I Think I got Discriminated in Japan
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- Traveling solo to Japan to take a break. Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/OJISAN - enter promo code OJISAN for 83% off and 3 extra months for free!
Join me as I join my high school friend's wedding, trying delicious food in Tokyo, exploring Shinjuku, Yokohama, and Akihabara and staying at Robot Hotel. Did I spot Singaporeans? Unfortunately, not. But I will, probably the next time I visit. JAPAN FINALLY ACCEPTS INDIVIDUAL TOURISTS WITH NO VISA! (from 11 Oct 2022)
Chapters
00:00 Why I Came to Japan alone
01:55 Ex-colleague's Thoughts on Singapore (Yokohama)
03:29 Friend's Thoughts on Singapore (Tokyo)
04:18 College Friend's Thoughts on Singapore (Tokyo)
05:23 Shinjuku Vlog
07:26 I got discriminated in Japan?
12:50 Staying at World's First Robot Hotel
14:51 Food in Tokyo I Recommend (Ramen, Curry, Beer)
Thank you Surfshark for sponsoring this video.
🍿 BEHIND the scenes & EXCLUSIVE Content on Patreon / ghib_ojisan
Follow my adventure!
👤Facebook / ghibojisan
📸Instagram / ghibli_ojisan
♪ Tiktok vt.tiktok.com/ZSJn5LFhK/
🐦Twitter / ghibli_ojisan
🎥Watch Next- I Tried Singing Insanely Difficult Hokkien Song
• Singapore’s Forgotten ...
👕Ghib Ojisan Merchandise（アパレル）:
SE Asia | ghib-ojisan.secure-decoration...
Japan | suzuri.jp/ghib-ojisan
Business Enquiries
✉️ghib.ojisan@gmail.com
You are welcome to send fan mails but I may not be able to respond to all of them. But I immensely appreciate your support. Thank you!
#Singapore
Edit about my discrimination (?). To be fair, It's actually considered a bad manner to have a phone call in a restaurant, so maybe that was what she meant. (Although she clearly said "due to covid", but who knows, maybe what she wanted to say was the manner part). I want to emphasize that most restaurants treat all customers equally, but from time to time, foreigners (even Japanese) might encounter something like this.
Oh by the way, there are some ramen shops that don't allow customers to talk or even look at their phones. I know it sounds funny, but they want you to focus on the food and thus made it a rule. Foreigners who cannot read Japanese can go inside these restaurants and not knowing the rules, they can get kicked out. The foreigners might interpret this as discrimination, but actually, it's just that they unknowingly broke the rule
So what I want to say is:
1. Most of the time, service is great in Japan (so please don't be scared!)
2. There are some restaurants with weird rules (and can be mistaken as discrimination, but it's not)
3. But yeah, sometimes, discrimination can happen (but honestly, this exists everywhere in the world)
Apologies if you felt uneasy watching this video.
I think you’ve been away from Japan too long. It’s clearly your talking on the phone that was the issue and she probably couldn’t explain enough in English and just said something like “コロナ予防のために”. also if you were on the phone talking without a mask, she may have noticed it and wanted to ask you to stop. Just my thoughts.
@@philho.youtube I doubt that's the reason. Ghib himself is Japanese, he could sense something is amiss right away. That's why he made this video, because the reason the worker gave him didn't make sense. He said other diners were talking too. But just because he was on the phone and talking in English, he was singled out. You can tell from the reaction of the worker when Ghib confronted her with his fluent Japanese. She said its "because of covid" but apparently people can freely talk in Japanese in their shop🤷♂️
@@newyear6077 If he was talking to his wife in English, this could be the real issue. And the restaurants do have to put up notices of do's and don't's like for us foreigners who don't know the way of life, it would be wrong to kick us out. You will have to bring your family to Japan to be a real, actual, genuine, whatever the word is, to be a Japanese all over again. Just like if you have left your ancestral home, the people back there don't really see you as one of them even though you regard yourself as one of them.
注意する方も、相手を見てやってるんで、理由なんかあってないようなものなんですよね。人のやってることにケチつけてくるマナー警察。(しかし相手は自分より弱そうな女、子ども、優しそうな外国人)。
コロナのストレスでみんなおかしくなってるんだろうな、とは思いました。マスクつけることに反対する人もいるし、その逆もいるし、ちょっとした鬱憤晴らしのヒステリーだとは思いました。
国籍問わずこのタイプの人間っていますね…
@switch back And your point is??? To just let yourself get discriminated willingly with the absurd 'reasons' and 'rules'? Do you even read what you just typed? Seems like local there do not understand the gravity of this issue, and not wanting to improve and understand at all...
Unfortunately my sister and I have been discriminated against in Japan on several occasions. I find Japanese people will be really polite to your face, but they actually will talk crap about you if they think you don’t understand. We speak English and we’re treated really nicely by some customers at a restaurant, but then my sister (who understands Japanese) later told me they were talking crap about us in Japanese.
It's not just a Japanese problem. Every race has people who talk smack behind foreigners' backs. Try not to let it get to you.
Hypocrisy is their culture
@@KaranKumar-di9fw Yes, in UK we all have to be PC nowadays, so people will never say anything racist, sexist or anything that might be offensive to your face but behind your back, they call you all sorts😅
Or maybe it’s something that you have done and they are polite enough to not talk about it in front of you.
