Japan Restaurant Faces Backlash Over Ban on Chinese Tourists

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A restaurant in Osaka, Japan, caused a stir when it posted a notice at its entrance. The notice banned Chinese customers due to their perceived rudeness.

A Japanese yakitori or grilled skewered chicken restaurant called Hayashin went viral after several social media accounts posted the notice on May 10, 2025. The note, written in Mandarin, stated that the place does not allow Chinese customers because many are rude.

“Many people are impolite. We do not allow Chinese customers in our shop. Thank you for your understanding," read the notice, as reported by Dimsum Daily.

Opinion was divided among netizens regarding the notice. Locals supported it, while some Chinese netizens expressed disappointment and anger over the discriminatory attitude.

“A restaurant that posts such a note has even worse manners than the rude customers,” said an observer quoted by the South China Morning Post.

Supporters of the restaurant urged Chinese customers to address their complaints about bad behavior by their fellow countrymen.

Restaurant Apologizes

After the notice went viral, Hayashin issued an apology through Sasaya Holdings, the company that oversees the restaurant. The apology was written in Japanese and Mandarin.

In the statement, Sasaya Holdings wrote that the notice was put up by the person responsible for the store's operations without the company's permission. In response, the company removed the notice as soon as possible.

"All our restaurants have always upheld the principle of equally welcoming all customers, including foreign guests, while striving to provide the highest quality service. This policy will remain unchanged going forward," said Sasaya's statement.

Not the First Time

This is not the first time a restaurant in Japan has rejected Chinese tourists. In 2023, a Chinese influencer revealed that a restaurant in Tokyo had posted a sign banning Chinese people. The note in Japanese also stated that the action was designed to prevent the "Chinese virus." The influencer went into the restaurant to confront the staff and was immediately kicked out.

Another Tokyo restaurant posted on social media that they had banned Chinese and South Korean customers last July.

Previously, media reports on bad behavior by Mandarin-speaking tourists in Japan sparked controversy on social media and led to many complaints about excessive tourism in Japan.

The latest case involved a Chinese influencer consuming expensive seafood at a Japanese buffet, two Chinese women lying in the middle of a busy street to be photographed during a traffic jam, and a tourist from Taiwan rudely shaking a cherry blossom tree in Japan to create a romantic atmosphere for photos.

Japan has experienced a surge in foreign tourists. Last year, the country welcomed 36.9 million international tourists, a 47.1 percent increase from the previous year, surpassing the previous record of 31.9 million in 2019. The largest number of visitors came from South Korea, accounting for 23.8 percent, followed by China at 18.9 percent.

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