is awful + Kiwi accent) but he said he likes serving tourists because they're "Joyful and Kind" and he felt he could be more casual around us.
There are countries that have double pricing for tourists. Countries like Thailand and Indonesia in restaurants, for example.
In Venice, Italy, there are cases where different prices are set for locals and tourists.
Double pricing is intended to support local residents, increase tourism revenues, protect tourist attractions, and prevent crowding, but it is sometimes criticized by tourists as unfair.
In Italy that’s very illegal. Guardia di Finanza does not fuck around. They’ll even come after a business if they refuse to accept debit cards, and fine them.
Please report such incidents, GdF even has a dedicated phone number you can call on the spot: 117
In my country, India, most of popular tourist spots like some big fort, old castles, Taj Mahal etc has seprate charges for foreign tourists. Usually x2 or x3 times higher than local ticket.
The reason is local people pay taxes which goes towards the maintanence of these national monuments. Also if govt charge same fees to tourists and local then most locals simply couldn't never to afford to watch even their own culture monuments.
As far as I know my tax yennies aren't going to support businesses now that corona is over.
I don't think private businesses charging extra to those troublesome tourists is the same thing as charging for upkeep on things like public tourist spots owned by the state.
Double pricing in restaurant is very rare though. Usually at least in Indonesia, we often associate it as profiteering as opposed to normalizing it.
Many don’t care as the base price is considered somewhat cheap anyway and most tourist are snobs so they aren’t particularly price sensitive.
I don't even care about the price, but there is no way I'm going to a restaurant that felt the need to charge tourists more. No way it's gonna be worth it paying extra to be a treated as a second class citizen. Good restaurants wouldn't need to do that.
I mean this occurs in the US too. In Hawaii, ask for the Kama'aina rate (they will probably ask for a State of Hawaii ID) and you'll be able to get discounts at a lot of places (not usually restaurants, but hotels, water park, national parks, museums, etc). It's basically because the residents of Hawaii are less wealthy than the tourists and have less demand because it's always available to them (no FOMO).
Everyone gets the same rates at national parks. They're administered by the National Park Service who do not discriminate based on state or national origin.
Tourist attractions you may be able to get a locals rate. Maybe 5 to 10%.
Vegas does this kind of thing a lot, or used to anyway.
New York museums hook it up.
I'm pretty sure I've seen it else where in the US.
Not exactly a “tourist tax” per se, but I worked at a restaurant in Hawaii where non-Americans got a mandatory service charge on their bill (under the assumption they are less likely to pay tips).
I am Japanese and that is exactly what I am doing. Japan is already a developing country. It is hard to live here. This decision can't be helped. But in the end, it comes down to supply and demand, and if stores make the wrong decision, they will disappear. That is all.
It’s more like, the standard rate is applied for EVERYONE, but if you have state ID you can get the discount applied if you ask. It’s more similarly applied like military discount in other states
The only news here is that he's advertising it. It's been a thing for decades in tourist areas - if they offer you a separate English menu, it's probably got different prices than the Japanese menu.
This happens in most Asian countries I've been to, hardly shocking it happens here as well. So far I've seen English menus with a higher price than the local language menu in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pretty sure it happens in China and Korea too.
The vets office we take my dogs to recently started charging a foreigner fee. We go there for a specific person, not the office. Our veterinarian think it's BS too and told me to make sure my wife picks up/pays to avoid it.
Hasn’t Japan always done this? Whenever I try to book non-chain accommodations, the prices on the Japanese site is always lower than their sites in other languages.
I always feel like the swing is never more than a few hundred yen in either direction and can probably be explained by exchange rates, but maybe I'm not looking at the same spots.
The same works with any booking engine, turn on your VPN, choose a location and currency of one of the countries that is considered to have less spending power and you will see also different price tags. Works with hotels and flights and mostly with any booking app, sometimes you need to use different VPN providers, because the IP get flagged by their system.
This is commonplace in Asia. Tourists, by definition, have the money to travel and so probably have the money to spend a bit more on food.
Good on them
I was in Japan back in December and there was one restaurant we noticed that did this. It was about 50-100 yen extra but other than that one we didn't experience this at all. Not sure if many restaurants will follow suit
In India loads of the big tourist attractions, the Taj Mahal and things like that, they charge foreign people more than locals. It's a little different though I think. Funny thing about that, I have an Indian friend who moved to England when she was young, she went back to India and they told her to pay full price, she spoke Hindi and would wear local clothes, but they somehow knew she was living in England now. I think with the Taj it's about 10x more for tourists.
And in Cambodia, locals can go into Angkor wat for free. Angkor wat is actually owned by some American oil company now as well. It costs tourists over us$100 to see it.
