“Lmao” your ability to use software to translate for you doesn’t change the intent behind this sign. Japan is racist AF despite their polite society, and there are a growing number of restaurants and other establishments with signage that outright says some version of “no foreigners/no white people.” You will probably get a frosty reception in this establishment if you enter it because you decide you were too clever to be deterred.

I mean, if the Japanese text says “if you can read this, you’re welcome”, it does suggest that English or Chinese people who speak and read Japanese are welcome. It’s a real weird thing to pull, like they think they’re being cute.

Your phone will be allowed in, but you have to stay outside.

I know a handful of white Americans who at a glance you’d never guess they’re highly educated polyglots and would meet the requirements for entering this restaurant. The way the sign is worded, I think you’re right, only fluent Japanese people allowed here because we only speak Japanese here.

Can people really no longer differentiate between xenophobia and racism?

Not being pedantic, but misnaming thins only adds to the woes of the world, to (mis)quote Camus.

You found that the Chinese weren’t racist or sexist? I agree with you about Japan, but China was hardly enlightened. They were mostly just louder and more obnoxious, where the Japanese were overly formal and quiet.

Both cultures also had a lot of superstitions, like words or phrases you shouldn’t say, or lucky or unlucky numbers.

Generally I think it’s because the Japanese have had continuous cultural interacting with the West for centuries at this point. Everything from Dutch and Portuguese trade during the sengoku jidai, to pirate ronin in the Philippines during isolation, to Japanese communities from Baja Sur to the cascades, and then finally stable connections being made post commodore Perry. In contrast the Chinese have had less than stable connections due to massive cultural changes every couple hundred years including periods of isolation, the collapse of the Ming fucking up trade routes for a time, the Qing being notably more isolationist, the warlord and Republican period being a shitshow, followed by the isolation of the communist period shattering a lot of western interst, it makes for less than stable connections.

Also there’s the whole great firewall of China thing going on which further seperates things in the modern age of the internet, it’s not total separation but it’s enough to be notable. In contrast I have been cussed out by a Japanese person, a Ruskie, an Aussie, and a fucken Peruvian simultaneously while playing games.

One word: “propaganda.”

I see my self like both China and Japan ngl.

Due to their propaganda machine they have alot of soft power (and mainly cause of the “Cool Japan” thing like the post title references)

The discrimination is never direct when it’s regulated. They just try to repress you the legal way. Of course Japan has better regulation than the third world countries (or countries that pretend they are first world but are equally shitty - US, ex Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, etc.).

I thinks it’s source comes more from the behavior of western tourists than anything else.

Japan cast cat girl, it was super effective. All knowledge of atrocities was erased from western nations.

They’re hateful, but they’re cute.

Japan is too far away and too aligned with the west to receive criticism for racism

That is because they have soft power.

They get an easier pass because their products are top-notch. Toyota basically invented Six Sigma/a globally used process for manufacturer defect elimination. A Japanese automaker invented QR codes. They have Nintendo, anime, etc. They changed and continue to impact the world in highly recognizable ways, not by merely cheap products (China), cheap labor (India), etc.

Are you American and embarrassed about it?

Your entire post screams so

American tourists speak Chinese?

I lived in Japan for 2 years. I had several expat friends with stories of going to the hospital, being told they were full, their Japanese wife showing up, and suddenly they have space. Other stories of legal disputes between a Japanese person and a foreign immigrant will always go to the Japanese person. Japanese culture is very non-confrontational, but don’t think their brand of racism is safer. If we’re comparing racism and deciding one is less bad than the other, we’ve already partially accepted that it has a place in society.

As someone in a similar situation, there are differences in the racism are stark.

They treat you differently but far more often than not, it is just curiosity or looking for entertainment from a zoo animal. They are not hostile or aggressive.

I love their trains, the food is good, it’s a beautiful country.

But also, holy shit, Japan has just never reckoned with its imperial past in the slightest.

If you ever see those tourism promotion photos of mt. Fuji with a pagoda in the foreground, that pagoda was built in the 50s, around the end of the US occupation, to commemorate soldiers who fought in essentially every war that imperial Japan got itself into. It’s very clear political statement.

And I learned this, upon climbing that damn mountain, and reading the plaque in front of the pagoda, only to learn that it was a monument to imperialism the whole time

Police aren’t likely to kill you over there. Just harass you if you’re clubbing with their women.

I went there recently. The organization and efficiency are truly astounding. I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia. But it’s never gonna happen because those best parts are direct results of the cultural mindset that leads to each one’s dark ends as well. They’re both sides of their respective coins, unfortunately…

Not despite.

why no dogs…?

Japan has a very homogeneous population, so xenophobia and racism are quasi indistinguishable.

Both are bad though.

Just on a different level

Expecting internet people to know this word is too much

Yeah thanks for filtering yourself out of places I would like to give my business to.

Congratulations! Your curse has gone away 🎉🎉

Although even if revealed with a translation app, I still wouldn’t want to eat there, because why reward xenophobia.