Restaurant in Tokyo under fire for banning Koreans, Chinese

An Italian restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo is under fire after posting a picture on social media of text on a window refusing entry to Koreans and Chinese.

An account for an Italian restaurant in Tokyo uploaded this photo on X, formerly Twitter. It has been criticized for its text that reads "no Chinese or Koreans allowed." [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A restaurant in Tokyo, Japan has been slammed for putting up a sign that reads “no Koreans or Chinese allowed.”

An Italian restaurant located in the Okubo neighborhood of Shinjuku, Tokyo uploaded a photo with the caption “refreshing♪” in Japanese on X, formerly Twitter, in early July. The text in the photo, written on a window looking into the restaurant, reads: “It’s an age where diversity and acceptance is widely talked about but I don’t want to work with negative thoughts so I will refuse all Chinese and Korean [customers].”

The post has been viewed over 18.3 million times as of Friday morning.

Many Japanese users denounced the post, with some making comparisons with how Japanese people were denied entry into stores in the United States after World War II. Many also pointed out the irony, as the Okubo neighborhood is known for its Korea Town.

“It’s like walking into a smoking area and shouting that you hate cigarettes,” one user commented.

Yet some other Japanese commenters showed their support of the restaurant owner.

One gave an example of a “shrine that had been plagued by harassment from Koreans for 10 years, and finally decided to ban Koreans from entering the shrine,” which received over 1,600 likes. Another said there should be no problem rejecting nations that “blame Japanese people” while wishing the restaurant luck.

Non-Japanese users on various online communities piled on with admonishment.

Users wrote in English that it was an “outright display of racism,” and that “xenophobia and racism are rampant in Japan.” One Korean user uploaded the location of the store and warned other Koreans to not go.

This is not the first time a Japanese restaurant has been accused of discriminating against Koreans in recent years. In 2016, a sushi shop in Osaka came under fire for deliberately serving sushi that had excessive amounts of wasabi, a spicy condiment, to Korean customers.

As the value of the yen has plummeted to a 34-year low against the dollar, overseas travelers have flocked to Japan. Locals are reportedly feeling strained by the increased tourism, with the massive influx disrupting the lives of even those who are not in the tourism industry.

Yamanashi officials famously put up a screen near a convenience store to prevent tourists from taking photographs, as the spot with a full view of Mount Fuji was popular for social media posts. Some restaurants are also putting out menus with different prices for tourists and locals.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]