Following are a selection of responses to Paul de Vries' "Back to the baths: Otaru revisited" (Zeit Gist, Dec. 2).
Using Mr. De Vries' rationale, it would be OK to ban Japanese school kids from Italian monuments because of their propensity for graffiti or from duty-free shops because some shoplift. Even worse, the same rationale would allow the banning of not only Japanese, but also all those who have an Asian face or even look Japanese.
Foreigners in Japan are regularly denied housing based on the premise that they do not know how to take their shoes off in a Japanese home. Should it then be OK to ban Japanese (or those that look Japanese) from Western housing or hotel rooms because some do not know how to use Western toilets and might stand on the seats?