No, it wasn’t anything we did. They were complaining about foreigners and how they didn’t want be seated next to us. We were sharing a very long table.
I had an experience back in 2017 where the chef shouted at me for not speaking Japanese. I fired back an insult by returning my oyakodon uneaten at the return counter and promptly walked out of that place!
Tf
@Allen Wong well, that's obviously why he's being shouted at for not speaking Japanese to his friend at that point of time, isn't it?
You should throw in a Big
"PUI!"
I was in Shibuya 2019, and the restaurant told me that they don't serve people who can't speak/read Japanese when I asked in my broken 4th gen Japanese LOL. So I told my family and friends we had to look for a different restaurant to eat dinner. I was lucky that the street hustlers outside the restaurant building actually helped me find a restaurant that would serve English speaking customers and even more shocked that we didn't get ripped off XD. Thank goodness for that because our night was saved and stomachs were fed LOL. Also I remember your episodes on CNA too, glad to see your vlogs.
Perhaps one of the reasons why your channel is popular is because you are sincere and not hypocritical. You are entitled to your own views just as others are entitled to their own views. Please don't change your style of being honest.
Im thankful that the people were always very helpful, polite and sweet whenever im visiting japan.
I have heard similar stories from my friends who visited Japan. Honestly it kinda turn me off a little bit from visiting the country. Sending postive vibes over Ghib. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
same Japan now like sh1ttey 😡
Ghib san, i am one of your many viewers who really enjoy your vlogs and honesty in not only food reviews but other subjects as well. I understand it can be a lonely job at times but you must know that your work is much appreciated and loved. Keep on truckin'.
Thank you😊
discrimination against foreigners aint new in japan.
once went to a place in tokyo that would not serve chinese ppl.
staff:
To be fair a little, Chinese media constantly post hate posts about Japan mainly because of the war they had in the past and the war crimes that Japanese army committed.
There are lots of Chinese who hate and say shit about Japanese.
Omg I actually have to show my passport to eat at a restaurant in Japan? Guess I'll stick to 7-11 and McDonald's
@@harmlesschicken7018 lol this was a high-end place...
That is terrible! But I got discriminated in Japan before too and I hear some whispering,”Chinese,” behind me a few times when figuring out how to buy a ticket from a machine. I spoke to my family in English. 😑
You reminded me this happened in South Korea too when Covid started.
Best thing about you is, you did not cut away your thoughts about discrimination, you included the truth and shared your opinions on it, and you are doing it right by holding on the truth, respect that a lot, keep doing your videos ❤
Had the same issues at one of those secluded restaurant in Okinawa . The rest of the restraints , cafe , eateries were amazing but this we really felt the owner just can’t wait for us to leave his restaurant . The minute he saw us with children , his face turned sour , and he ignored us the whole time after we make a few small orders and kept staring at us the whole time we eat it was really uncomfortable . We decided from then on never ever to visit those small cafe /izakaya/ even those higher end eateries as they do tend to stare or reject you .
I visited Tokyo in Jan-Feb 2020 before COVID went serious. My family and I were eating at a saboten restaurant. The elderly father, mother and their high school kid (a few tables away from us) saw us talking in Singlish, proceed to cover their mouths and say "China people." I understood Japanese and at that moment wanted to confront them that I was from Singapore. I was really shocked and discriminated to see Japanese like this.
@Waka Waka Singapore is a UK colony
@@rozz645 not anymore
Hahaha, many Japanese speaking English are rotten English too. Don't take it to heart. Every where has such kind of people, China also have.
@Watcher So are people from your country.
Well. Not surprised.
China people also don’t like Japanese.
So if you look like either , the you too will
Be hit.
I had a similar experience. I got discriminated in Japan too for speaking foreign languages in public, especially during the pandemic.
I was on the bus in Kyoto, I was talking to my friend and we lowered the tone cuz we knew that Japanese people are sensitive to non-Japanese languages.
We got shouted 'Do not talk' in English by a Japanese Ojisan, despite other Japanese groups talking loudly and no one was told anything but only us.
Hi Ghib, thanks for the quality content and showing us around again!! You are appreciated! Hope you enjoyed the short break and had a good rest :)
Thanks Eva I had a great time😁
This was back in 2017, I was turned away when an izakaya owner asked me if I was Chinese. Why of course I said yes. Then I was told to sit outside, it was warm, and was hoping to sit inside where there is air conditioning. She said no. Then I told her, "But I am Malaysian" in Japanese. Then she said, "Ah in that case, please come in". My response to her was, "no thank you" and I walked away.
How can you blame them when everyone is well familiar how mainlanders behave~ it isn't racial, it is just insulting to bow down and serve those which does not have an ounce of respect for anyone because they have money to throw around.
You do know how customer treat waiters and restaurateurs in China so how do you expect people to deal with such behavior in other countries with very different sets of cultures?
Imagine they go to other country and be treated the same way just bcos they are Japanese, see how they like it.. You may not like certain country but discrimination is wrong and should not be encouraged. I would've walk away too, berlambak lagi restaurant lain yg kita boleh pegi makan.
@@MrNajibrazak I do agree with you on how mainlanders behave. But not all Chinese are mainlanders, like how not all Japanese people are from Japan. I have Japanese friends born in the US and in Malaysia. Maybe the question should be, "where are you from?", instead of assuming once you are Chinese are from the mainland.
You made the cardinal sin, because most Japanese language Teachers would teach you
When they ask: “are you Chinese?”
They mean: “are you from China?”
Never say “I’m Chinese”, say your nationality
But now you know why they turned you down that first time - many places is as such, because of the relationship between China and Japan (or the lack there-of)
@@uuu12343 That is sad. Yes, I did realise I committed a cardinal sin by saying I am Chinese. Because for all of us, ethnically we are chinese regardless of where we are born or are from. Hence, my reply back to her was to say "I am Malaysian".
Personally i find it worse that they are pretending to be polite and despising you inside. I would rather be turned away at the door than be looked down upon while i shop or dine. Those kind of people can pretend all they want but they are truely rotten on the inside.
Why should you be looked down upon? You should be despising such behaviour.
You might be overly critical here, they might just be uncomfortable as they are not good at English, not despising anyone definitely. Japan is still generally a conservative country but have improved over the years, i personally love travelling there.
people are always like omg japanese ppl are so polite.
if you see it from another angle, it's just masked way of saying the culture is 2-faced
Good and bad, they are bits and pieces of travelling experiences. Spread the positive, make the world a better place.
Personally I don’t really care how they think inside and I don’t let it affect me because it’s out of my control. What matters is how we actually treat each other, even if it means putting on a poker face.
I visited Japan in 2018 and did get discriminated a few times. I was polite and followed all the rules, but I either get stares or I had a few who would whisper to their friend/peer(s),”Chinese,” behind my back when I was trying to figure out how to buy tickets from a machine. I was reading the English on the screen and spoke English to my family. But with my Asian face and not speaking Japanese, I am immediately called Chinese. Another time I was in a dept store in Osaka to check out this cosmetics counter…this Japanese salesman came up to ask me if I spoke Japanese or Chinese. He asked me in English and so I answered,” I only speak English.” Then he walked away and stared at me from far away. I accidentally dripped a drop of the lip gloss on the counter top when I checked out this lipgloss and his co-worker came up to me, gave me a dirty look, wiped it off the table, then walked away. I left that counter and went to another counter with excellent customer service. They had an iPad to translate when working with me. So….yeah I am nervous to visit Japan again.
I went to Japan in 2011 and didn't get any discrimination at all. But then I only went a few places like Disneyland and the shopping centre near my hotel (due to that unfortunate event in 2011). When me and my family ate at restaurants the staff were hospitable and polite too. But it was in a touristy area so I guess the discrimination would probably be minimal. Even if the owner didn't speak English we just communicated with gestures and used the vending machine to order haha
@@waterlily43 that’s great you had a good experience. Not all Japanese ppl discriminate. The ones working at the airport were incredibly friendly and helpful, but that’s prob why they work there. Their jobs would require them to interact with ppl from all over the world. Most of the younger generation in tourist areas were friendly. I do notice that some are more passive aggressive, so even if they bow, you can just look at their facial expression to see if they are genuinely nice or not. There is a lot of tension between China and Japan, so a lot of the discrimination seem to be towards Asians who don’t speak Japanese as they immediately assume you are Chinese. I bought something from a dept store at ginza and the sales woman who was helping me was doing her job, but then when I was paying, she had to ask (without a smile): where are you from? She seemed rather cold and the conversation didn’t lead to: welcome to Japan, hope u have fun. It was a high end store too. So it varies…it really depends on the individual because there are some who are warm and welcoming while some just made me feel the opposite.
Japanese people are so weird. You rarely see this behaviour from the local mainland Chinese towards Japanese tourists, and China wasn't even the one doing the massacre in WW2.
Similar to my experience in Hokkaido despite they more open to foreigners up north.
Store clerk basically denied my existence despite me and my dad was the only customers until he called her up and they still gave off this suspicious looks right up until they asked me where I came from before I pay for my stuff that I'm Thai and it's like they put masquerade masks on in an instant get all happy energetic and helpful.
I do not like that feeling at all, but mind you this happened in a very Japanese centric business with little regards to servicing foreigners. (Yamada Denki)
I obviously got treated much better in an established business that have oversea branches.
@@barebarekun161 it just shows how behind they are in culture. They keep expecting foreigners to respect their culture, but they can’t be open minded to accept differences. It definitely doesn’t feel good to be treated like that.
Fellow Singaporean here and I was in Japan for almost 2 months during summer this year. I am someone who complains abt the weather in Singapore everyday being hot. But ever since I came back, I have ever complained. Japan summer was crazy, I get headaches after being outdoors for half a day and always going to combini to hide for a few mins before getting out to continue heading to my next location. Can’t believed how many times I have to do that just to get to next destination cause most places in Japan at not really sheltered when you have to be on your foot to walk from one place to another. But overall that summer really left me a huge impression.
Never go to Japan in summer. Or Italy for that matter. Many of these places don’t have satisfactory air conditioning like SG because their hot weather doesn’t last long enough to justify the cost of serious air conditioning. If you dislike hot weather, avoid Japan, China, Southern Europe etc in summer.
Yes it very hot japan summer So much hotter then in Singapore here . The heat is scorching there 36 degree that time I went Osaka in July 2019 . And many times when we shopped in the street , we heard the ambulance siren , wondering is it someone has stricken heat stroke and got fainted .
You are silly. Unless you lose some, you don't learn. Typical. CO gratulations you're the foolish mass.
Weak. If you can't stand the sun ,don't travel .
Use sun umbrella, hat, glasses haha
Thank your for your honesty. It takes a brave person to say something. This happened to me too about 15 years ago in Tokyo at small restaurants. I also found asking for directions was a horrible experience. No one was willing to help me. The unfriendly looks were not nice either. There’s much to love about Japan but the rudeness leaves a bad taste. I would like to visit again, but hopefully get better treatment.
I remember one day, at the restaurant, I spoke in English because I was with my friend who don't speak Japanese) , the waitress, answered me with a few words in English and smiled, but when she turned around to talk to her colleague, she insulted me saying "Fucking tourist, and on top of that, he doesn't even make the effort to learn our language in order to communicate", I went to see her so with her colleagues, and I started to speak Japanese, and I made her understand that I spoke it fluently.
She apologized and wanted to offer me a meal. I said no, and that I would give the restaurant a bad mark.
I can only imagine the horror on her face when she realised you caught on to all the shit she said
I was in Osaka for my grandfather-in-law's funeral sometime in 2016. I didn't speak much Japanese so I figured "Oh look, an Italian place. Maybe they're used to non-Japanese speaking customers." Nope, they did that cross thing they do with their arms and said something to the effect of "Japanese only". So I walked the extra 10 minutes to the St. Regis where I know they had to take me and had a good time at their bar lol.
Thing is, my family is originally from Okinawa but I just don't speak much Japanese by the time we moved away. I've been told that the restaurants don't think they could offer a good level of service to me since they can't communicate well but 1) I think outright rejecting you is pretty bad service and 2) Plenty of people travel around the world by pointing at menu items and smiling a lot. Can you imagine the s*tstorm if someone got rejected from a restaurant in the U.S. because they were foreign? It would be on the news.
I think this happens all the time in Japan along with a ton of other little slights that are never overt but obvious anyway. I used to think I'd bring my family back to the "homeland" one day and re-connect with my roots (even if I'd get paid much less based on tech salaries) but my experiences there as a foreigner dissuaded me from even wanting to visit anymore let alone live there. Not to mention that I have daughters and there are far fewer opportunities for women there than here in California but that's a whole separate conversation.
I read news about financial problem that happen , i not sure this true or not . To support tourist area need a lot of money ( get loan money from bank ) .
I read news about financial problem that happen , i not sure this true or not . To support tourist area need a lot of money ( get loan money from bank ) .
so the X hand signal means "no foreigners allowed"? I experienced this too in Spring of 2019, at a *RUSSIAN* restaurant in Midtown Tokyo, the chef didn't say anything but as soon as he saw my mom's blonde hair, he 'X'ed me out of there. I was so flabbergasted I didn't even think to say, she's Russian in Japanese, because I speak enough to understand.
isn't that just weird? a foreign restaurant owned by a Japanese person, said no to foreigners...
@@SailorVenusYaten1001 The X gesture is actually just more a general sign of rejection. Funny enough, it's not universal (it's not like anyone outside of Japan knows what it means) but they use it on everyone as if it is anyway.
@@jamestk656 My mom took it so offensively, I knew how Japanese were, so I just ignored it and I didn't want to cause a scene on my first five hours after just landing in Japan. But yeah, many of the vlogs I watched never mentioned it, so I was taken back by the broad "X" signal. Like imagine doing that at any other Westerner country....pointing at people is considered rude, imagine putting an X at their face with your hands.
I think the best way to get back is by starting a digital movement, which would allow you to record all restaurants that dont welcome foreigners. This will split the business between those that accept foreigners and those who dont. Once they see money going into those who accept foreigners, they will fix themselves. Someone needs to take the initiative to designing an interactive map of their weird experiences with restaurants, so all are aware.
Maybe even use google maps comment section for e.g. and keep doing videos on it.
Somehow I think those people would prefer to let their business burn into the ground before accepting foreigners.
@Waka Waka No need to segregate. Foreigners should just bring their tourist dollars to where they are welcome. Why give your money to those who despise you? They don’t deserve it.
Love your videos Ghib Ojisan. I really hope to visit Japan 'free and easy' some time soon. If you could do a video about a beginner's guide to visiting Japan for a week, that would be great. Kanpai! :)
Discrimination in japan depends on luck, i suppose.
one small town eatery turned me away, i'm not sure if it was due to me being alone(was on a solo trip) or not being able to speak japanese. There were obivously empty slots but the owner simply told me " no " and waved me off.
Then, in another small town izakaya filled with grumpy looking middle aged men - i expected some form of discrimination too. Lo and behold, they were pretty friendly and told me the last foreigner to drop by the place was years ago. One of them even worked in Singapore(he was retired) and was pretty glad to have a conversation with me.
I'm actually surprised some business owner in Japan would willing not want to do business. I would think that when someone opens a restaurant they would gladly accept any paying customer.