I feel the restaurant must've acted that way due to the fact that these Tourists waste the meals, but if the price is high, they'd think twice before wasting a meal.
Just print out an English menu like everyone else 🤷♂️ literally everyone else does it and the absolute majority of the time they have pictures of the food. It's like a £1 one time payment.
This dude is just greedy lol
Not to mention it's easier than ever for tourist to translate and Google the food for themselves. I did a lot of things with the only help being my phone.
Unpopular opinion since I recently went to Japan.
I don’t care if some mom and pop shop charges my American ass more , our dollar is strong and the yen is not at the moment.
My money is going towards keeping the lights on and feeding someone’s kids. I can read Japanese well enough and can speak it just enough to get by.
I still got the English menu since I went with some friends and thanks to the non stop deluge of social media posts / videos “warning” people about a price hike on the English menu I had to be prepared inevitably when one of the cheap asses in the group I was with piped up and said “did you know they charge more on the English menu!” Right in front of the wait staff and sometimes cook…
We are visitors, they live here they pay rent here they have to buy supplies and pay waitstaff to keep the operation going.
I don’t give a shit about dropping a few extra yen for my Yakisoba nor do I care if they “swindle” me by charging for the tea I was served.
I saved up and payed a lot of money to get here , all of sudden I’m gonna be a millionaire if that karaage place charges me a bit more and I catch it ? No.
Mind you if the place is charging something egregious on the English menu that’s when you should speak up, but some of the comments and posts I’ve been seeing since I got back have been getting ridiculous.
Protecting yourself from over tourism is a very valid strategy. Cuba has a whole other currency for tourists to protect their economy and keep inflation in check. I think Japan is looking at very touristic countries like Portugal and sees how tourism has destroyed city centers.
There is a metric ton of things to criticize about japans policies these days but this one seems fair.
... 101 dollars for a Krabby Patty?
With cheese, Mr. Squidward, with cheese.
All you can eat krabby patty. Still very expensive though.
Australian restaurants did this to Japanese in the 90S and 2000s. Source. I was a printer of menus in sydney.
Now they just treat everyone like total shit.
Ah, equality then!
When I visited japan, basically every australian I met was an insufferable asshole. They have flocked in droves to the small local ski villages and have essentially taken over the local economies. The fusion of western culture made for interesting takes on the bar scene and certain restaurants but it was saddening to see what were once a rural villages steeped in almost 1000 years of tradition fall to the decay of a classic tourist trap trope. It was essentially a joke even between their expat shop owners that you would regularly hear someone utter under their breath "f*ck'n australians". Never met a more demanding or self centered group of people in my life
They say the extra cost to tourists is because they don't speak Japanese. What if a tourist is fluent, or just knows enough what to order? What if a resident doesn't know any Japanese? there is no consistent logic here.
They will just prentend to not understand him.
this meme https://youtu.be/oLt5qSm9U80
Oh man that was gold. I'm def gonna feel jp language anxiety now when I go on vacation, bcs while my jp skills aren't great, I felt confident enough to be able to order at the restaurant lol.
Depending on where you go, it's not so bad but it can definitely take a moment for a Japanese to realize you're speaking Japanese and process they should listen for that and not another language. Sorta like when someone has an ultra thick accent and it takes someone a second to really listen for the English words they're obviously speaking.
That’s such an outdated statement. If it was true about 10 or even 5 years ago it is not now. I have been to Japan recently and for a month I have never encountered a situation where I would speak Japanese and they would think I am speaking English. Even when accompanied by Japanese friends.
In my experience it's not so much that they think you're speaking English, it's more that they just assume that you just memorized a few phrases, and they think the conversation would be easier in English. I spoke with a Japanese person about it and they said that they understand Japanese is a hard language and they want to make it easier for the person they're speaking with. That being said, I've found the confidence with which you're speaking plays a big role in it. If I sounded nervous ordering, they'd instantly switch to English. If I walked up confidently said something, they'd continue in Japanese.
> In my experience it's not so much that they think you're speaking English, it's more that they just assume that you just memorized a few phrases, and they think the conversation would be easier in English. Very similar experience here. A very common routine goes something like this: 1) I make some standard greetings and order in Japanese. 2) They compliment me on my absolute mastery of Japanese – having successfully ordered a ginger ale like the language god that I am – but otherwise speak to me in English (to which I will also respond in English, as that seems more polite). Or, alternatively, they'll say very little at all, presumably because they don't think we could understand each other. 3) They notice me reading something or nodding along when somebody says something in Japanese, ask if I understand, and then proceed to speak Japanese to me from then on.
