Update 15th January: Thanks again to 空 for pestering QB House again, as he has now confirmed with his own eyes that both signs have been stuffed away by the QB stuffers.
Furthermore, great big raspberries to the excitable commenters on debito.org who saw the sign as nothing more than a thinly-veiled "Gaijin sod off", and the latest level-headed comment allows Mr Arudou (who I hope also updates his blog entry) to display more passive activism:
– March right down to QB House Tameike Sannou and offer to help.
Original post starts here: I’m now very much confused as to what is going on… 空 very kindly did Mr Arudou’s work for him by contacting QB House about their poorly-worded sign, and they got back to him – as reported on this blog and on his own web site – to say that, as I suspected, their intention was not to discriminate but to avoid misunderstandings. However, Eido Inoue passed the same shop today, and they now have a new official-looking sign in rather poor English, as well as in Japanese, Chinese and Korean:
To our customers
Those who are not able to communicate with our stuffers in Japanese language might be refused to take our hairdressing service.
It’s multilingual, which is an improvement, but I don’t really know why there is so much imagined difficulty by QB House about getting a 1,000 yen haircut. If you were going to a full-service joint I could understand the worry, but at QB House pointing and saying "cut to here" is really about the extent of their personalisation service.
I don’t get it, I’ve never had a problem in one of the 1000yen shops, the only haircut problem I ever encountered was some poor lady who was trying to ask how far down she should shave my neck… (yes, I have a manpelt, the other folks at the shop got a good laugh at her discomfort/confusion about where to stop)
Stop the press. Debito is now openly publishing “debate” on his blog.
Looks like our work here is done…
If that’s true (and it is open debate including discourse with Dave’s message) than I would agree that the usefulness of this site has effectively ended.
However, I’ll believe it when I see it stick (and the debate hardly seems open).
“…but I don’t really know why there is so much imagined difficulty by QB House about getting a 1,000 yen haircut.”
Given how necessary they seem to feel it is to have some kind of sign, I can only guess that they’ve had a (very?) bad experience that they don’t want to repeat.
Being in an area that houses the American Embassy and a large number of ex-pat executives, I can imagine that there are more than a few “entitled” monolinguists who want thing just so at minimum cost.
The greatest puzzle in this language discrimination debate is why anyone cares at all. Retail discrimination is illegal in so far as it applies to such things as race, gender, age, and cultural ethnicity — things that the customer has no control over. As far as I know, there is no law in the United States, Japan, or Western Europe that states that language discrimination is illegal. If the client does not speak the language, he or she is making a choice not to speak it.
And that is the real legal issue: Is it suddenly the responsibility of the employee to speak the foreign language of the customer?
It’s generally accepted that one will speak the language of the host country, partly for economic reasons (a Japanese employee of a retail business cannot and should not be expected to be proficient in the foreign language of the client — that’s technically and economically impractical), and partly for logistical reasons (if you make the exception for English-speaking clients, where will it ever end? Should we insist that a fairly uneducated Japanese teenager cannot be granted employment as a hair stylist unless the teenager is also proficient in Mandarin, and Tagalog, and Spanish, and Portuguese, and Korean, and English, and any other foreign language that the customer utters?)
The more I think about the QB House incident, the more I don’t understand what the problem is. I honestly think it’s a storm in a teacup.
Personally, I would see it in a similar vein to the “Caution: Contents Hot” printed on a McDonald’s cup of coffee. Some things are not always obvious to some people…
It was started by OG Steve, a guy who I suggested might be LB trolling…
I called QB house again.
Here is what shinno san said;
○As for the blue sign still standing, it was a simple mistake, they missed it.
○They don’t know how many branches have the sign.
○But they will tell every branch to remove it today.
(if you find another sign in any branch by any chance, they say they want you to inform it to the head office.
○They want to welcome as many customers as possible,including foreigners.
○The reason why they put up a sign was that there were troubles in the past where the communication with a foreigner broke down because the foreigner didn’t speak Japanese and other customers was kept waiting.
○Whether they will put up a new sign or supposing they will, what to write on it is still under consideration.
Any suggestion to the head office through the customer support center is welcome.
I would think a simple “Please be aware our staff can only communicate in Japanese” ought to be sufficient.
Thanks 空! iago’s suggestion is nice and succinct, although I would change the “can only” to a “may only be able to”.
Let’s not miss the facts that
they are not confirming whether the sign is still up or already pulled down.
