I’m planning to go to Japan for at least a couple weeks in December with my parents and sister. My sister and I are in our 30s. We both have autism spectrum diagnosis but I pass for normal and she does not. She is unlikely to melt down or be upset, and she is able to travel, but it will be out first time outside of the Western world. My concern is about her coming off as strange or annoying. Her facial expressions are unusual. The biggest issue is her habit of pacing back and forth while loudly talking to herself, randomly laughing, etc. She can stop this behavior during activities such as movies or restaurants but it would be unhealthy to ask her to act normal at all times. I know Japanese culture has an issue with people who make noise.
What are the chances we may get turned away from a hotel, restaurant, onsen, or any other service specifically because of this behavior? In the 90s people would sometimes refuse to deal with her, but here in America people have become more tolerant. I’ve seen a lot of stories of travelers facing discrimination for being foreign. For example, not having an international driving permit accepted even though it’s supposed to be legal in Japan. So I’m wondering if I should expect to confront this specifically due to her unusual behavior as well. It won’t stop me from visiting, but if it’s going to slow us down I want to be mentally prepared. I speak very basic Japanese (N5).
1 comment
You’re foreigners. Most Japanese will ignore your behaviors in general. I can’t speak from personal experience but I have a friend on the spectrum who worked in Japan and travelled with his wife multiple times there, I never heard him mention anything like being denied service. If you are disturbing other customers, you might be asked to leave but that is true for everyone. In general, travelers are not discriminated in Japan for being foreign, some, especially smaller businesses don’t feel comfortable providing service to non-Japanese speakers and don’t have resources to hire English speaking staff, or simply not knowing things like IDP (would your recognize an IDP issued in Saudi Arabia?)