Okinawa’s All American Sushi Bar?

It’s a typical night. You’re surrounded by 30’s to 40’s Americans, dressed in hip attire, in an otherwise hip sushi environment. English menus, English speaking staff, packed with English speaking diners. As the hot sake flows and the mayonnaise and avocado clad sushi rolls pass you by, you might be wondering – Where am I? NYC? LA?

This is Sushi Zen in Okinawa.

As peaceful as it may sound, Sushi Zen is anything but as controvesy over the restaurant’s “No Japanese” policy makes headlines. While the restaurant is providing a welcome place for Americans and non-Japanese to dine, the blatant disrespect to potential Japanese customers is a bit disturbing. A sign, posted in Japanese, states that Japanese customers must be members (intial 50,000 yen and 100,000 yen annual membership fee) plus have sponsorship of two current members. Underneath, in fine print English, it states that Americans don’t have to be members. The restaurant insists that this is not racism, but an effort to keep out troublemakers.

Thoughts?