Yona Yona looks amazing! Can't wait to visit there when I'm in Japan in October (:
Thanks for taking us along on your trip. Looks like you had fun ☺️. May I please ask where you get your video’s music from? Thanks again!
A video in Japan? Never thought you would do this again. I love it.
The airplane ticket for January to Japan is crazy high. I literally saw the price went from 489$ at 11am to $800 by 2pm. That is way too crazy
Cheer up and enjoyed the home visit back in your home. Enjoyed your channel. Keep up with the good work!
Ghib, have a great vacation in Japan!! As you know, yesterday, Japan announced re-opening of tourist travel. No restrictions for tourist that are vacinnated, so things are returning to normal.
Yes, great news!! 🎉🎉
The first part of the video is taken in this place call Minato Mirai. Directly translated, it means "Future Harbour". My office is located in the Queen's Tower A and I've been visiting it 3-4 times a year for the last 20 years. Very nice place. The Nissin Cup Noodle museum is located nearby and so is Yamashita Park
I visited Tokyo once in summer and needless to say, that was the only time I visited Japan in summer.
I have loved all my trips to japan, whether for work or family vacation. Everyone seems so polite and efficient. I'm looking forward to visit again next year with my family.
Yea! Sometimes you wish the whole world is made like Japan. Professional, polite, good quality, cultural.... Combined with good sceneries and superb food.
@@noproblematallmate I wouldn't say made like Japan all countries have their bad sides too. Japan being long working hours and death by overwork and high suicidal rate. Imagine all countries are built like that...
Don’t need to watch ur vid to want to visit Japan. Have been having with drawl syndrome for 2 years Liao. Your videos only makes us cry 😂 finally restrictions have eased but air ticket prices makes us cry again 😢
My wife and I were trying to get food in Yokohama and we received a flyer from someone outside so we decided to try it out. When we went into the restaurant, they refused to let us in a serve us. I thought it was weird how they wanted us to go in but didn't let us in.
This is because they can’t handle English that’s why they would rather not to have your business
When I was in college, I worked at a conbini.
I remember my line would be empty, yet some customers would rather wait for a Japanese staff to check out than come to my register... (Even though I was shift leader LOL and often had to treat those customers anyways since the younger staff didn't know how to do somethings with the register)
Here in Europe is no different at some countries
Traveling next year with my 6 years old son son and he's very excited.
And Singapore, my God I love it so much I want to work and live there. We had a blast visiting it last July
16 years in Japan, I got used to it, almost happens everyday. This society is trash, everyone is so fake, people outside praise Japanese people for being polite but they're just two-faced.
The unfortunate truth is - foreigners get discriminated in many many countries. Singapore is probably one of the only places where in terms of restaurant and service-related activities (like shopping, etc), we see a lot less discrimination of foreigners. I think it still happens in Singapore but personally I think we are more welcoming than a lot of countries, as long as the foreigners respect our social norms. For example, I have experienced outright refusal to serve me in Paris and racism in Australia and U.S., and also felt unwelcomed in Japan. I think because we live in such a small and densely packed place like SG, we have to practice a lot more tolerance. Sorry to hear you had that experience. Edit: I do want to add that I have met a lot of very kind Japanese people who would totally go above and beyond to help a foreigner like myself when I was in Tokyo.
You are right. We are not used to discrimination in restaurants/shops in SG because we are a multicultural society used to many foreigners. So it comes a a rude shock to encounter discrimination in Europe, the US, Korea and Japan.
How Singaporean people of Chinese descent get treated in Japan resembles the discrimination minorities in Singapore face. For example in renting property and in jobs. Based on stereotypes, a whole group of people are written off as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
@@tianm1m160bruh not just Chinese Singapore
Malay and Indians also have discrimination in Japan
Working in antiques, ive had quite a few negative experiences with japanese dealers. Even though im mixed race, even not being a chinese citizen isnt enough. Ive been refunded because the dealer looked at me,my name and then proceeded to refund me, ip ban me from their site or add me to a blocklist. But that isnt the worst of it. The worst is when people pretend to like you or be cooperative and they take every opporrtunity to put me at a loss. I had a elderly man in Nara send me broken antiques after photographing them unbroken and then apologizing and proceeding to do it over and over leaving me to repair it. I understand someitems are fragile but the items in question surely are not being linen and sarashi towels and brushes.
They were very obviously torn or smashed or placed in unnecessarily dirty places after photographing. Initially i gave benefit of doubt in spite of friends in the industry saying it was because they perceived me as chinese. But then i had a name change. And suddenly things got a lot better. I got myself the whitest name possible and used my swedish friends graduation photo. I never experienced this ever again not a single instance at all now.
This is before covid, me and my family were shopping around the market and found a food stall and as we were discussing what to get, i saw the disgust look on his face as he prep the food so i knew off the bat he doesn't like foreigners but i still try to purchase as i wave my hand and try to speak broken Japanese, he didn't bother to look at me and ignore me the whole time as i was in his face (btw there were no lines so i was the only customer there). At this point i just told my parent i want something else because I don't want it to be a big thing but that really sour my experience that day.
"Wah lau eh aiyoh Cannot cannot cannot" got me into stitches for laughing non stop. Hahaha!
Magic Spice looks good man..
I always like hokkaido soup curry, i feel that the taste is very suitable to south east asian palate..
I don’t understand why the Japanese soup curry chain (Sama & Suage) is failing in Singapore.. now it so hard to find it in SG..
The only one i can find now is only at GWC Meidiya Food Plaza and there is only one variety :(
So sad. But very true. I was having dinner in a small izakaya in Kyoto with a friend and the owner told us that the other customers are feeling uncomfortable that we're speaking English and told us we should just finish up and leave soon.
Nani?!?! 🤒😳
Kyoto is the core of conservative. The owner cares about customers feelings uncomfortable but doesn’t think the customer (you) feeling uncomfortable by that attitude. That’s not fair!!!
@@nightc4006 I was very shocked by this. I think I'll just do more research and not head to such conservative places again.
@@missplainjane3905 I suppose so...
Are they afraid that English speakers are Americans and gonna attack them or something?
Having soup curry during winter in Hokkaido is the best!
Talking on the phone in a restaurant is sometimes considered a bad manner in Japan. Actually, staff warned me at restaurants once or twice before though I am Japanese. I think other public places like transportation, hospitals, and some types of shops are the same. Of course, conversations in such areas are OK. I don’t know the reason.
There is sometimes discrimination here in Japan if they think you are Chinese or Korean… Ridiculous!
Not just in Japan
Certainly, foreigners in Japan are not troublemakers. Nobody go to Japan with the intent to create trouble or commit a crime and get arrested. The mindset or suspicion must definitely changed.
I love this video , i never been to Tokyo but you show me great place to go . I may want to go one day . Thank you 😊
I’m sure you’ll have a great time!
Had a bad experience @narita airport before travelling back to SG. We were queuing at the mcdonalds counter when I code-switched from english to mandarin with my family on which meal to order. An eldery woman customer just shoo us away (probably thinking we were from china). Its pretty insulting to my family. That leaves a bad note for my trip (we are frequent visitors). Overall franchised shops' customer service are pretty good, they are trained to handle foreign customers. Its just the out of the way, small shops/restaurants that react in this manner. Tip: quick meals at franchised restaurants, the food are good & affordable as well. This is how we stretched our yen with 2 weeks of travelling.
Tip: Don't ever speak Mandarin in Japan as a Singaporean. (- Singaporean living in Tokyo) I only do it when I absolutely must because some of my other foreign friends don't speak English much.
2:33 lmao, that "walao eh, aiyo cannot cannot cannot" came out so naturally
Very nice clip!!! Thanks for the video. I was hoping you can show the name of the restaurant that you've being there, I want to kinda follow your steps..... Thank you
great intro song!
店内で電話したらダメってのは習慣化してる感じですね。
私も電話する時は店の外に出ますし、周りの人もそうしてますね。
理由は電話だと声がどんどんでかくなるから、とか聞いたことあります。
合理的理由はなくて、単に習慣というだけですかね。
Since spending a year as an exchange student in Tokyo back in 1999, I have been visiting Japan every year on holidays (except covid times) and have watched with dismay at the growing tension in the tourism sector. I think the underlying feelings were always there in some Japanese restaurants but until the tourist boom from early 2010 onwards, the tourist numbers were relatively manageable and did not overwhelm the service sector……also, as the type of tourists grew, there became many more instances of conflict between arrogant tourists (my money makes me king/queen attitude) ….I suspect that the break given by covid may have made those weary of difficult tourists, decide to formally show their xenophobia.
Visited Tokyo in 2015 with my family (including two children).. We went to a small udon shop across the entrance to our hotel. The owner was a grumpy old man, who merely grunted when he took our orders but left us alone to have our meal. We ended up coming back two more times and saw he treated everyone, whether they are foreigner or not, in the same manner.. but the food was good and cheap.
The rest of the time, we found the staff at restaurants or shops to be very accommodating even if they speak minimal English - we went to a bbq grill place and they even hauled a worker from the kitchen to explain the different types of fish they had, with plastic food displays to show us. In another restaurant, we had the same server the few times we ate there and she was so interested to know more about us that she asked the cook to come out and translate.
We even went to a hole in the wall kind of place in Shibuya where we had to order via vending machine and we had no idea what to do but the kind lady at the store came out, showed us how to purchase the meals.
Edited: wait, now that I thought about it. We did feel awkward when we visited Kidzania. We specifically visited it on Wednesday, I believe, as it was designated an 'English speaking' day. We were met by a Caucasian person when we arrived but almost no staff spoke English and plenty of activities were not available to us as my kids didn't speak Japanese. We met a handful of foreign kids including one from Singapore but I think we were the only one who really tried to make a day out of it because everyone just left after they realised it was not easy to participate if you don't speak Japanese.
one of the Abroad in Japan video where he cycled through some areas and chanced upon a sign at a restaurant that said "No dogs and chinese allowed"
:S
New Fav channel
now it is fully open aft oct without any restrictions.
so far im still okay with restaurants, maybe i travel alone, so they cant hear me speak before sitting me down.
Can you try out the food they sell at shopping's basement eg Daimaru, Taka, Hanshin, Hankyu?
