Korean Job Discussion Forums

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

A while ago I wrote a post talking about how hotels in Japan wouldn't give me a room and I slept on the street. I felt that they were being racist and turning me away because I am not Japanese.

Lots of people on this board said I was paranoid, crazy, there must have been some other reason, etc.

Well check out this CNN article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/09/japan.inn.room.foreigners.ap/index.html

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs says over 70 percent of Japanese inns and hotels that didn't have foreign guests last year don't want any in the future either.

The ministry says that a survey of such businesses showed they feel unable to support foreign languages and that their facilities are not suited to foreigners.

The survey released Thursday shows that over 60 percent of Japan's inns and hotels had foreign guests last year, but the majority of the rest don't want any.

It was released as Japan continues its efforts to attract more foreign visitors. The country's "Visit Japan Campaign" aims to draw 10 million foreigners to the country for trips and business in the year 2010, up from 8.35 million last year.

skconqueror · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=135640

ciccone_youth · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Location: Japan

Sad. I've been to Japan and never had a problem getting a hotel room, or a Ryokan. I felt very welcomed, too. I made most reservations by phone or online a few weeks in advance.

Papa Smurf · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Location: Seoul

it's no secret. happened to me twice in one day when i was in Tokyo....

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

The Japanese are much more racist, but much more friendly. If you don't plan on making roots, Japan is much better on the whole. If you plan on making roots there though, that's another matter...

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

The article was focusing on small inns in the countryside called ryokan. I can understand why they don't want non-Japanese. It's my belief that they don't hate foreigners but are just unable to explain all the intricacies of the ryokan. I mean, have you ever been to a ryokan? It�s confusing. Even Japanese have some difficulty with the whole routine. From how to wear the jimbai, sleep on the futon on the tatami floor, deal with the cuisine, how to properly bathe and soak in the onsen or sento, and finally to just communicate basic needs. I�m not suggesting that any business be allowed to discriminate but what I am saying is that I can understand their reluctance to not want gaijin in their ryokan.

I_Am_The_Kiwi · Joined: 10 Jun 2008

lived in Japan for a year (in a small city far away from Tokyo) never had any problem staying anywhere.
Ryokan, love hotels, hostels, normal hotels.....nothing.

What the previous poster said about the Ryokan in small towns is true.....is such a detailed and complex thing staying at those places and just easier to go without the foreigner.

As for Japan being more racist than Korea........not in my experience.

Ive found so much more prejudice and racism since living in Korea than i ever had in Japan.

I hope ones person negative view or experience doesnt stop other people going to this amazing country cos it would be a shame.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

Teachurrrr · Joined: 21 May 2008 Location: Parts Unknown

Ontheotherside, sorry you had a bad experience like that in Japan. No, you are not paranoid as some may have suggested. It happens. In 1990, near Yokohama Japan, my friend AJ and I went bar hopping. One place looked good so we tried it. As we opened the door, you would have thought we had interrupted a Ku Klux Klan rally. Japanese people at the tables pointed at us saying in Japanese and English, "Noooooooo ... No Foriegners ... Gaijin dommei ..." I was shocked, but AJ said it happens. We left and my opinion of Japanese people was lowered. Then it was raised again as the next bar down the street welcomed us in, treated us as celebrities, and were so hospitable.

Just like back home, we have people who will extend hospitality to strangers and those who will give them the cold shoulder or worse.

It just a shame you had to experience the haters at night when you really needed a hotel. I think I would have plopped down to go to sleep in their lobby (no matter how small) and waited for the police, who are usually nice. Maybe they would tell the jerk at the hotel to stop being an ass and give the foreigner a room. Anyway, after the fact and all that.

I don't know if this will help or fit anyone else's situation on traveling in Japan, but when I traveled to different cities in Japan and know I am going to stay the night, I get the hotel room in the afternoon or early evening. Thus if we went out and came back late, I already had a room. I have found that the racists (sometimes low income earners who blame whitey for all their ills or just morons who think a foreigner out at night is there to steal their women and spread disease while the local guys are in bars hitting on or hiring the services of foreign women) will play their ugly games (like taxi driver's refusing to give you a ride at night or hotel clerks who refuse to give you a room). A little forward planning sometimes derails these jerks.

In my experience in Asia, business owners (restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, etc) and their employess offering a service have been hospitable more times than I can remember. Yet, there are times when the blatant hostility toward the foreigner is more than evident. Luckily, even most of these types of racist business owners love money more than they love hating on Gaijins, Waygookins, Farlangs, etc.

I really appreciate the kindness of polite people in Asia and try not to take it for granted since I always seem to remember the rude ones who rear their ugly heads from time to time.

IncognitoHFX · Joined: 06 May 2007 Location: Yeongtong, Suwon

I've never been turned away from anything in Korea.

Well, just once actually. I was turned away from entering a Family Mart, but it seemed that it was more because the manager was having a hissy fit and he wasn't letting Koreans in either.

I haven't spent much time in Japan but I did notice a major difference when I was there about how they treat foreigners. None of it was negative. I was travelling through Tokyo by myself and everytime I looked lost, there would always be someone there to help me out and show me the way.

Once, a friendly guy even drove me to where I was going with no pretense of money, blow jobs, etc.

You find that kind of kindness in Korea too, but it's usually hard to tell whether it's genuine or not. In Japan they obviously didn't seem to be after free English lessons.

ciccone_youth · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Location: Japan

I've also experienced amazing kindness in Japan, from everyone we'd randomly stop on the street to ask for directions. They'd go all out to help us find our destination, no matter how long it took... in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka.

Yet I know I haven't "lived" there, but I think most people were friendly and were not too impressed when they saw foreigners (as opposed to some Koreans staring and kids pointing)

Papa Smurf · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Location: Seoul

bangbayed · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Location: Seoul

Japanese culture is much more closed than Korean or western culture. True, they are very friendly to guests and will help you out when you visit, perhaps even more so than in Korea. However, many Japanese have this very secure belief in their own superiority. So much so that they know it is rude to point it out to others and feel no need to. They just 'know' that they are more superior to other nations. I've had a few Japanese friends and travelling partners and when this aspect comes out it was always surprising.