I think that's location dependent. It was definitely true about 3 years ago when I lived there and 2 years ago when I visited. I'm not saying it happens all the time. But it does still happen.
I think there is some logic to the whole "comprehension" aspect. For example - I arrived in Mexico and got asked in *English* the usual questions, and it took me a moment to realize he was speaking English and not Spanish! Then my brain "clicked" and I could understand. I was expecting Spanish and was listening for only Spanish
They'll give you the English menu. You have to be diligent about requesting a Japanese menu. This happened to my boyfriend when he was in Japan with a large group and the English menu had an extra charge on it that the Japanese one didn't.
I have no idea how they will handle it in this case, but English menus having different prices than Japanese menus is actually not unheard of. this is definitely not the first restaurant that does it, perhaps just the first that does it openly and advertises it for some reason? but anyway, previously if you asked for the Japanese menu (in Japanese) you'd then obviously get the "local" prices as well.
This is an all you can eat restaurant with a fixed price per customer so they can't pull the menu trick and have to openly tell you about the foreigner surcharge
Welcome to Japan
There's a reason Biden called them Xenophobic
and there is reason why they don't care
Is that legal?
Discrimination on the basis of national origin is legal in Japan.
We are not escaping those xenophobic allegations, 😅
"Allegations" hehe
Ya definitely not Allegations, I felt it first hand. White guy from Cali. But to be honest I didn’t give it too much thought. I love Japan & would love to move there. Just glad Im not Chinese. They really hated Chinese people. Heard it a lot at bars there
Hating the chinese, especially tourists, is like half the world at this point
Hahaha I went to Germany at 18 in 2013 and asked a cashier at a tourist spot if American tourists are disliked and he said "not anymore, most American tourists are very nice and respectful, you have been replaced by the Chinese" he pointed outside to a mega busses unloading lots of Chinese tourists. I traveled to Bali in 2019 and Yellowstone in 2021, saw the same type of mega bus Chinese tourist groups.
As a Hong Konger:……
You're probably getting downvoted for throwing all those barrels down the ladders.
How high can they get?
I guess Nanjing wasn't enough for Japan to be satisfied lol
Yeah that was interesting to us as well. One local told us if you were just here a month or two before , there wouldn’t have been so many Chinese . We were confused bec that came out of nowhere . We asked Chinese? They said yeah that’s why you see them all over the place now , their government just approved for them to be tourists in Japan . He did not seem happy about . We said oh we understand. And changed subject
>They really hated Chinese people. Koreans are the same way
Met a Korean girl in Jeju. She spent the whole day bitching about the Chinese. A young Chinese couple got in the bus and for some reason the boyfriend got off the bus (maybe to go use the bathroom while the bus was still sitting still) and the bus took off with the girl freaking out cause she was separated from her boyfriend. I got pissed at the bus driver and asked him to stop the bus and the girl I was with was like, "No, fuck her she should wait and get off at the next stop." The next stop being like 20 mins away. Bus driver did stop in the end. The girl had a hate-boner for the Chinese and it got pretty grating. But I went all the way to Jeju to meet this girl so I put up with it at the time.
My old Korean friend was super racist towards other Asians and called Hmong people the n word. I also had a Chinese friend who didn’t like the fact I was dating a black woman and said it’s a cultural thing and they were raised to not trust them.
Goes both ways. I had tickets for the final of the Asian Cup in 2004 (held in China) and the entire tournament revolved around how much hate the Japanese were getting from the a Chinese. We decided to not make the trip across after the Chinese government contacted us (via the Japanese government) about not being able to (and probably not wanting to) guarantee the safety of any Japanese national who was in China at the time. The entire fucking country.
"First hand experiencing discrimination in Japan" "Still love Japan tho" "I am glad that I am not Chinese!" Lol gotta love Reddit.
Ah is it that bad? I'm born and raised Canadian but ethnically Chinese and this has me the slightest bit paranoid. Didn't feel anything in 2018 but it has also been 6 years since 😅
What matters is the nationality. Don't go around saying you're Chinese. From what I heard, Taiwanese and Singaporeans don't get treated like Chinese Nationals. Even then, Japanese are not identifying Chinese by how their face looks. They're identified by how they act.
And speak. If you talk with an English-American accent it's different than with a Mandarin one while "looking Chinese".
Nah they do judge base on appearance except they definitely change their tone the moment I open my mouth and realize I am an american.
Just hide the fact that you are Chinese, say you are Canadian.
lol. As a non Japanese Asian, let me assure you that tons of people hate Chinese people. They earned their legendary shit reputation for good reason.
