[Nyororin]

I wasn't referring to racism, specifically, but rather to the assumption that points of Japanese culture exist specifically out of racism or xenophobia... Like the example given of how people look down on other cultures where they don't take their shoes off.

It isn't that there is no racism in Japan, it's that most things in Japan do not exist to confound and frustrate foreigners. When you start saying things are done because Japanese people want to feel superior to you, or the like, is when I start shaking my head.

Also - a note on the " assuming Japanese isn't spoken" that seems to come up incredibly often... I can count on one hand the number of foreigners I have encountered in Japan during the 10+ years I have lived here who were proficient in the language. I have heard the complaint about people assuming you don't speak Japanese numerous times, but the majority have been from people who don't speak the language.

The fact is, the majority of westerners in Japan DO NOT speak Japanese. Even the majority of long term residents in Japan do not speak the language well. I have never had anyone doubt my ability to speak the language AFTER speaking it... But at a glance, it is in the best interest of a business to assume otherwise. A potential customer who cannot understand the menu is a customer likely to go somewhere they can understand the menu. If you check into tourism info, it has been shown that handing an English language menu out to clearly non-Japanese customers more than triples sales. So... Is it racist for a business to want to make money?