No room at the Japanese inn for foreigners

JAPAN MIGHT BE mounting a major international campaign to draw more tourists, but most Japanese inns and hotels don't want foreign guests.

Many Japanese operators that didn't have foreign guests last year don't want any in the future, according to a Japanese government survey released this week.

Foreigners should stick to capsule or pod hotels, most of which accept foreigners, and to international Western-style hotels. That's the message of Japan's traditional-inn owners, 72 per cent of whom don't want foreign guests.

Most of those who object to foreigners are the owners of Japan's version of the family-run guest house or B&B. In these establishments, known as ryokans, guests sleep on straw floor mats, share communal hot spring baths and enjoy traditional food, such as raw fish.

In the past some ryokans have barred foreign guests, leading to lawsuits and government fines for discrimination. They claim that their facilities are unsuitable, although the question has been raised of whether communal sleeping and bathing with foreigners is the real issue.

Tokyo spends about €25 million per year on its Visit Japan campaign, which aims to draw 10 million foreigners to the country for trips and business in 2010, up from 8.35 million last year. Sixty per cent of hotels of more than 30 rooms hosted foreigners last year.