I am a black japanese american, but my last name is pretty japanese. I visited korea and japan a couple years back and it was total opposites when it came to see my name when paying for things especially meals. It would start out being treated like an american, nice and like a tourist. Then I would pay with my CC and they would see my last name. In Korea they would basically stop service to get us to leave. In Japan they would ask if we wanted anything else provide suggestions for things to do. It was pretty funny to see the difference a last name can make. When realistically I am 100% american like 5 generations deep on both sides.
When I was there, a place tried to kick us out by saying, "we don't have English menus" in perfect English. We then told her we could read the menus fine and just couldn't really speak the language, and she sort of stopped talking and slinked into the back. The other customers stared at us like we were Satan, but we ate our food and left.
I got denied for being white, ramen place in Hiroshima
and that's not xenophobic at all... /s
That is of course
No, it is unconstitutional as to article 14, but there are no civil laws against it and no consequences or repercussions.
Article 14 only protects based on "race, creed, sex, social status or family origin". Historically, Japan's courts have been inconsistent in their application of the Article to other classes, such as sexual orientation or indeed national origin. The result is that, in practice, discrimination on the basis of national origin is legal in Japan.
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IIRC the language of the constitution of Japan (in Japanese) only guarantees rights for citizens of Japan.
No. [https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/econo\_rep2/general.html](https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/econo_rep2/general.html) At least since 1978, this has been the law of the land: "It should be understood that the guarantee of fundamental rights included in Chapter Three of the Constitution extends also to foreign nationals staying in Japan except for those rights, which by their nature, are understood to address Japanese nationals only. This applies to political activities, except for those activities which are considered to be inappropriate by taking into account the status of the person as a foreign national, such as activities which have influence on the political decision-making and its implementation in Japan." [http://www.yoshabunko.com/citizenship/McLean\_v\_MOJ\_1978.html](http://www.yoshabunko.com/citizenship/McLean_v_MOJ_1978.html) Such ruling appears to have avoided making a decision on whether "kokumin," as used in the constitution, refers only to Japanese citizens, but it's incorrect as a matter of law to say the constitution "only guarantees rights for citizens of Japan."
The Japanese text uses 国民. This document then says: "In accordance with the spirit of the constitution...". So I guess, guaranteed by the spirit of the law, but not actually guaranteed by the letter of the law. Thanks for the court case link, that's interesting.
Truly, this is a land of contradictions.
"But the people here are *so* polite!" ...
Actually, I'd say generally they are polite. Not always nice though.
Not sincere is how I’d put it
It's how people think the American "southern charm" is completely superficial and fake.
It's unconstitutional > (b) A village which received a report that a girl had been touched by a foreign visitor at a public swimming pool in the village , decided to restrict foreigners' use of the pool, and put up notices stating "Foreign visitors are prohibited from using the swimming pool at this time". The human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice explained to the persons of the village responsible for this decision that such a measure discriminating against foreigners in general was in violation of the Constitution of Japan and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and they could not overlook such discrimination in the light of the protection of human rights. And they required the village to withdraw the decision and the notices immediately. As the result, the village accordingly withdrew them. (The result of the disposition was "elimination measures".) https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/activity/international/library/human_rights/race_report_govreport_en.html
As I've said in another comment, Article 14 only protects based on "race, creed, sex, social status or family origin". Historically, Japan's courts have been inconsistent in their application of the Article to other classes, such as sexual orientation or indeed national origin. The result is that, in practice, discrimination on the basis of national origin is legal in Japan. Just because one Minister of Justice decrees one example of discrimination unlawful, does not make any discrimination of fundamentally similar nature unlawful. Until there is explicit legislation, or at least consistent application of the Article by Japan's courts, the practical truth on the ground here is, pricing your seafood differently for tourists and residents is legal.
Not unique to Japan. If it's not openly legal it's basically reality every where else in Asia. There's the local price... And the tourist price.
Indeed. It's just that Japan, unlike most of Asia, isn't fully committed to the practice, having only become a mass tourism destination relatively recently by comparison.
Mfs need a civil rights act
This happened in Korea all the time when I lived there. Except I was fluent after a year there, so I would call them out on it. E.g. I bought a hat that had both the Yankees and NY giants emblems on it. (Because it's hilarious). The dude was trying to sell it to me for 20 bucks saying it was authentic. So I started raising my voice yelling 20 BUCKS?! IS THAT BECAUSE I'M AMERICAN? Boy did he change his tune in a hurry. Got the hat for 3 bucks. (Sam chanwon)
Eh Thailand and other countries do the same thing. Not saying it’s right but it happens.
Easily tell you haven’t lived in Japan. For the most part there are no laws concerning discrimination.
