"Even Japanese Won't Go"... Japanese Restaurant Shuts Down, Declaring 'No Koreans or Chinese Allowed'

Controversy Over Restaurant X in Okubo, Tokyo
"They Talk About Diversity These Days, But Koreans Are Rejected"
Located in Koreatown... Criticized by Japanese Netizens Too

A restaurant located in Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, has sparked controversy by posting a notice refusing service to Chinese and Korean customers. Recently, the restaurant posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption “Cleanly♪.” The photo, presumed to be taken through the restaurant window, contains a message in Japanese stating, “These days people talk about diversity and tolerance, but since I have no intention of working with unpleasant thoughts, Chinese and Koreans are refused.” The post has been viewed over 16 million times on X.

[Image source = X capture]

Most Japanese netizens who saw this reacted with comments like “Other customers will probably decrease as well.” One netizen wrote in English, “This is a warning of racial discrimination,” adding, “People may feel hatred simply because they are not Japanese, regardless of nationality.” Critical comments have also been posted on the restaurant’s Instagram account. Japanese netizens left remarks such as “I will never go there. I will inform those around me,” “I oppose discrimination,” and “I am ashamed as a Japanese person that a store publicly makes hateful remarks.” They criticized, “It is horrifying that a store committing racial discrimination can operate normally.”

This news spread to Korean online communities, provoking anger and ridicule among netizens. Responses included, “At least write it in English; how would people know if it’s only in Japanese?” “Is it because it’s scary if written in Korean or Chinese?” and “Even hate against Koreans can’t be done properly if you’re stupid.” Shin-Okubo is known as a representative Koreatown in Japan, and some commented that the restaurant’s behavior was unwise.

There have been previous controversies involving anti-Korean sentiment at Japanese restaurants. In August last year, a high-end restaurant located in a famous department store in Ginza, Tokyo, served water mixed with detergent to a Korean customer. The customer, unaware of this, drank the water and was hospitalized, causing a scandal. The restaurant later explained that the incident was due to an employee’s mistake, but the victim insisted, “They did it deliberately knowing I was Korean.” Additionally, in 2016, a story surfaced about a sushi restaurant in Osaka that served sushi with an excessive amount of wasabi to a Korean customer, which also sparked controversy.