caster wrote:
there are many Restaurant　that　refuse customers without letter of introduction
And to do so without a legitimate reason is against the law. Same for hotels. Same for bathhouses. You say "Japanese only" signs merely serve to "distinguish" not discriminate. That's a crock. Letting in Koreans or Chinese but not other nationalities is discrimination. Who is to say that either of those nationalities speaks Japanese? Who is to say that other nationalities cannot? Going to a bar does not mean you have to speak Japanese anyway. People often just sit and chat with each other. It doesn't take JLPT 1 fluency to order a beer. Japan signed the anti-discrimination treaty in 1995 (twelve long years ago) and still refuses to do anything about it. That is not "distinguishing". Besides, "distinguishing" in the technical sense of the word as you have written here is blatant discrimination. Japan cries about wanting to have a seat on the UN security council, but it clearly shows no respect for human rights in many cases. You, caster, may feel it's nothing to see a sign that says a person is unwanted, and you may just go to the next place, but what if there is no next place? And, what about the principle of equal rights in the first place?