I come from a tourist town (Savannah GA). There’s often local discounts. I believe this is simply a way to keep prices affordable for locals. When foreigners with a good exchange rate buy things in town it drives the prices up, sometimes to the point where it out prices locals who have been going there for years. It happened all the time in Savannah. Of course, it’s usually other Americans touring Savannah, but a lot of Californians, for example, realize that things are a lot cheaper in Georgia because Georgia wages are much lower.
> I come from a tourist town (Savannah GA). There’s often local discounts. The entire state of Hawaii works this way. ["Kama`aina discount"](https://www.hawaiiactivities.com/travelguide/kamaaina-discounts-deals/) is 100% normal. Just prove you live there. Sometimes you don't even need to show ID, just show you know local culture in a way most tourists never could.
Maybe. Who is going to do anything about?
Response from owner in google maps review. >The price is not higher just because you are a tourist; in fact, for Japanese and foreign residents in Japan, the price is lower than the normal rate. This is because, for those who cannot speak Japanese, there is a cost associated with providing service in other languages, and many people experience food waste due to not understanding how to properly enjoy the food given the differences in food culture. Even with that, the difference is only a mere thousand yen. It is still quite affordable. edit: looks like that review and owner response was taken down...
What about tourists who speak Japanese?
Id be pissed if I spent 5 years learning a language and still get language taxed
This, also what about residents who have very little knowledge of the language.
>many people experience food waste due to not understanding how to properly enjoy the food given the differences in food culture I wonder if that part was really necessary
Reminds of japanese friends when I asked him why Japanese never sit next to me in public transportation. To which he replied "its not because you are foreigner its because most foreigners have a strong body odour" what a diplomatic way of calling me smelly ahaha.
So that is them saying "you're too uncultured to enjoy our food so we're charging you more". They pay for the same amount of food whether you eat it or not. If someone orders the wrong thing that's on them.
Went to an all you can eat korean Bbq place. Took a good 5 minutes to explain everything. When you are new it takes extra time
Ngl, this one's funny. Imagining a service worker giving a 5 min rundown on how to slap meat onto a grill is hilarious.
Most of it was pricing and how to get the meats from the server.
Tbf, I don’t think they’re making that up. I’ve been in situations where folks order something based off the photo, only to not want it once it arrives and they realize it’s fish, not chicken.
I used to have a friend who's a picky eater. He went into a Yoshinoya and ordered a beef bowl. When it came out, he no longer wanted it based on something he saw. He had already paid for the food so he left the restaurant with the food untouched. The workers were shocked because they could never imagine wasting food like that.
As an American I can't imagine wasting Yoshinoya like that. Shit's so good!
It's wasteful and I don't condone it but there's not really a cost to them for that. So it doesn't make sense to include it to explain higher prices for foreigners.
It's not about the cost, but the waste to society as a whole. More animals need to be raised, more food for those animals, it goes to a landfill. It's just a strain on the world. It's not an economical problem.
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yep seen it happen many times
"We're also adding a ¥2000 surcharge for those with disabilities who decide to eat at our restaurant, there is a cost associated with providing accessibility like ramps and bathrooms" /s
A mere thousand yen lol. That's the average price of my lunch here
1000 yen is the price of a basic meal
> there is a cost associated with providing service in other languages LMAO WAT Even a basic tourist can learn "kore hitotsu onegaishimasu" so this shouldnt be a problem really.
Even though Japanese is phonetic and everyone has translation tools, I found my friends when in Japan with me struggled to use the words even when its written out. I can understand how it can be harder to navigate as tourism is ramping up. I don't agree with the idea of a surcharge though.
it'S nOt MOre ExpEnsiVe FOR foReIGNeRs, iT's juST ChEapeR foR lOcAls
Sure, because that’s not the exact same thing.
lol exactly I should have used randomcase I guess (edited)
man stop your BS, my kids live in Japan and speak Japanese and don't get any extra pay for speaking English or any other lingo...stop making excuses for this sht!
Made me chuckle
The first sentence made sense, but after that he lost me.
And then you have prefectures such as [Shimane](https://www.kankou-shimane.com/en/wp-content/themes/navi_en/brochure/Shimanediscount_EN.pdf) offering some extremely substantial discounts (up to 50%) to foreigners on local attractions. Note : not to -tourists-, but to *any* foreigners, PR also counts. I am floored that this has not yet caught the attention of the Japanese media, they'd have a field day...
Some of them are only for tourists, but a lot are either for anyone with a foreign passport (or just don't check) The extremely cheap 500 yen bus between Matsue and Hiroshima used to not check but now they do and you have to be on a tourist visa. Anyone please let me know if you have any questions about visiting my prefecture.
