A year has passed since the Shizuoka District Court issued a landmark ruling that awarded damages to a Brazilian journalist for being refused service at a jewelry shop in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, simply because she was foreign.
Ana Bortz's court victory, however, apparently did little to end such discriminatory business practices, which still persist, especially in rural towns with rapidly growing foreign populations.
Despite widespread media coverage, protests from the German Embassy and recommendations from municipal authorities, a public bathhouse in Otaru, western Hokkaido, continues to ban foreigners from bathing with Japanese customers. The proprietor said the Japanese customers do not like to share the facility with foreigners -- particularly Russians, who they claim behave wildly.