Game localizer tells man to “call police” on Japanese salon for refusing English-speakers
Twitter / Unsplash.com: Adam WingerA video game localizer is coming under fire after telling a man to “call the police” on a Japanese hair salon for refusing service to English-speaking customers.
A Japan-based video game localizer is facing backlash online after urging a man to call law enforcement on a Japanese hair salon.
The drama kicked off on June 25, when a Twitter user based in Tokyo, Japan posted a photo of a sign he’d encountered at a hair salon.
“Sorry, we only speak Japanese!” the sign reads. “Therefore, we aren’t able to understand your order properly. Since we can’t understand what you’re saying, we aren’t able to cut your hair.”
“As professionals, we want to make sure our customers are satisfied,” the sign continues. “This is our shop’s rule that we decided as a team. Thank you for understanding.”
Game localizer encourages man to “call police” on Japanese hair salon
While public opinion was largely split regarding the sign, one user’s response has taken social media by storm. A video game localizer living in Japan urged the poster to call local authorities and even sue the salon over the ordeal, alleging possible “racial discrimination” from the business.
“Just call the police,” they wrote. “Japan is part of international treaties against racial discrimination and has several cases of shops being sued by foreign [customers.] Just politely call the police and sue the shop due to psychological distress.”
Just call the police.
Japan is part of international treaties against racial discrimination and has several cases of shops being sued by foreign costumers.
Just politely call the police and sue the shop due to psychological distress.
— Daniel Lima リマ ダニエル 🇯🇵🇧🇷 (@limadaniel58) June 25, 2023
When asked if they might be joking, the localizer assured that he was not kidding around. “No kidding,” he wrote in response to another commenter. “I would definitely do that and record the whole thing.”
The post has sparked backlash against both the original poster and the localizer, with many commenters accusing both parties of racism and a colonialist mindset.
“You make foreigners look bad,” one user wrote.
You make foreigners look bad.
— Fuji (@TsukihimeFanboy) June 26, 2023
“Japan’s official language is Japanese,” another said. “They aren’t obligated to cater to Western society, whether you’re a tourist or someone who lives there know at least a bit of the country’s language. It’s like if someone was speaking traditional Chinese to someone who only knows Korean.”
japan’s official language is japanese. they arent obligated to cater to western society, whether youre a tourist or someone who lives there know at least a bit of the country’s language (눈‸눈) its like if someone was speaking traditional chinese to someone who only knows korean
— ˗ˋˏ 将輝清水 ˎˊ˗ Masaki Shimizu (@_NEKOKUZUSHIx) June 26, 2023
“That’d be a waste of time,” yet another argued. “Also, good luck finding a lawyer that will actually accept the case on top of being able to speak English. Japan isn’t the US. Psychological distress lawsuits aren’t really a thing there. And while it sucks, that attitude is commonplace in Japan.”
That’d be a waste of time.
Also good luck finding a lawyer that will actually accept the case on top of being able to speak English.
Japan isn’t the US.
Psychological distress lawsuits aren’t really a thing there.
And while it sucks, that attitude is commonplace in Japan.— Sabamika (@Sabamika1) June 26, 2023
However, others sympathized with the main post, with some commenters claiming they’d been victims of xenophobia in Japan over similar instances.
This is a sign I was referred to when I entered an izakaya during my trip to Aomori.
This is, unfortunately, not a “we don’t speak English, so we wouldn’t understand your order”, this is just plain xenophobia pic.twitter.com/a8xZtGaIkP— Sippy Boi (@Sippy_Boi) June 25, 2023
This is just the latest debate to take over social media following the moment a graduate took charge of the microphone during her graduation ceremony, claiming she didn’t get her “moment” to shine.