“No English Spoken Here”

During an early encounter with a shopkeeper in Japan—after I had studied Japanese for five strenuous years—I was greatly disappointed. It was a small shop and I asked for something in Japanese, and the old gentleman immediately replied “No English! No English!” You can imagine my reaction. After several more attempts, he realized I was speaking Japanese, and we succeeded in completing the purchase.

In the current “overtourism” era, this has become a widespread issue. Signs saying “No English” have appeared. And in worse cases, “No Foreigners”! Hopefully, we can get past this.

It is not the duty of every small shop or even large stores to have multi-lingual staff members in every location. Instead, it is the responsibility of non-Japanese travelers to (1) learn a few simple tourist phrases and (2) not expect every Japanese to speak English. That is the duty of the traveler, not the local people. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is a proverb that applies to Japan when it comes to basic communication. Japanese should not feel ashamed or embarrassed about not being fluent in English or in other languages!

One Tokyo store has come up with an excellent way of explaining their situation. They have a sign that reads:

“We cannot speak English, so we’re afraid we can only accept
Japanese speakers in order to provide good service.”

This clearly expresses their desire to serve their customers well, and it has nothing to do with nationality. That is, “we would be happy to serve you—IF we can communicate in Japanese.”

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