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Why Some Japanese Restaurants Insist on “Japanese Language Only”
Here and there in Japan, one sees restaurants putting up signs refusing non-Japanese speakers. Is that necessarily a bad thing?
By Jay Allen
As inbound tourism to Japan skyrockets, more businesses are printing menus and signs in multiple languages, letting visitors know they’re welcome. However, not every store is keen on welcoming the country’s new flock of arrivals. Is it discrimination? Or a sign that small stores are struggling to keep up?
“Japanese language only” vs. “Japanese only”
This subject recently came up on X (yes, yes, it’s just Twitter) when several people posted a sign from a restaurant in Teramachi, Kyoto. The sign tells visitors that the staff can only speak Japanese — and thus, if you can’t speak the language, you should consider another store.
We reposted this photo (from another user) to the UJ X account and asked people what they thought. Some people expressed offense. But others said they didn’t see a problem with it. The store wasn’t saying foreigners weren’t allowed, after all. It just said it couldn’t support…