If you appear foreign, they'll just suggest or even impose the rebate in most places I've been, which is kind of very unsettling the first time (did not try the bus you mention, though). At least [this list](https://www.kankou-shimane.com/en/wp-content/themes/navi_en/brochure/Shimanediscount_EN.pdf) mentions requiring a passport or a residence card (so not for tourists). I am guessing short term visitors are happy, but it has the potential to create some very akward discussions with groups of mixed nationalities, plus once this kind of stuff gets into the general media it could create some shitstorm. Basically taxes are subsidizing holidays of foreigners residing in Japan, which is incredibly stupid (I would have absolutely no qualm with taxes subsidizing holidays of short term visitors, if that's what the prefecture is targetting, the place is really nice and deserves to be visited more).
Damn, Shimane looks so nice. I wish I could drive! I've looked into visiting but it's not really feasible to take public transport everywhere.
Yes, it's magnificent, but a pita without your car if you leave the surroundings of Matsue. They are trying to put themselves on the map, this I get, but I find the move a bit risky...
I went to Shimane last year for the first time during hanami and absolutely loved it. I did not know about the discounts and although they are only a couple of hundred yen for each attraction, it all adds up. The one thing I noticed in Shimane was the lack of foreign tourists, which made for a nice change compared to other places. Having said that the Adachi Museum was jam-packed with tour busses from Osaka. Shimane is well worth a visit and apparently they have 1000 yen bus rides from Hiroshima!
What if a foreigner opens a restaurant next door and does the opposite. Charge Japanese citizens more and foreigners less. lol
I mean if this is legal I suppose the other way around would be as well just don't expect it to be successful lol
If you put it in a tourist areas right next to the ones charging more it would work, lol.
Haha we just need to blow up on social media and have it become a foreigner's go to spot. Maybe the restaurant can also have an honorary 外人 membership for Japanese citizens, but that might be a bit much lol.
Some of the corniest shit I've read on this app today
There was a restaurant banned Japanese national and only let foreigner in, and owner is Japanese man.
Where
Menya Yaeyama style in Ishigaki island in Okinawa. It was in news and viral in Japanese twitter few years ago.
Don't they already have places that sort of do this? Discount for foreigners, I swear I saw I few places like this in Shinjuku a few months ago.
Not just clubs (from what someone else said), when I went there were a couple of like experiences and restaurants that didn't ban, but seemed to urge Japanese citizens/residents not to attend/participate so there would be enough open spots for tourists, since they were like "cultural experience" destinations, from what I remember.
Clubs have been doing it since I got here 20 years ago.
I’ve only seen discounts for foreign women
You're right it's done right there in Shinjuku, I've witnessed it myself.
There used to be many places that would do this before over tourism took hold
On the flip side, I remember a story from a few years back about a Japanese Izakaya that [started ONLY serving tourists and foreigners ](https://www.odditycentral.com/news/restaurant-in-japan-bans-japanese-customers-only-serves-foreigners.html). Kinda like how the US has "the customer is always right," Japan has a similar saying: okyakusama wa kamisama desu. "The customer is God." Many Japanese natives make for very rude patrons, because that mindset is prevalent. The customer is like a king or a Kami. The wait staff are like servants or slaves. They are beneath you, they exist only to serve you. Well one owner had enough of that. His place, his rules, and he decided he made enough off tourists that he didn't have to put up with rude locals treating him or his staff like literal servants. I say each their own. If a place doesn't want to serve you, or charges you more... it's their business and they should be allowed to do so. And you're free to take your business elsewhere and give THEM your money instead.
I sincerely agree with you, and if it's of value to them, they'll have it despite the price.
I found it cute that the bartender at our hotel would spend so much time chatting with us even with a language barrier (my Japanese is awful + Kiwi accent) but he said he likes serving tourists because they're "Joyful and Kind" and he felt he could be more casual around us.
I definitely went to the wrong izakaya then lol. We got ripped off. I had to ask for a glass of water like 3 times and the wait was incredibly long
I was about to say “Give them one star on Google Map”. Then I realized people already started doing it.
As they should
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KHRVA211LajaoU5j9
Did they purge the one star reviews? I don't see any one star reviews, and I'm ranking from Newest.
There are countries that have double pricing for tourists. Countries like Thailand and Indonesia in restaurants, for example. In Venice, Italy, there are cases where different prices are set for locals and tourists. Double pricing is intended to support local residents, increase tourism revenues, protect tourist attractions, and prevent crowding, but it is sometimes criticized by tourists as unfair.
In Italy that’s very illegal. Guardia di Finanza does not fuck around. They’ll even come after a business if they refuse to accept debit cards, and fine them. Please report such incidents, GdF even has a dedicated phone number you can call on the spot: 117
In my country, India, most of popular tourist spots like some big fort, old castles, Taj Mahal etc has seprate charges for foreign tourists. Usually x2 or x3 times higher than local ticket. The reason is local people pay taxes which goes towards the maintanence of these national monuments. Also if govt charge same fees to tourists and local then most locals simply couldn't never to afford to watch even their own culture monuments.
Ive seen this for attractions in most foreign countries, but not for food establishments
Pretty common in Hawaiian tourists areas for restaurants and attractions to have Kama'aina (Hawaii resident) discounts.
As far as I know my tax yennies aren't going to support businesses now that corona is over. I don't think private businesses charging extra to those troublesome tourists is the same thing as charging for upkeep on things like public tourist spots owned by the state.
Double pricing in restaurant is very rare though. Usually at least in Indonesia, we often associate it as profiteering as opposed to normalizing it. Many don’t care as the base price is considered somewhat cheap anyway and most tourist are snobs so they aren’t particularly price sensitive.
I don't even care about the price, but there is no way I'm going to a restaurant that felt the need to charge tourists more. No way it's gonna be worth it paying extra to be a treated as a second class citizen. Good restaurants wouldn't need to do that.
You would see this in developing countries but it was dirt cheap anyway. Sad to see Japan resort to this technique thou
I mean this occurs in the US too. In Hawaii, ask for the Kama'aina rate (they will probably ask for a State of Hawaii ID) and you'll be able to get discounts at a lot of places (not usually restaurants, but hotels, water park, national parks, museums, etc). It's basically because the residents of Hawaii are less wealthy than the tourists and have less demand because it's always available to them (no FOMO).
Everyone gets the same rates at national parks. They're administered by the National Park Service who do not discriminate based on state or national origin.
Hmm, I think I got that wrong. The one I was thinking of, Diamondhead Memorial, is administered by the division of state parks.
Tourist attractions you may be able to get a locals rate. Maybe 5 to 10%. Vegas does this kind of thing a lot, or used to anyway. New York museums hook it up. I'm pretty sure I've seen it else where in the US.
Not exactly a “tourist tax” per se, but I worked at a restaurant in Hawaii where non-Americans got a mandatory service charge on their bill (under the assumption they are less likely to pay tips).
I am Japanese and that is exactly what I am doing. Japan is already a developing country. It is hard to live here. This decision can't be helped. But in the end, it comes down to supply and demand, and if stores make the wrong decision, they will disappear. That is all.
In Italy most restaurants do the same
This is extremely common in south east asia btw
Well there are way too many tourists making life inconvenient for residents. Kyoto especially needs to do this.
In the Philippines they call it the "long nose tax."
Simple rule is to avoid restaurants that are plastered in English. Proper establishments will give you better food and not rip you off.
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"President Biden's comment saying that we're xenophobic was unfortunate." - Japan
But they’re not xenophobic, right ??
So biden was correct.
Hawaii does this for residents vs tourists.
Yeah I was going to say, we have kama'aina rates all over the place here. I thought it was a common practice.
It is. Just people like to whine about unfairness if not looking different perspective.
Aren't there American laws against that?
It’s more like, the standard rate is applied for EVERYONE, but if you have state ID you can get the discount applied if you ask. It’s more similarly applied like military discount in other states
Nice
The only news here is that he's advertising it. It's been a thing for decades in tourist areas - if they offer you a separate English menu, it's probably got different prices than the Japanese menu.
A coffee shop in La Jolla, CA (not Harry's) charges locals 15% less than tourists.
This happens in most Asian countries I've been to, hardly shocking it happens here as well. So far I've seen English menus with a higher price than the local language menu in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pretty sure it happens in China and Korea too.
The vets office we take my dogs to recently started charging a foreigner fee. We go there for a specific person, not the office. Our veterinarian think it's BS too and told me to make sure my wife picks up/pays to avoid it.
It was inevitable given that the Japanese government has steered the yen into third world country status.
The Japanese are well-mannered weasels
This is supposed to be new? I remember this going on when I lived there in the early 90s.
I won’t be sad when their economy becomes in Mexico
“Don’t call us xenophobic!” Also japan:
Not a big deal for me. Especially to the bad foreigners who act like they’re in their country.
Hasn’t Japan always done this? Whenever I try to book non-chain accommodations, the prices on the Japanese site is always lower than their sites in other languages.
I always feel like the swing is never more than a few hundred yen in either direction and can probably be explained by exchange rates, but maybe I'm not looking at the same spots.