I was visiting Morioka with my friend back in 2019 and went to a Reimen restaurant (near the train station) that opens late for supper one night. The restaurant environment did not really feel welcoming the moment they heard us started conversing in english and the staff service suddenly felt much colder and we were deprioritized several times when trying to get the servers.
The place do look busy so I gave them the benefit of the doubt but that was the only place after travelling to Japan many times over the past few years where I had felt a little bit that I was being discriminated.
Actutwas hope to see a Mount Fuji hike video
Hi Ghib, enjoy your break. You work too hard to bring us great videos. Have Fun!
Thanks Jac!
Hi Ghib ,enjoy your break. i saw Akihabara station and suddenly think of the legendary Akihabara Electric Town and Koichi san electronics tiny shop like mini sim lim tower. Most Manga, ,gamers, and anime lovers love to visit there.Maybe you shall visit there too.
Can't wait to go back to Japan!!!
Yes I was rejected at a restaurant too in Tokyo. They told that the restaurant was full for the night but there was no one there waiting and the restaurant was pretty empty.
That is very common, unfortunately. But here in Europe that also happens. The lady at the bakery in Germany once refused to serve me because I couldn't pronounce the name of the bread correctly
外国人に対する差別ではなく、携帯電話で話をしていたことに対する注意を受けたのではないでしょうか。
It happened to my bro. He was talking outside a toilet in MRT station trying to make arrangements for his accommodation. A guy walked over and slapped his face.
Love your videos. Enjoying them all!! Regarding your happening in the restaurant. For me the key for being in Japan is not too stand out.Thats the basic idea not only with the language you are speaking but the way we hold ourself. Lots of people disagree with this idea but that is the idea in Japan like it or not. I do agree Japan does have to change at some point with various ideas. Where do you start? Or do you accept Rome for the city it is? Once again thank you for the amazing interviews
Tough luck buddy
Hahahaha. I had fun watching. Thanks for the video ❤
The reason why I learned Japanese was because I was turned away at a McDonald’s in Yokohama when I first visited Japan with family in 2006; they did not want to speak English to us. At a McDonald’s. I was still so intrigued with everything Japan, so I picked up Japanese.
When I visited Dotonbori in 2018, a sushi restaurant turned away a lot of English speaking guests saying they were sold out but my ex and I got in with no problems because I spoke Japanese. It’s sad that this is still happening, and I’m so sorry to hear it happened to you Ghib :(
Enjoy your vacation!! Loving these vlog style videos 🫶🏻🫶🏻
Why would you expect Japanese McD workers to speak in English ? Do you expect workers in some yakitori restaurant in US, to speak Japanese?
While restaurants can certainly be more accommodating to foreigners, as a business its unreasonable to expect them to speak English. Since most Japanese menus have pictures, it would be pretty easy to handle foreginers IMO, but the issue is with people trying to "customize" the menu, and the staff are not equipped to handle it.
OMG Kingdom Manga!
Sometimes, you don't really notice the discrimination in your own country until you get mistaken for one of those "disease carrying foreigners". So far on my travels I have not encountered this attitude from any of the places I visited in Japan, but I don't really buy the explanation that they reject non-Japanese customers because of language concerns, when other RUclipsrs who have stayed in Japan for years and fluent in the language get the same treatment as well.
Can showcase more street food in Japan? I know Japan also have market style food stalls, not always restaurant food. I bet a lot of Singaporeans would like street food, just like how they would enjoy their food in pasar malam.
Amd they are very unlikely to be turned away.
It was great catching up in Japan, Ghib!
Glad to see you were able to enjoy bits of Tokyo during your visit.
Unfortunately discrimination does happen in Japan, and I’ve been on the receiving end of it, being a Japanese as well. I personally think that Japanese people tend to have rules and guidelines set without really considering the meaning behind them….
Still blows my mind that some times foreigners can’t rent or buy properties in Japan, because they’re not Japanese. Obviously not all companies are like that, but theres surely a lot of unconscious bias in this country that isn’t discussed enough, because it’s such a homogeneous country.
actually foreigners can buy property in japan.
@@cks2k2 not sure if you live in Japan, but there are some agencies/companies that decline doing businesses with foreign customers - not all, but some. You’re totally right that foreigners are allowed to buy properties in Japan 👍
Nice to catch up with you Kenji!
Even in Singapore, there are restaurant or bar that said "Japanese only", not that Singaporean/Foreigner in SG care as they can just go other places.
I've never known there were such restaurants in Singapore. Care to share where?
Huh?
But they are in our country
You are supposed to serve Singaporeans 💀💀💀
こんにちは✨
いつも楽しく拝見しています。
とんかつ屋さんの電話の話ですが
今東京では、“電話は店の外で”という張り紙をよく見ます。
外人だからというよりも、電話というツールを使って話していたからという理由ではないのかな？と思いました。(飛沫感染予防のため)
話ながら食べているお客さんとの線引きは曖昧ですが、マスクがまだ日常の日本的なルールなのでは？
日本でリフレッシュされて、また楽しい配信楽しみにしています( ´∀`)/~~お義母さん大好き🍀😌🍀
Japan is a really weird, insular culture. Many Japanese travel abroad, and know that they aren't discriminated against at restaurants because they can't speak the language. Really strange that they can't grasp this concept at home. It's not like Tokyo is some tiny backwater city.