(this is also an important fact about ROGUES’ GALLERY)
they can’t even propose the Dude’s suggestion on his blog to discuss it.
http://tepido.org/more-handbags/187/comment-page-1#comment-1292
they have no intention to tell the readers there are other forums like Tepido org to publicize what they see as a problem and actually help to solve it.
“Please be aware our staff may only be able to communicate in Japanese”
ということですね。
問い合わせで提案しておきます。
他のお店にも役立ちそうですね。
I think the point that needs to be addressed is that you don’t need a hell of a lot of communicative ability to order a haircut from a cheap salon. Its a fair point. If I didn’t speak Japanese, I certainly wouldn’t want to be excluded from somewhere where it would take greater ability to communicate my wishes to the staff – a restaurant, for example. The same principle applies. Just because Debito is making a federal case out of it, doesn’t mean that it’s not wrong.
Actually, I think that is my main beef with Debito. We all know “there is” discrimination in Japan, just as “there is” discrimination elsewhere. But, for example, exclusionary policies are so few and far between to be statistically insignificant, and do not affect the vast majority of foreigners in Japan. True, he has an impressive collection of discrimination porn, but that is basically sent into him by a self-selecting group of admirers, so it distorts his picture of life in Japan and makes discrimination seem a bigger problem than it is. Why should Japanese and others bother investing resources and legislative hours into fixing something that hardly affect the lives of those his laws will supposedly benefit?
“Is it suddenly the responsibility of the employee to speak the foreign language of the customer?”
Well, no. But I think there is a point to be made that an inability to speak Japanese should preclude your ability to get something so simple as a haircut.
Slightly different, as it puts the ball in the customers court, no? No one is “refused service” which does imply discrimination on the part of the employee and his shop. The customer, meanwhile, is well aware that he may be misunderstood (assuming he speaks English) before he enters into the transaction, excusing the shop from any fault due to miscommunication. Words do indeed matter.
Well, I think there is a subtle difference. The original, and amended, signs both suggest the refusal of service on the part of the shop (Exclusionary!!).
The suggestion above switches it from a willingness to provide service to a capacity to receive said service. i.e. If you can’t somehow communicate “a bit off the sides,” then you’re likely to get something other than “a bit off the sides”.
*is well aware (assuming he reads English and cannot speak Japanese) that he may be misunderstood
A Japan run by the Debitards would be some ultra PC America, without any of the things that make America great.
A Japan like that is something I’d never want to return to.
I like Iago’s suggestion. The burden should surely be on the customer, but it would look much more diplomatic if the store added a superfluous apology.
“We’re sorry, but our staff only speak Japanese. Please use Japanese as much as you can.”
That encourages people to come into the store, doesn’t give off a bad vibe to people who have no intention of coming in (but would be put off by an exclusionary sign), and still implies that the customer has to be able to communicate.
I myself go to a small non-chain barber in Chiyoda-ku that only costs 900 yen. I love this place; they have baseball games going on the radio and they use an old-fashioned mechanical cash register. I’ll need a haircut next week, so maybe I’ll ask them what they would do if someone with no Japanese showed up. I’m betting that they’d find a way to communicate.
Just make sure it doesn’t turn out to read: “JAPANESE ONLY”. Oh no!
*hastily scribbles the word “LANGUAGE” in the middle there*
“In the case of persons unable to convey their wishes in the Japanese language, we will revert to the default 丸坊主 buzzcut. Thank you! The Management”
Mark: Why should the store apologise for only having staff who speak the only official language of Japan?
×Japanese only ×外国人お断り
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/2ab4f30631af6be6d4dc42568060e817
I swear Debitards want to make Japan as dysfunctionally politically correct as their home countries…
Well, I’m neither a “Debitard” nor “politically correct”, but as suggestions were solicited, I offered one up.
Y’know, I don’t really think that wrapping up a “refusal or inability (or unwillingness) to serve” in a nicely perfumed package that, on the surface, leaves neither the provider nor the customer feeling uncomfortable is something at all alien to Japanese business culture.
“Those who are not able to communicate with our staff in Japanese may be refused service.“
Um..Quite so.
What’s the problem?
“We’re sorry, but our staff only speak Japanese. Please use Japanese as much as you can.”
Huh?
what a nonsense..
I wonder why Japanese in Japan do such a ridiculous servile attitude to foreigner..
Just speak only Japanese,this is Japan.
Do you understand?
Just a few days ago I post the following to Arudou’s blog ..
Surprisingly,he take liberties with my comment. .
unbelievable.
http://www.debito.org/?p=8336#comment-233571
*
It’s regrettable that too damn many foreigner in japan are not able to understand Japanese.