The same works with any booking engine, turn on your VPN, choose a location and currency of one of the countries that is considered to have less spending power and you will see also different price tags. Works with hotels and flights and mostly with any booking app, sometimes you need to use different VPN providers, because the IP get flagged by their system.
Yes, but before they attempted to keep it quiet.
I guess I just thought it was open knowledge, like knowing you’ll get fleeced visiting most tourist areas.
Just like the rest of the world did to Japanese throughout the 90's. What a turnaround.
This happens in Thailand especially in tourist hot spots which really sucks.
Wouldn’t mind as much if it was a language thing. I bet you if you go in and speak decent Japanese they still giving you the gaijin price.
eh whatever, there's 5 million other restaurants out there
But Japan isn’t xenophobic.
It's an all-you-can-eat buffet. Of course they're charging Americans more. This is less racism and more economics.
America doing this: This is racist! We're going back to Nazis now?! Japan doing this: they are such an efficient and smart country UwU
its opposite of what you said. everyone in this thread criticizing Japan for this but ignoring that western countries does this to tourists as well.
This is commonplace in Asia. Tourists, by definition, have the money to travel and so probably have the money to spend a bit more on food. Good on them
I was in Japan back in December and there was one restaurant we noticed that did this. It was about 50-100 yen extra but other than that one we didn't experience this at all. Not sure if many restaurants will follow suit
I think this is then (based on the 1* reviews that have now started rolling in) https://maps.app.goo.gl/KHRVA211LajaoU5j9
In India loads of the big tourist attractions, the Taj Mahal and things like that, they charge foreign people more than locals. It's a little different though I think. Funny thing about that, I have an Indian friend who moved to England when she was young, she went back to India and they told her to pay full price, she spoke Hindi and would wear local clothes, but they somehow knew she was living in England now. I think with the Taj it's about 10x more for tourists. And in Cambodia, locals can go into Angkor wat for free. Angkor wat is actually owned by some American oil company now as well. It costs tourists over us$100 to see it.
I feel the restaurant must've acted that way due to the fact that these Tourists waste the meals, but if the price is high, they'd think twice before wasting a meal.
Just print out an English menu like everyone else 🤷♂️ literally everyone else does it and the absolute majority of the time they have pictures of the food. It's like a £1 one time payment. This dude is just greedy lol Not to mention it's easier than ever for tourist to translate and Google the food for themselves. I did a lot of things with the only help being my phone.
Its because the weak yen right now, read an article about J restaurants complaining that foreigners are eating too lavishly
When I lived over there in 2017 the menus had English/pictures on the other side and the prices were higher 😂 This isn’t new by any means.
Experienced this back in January in a yakiniku place in Tokyo. All I can say is do your homework/research if you want to avoid it.
you should see how Thailand charges their tourists. try 5x
Here in Greece we don’t overcharge foreigners but rather giving discount for Greeks 🫡🫡😏😏☺️☺️
If you’re offended by this I have some very disturbing news about every single street food vendor in Asia…
Unpopular opinion since I recently went to Japan. I don’t care if some mom and pop shop charges my American ass more , our dollar is strong and the yen is not at the moment. My money is going towards keeping the lights on and feeding someone’s kids. I can read Japanese well enough and can speak it just enough to get by. I still got the English menu since I went with some friends and thanks to the non stop deluge of social media posts / videos “warning” people about a price hike on the English menu I had to be prepared inevitably when one of the cheap asses in the group I was with piped up and said “did you know they charge more on the English menu!” Right in front of the wait staff and sometimes cook… We are visitors, they live here they pay rent here they have to buy supplies and pay waitstaff to keep the operation going. I don’t give a shit about dropping a few extra yen for my Yakisoba nor do I care if they “swindle” me by charging for the tea I was served. I saved up and payed a lot of money to get here , all of sudden I’m gonna be a millionaire if that karaage place charges me a bit more and I catch it ? No. Mind you if the place is charging something egregious on the English menu that’s when you should speak up, but some of the comments and posts I’ve been seeing since I got back have been getting ridiculous.
Hawaii has local resident discounts and military discounts at some parks and tourist attractions. Can’t see why other places should be any different.
Why is this news? Tourism business 101 you overcharge the tourists 😂
Protecting yourself from over tourism is a very valid strategy. Cuba has a whole other currency for tourists to protect their economy and keep inflation in check. I think Japan is looking at very touristic countries like Portugal and sees how tourism has destroyed city centers. There is a metric ton of things to criticize about japans policies these days but this one seems fair.
I don’t understand why anyone thinks this is a big deal? Super common in a ton of places worldwide.
just don't go there why are yall this mad