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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by schizoidman@lemm.ee to c/world@lemmy.world

A lodging facility in Kyoto has drawn a protest from the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo for asking an Israeli man to sign a pledge that he had never been involved in war crimes.

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[-] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 69 points 3 weeks ago

This right here is what I love about Japan.

When I was there a few years ago to snowboard, they had a "fuck you" policy to non-Japanese speakers in some towns because the Aussies basically run around rough shod and turn everything into a loud party.

Imagine being in a sleepy resort town while 7 dudes are walking down your cobbled street screaming about Ruggers, then one falls into the cold stream because they're drunk, so a rescue team is sent out... On a weekly basis.

There's simply a no more bullshit cap.

[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 21 points 3 weeks ago

So, to be clear, you get how that's more than a little bit fucked up, right?

To demonstrate, imagine a deep southern U.S town instituting an English-only policy and aggressively turning away for example Spanish or Arabic-speakers.

This is not something to be celebrated. Ban the thing you actually want to prevent instead of pushing through unmitigated xenophobia.

[-] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, I do. But I am a foreigner there. When we don't observe their traditions and disrupt their society, I feel like it's okay for them to set boundaries.

I get why it's not right, but I also accept it. It's not my country, not my rules, not my traditions. So, I am willing to live by their rules.

[-] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

imagine a deep southern U.S town instituting an English-only policy and aggressively turning away for example Spanish or Arabic-speakers.

Yeah that's called Tuesday in the rural south.

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[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

What was the policy? Or was it just that they literally said "fuck you?"

[-] palordrolap@fedia.io 7 points 3 weeks ago

Not literally those words. From what I've seen online, various establishments, if not entire towns, have thrown up "Japanese only" or "Japanese language only" to discourage foreigners. They generally only do this after there's been a trend of tourists making asses of themselves, but since the first places to do it kind of went viral, it's not too surprising if the habit has sprung up elsewhere.

Sure, it's only a handful of disrespectful tourists when all the rest are fine, but if you allow any non-Japanese (person or language, pick your preference) eventually you'll get those tourists.

Like it or not, it's a simple way to say no to that.

[-] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 3 weeks ago

Not only that, it's not a hard and fast rule. The operative word is "discourage." If you're polite, ask nicely, have at least a rudimentary level of skill in the language, the staff will most assuredly seat you.

I was trying to get into this one sushi place in Nagano for weeks when I was there, finally threw up my hands and just walked over. Very modest, very simple, and probably the best I had while I was in the country.

[-] Drusas@fedia.io 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, that's racism.

[-] Bgugi@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I have no idea why the west is so ok with Japan's ranked competitive racism...

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Reminds me of the Nazi bar analogy.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 3 weeks ago

Never heard of it, can you elaborate?

[-] palordrolap@fedia.io 6 points 3 weeks ago

I suspect they're referencing a story told on Twitter back in the day:

https://www.boredpanda.com/bar-bartender-nazi-punk-iamragesparkle/

TL;DR: If you let the "nice" ones in, eventually their less nice associates will come along and before you know it, your bar is a Nazi bar. Or, in this case, your restaurant/town is now a haven for obnoxious tourists.

It's not quite the same because you can't equate a "nice" Nazi with a respectful tourist, but similar logic applies otherwise.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 3 weeks ago

Ohhh, I gotcha. Makes sense. I agree, it's a bit of a stretch but regardless I see the logic in the reference. And yeah, I think I've heard of that thought experiment before.

[-] moodymellodrone@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago

Not only that, but it happened in Kyoto which is verryyy traditional. Plus it’s a small city that’s getting overrun with tourists. It was the only place where I felt bad for visiting. I mean it’s packed at especially the temples, you’re slow walking in this sea of people.

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[-] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 52 points 3 weeks ago

Wait, so Israel is not even trying to distance itself from war crimes... Their actual point is "not all war crimes are equal and it's difamatory to label everyone who commits war crimes with the same 'war criminal' label"... Wtf is wrong with those people.

[-] RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 weeks ago

No, their point is you shouldn’t be randomly asking Israelis if they committed war crimes.

The article points out there are ten nations whose citizens they ask this question.

[-] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 22 points 3 weeks ago

Based on the article there's nothing random about it and it's not just any citizen. They ask it of people who served on nations that have active conflicts. So basically, people who might have been in position to commit war crimes.

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[-] BenjiRenji@feddit.org 50 points 3 weeks ago

Classic Japanese. No dancing around or confusion about anti-semitism, just straight out asking the Israeli about recent war crimes.

Had the same as a Swiss guy living there: sure, everybody loves Roger Federer, but they also know about Nazi gold and the banking secret protecting dictatorships. And they just ask about it directly. Would never happen on Japanese topics though.

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[-] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 44 points 3 weeks ago

Its what the free market wants ;)

[-] hark@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

If israel doesn't like this treatment then they should stop the policy of forcing israeli citizens to serve in the israel genocide forces.

[-] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

What's the protest? "We don't want to be pointed at when we commit war crimes" ?

[-] RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago

The embassy thinks it is messed up to ask people if they committed war crimes.

This is ignoring they ask people from 10 different nations this question.

[-] loki@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Is "asking" messed up or committing war crimes more messed up?

[-] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 9 points 3 weeks ago

If being asked to confirm that you have not committed war crimes makes you uncomfortable, then you might be a war criminal.

I'm pretty sure Japan's immigration asks if you've ever been convicted of a crime, so how is this any different?

[-] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 6 points 3 weeks ago

How could any Israeli citizen say no on #3 At this point. Even if you arent directly committing atrocities yourself you still are funding the government engaging in it. Not to mention most all of them have served in one capacity or another (involuntary aspects nonwithstanding)

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 34 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

This honestly doesn't make much sense. The implication would be that all citizens are culpable for their government's actions once they start paying taxes.

Funding your government isn't a voluntary act, so your last parenthetical already invalidates most of what you said.

[-] refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

So by that logic, are all Americans war criminals because Americans pay taxes, which go to fund drone strikes that murder civilians overseas, domestic militarization of police, prisons, etc?

This is the same logic as "all Palastinians support Hamas."

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[-] Phineaz@feddit.org 7 points 3 weeks ago

So ... we should've hanged all the Germans in '45? The child soldiers drafted in Berlin? Shot the entire Japanese army? Drag all US-citizens to court for acting against the constitution?

I am going to be downvoted to oblivion, but: Lock up all Palestinians for not extraditing terrorists and war criminals?

Where do you think this will go, honestly? How is any of that justified, or fair? Should we commit a genocide of our own upon the Israelis? I know that's not what you said and I very much hope it's not what you meant.

This platform sometimes, fuck me.

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

the same amount of war crimes as happened in Nanjing

Japanese man scribbles down zero

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this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
266 points (97.8% liked)

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