Restaurant bans Chinese customers for being ‘rude’; social media reacts

Hayashin, a grill restaurant in Osaka, Japan, has created controversy by banning Chinese customers. A notice on its door, written in Chinese, says Chinese people are “rude” and not welcome.

The reason behind the ban is unclear, but this is not the first time a Japanese business has shown such discrimination towards Chinese customers.

One Chinese reservation agent in Japan earlier shared their struggles online. According to them, many Chinese tourists cancel bookings without informing.

One group didn’t show up for a booking of 11 people despite many calls and emails. The restaurant even checked if the group had met with an accident. This incident led the agent to say it was not surprising some Japanese restaurants would avoid Chinese tourists.

Many Chinese users online also criticise such careless behaviour, saying people who don’t respect rules won’t be welcomed anywhere in the world.

In 2023, a Chinese influencer saw a Tokyo restaurant banning Chinese people with a note blaming the “China virus”. The sign was in Chinese, Korean and Japanese. When the influencer entered to question the staff, they threw him out.

Another Tokyo restaurant also banned Chinese and South Koreans.

The South China Morning Post shared some angry Chinese reactions.

One Chinese user reacted, “It is cheap to attract customers under the banner of patriotism.”

“A restaurant that posts such a note has even worse manners than the rude customers,” wrote one user.

However, not everyone found it offensive. One user reacted that Chinese customers should complain to their fellows who behaved badly.

Ban on Chinese and Korean customers

In 2024, an Italian restaurant in Tokyo faced heavy criticism for posting a sign that banned Chinese and Korean customers. The owner shared a photo of the sign online, saying they wanted to avoid “negative thoughts”.

Many Japanese users called it racist and compared it to past discrimination against Japanese in the US. Non-Japanese users called the move openly racist and warned others to avoid the place.

On the other hand, some supported the owner. They shared stories of alleged harassment by Korean tourists.