I strictly advise to foreigner.
This is Japan.
if you live in Japan you need to be able to speak Japanese freely, read and write.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”
QB House’s advantage is low price..1000yen/10m.
this is not a charity.
they must speed up the rotation of customers to get a profit.
this sign will avoid any trouble that may arise with an arrogant foreign claimer.
This is not racism,xenophobia.
No problem.
If you do not like it, please just leave.
thx
たたき台ですので、いろんなのを参考にして、そのまま、あるいは、修正して、事情に応じて、採用する方の裁量にまかせればいいかとも考えています。
”they now have a new official-looking sign”
たぶん、これ新しい掲示ではなく、前からあったもので、それを外し忘れた、ということだとおもいますけど、最大限QBのために言動しているにもかかわらず、QBの担当の人の応答が、非常に官僚的・責任回避的な応答ばかりなので、私も辟易してしまって、これ以上、QBに云々するのはやめようかな、とも思っています。
Japan Probeにもこの記述がありましたので、そう言っているよ、とだけ伝えておきました。
なお、参考となる英文は問い合わせフォームを通じて伝えてはあります。
Yeah, Kotaro, you see most of us broadly agree with you but we don’t feel it’s necessary to go to the other extreme of “damn foreigners” and “Just speak only Japanese,this is Japan.
Do you understand?” There is a happy medium, you see.
In the future please take that sort of comment to His Debiness’s site.
Simon, they should offer the apology not because it’s necessary, but because such superfluous apologies are standard in that kind of situation. When businesses close for the new year, the signs on their closed doors inevitably contain phrasings like 「誠に勝手ながら…」 and 「ご迷惑をおかけいたします」 despite the fact that there’s nothing at all selfish or apology-worthy about closing up shop for a few days. Such words, needless as they might be, are just a part of what keeps society running smoothly. The store would bnefit from using them in English as they would in Japanese.
And then to save space they can combine the sign with the ubiquitous “We cannot change money. No cambiamos dinero.” cards all over the cash registers in 1,278 languages including dog (“Woof woofiamos woofero”) because we’re all filthy counterfeiters, too.
Hi, Japan Probe/Tepido org
Thank you for linking to my blog.
http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/01/13/in-english-please/
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/4999507e3d264d46bbd80ad7a9aa636e
As for the blue sign. the implication of my post was that for some reason they failed to pull it down but the blue one was also supposed to be gone as of Jan.13th after I called up the office again(after the photo was taken.)
I thought I would leave your post at that ,but Debito org updated its blog based on Japan Probe without reading the article you kindly put up, or with reading the post but maliciously misinterpreting it.
Misled by it, the posters on his blog started talking nonsense again.
http://www.debito.org/?p=8336#comment-234789
And a poster left a crappy comment about my blog .
http://www.debito.org/?p=8336#comment-234803
Could you update your blog to the effect that the blue sign was already pulled down?
To make assurance double sure I visited the QB house in question today and confirmed that the sign was pulled down.
Thank you.
p.s. Sorry I am a lousy cameraman. But I asked a staff and I confirmed with my eyes that the sign was pulled down. If anybody doubt it, please visit the shop.
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/30a22c1217d684b7abfe8702ebf0971a
OK, updating right now!
Vespa, I view this issue like I view a chessboard. The problem (or concern) I have with your chess move (ie. QB doesn’t need a sign for something so simple as a haircut) is that it doesn’t take into account what might happen a few further chess moves into the game.
If miscommunication takes place and customers are not satisfied, who is legally and financially liable now? Can and should the customer sue in small claims court? Will the small business owner lose business as a result of the miscommunication — both from the English-speaking customer who received an unsatisfactory haircut and from other customers who were forced to wait for an unacceptable amount of time while the two parties (the Japanese hairstylist and the customer) struggled through the experience? Will the business owner face bad reviews on the internet as a result of poor service?
I think all of this can be avoided with what amounts to commonsense. Placing a carefully worded sign in English that deflects legal responsibility from the small business owner to the customer. “Caveat emptor.” Let the buyer beware. Or maybe we could even call it “caveat venditor”. Let the seller beware. The seller might actually have to take responsibility for selling a product that the customer might not want, and therefore has to think twice about selling the haircut in the first place. Too many things could go wrong with miscommunication.
Mark: Yes, you’re right; sorry, I skipped over the word “superfluous” in your original comment. My bad :)
Although I agree Kotaro has a point logically, he IS being an asshole about it.
It is probably true that this was all started by some asshole gaijin who either expected a perfect hairstyle for a mere 1000 yen without being able to speak Japanese, nor bring a phrasebook with the necessary few phrases, nor even being clever enough to just bring a fucking photo of the hairstyle he wants (that’s what I did when I first came to Japan. )
But Christ, I go to QBHouse because I don’t give a shit what my hair looks like, and I know that going to the cheapest place means I might get an uneven haircut sometimes. Suck it up. If I ever saw a gaijin pulling this kind of stunt, I’d tell him to chill out and fuck off, and basically use the same words Kotaro did above.
One thing that seems common is that these “Japanese Only” signs seem to be prompted by an incident with gaijin assholes (drunk Russian sailors in Hokkaido onsens, sushi tourists both Japanese and gaijin in Tsukiji, cheapass jerks looking for perfect 1000 yen haircuts with English service) and then a reflexive “Japanese Only” sign to punish every gaijin for the misbehaviour of the few. There should just be “No Assholes” signs. Debito went so far as to get Japanese citizenship to be able to pass “Japanese Only” signs. How far would he go to dodge a “No assholes” sign? Could he even do it?
But anyway, Simon, suggesting someone to take such a strong opposing viewpoint as kotaro’s to debito? You are aware that debito has been known to occasionally do things to posts he doesn’t like, right? ;)
Debito could probably find grounds to sue over a “No assholes” sign. It is a type of discrimination. I mean, being an asshole seems to be something he was born with.
Thanks for the link kotaro. It seems debito’s comments section is getting much worse since I gave up on the site when debito called me a nigger.
It was difficult to read just 5 posts from the starting point of your post. I had to stop. These kids are fucking insane. Apparently, a minimum-wage high turnover barber shop in Japan should have at least one English-speaking staff in each branch at all times? (how does a minimum-wage barber afford eikaiwa lessons anyway?)
Heck, why stop there? English-speaking staff at ALL barbershops in Japan, just in case one of these debitards needs a perfect haircut for a sudden soiree in North Bumfuck, Aomori while on a ski holiday! ;)
Of course, nothing about Chinese, Korean, or Portugese-speaking, which outnumber us English speakers by far. The debitards are not only stupid, but arrogant and racist against non-white gaijin.
Level3, you’re forgetting all the delusions and naive impressions that float around in the heads of most of these twenty-something Debito.org supporters.
For some reason, Japan needs to “internationalize” and “globalize”. What that rhetoric still means and why it’s absolutely necessary, compared to what already exists that made Japan the second largest economy in the world (now third largest), is a mystery to many of us.
But to the twenty-something English teachers in Japan on one-year contracts, it somehow means speaking conversational English anywhere and everywhere when it suits their needs because that’s the excuse that got them their jobs.
These kids don’t understand (and they don’t care about) the complicated world of economics, finance, and business management. Discussing wage rates, profit margins, customer turnover, liability laws, etc. just confuses and bores them.
That’s why, I suspect, Debito constantly wants people to “stay on topic.” That’s code for “please don’t confuse my supporters with the intricacies of the real world. I won’t be able to generate outrage if you do that.”
Level3, no, I have no idea what you mean
debito publishes all comments worthy of discussion on 
his boarddebito.org, regardless of his personal stance on the matter, doesn’t he?But seriously though. Yes, I agree with the logic of Kotaro’s argument too. I personally find it hard to deal with people who make no effort to learn the national language while they’re living here. Basically they’re just tourists, as far as I’m concerned. It’s much more interesting to talk to people who get involved with the country and are interested in local affairs and all that, rather than the OMG HOOTERS JUST OPENED or I CAN’T BELIEVE MCDONALD’S WON’T LET ME HAVE EXTRA SAUCE crowd.
My issue with Kotaro’s post is that he (1) seemed to confuse those of us posting here with the Debitards, and (2) he comes across as a total arsehole as he tries to preach to the converted. He comes across as debito in a way – debito says ALL JAPANESE ARE RACIST TO THE CORE whereas kotaro says ALL FOREIGNERS ARE ROTTEN TO THE CORE.
But the point is, debito is still a sad troll and his debitards are even sadder.
Vespa: “Come on, debito, you’re being ejected. For reasons you were born with.”
Reading through the articles, I don’t understand why the title of these posts would be “Japanese only.” At best, the signs seem to be “Japanese recommended”, since “may be refused” isn’t really definitive and refusal is only a possibility.