Convenience stores in Japan are a real tourist attraction, due to their many different product options in the eyes of Westerners. Thus, it is not uncommon for foreign tourists to decide to spend some time and buy some products there. However, a message to foreigners in a Japanese store went viral on the internet due to its rude nature.
'Don't talk like that'
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A customer was walking past a convenience store in Osaka, Japan, when he came across a somewhat strange message. In this case, the message was on a small paper over the glass of a showcase with steamed buns, a traditional dish in Japan. Although the ad was written entirely in Japanese, the message was aimed at foreign customers.
In the message, it was written: “For foreign customers: “Kore” is prohibited. It is said “nikuman kundasai”. Here, we will need to translate the terms that are in Japanese. In this case, “Kore” would be something like “this”, while “nikuman kundasai” would be something like “a steamed bun, please”. So the message indicated that the customers were being rude.
In this case, it is understood that foreign customers touched the glass or pointed their finger at the bread and said “kore”, in the sense of saying that they wanted one of these. However, for the owners of this store, this way of expressing themselves was rude and disrespectful, so they should ask politely, not forgetting, of course, the “please” at the end.
Ad goes viral on the internet
It didn't take long until the message began to receive attention from social media users who pointed out some inconsistencies in the ad. For example, one user asked “if the message is for foreigners, shouldn't it be in English?”. While another questioned "so if I'm Japanese I can say 'Kore'?".
Basically, users recognized that most foreign customers must have some kind of language limitation, as they usually only know the basics of the language. So, wouldn't it be more coherent to be patient with those customers who are also there to consume? However, the store did not respond to inquiries.