THE TIMES LONDON
ON OTARU ONSENS ISSUE

Original at:
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/02/timfgnfar01001.html?999

February 2, 2000

FAR EAST
Japanese bath ban on foreigners

FROM ROBERT WHYMANT IN TOKYO

FOREIGNERS in Japan, steamed up at being excluded from two bathhouses, won diplomatic support yesterday for their protest at the "racist" ban.

The German Embassy in Tokyo said that it had complained about the refusal of the two onsen (hot-spring) establishments to let non-Japanese soak in the thermal waters. Foreign residents in Otaru, northern Japan, have protested to local authorities at the ban, which they said was racial discrimination.

One of the bathhouses has been operating a ban since 1994; the other put up "Japanese only" signs after it opened last summer. Both say they acted because "improper behaviour" by drunken Russian sailors was driving away customers. Some 30,000 Russians call at Otaru, on the island of Hokkaido, each year.

One of the establishments polled its customers and found that slightly more than half objected to sharing their bath with foreigners, while 35 per cent said they did not mind. In a country fastidious about hygiene, customers were most worried by the insanitary habits of the Russians, who stand accused of jumping into the baths without first scrubbing their bodies thoroughly - a grave breach of bathing etiquette. The Russians broke another rule: never bring soap into the shared bathwater. Many were also allegedly drinking vodka inside the bathhouse.

The German Embassy has written to the mayor to support a complaint by a German resident. The port has about 315 foreign residents from 34 countries.

The Japanese Government, concerned that the incident might spill over into a human rights issue, said that the ban on foreigners was unconstitutional and violated an international treaty against racial bias. But action is unlikely. Officialdom routinely turns a blind eye to discrimination.

ARTICLE ENDS
Copyright 2000 The Times London