I haven't had salesmen say this, but I have had kids and quite a few other people 'assume' too much. That and just people doing a u-turn instead of sitting in my area (my evil eye! ). The funniest was a lady who was heading to my side of the car, suddenly wheels backwards and plants herself between two chainsmoking ojisans (who I would prefer not to sit next to). So fo course she was trying to avoid sitting next to a male (2 males she chose, a lady to my other side, me on the end of the bench), something a right wing moderaror on another forum tried to tell me. He couldn't get it through his head, if you're a foreigner in Japan, sometimes people run away like you have the plague!

Of course, there are plenty of times when it doesn't happen, but you still notice the seat next to you is often filled last. The size arguement doesn't cut it either, as I've seen sumo guys board and they don't get this 'avoidance behaviour'.

So bascially what Maciamo is telling you is not that far from the truth, that the tolerance for foreigners in Japan is low, and the messages from the government just support the same line.