Japanese inn’s first foreign guests disappear without paying – “We feel so betrayed”

34 comments

1. Regarding making copies of passports:

   >Apparently Matsukawakan was unaware of this requirement, and also, unlike many other hotels in Japan, does not require pre-payment at the time of check-in.

   If only hotels were expected to…keep abreast of their legal obligations regarding their guests?

   It seems like this was an easily-avoidable problem, that they did nothing to prevent.

   They have my sympathy, but this amounts to a dine-and-dash, and hardly warrants a news article.

2. In case anyone in the future is wondering why Japanese Inn charges a security deposit and asks you to pay at checkin. This is why.

3. Trashy people like this make it harder for all foreigners in Japan, especially the ones who live here.

4. I stayed at a ryokan once that only staffed the front desk during limited hours.

   The last night, I went to pay my bill after dinner (19:00-ish) because I was leaving the next morning at dawn to catch the train. No one was there. I went again in the morning (06:00) to square up, and again no one. I left a note with my email with the hopes to pay later, and never received any response.

   Not saying this is the hotel’s fault per se, but there is certainly an issue with super-traditional or even specifically-Japanese ways of doing business (no website, reduced staffing) that don’t benefit businesses, locals, or tourists.

5. Not siding with the criminals, but they shouldn’t be feeling betrayed, they should be feeling embarrassed about not knowing how to run their business.

6. From the article:
   even foreign residents of Japan are required to present and have their resident card photocopied, which includes their name, photo, and address

   Is this true? My understanding of the law was that if you have residence in Japan you don’t need to present your residence card. A drivers license or some other form of photo ID is sufficient.

7. Report it to the police and embassy. Take the passport away and throw them in jail.

8. Every hotel I’ve ever stayed at (including in Japan) has taken my card at check in. I wasn’t aware any business would choose to do this differently

9. from their x account @matsukawakan

   予約サイトや警察さんから連絡はしていますが事前決済と勘違いしていた旅行中で連絡がつかないという可能性もあるのでお国やお名前は公表する予定はありません。色々とわかり難かったのかなと思い反省することがたくさんあります🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️
   私たちは次のお客様のためにオペレーションを改めます🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

   外国人のお客様が都心部だけでなく、これまで知られていなかった場所まで期待を寄せて訪れてくださります。しかし、慣れていないと今回のような事態が起こる可能性が高いと思います。お恥ずかしいところをお見せしましたが外国のお客様の経験が少ないお宿への注意喚起となれば幸いです。

10. Always Chūgoku

11. Where were said guests from?

12. Foreign residents aren’t required to show ID, however in order to prove you’re a resident you… need to show ID. So, it kind of doesn’t make sense lol. I’d like to know where these tourists were from, and I hope the name used for the reservation at least leads somewhere.

13. It would be fun to find more hotels that have never had a foreigner stay there just to go and give a good first impression.

    I will add this ryokan to my list of potential stays in the future.

14. This is what I call the “women in NASCAR effect”. They are never going to let another foreign person in the door.

15. You know that Southpark scene where Kyle is just “ah… ah.. aww..-AWWW come on!” Ij displbeleif for like a whole minute, that’s me right now lol

16. “and even foreign residents of Japan are required to present and have their resident card photocopied, which includes their name, photo, and address”

    This is false. We are treated just like locals.

17. [deleted]

18. Another case of the bad foreigner… Straight in the file this goes for when Japan decides to close its borders again

19. They’ve deleted their tweet and their new one says it might have been a misunderstanding.

20. You’re tearing me apart Gaijin-san!

21. Seems like they took advantage of an out of touch business. In this day and age it’s no surprise to me. Charge your guests ahead of time… that’s standard practice.

22. Now this inn will find it hard to accept foreigners in the future. (Or change the payment policy)

23. lol I own properties in a few places and I generally have bad experience with foreigners. They dispute when it’s time to pay, threaten legal action when they don’t pay, cause a mess with house parties. Just a hassle. Chinese and Japanese much better 

24. For foreigners, receive first, provide later, imho.

25. They love the stories. Anything anything to feel betrayed by tourists it’s just an instant hard on in Japan

26. Expect more media coverage about this case and talk about bad gaijin. Thanks and applause to those idiots – they did a great disservice to all other foreigners living here. Having the names of those guests (provided they used their real names for the ryokan reservation), I hope the names will flash up once they have to go through immigration upon departing Japan. And they hopefully have to pay for it!

27. Greeaaaat. I’m half with a japanese passport and recently was asked for my passport at a hotel in ginza (my japanese husband booked it btw) and they demanded to see my passport, absolutely refusing to believe i had japanese citizenship. I didn’t have it on me, nor should i need too. It escalated to the point where we just left and checked into a diff hotel. I have NEVER been treated so poorly in my life. I dread the future that has arrived for me being bi cultural.

28. I am sorry for them, but whenever I stayed in a hotel in Japan, I needed my ID copied and also needed to pay forward 99% of the time. It is not like there are no common practices to avoid this.

29. Does anyone know if this is a reliable source?

30. I thought every hotels require a copy of the foreigner’s passport?

31. They must have their passport details? How hard would it be to track them down at an airport?

32. I’ve stayed in quite a few different ryokan and high end hotels in Japan. The check out desk isn’t always staffed or sometimes there is no checkout desk. I’ve waited hours in the past with no employee showing up, so I left and called them afterward to resolve everything.
    They are not always run the way we expect in the west.

33. As a tourist this is so embarrassing. I hope they find these people, publicly shame them, and throw their asses in jail. 

34. > As pointed out by a commenter, hotels in Japan are required by law to photocopy the passports of overseas travelers (and even foreign residents of Japan are required to present and have their resident card photocopied, which includes their name, photo, and address).

    This is false, right? Residents don’t have to show anything.