Its always been like that. So when i am in Japan with my family, we respect the locals since we are guests. It does feel a little stifling. Just a little
thanks for keeping it real, its great to acknowledge the problem of one's country when u see one and asking us if we also faced any kind of discrimination during our visits.
i love japan, but nothing's perfect.
love this vlog. not the typical 'shove it in your face tourism board' promotional material.
Yes! We went Japan before covid and a few restaurants rejected us because we having 2 kids. That makes me wonder isn’t Japan one of the friendliness country to go to. 😢
One time when I went to a restaurant in Tokyo by myself and I asked if there’s a English menu and they said no but I thought in Tokyo most restaurants would have it. This restaurant isn’t a small mom and pop restaurant too.
Will it work if we actually book the tour from an agency in Japan instead? I was thinking of going to Hokkaido.
Ya discrimination is felt too in Chiba. But i thought its because i look Asian ! If i were Ang Moh maybe they would treat me better?
Im amazed how the locals thought me that the only way to survive summer is by eating 塩分お菓子 as water alone will still give you heat stroke.
OMG, Yokohama, Sakuragicho in Minato Mirai. I’ll be back home soon 🥲
Give some advices/ tips / safety video due to your experiences... what if a Singaporean travel alone.. which recommended hotel/ night activities/foods/ budgets/public transport..n communication
Hope u can meet sg tourists in japan
I happened to be in Tokyo during summer. It was scotching hot during the day!
I do wonder if some of that omotenashi is more tatemae than honne. It certainly seems like it from a lot of the comments here.
Even during pre Covid days, we walked into this relatively empty restaurant in Hokkaido, to be turned away saying they are full and no longer accepting customers. They were about to sit us down but stopped when they overheard us speaking in English. Found it strange till today, we were neither loud nor have kids with us.
Had the same experience in Atami near Tokyo in 2018. We were 3 adults and went into what looked like a popular restaurant near our hotel, but they turned us away when they realised we were foreigners. Happened again at the next restaurant we tried to eat at. We were puzzled. At first, we thought it might be because they didn’t want the hassle of trying to communicate in English, which was obviously challenging for them. We finally managed to eat at a yakiniku restaurant which was likely Korean-operated. We pointed at pictures in the menu and had a good meal despite not being able to speak Japanese or the waiters being unable to speak English, so we wondered why we were turned away from the first two restaurants. Now I understand. Heard anecdotes too about how despite opening up for travel, Covid has made many Japanese even more xenophobic about foreigners, so I’m giving Japan a miss till things improve. Much as I love Japanese food and scenery, I won’t go where I’m not welcome.
Yeah Teishoku restaurants also turn foreigners away :(
We were taking a local tour in Hokkaido this summer. The tour guide saw us spoke to each other in English he immediately assumed that we just came from the USA. So he spoke to other Japanese tourists in Japanese telling them to be aware of us to avoid Covid 19 contact. Ha, they thought we couldn't speak Japanese. Anyway, we quickly informed the group tour guide that we've been living in Japan for a few years now. We didn't just fly from the US.
Took a bus last years...sitting far back talking with my friends..the driver hush us to quite..when the ojisan and obasan infront talk much more..lol
@@pw935 hope he was embarrassed at himself !
Do you think Japan can survive without tourists?
The city of Kyoto is apparently already bankrupt from no tourists in the last 2.5 years.
Those Japanese government officials don't give a damn sad to say. Which is why reopening of Japan took so long.
I went to a artisan highly rated unagi restaurant, before all the customers entered, the staff kindly explained that no using of phone, take off shoes, no professional cameras and no speaking unless necessary and softly, phone camera is borderline ok because they want us to focus on the food and be considerate to other customers, so I find this reasonable. This custom also applied to everyone. The staff were also friendly and tolerant, because one of my friends were late and ended up not coming (changes headcount while queuing outside), and my other friends got impatient during the wait inside the restaurant and used their phones quite a bit and took more than several photos before eating, and the staff was still nice to us after that.
Im shocked you still havent heard back about your PR application. It"s so long since you applied!
The robot reception guy reminded .....child's play..creepy Ningyō
Hi, hope you can shed some light on this… I can’t seem to use the Suica card which I bought in Tokyo in Osaka metro and also Kyoto metro. Is it that the Suica card can only be used on JR lines and not local metro?
Hello, would love to see OKONOMIYAKI videos. Thanks !!
Hi! When did you visit Japan in this vlog? Will Aug still be very hot?
日本に帰りたくなりましたー😂素敵な動画をありがとう😊Ghib
@Ghib Ojisan, where (name) is the restaurant u have had the gyutan? and what/where exactly is the Polar bear thing you went to?
Surprised to read so many negative comments about jp too!
I stay in Japan with my kids now and boy, it’s tough. Sometimes they don’t say ‘no’ to you in your face but just make things difficult in all sorts of ways. I love Japan but things like these make me angry/sad 😞
They're so passive-aggressive sometimes it's frustrating lmao
Perhaps the change needs to start from above.. like the people who r running the country. A leader’s influence and acceptance is what creates a change. I’ve gotten discriminated even during pre-covid days. Some just don’t express it out but you can feel it through body language.