Japanese café’s ‘discriminatory’ notice toward Koreans and Chinese: Korean sign says “Thank you for your support,” Chinese sign says “Closed, no entry”

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As diplomatic tensions continue between China and Japan, a coffee shop in Tokyo has come under fire after announcing its closure in multiple languages. The controversy arose because only the Chinese version was seen as carrying a sense of hostility.
According to foreign media outlets such as TVBS and Sing Tao on the 1st, the Akihabara branch of the well-known Japanese coffee franchise Tully’s Coffee closed on the 23rd of last month, ending 20 years of business.
The problem lay in the closure notice posted outside the store. The wording differed noticeably among the versions written in English, Korean, Chinese, and other languages.
In the English and Korean notices, the shop conveyed its gratitude with the phrase, “We sincerely thank you for your support over the past 20 years,” accompanied by a smiling face illustration. In contrast, both the traditional and simplified Chinese versions simply read, “Closed. No entry.”
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The closure notice drew public attention after a user posted a photo of it on X (formerly Twitter). As of the 3rd, the post had gone viral, recording 3.4 million views.
Online users have been sharply divided in their reactions.
One commenter wrote, “The feelings that built up toward Chinese customers over 20 years are clearly reflected in that notice,” adding, “If they hadn’t explicitly written ‘no entry,’ tourists might actually have trespassed.” Another user, apparently from Taiwan, said, “It feels like this message includes Taiwanese tourists as well. I don’t understand why they couldn’t even leave a simple thank-you message,” expressing discomfort.
Others argued, however, that “The staff might not have been familiar with Chinese and chose the simplest wording to avoid misunderstandings,” or that “Because it’s written in several languages, it may look that way, but taken on its own, the phrase is actually quite polite.”
As the controversy grew, Tully’s Coffee removed all the Chinese, English, and Korean notices, leaving only the Japanese announcement in place.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter