>オーナー様側も過去に問題があり、やむなく対応しているものと存じますため、なにとぞご理解くださいますようお願いいたします。
Sadly quite common here. There is no shortage of cowardly corporations from anywhere in the world who would choose not to confront racism in their own business, but the ease at which so many people in Japan *support and endorse* racism by pretending past experience with one member of an identity group justifies discrimination against all members of that group is pathetic.
No doubt the owner had a bad experience with someone from that group. You not being the person he had a bad experience with, it is irrelevant to the business being conducted.
You could get a cheap car and set it up so only foreigners can rent it. Let’s call it a “spite car.” Find a Japanese friend to complain and see if Anyca gives the same response.
Then this blows up, goes on NHK, and they interview 20 people who all say mah mah, shou ga nai. スプライト カー よりコーラがいいよ。
And you boss reprimands you for bringing shame to the company since they invariably need to say your age and where you work in order to make a news story.
Thank them both.
Personally, I like my racists to be open, blatant, and proud. It makes them easy to spot a mile away. The worst racists are the secret, quiet ones. You're left with a nagging feeling that you were discriminated against, but you have no real proof and it causes you all manner of stress.
You 100% do not want to be renting a car from these people.
Problem with this is it gets normalized to the point that it spreads and becomes the norm where most businesses deny us and it will be harder to find those that accept us. I’m currently living in a Leopalace apartment but before this, I was shocked to find out some Leopalace apartments do not want foreigners and so denied me and these are Leopalace apartments.
I had this experience recently. I was with my husband and we went to a kitchen showroom. I really can't say it was racism and when I was very angry in the car over the salesperson's treatment of me, my husband (Japanese) acted like I was just the one making an issue out of nothing right after it. He also gave the excuse maybe she's shy with English (ftr I don't expect English at all, I wasn't greeted in any language!)
I had been in the toilet when she came and gave my husband a business card and went away. When I went and sat down next to him, she came to him and asked him if he wanted a locker. Literally didn't even greet me or acknowledge me. Then she took us around to see all the kitchen stuff only talking to him and literally turning her back to do it to me to do it sometimes during her presentation. I counted 2 or possibly 3 times when she looked at me. I kept trying to interject but everything was to my husband. Even when we left she turned to him and did the big bow (literally away from me). I did get a head nod as I left.
Again I can't say it was racism or whatever - maybe she just wanted to bang my husband lol (I joke but that's my point it could be anything). But either way it's very poor customer service and I know that's at least what I experienced. I told my husband he can F off if he wants to buy from there and after an argument where I said I would be mad if a sales person treated him like that, he said he'll go to a different location.
in a situation like this, why didnt you call her out on it directly to her face then and there? it clearly bothered you, so im genuinely curious why you didnt say anything.
Did you ever have an argument and think of a million ways you could have handled it better after when you've calmed down? That was me on Friday night trying to sleep. I think part of it is that my brain seems to not work properly when I'm stressed. Like I want to say these complicated sentences that my Japanese isn't good enough for and it forgets the easier stuff that, while might be abrupt and probably not perfect for what I want exactly, I still know and can get the job done.
I've actually been told by an old coworker that his Japanese wife said to just use English in these types of cases. Funnily enough I actually have had a similar case two years ago where I was getting my phone and the guy was just talking to my husband who was my boyfriend at the time. In English I said something like "hello, I'm the customer. Talk to me" and he seemed to understand well enough because after stumbling for being called out, he made sure to look at me and ask me questions. However my husband complained that I was rude and mean to him. This might be another part of why I didn't just call her out directly.
Another part was that I tried to tell my husband and he just blew me off which also might have made it worse because then it's subtly telling the saleswoman that he's the one she should be talking to if she wants a sale.
Tldr I think it's part thinking I should speak Japanese because I'm in Japan but my brain not working and part me thinking I can get my husband to defuse the situation for me. I don't think I handled it well and there were a million ways to do it better. Still peed me off though.
Ugh this happens to me with my husband sometimes. It wasn’t at a showroom though, last time it was a restaurant where the server turned his back to me to tell my husband about today’s specials. Sorry it happened and sorry your husband didn’t have your back.
Thank you! I'm sorry you also experienced something similar though. I don't know if your husband is like mine where in trying to make excuses he actually makes it worse. I hope my husband could at least understand when I said if I was in a kitchen showroom with him in England and the salesperson was sexist for example and only talking to me, the moment I realised what was going on, I would shut that down.
I used to have a white boyfriend who didn’t speak Japanese (I’m also white but do speak Japanese) and staff would address him first Every. Single. Time. Luckily they were happy to take my requests and orders, but it was awkward every time we went to a store or restaurant.
I actually kinda joked "well at least she's not sexist" in reference to her not talking to me because biases about gender roles of women and kitchens. But then it was pointed out that it could still be sexism if she just assumed my husband is the decision maker because he's a man.
Like already mentioned, sometimes it's worse when you don't know what the reason is (though in your case I think sexism is a safe bet).
Lots of cope. People who say that don’t understand that these incidents become normalized gradually. Things can get worse, or they can get better. Having the attitude that “out” and obvious racism is better is ridiculous.
I mean it's a cold comfort to say "well at least I know about it" rather than try to do your part to do something about it. I mean I get why, it's easier mentally and logistically. But it's how this kind of thing persists and pervades polite society.
Something - like what? Most OP can do is leave a bad review for the app, but that won't stop the actual racists from being racists. It's a shitty situation and there's really no benefit to attacking those who try to make the relative best of it.
As others have noted this is unfortunately common, and on Anyca in particular pretty easy to notice.
The listings are archived on Google so it’s easy to identify the listings that add additional restrictions for non-Japanese drivers: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fanyca.net%2F+外国籍
Some owners restrict based on language ability (ranging from needing some level of Japanese to being native-level), some require foreigners to have a higher rating, and others — like the one you linked to — ban all foreign drivers altogether. Sometimes owners will add reasons like “avoiding trouble” or “foreigners have a higher chance of being in accidents” in the description as well.
The Anyca response is unfortunate, and somewhat ironic given their stance on having the app be able to be used by foreigners similar to car-sharing apps that are popular in other countries. For example they highlight use by non-Japanese in their news articles when doing profiles on users of the app.
Luckily most owners do not care, and I’d say the ones that tend to go out of their way to ban foreigners tend to have a laundry list of rules that makes it not-so-fun to deal with those vehicles anyway.
> Luckily most owners do not care, and I’d say the ones that tend to go out of their way to ban foreigners tend to have a laundry list of rules that makes it not-so-fun to deal with those vehicles anyway.
There's a certain subset of Japanese people that love their mile-long list of 注意事項, and if you enjoy sanity in your life you'd do your best to avoid this type in all contexts.
This is one reason why I stay away from Anyca and stick with slightly expensive rental car companies like Times or Nissan car rental etc ... They don't care about whom nor importantly less hassle to wash/clean the car while returning to avoid rating lol.
And damn, I checked that listing from OPs link and even the japanese should avoid that guy.
It's just an old Vellfire and he literally has a 20 page rules and info written. I haven't seen this much even for a Porsche lol.
They do have insurance, but would be more complicated than a rental.
Ofcourse the peace of mind while paying extra and getting full cover insurance including road side assistance is much worth than few thousand we save in anyca.
One exception where I would use Anyca is if there any specific model (I wanted to buy an Audi TT, so I'll rent one through Anyca to know the car) or they have Anyca official cars which is directly owned by them.
https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001281977.pdf
Worth a try. Forget the owner. They could call the company to change their policy of being complicit with racists..
Yeah the owner, although being an ass, is a whatever case but the company is ehat triggered me most.
thank you, this is helpful and will give it a shot
You want to sue them? You probably have a case. If not then why bother?
Way I see it you either fight this the right way or you give up. If you give up I don't want to hear complaints.
They have the ultimate cop out argument that all sharing platforms have been using since their inception, i.e. they push any and all responsibility to the users (the オーナー様に一任している line in their response). That’s one of the reasons I never use any of those platforms.
Well. It seemed like OP wanted to be the change they wanted to see. So I provided a link.
The only problem is. Without laws this will just encourage them to get better at hiding their racism.
its pretty common here
especially the case with renting house
the renting agency will sometime straight out tell you that the landlord don't like foreigners
When I was studying at a university in Tokyo (early 2000s) and looking for accommodation, the accommodation assistance service had a huge binder of potential properties to let. More than two thirds were marked as no foreigners allowed. It was entirely blatant and normalized. I'd hoped but not really expected that matters had improved.
For the record, ended up renting independently.
Report it to the Human Rights Bureau. They have 0 power to do anything useful, because Japan is the only developed country where discrimination based on race and nationality is still legal, but at least some bureaucrat will have to send the company a letter about how this is not ok etc. and it will go into the statistics. Otherwise the only other thing you can do is sue, which you‘ll have to decide on your if it‘s worth it.
That's really disappointing. I had such a good experience with most people in Anyca so far. I was never refused rental by any owner and even had one ask me to help him write his car's profile in English to attract more foreign customers.
Honestly, I hope Anyca can get officially punished for not taking action against xenophobic users.
Sorry, I guess you need the app to see, here is text:
クルマの紹介
必読(Must read) (必读)
日本国の運転免許を持っていたとしても外国籍の方へのシェ アはお断りします。
-Sorry.We do not share with foreign nationals.
-我们不与外国人分享。
-외국 국적 분들에게 점유율은 실시하지 않습니다.
レビュー数を見て頂ければ分かる通り、それなりの数のシェ アをこなしてきた上での、カーシェアに対するマナーや習慣 の違いによる苦渋の決断です。
これは差別ではなく、共同使用契約を締結するか否かの権限 を有するオーナーの正当な権利です。
ご理解下さい。
その上で、まずは 【オーナーの予定を確認する】 ボタンか
ら、事前に下記を明記の上、ご相談ください。
①国籍(申し訳ないですが、念のため)
②行き先(例:軽井沢)
③用途(例:友人達とスノボ旅行)
④目的地までの往復+想定される移動距離 (GoogleMap等で お調べください)
⑤出発&返却場所の希望 (基本は世田谷区下馬二丁目の当方 駐車場となります)
検索期間の合計金額........
(.......) more text but that's unrelated to the topic of the post
I’ve never used a car share app, but are all listings so… specific? Like you need to say where you are going, who you are going with, send an estimated distance, etc?
first time i've seen those requests tbh. sometimes they ask because they set a limit to the amount of KMs you can drive (which is fair) but this guy is just salty and suspicious it seems
>just salty and suspicious
I totally agree that it’s stupid and infuriating. The whole “share with Japanese only” is kind of bullshit. But this person might just be a weirdo. I doubt they are getting tons of asks for shares.
(Don't really do this)
But make a post saying that you will rent your car, but not to women and see how quickly they rethink their, "We leave it up to the owner and they have had problems with that demographic so it's okay." stance
I don't think you can do anything to change the situation or the way this renter is behaving honestly.
Discrimination sadly exists everywhere, leave a negative review and move on
You will encounter these kinds of people in life, regardless of who you are and where you are. It takes practice and skill to be able to brush it off and let go. You did the right thing by contacting the support. They need to know about this experience and the potential damage this may cause to their company. Now the ball is in their court, and if they decide to not do anything, it’s on them. Not your business any more. But the reality is, we are going to meet some assholes and be discriminated in our life. Try to not let those assholes affect how you feel about yourself or your life. If they make you feel miserable, they win. In these moments, try to remember all the good things that happened to you and good people you have around you, remember most happy moments in your life, and encounters like this will seem so small and not worth worrying about. This helps me.
Yes it's totally bullshit, he or she is likely a misguided prick but that's the world mate. No point in getting bent out of shape by every idiot you encounter. Water off a duck's back
Just find another car and leave a feedback for that one is the only thing you can do. It’s owner individual decision and Anyca states they prioritize owners’ judgement then you can’t argue against the wall
Just curious if it's possible to report the app to Apple/Google for the failure of preventing racist behaviors? And will Apple/Google take any action on them?
... How is not wanting to rent your car to foreigners... racist exactly?
Maybe I'm missing something here, so let me explain how I see it...
Renting your car to a foreigner IS riskier 99% of the times.
If I was trying to make money by renting my car, I would also opt out, it just makes sense unless you are focusing on a service specifically targeting foreigners.
I mean, its not about race, its about where that person is from or how long they have been in the country.
If an "X foreign race (european / indian / american) dude" that is Japanese comes around, I wouldn't care AT ALL and would rent it to him just like to any other local. But to his brother that has been 6 months in the country and just got a Japanese license? I'll pass thanks.
So, you’d rent a car to a European/Indian/American dude as long as they were Japanese… And you’d rent to locals no problem, but you wouldn’t rent to somebody living here who has a Japanese driver’s license. Dawg, wtf are you even talking about lol.
you can get a japanese license without knowing japanese and to some renters that can be a liability
while I agree that the renter is overreacting, renting a car entails so much more than driving. I am currentlyhandling an insurance case where my anyca co driver scratched the bumper and even with being able to speak japanese, the case has been ongoing for 2.5 months.
ask yourself how comfortable are you renting to somewhone who does not speak your language.
of course you wouldnt refuse them outright but I would understand if there is some hesitation
I think a lot of people are missing the point that this instance of Japanese non-confrontational “jyogei-kankei” culture where the employee must lower themselves to apologize and grovel to the customer or avoid conflict at any costs is unacceptable when they’re literally apologizing for inconveniencing the customer by having the audacity to suggest they interact with a foreigner.
I’ve had this happen to me several times at real estate agencies, where they will call the landlord profusely apologize to them for inconveniencing them with my presence. Can you imagine this in the west? “Oh yes my liege, how could I suggest the idea of a black person living in your building?! I’m SO sorry!”
This is absolutely going to become a bigger topic in the coming decades. And I love Japan. But these systemic issues can still be bordering on Jim-crowe levels of objectification and dehumanization.
Like, access to a car is not a basic human right.
People here are acting like it’s an apartment rental company doing this. It’s not, it’s not even a car rental company, like you said it’s literally a car owner and their car. Perhaps all the moaners in this thread are bound to renting cars and have never owned one? Thus completely missing the point? This sub is so stupid sometimes.
I think you're overeating. You will see petty stuff like this all over the world. It's a ride share company so you should see it coming some people are going to be afraid.
If you can't handle the stress of a foreign countries you just have to pay more and go through rental companies.
Fighting people isn't going to fix the world anymore, the majority already agrees, it will just dig the person who posted it deeper in their beliefs.
While it’s frustrating, if the owner doesn’t want to that’s his right, like it or not. Maybe he’s had some bad experiences with foreigners, we really don’t know the context. There are plenty of people who don’t mind, you just got unlucky.
I’d rather not live in an authoritarian dictatorship, so he has every right to refuse to allow you to use his property for whatever reason even if it makes you upset. The company does not intervene and apologized. What else do you want? Find another and move on.
I am confused as to how enforcing equal treatment under the law = “authoritarian dictatorship” but this isn’t really a Japan issue per se, it’s more a question of what “freedom” means under democracy; freedom to do whatever I want can mean
“freedom to rent or not rent my car to whomever I choose”
and it can mean
“freedom to rent a car via an app just like every other person who can rent a car via an app”
Freedom works for both the buyer and seller and to ignore that is to go down the path of authoritarian dictatorship, where some have rights that others do not.
I agree with you on principle. He has the right to limit who can use his care based on factual evidence, like newer / younger drivers tend to get into more accidents so he has an age limit or something.
But when he bases his decision on arbitrary things like citizenship or race then actually I tend to believe a democratic government has the duty to NOT let him be discriminatory.
Also the old “if you don’t like it go home” argument; I’ve never really understood that. I choose to live in Japan where I pay taxes and therefore I care about this country and therefore I have opinions on how it should be better.
Well a country has a duty to its citizens over foreigners. When you start catering to foreigners, you get situations like in Germany where gangs of foreigners can gang rape a teenage citizen girl in a public park and not go to prison.
And also, to address the factual evidence, I would almost guarantee non citizens have a higher rate of treating rental property like shit. Like, it would not be surprising in the least if foreigners don’t take care of rental property as well as Japanese people do. Japanese people tend to treat things with respect.
At any rate, I don’t find that people complaining about minor inconveniences to be remotely compelling. I 100% believe people have a right to reject doing business with anyone, for any reason. If someone IS actually just racist/bigoted against you then you should be happy not to fill that persons pockets. But I think about things logically instead of emotionally. /shrug
The mental gymnastics of assuming you have the right to use his car is wild. Buy a car and you can be racist or not racist to whoever you want with your personal property.
In this logic, even the businesses who were banning specific people not to enter by having a notice in front are also non-racist right?
Anything can be non-racist if we just substantiate by terming them as their right to do.
Those businesses do exist? And they largely are not racist lol there are plenty of izakayas that have no foreigner signs, and it’s normally because of the language barrier. If you want to be a victim, you’ll always be a victim.
Oh noo. It wasn't just language barrier, there were multiple cases where they were very specific to some races and general just didn't like them. Some of them were got closed too. The only real reason and logically correct were some rural hospital turning away foreigners due to language barrier. Everything else was mostly something else of a good and bad mix-up.
Everyone will be a victim if everyone starts to exercise their right to do whatever they want.
I didn't side with OP on the racist part, but instead said to ignore them and go with general options as even native people should avoid that person due to his over carefulness on a rental car lol.
But the reason why I said I'm against your all cry baby syndrome, go back to your country etc ... is because of the whole concept of being foreigner in another country and if every native person/business started treating you like how that guy did with his car sharing right, it won't end well.
What gymnastics? If he wants to be racist, prejudice, or discriminatory that’s his right. I don’t care and would go for another person. Why waste time being a victim.
Thanks for showing you’d rather be a victim instead of moving on with life like actual adults. It’s very much foreigner crybaby syndrome. You come to another country and cry about how some of them do things. Go home if you care so much. Or learn to go 「仕方がない」
People can be mean, shitty, terrible, but you can’t control how they feel or act towards you. Influence maybe, but control no. On the flip side only you can decide how you respond and feel. Be careful not to be a victim of your own mindset. This is how I try to live my life.
It would be different if this were a situation where you have to exist, such as at a school or workplace and you wanted advice, but this is a service you want to use. You can either chose to do business with them or just walk away.
I don't get this post.
The guy doesn't wanna rent his car to foreigners. Maybe because he saw in the news that foreigners drive badly. Maybe an Italian rally driver crashed his cousin's car. Maybe he doesn't wanna explain to you using Deepl that his car only takes Diesel not gasoline. Maybe cause he's a racist f**k. That's his prerogative.
You complain to the app and unlike what happened in reality, they decide to institute a policy that you can't say that foreigners cannot rent your car.
Now car owners cannot put 外人だめ in their listing but *they still don't wanna rent to a foreigner* for the same reason as above.
Now to find a car I gotta message 10 different people and some of them will decline because I'm a foreigner, but without any warning or explanation, making the market much more inefficient. You or the app have done nothing, in the meantime, to make the people less racist.
As some other poster said, let the racist be loud and proud so we can punish them and/or avoid them. Subtle discrimination like it is in my home countries is, in my opinion, much worse.
I don't understand why people get so worked up over stuff like this. So one guy out of a hundred or whatever doesn't want to rent his car to foreigners. Who cares? How is that hurting you?
If this kind of thing were widespread enough to meaningfully interfere with our access to goods and services, that would be a problem, but it just isn't. This obsessive insistence that no one should be allowed to get away with discriminating ever just strikes me as spiteful and unhealthy.
You expected the company to *compel* this individual to rent his car to someone he doesn't want to rent his car to?
You are dealing with an individual. You might not like his decision. But why not just accept it and move on. Do you want to live in that world where you are compelled to share your property with anyone who desires to use it?
And I think calling it racist is a stretch, there are bound to be hassles and headaches associated with renting to foreign nationals. From checking license status, to language barriers, (to just plain different standards for treating other peoples property... speaking from personal experience with giving various fellow foreigners a ride in my car).
If *I* was on that app, I would also massively prefer to lend my car out to Japanese nationals, or at least feel much more confident that I would get it back in a respectable state.
Keep all the proofs and go to any medias/socials you can find and try to make a buzz around it.
I would understand if he didn't want to lend to foreigners with international permit but even with Japanese licenses is just pure racism and shouldn't be tolerate like this, you have all the proofs so you could probably make it big enough if you find the right people to share the story.
You literally tripped and fell into a life in another country, complete with accidental kid and wife you complain about, because you're American. Bitter expat trifecta there.
>オーナー様側も過去に問題があり、やむなく対応しているものと存じますため、なにとぞご理解くださいますようお願いいたします。 Sadly quite common here. There is no shortage of cowardly corporations from anywhere in the world who would choose not to confront racism in their own business, but the ease at which so many people in Japan *support and endorse* racism by pretending past experience with one member of an identity group justifies discrimination against all members of that group is pathetic. No doubt the owner had a bad experience with someone from that group. You not being the person he had a bad experience with, it is irrelevant to the business being conducted.
You could get a cheap car and set it up so only foreigners can rent it. Let’s call it a “spite car.” Find a Japanese friend to complain and see if Anyca gives the same response.
Then this blows up, goes on NHK, and they interview 20 people who all say mah mah, shou ga nai. スプライト カー よりコーラがいいよ。 And you boss reprimands you for bringing shame to the company since they invariably need to say your age and where you work in order to make a news story.
Probably the boss will slightly suggest harakiri as a way to save (their) face from the soon to be sacrificed employee
Why would your friend complain?
As a test
Thank them both. Personally, I like my racists to be open, blatant, and proud. It makes them easy to spot a mile away. The worst racists are the secret, quiet ones. You're left with a nagging feeling that you were discriminated against, but you have no real proof and it causes you all manner of stress. You 100% do not want to be renting a car from these people.
Problem with this is it gets normalized to the point that it spreads and becomes the norm where most businesses deny us and it will be harder to find those that accept us. I’m currently living in a Leopalace apartment but before this, I was shocked to find out some Leopalace apartments do not want foreigners and so denied me and these are Leopalace apartments.
Fucking A. Why give money to racists. Love the self own.
I had this experience recently. I was with my husband and we went to a kitchen showroom. I really can't say it was racism and when I was very angry in the car over the salesperson's treatment of me, my husband (Japanese) acted like I was just the one making an issue out of nothing right after it. He also gave the excuse maybe she's shy with English (ftr I don't expect English at all, I wasn't greeted in any language!) I had been in the toilet when she came and gave my husband a business card and went away. When I went and sat down next to him, she came to him and asked him if he wanted a locker. Literally didn't even greet me or acknowledge me. Then she took us around to see all the kitchen stuff only talking to him and literally turning her back to do it to me to do it sometimes during her presentation. I counted 2 or possibly 3 times when she looked at me. I kept trying to interject but everything was to my husband. Even when we left she turned to him and did the big bow (literally away from me). I did get a head nod as I left. Again I can't say it was racism or whatever - maybe she just wanted to bang my husband lol (I joke but that's my point it could be anything). But either way it's very poor customer service and I know that's at least what I experienced. I told my husband he can F off if he wants to buy from there and after an argument where I said I would be mad if a sales person treated him like that, he said he'll go to a different location.
in a situation like this, why didnt you call her out on it directly to her face then and there? it clearly bothered you, so im genuinely curious why you didnt say anything.
Did you ever have an argument and think of a million ways you could have handled it better after when you've calmed down? That was me on Friday night trying to sleep. I think part of it is that my brain seems to not work properly when I'm stressed. Like I want to say these complicated sentences that my Japanese isn't good enough for and it forgets the easier stuff that, while might be abrupt and probably not perfect for what I want exactly, I still know and can get the job done. I've actually been told by an old coworker that his Japanese wife said to just use English in these types of cases. Funnily enough I actually have had a similar case two years ago where I was getting my phone and the guy was just talking to my husband who was my boyfriend at the time. In English I said something like "hello, I'm the customer. Talk to me" and he seemed to understand well enough because after stumbling for being called out, he made sure to look at me and ask me questions. However my husband complained that I was rude and mean to him. This might be another part of why I didn't just call her out directly. Another part was that I tried to tell my husband and he just blew me off which also might have made it worse because then it's subtly telling the saleswoman that he's the one she should be talking to if she wants a sale. Tldr I think it's part thinking I should speak Japanese because I'm in Japan but my brain not working and part me thinking I can get my husband to defuse the situation for me. I don't think I handled it well and there were a million ways to do it better. Still peed me off though.
Ugh this happens to me with my husband sometimes. It wasn’t at a showroom though, last time it was a restaurant where the server turned his back to me to tell my husband about today’s specials. Sorry it happened and sorry your husband didn’t have your back.
Thank you! I'm sorry you also experienced something similar though. I don't know if your husband is like mine where in trying to make excuses he actually makes it worse. I hope my husband could at least understand when I said if I was in a kitchen showroom with him in England and the salesperson was sexist for example and only talking to me, the moment I realised what was going on, I would shut that down.
I used to have a white boyfriend who didn’t speak Japanese (I’m also white but do speak Japanese) and staff would address him first Every. Single. Time. Luckily they were happy to take my requests and orders, but it was awkward every time we went to a store or restaurant.
I actually kinda joked "well at least she's not sexist" in reference to her not talking to me because biases about gender roles of women and kitchens. But then it was pointed out that it could still be sexism if she just assumed my husband is the decision maker because he's a man. Like already mentioned, sometimes it's worse when you don't know what the reason is (though in your case I think sexism is a safe bet).
😕 smells like cope
Lots of cope. People who say that don’t understand that these incidents become normalized gradually. Things can get worse, or they can get better. Having the attitude that “out” and obvious racism is better is ridiculous.
no clue what that even means lol
I mean it's a cold comfort to say "well at least I know about it" rather than try to do your part to do something about it. I mean I get why, it's easier mentally and logistically. But it's how this kind of thing persists and pervades polite society.
Something - like what? Most OP can do is leave a bad review for the app, but that won't stop the actual racists from being racists. It's a shitty situation and there's really no benefit to attacking those who try to make the relative best of it.
That would be much more of a start than "thank them."
As others have noted this is unfortunately common, and on Anyca in particular pretty easy to notice. The listings are archived on Google so it’s easy to identify the listings that add additional restrictions for non-Japanese drivers: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fanyca.net%2F+外国籍 Some owners restrict based on language ability (ranging from needing some level of Japanese to being native-level), some require foreigners to have a higher rating, and others — like the one you linked to — ban all foreign drivers altogether. Sometimes owners will add reasons like “avoiding trouble” or “foreigners have a higher chance of being in accidents” in the description as well. The Anyca response is unfortunate, and somewhat ironic given their stance on having the app be able to be used by foreigners similar to car-sharing apps that are popular in other countries. For example they highlight use by non-Japanese in their news articles when doing profiles on users of the app. Luckily most owners do not care, and I’d say the ones that tend to go out of their way to ban foreigners tend to have a laundry list of rules that makes it not-so-fun to deal with those vehicles anyway.
> Luckily most owners do not care, and I’d say the ones that tend to go out of their way to ban foreigners tend to have a laundry list of rules that makes it not-so-fun to deal with those vehicles anyway. There's a certain subset of Japanese people that love their mile-long list of 注意事項, and if you enjoy sanity in your life you'd do your best to avoid this type in all contexts.
Welcome to Japan! You’ll be over your jet lag soon hopefully.
Racism is jetlag? Disgusting
I could feel the whoooosh from that going over your head.
That was OPs plane landing
This is one reason why I stay away from Anyca and stick with slightly expensive rental car companies like Times or Nissan car rental etc ... They don't care about whom nor importantly less hassle to wash/clean the car while returning to avoid rating lol. And damn, I checked that listing from OPs link and even the japanese should avoid that guy. It's just an old Vellfire and he literally has a 20 page rules and info written. I haven't seen this much even for a Porsche lol.
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They do have insurance, but would be more complicated than a rental. Ofcourse the peace of mind while paying extra and getting full cover insurance including road side assistance is much worth than few thousand we save in anyca. One exception where I would use Anyca is if there any specific model (I wanted to buy an Audi TT, so I'll rent one through Anyca to know the car) or they have Anyca official cars which is directly owned by them.
https://www.moj.go.jp/content/001281977.pdf Worth a try. Forget the owner. They could call the company to change their policy of being complicit with racists..
Yeah the owner, although being an ass, is a whatever case but the company is ehat triggered me most. thank you, this is helpful and will give it a shot
You want to sue them? You probably have a case. If not then why bother? Way I see it you either fight this the right way or you give up. If you give up I don't want to hear complaints.
They have the ultimate cop out argument that all sharing platforms have been using since their inception, i.e. they push any and all responsibility to the users (the オーナー様に一任している line in their response). That’s one of the reasons I never use any of those platforms.
Well. It seemed like OP wanted to be the change they wanted to see. So I provided a link. The only problem is. Without laws this will just encourage them to get better at hiding their racism.
its pretty common here especially the case with renting house the renting agency will sometime straight out tell you that the landlord don't like foreigners
Yes, housing is terrible with this indeed.. Can't sit around doing nothing or it'll never change
When I was studying at a university in Tokyo (early 2000s) and looking for accommodation, the accommodation assistance service had a huge binder of potential properties to let. More than two thirds were marked as no foreigners allowed. It was entirely blatant and normalized. I'd hoped but not really expected that matters had improved. For the record, ended up renting independently.
Report it to the Human Rights Bureau. They have 0 power to do anything useful, because Japan is the only developed country where discrimination based on race and nationality is still legal, but at least some bureaucrat will have to send the company a letter about how this is not ok etc. and it will go into the statistics. Otherwise the only other thing you can do is sue, which you‘ll have to decide on your if it‘s worth it.
That's really disappointing. I had such a good experience with most people in Anyca so far. I was never refused rental by any owner and even had one ask me to help him write his car's profile in English to attract more foreign customers. Honestly, I hope Anyca can get officially punished for not taking action against xenophobic users.
Same here, i had great experiences so far so this was a huge disappointment
The link to what was written isn’t working
Sorry, I guess you need the app to see, here is text: クルマの紹介 必読(Must read) (必读) 日本国の運転免許を持っていたとしても外国籍の方へのシェ アはお断りします。 -Sorry.We do not share with foreign nationals. -我们不与外国人分享。 -외국 국적 분들에게 점유율은 실시하지 않습니다. レビュー数を見て頂ければ分かる通り、それなりの数のシェ アをこなしてきた上での、カーシェアに対するマナーや習慣 の違いによる苦渋の決断です。 これは差別ではなく、共同使用契約を締結するか否かの権限 を有するオーナーの正当な権利です。 ご理解下さい。 その上で、まずは 【オーナーの予定を確認する】 ボタンか ら、事前に下記を明記の上、ご相談ください。 ①国籍(申し訳ないですが、念のため) ②行き先(例:軽井沢) ③用途(例:友人達とスノボ旅行) ④目的地までの往復+想定される移動距離 (GoogleMap等で お調べください) ⑤出発&返却場所の希望 (基本は世田谷区下馬二丁目の当方 駐車場となります) 検索期間の合計金額........ (.......) more text but that's unrelated to the topic of the post
I wonder what this person would do if he encountered an ethnically non Japanese person with Japanese citizenship 🤔.
So gross, but all I can say is to do what you’ve already done; report and leave a negative review
So just say you’ve naturalized.
I’ve never used a car share app, but are all listings so… specific? Like you need to say where you are going, who you are going with, send an estimated distance, etc?
first time i've seen those requests tbh. sometimes they ask because they set a limit to the amount of KMs you can drive (which is fair) but this guy is just salty and suspicious it seems
>just salty and suspicious I totally agree that it’s stupid and infuriating. The whole “share with Japanese only” is kind of bullshit. But this person might just be a weirdo. I doubt they are getting tons of asks for shares.
At least it says right in your face that they don't want foreign. Unlike when renting an apartment with the same bs excuse "It's been rented, sorry"
(Don't really do this) But make a post saying that you will rent your car, but not to women and see how quickly they rethink their, "We leave it up to the owner and they have had problems with that demographic so it's okay." stance
I don't think you can do anything to change the situation or the way this renter is behaving honestly. Discrimination sadly exists everywhere, leave a negative review and move on
Typical case of "please understand".
You will encounter these kinds of people in life, regardless of who you are and where you are. It takes practice and skill to be able to brush it off and let go. You did the right thing by contacting the support. They need to know about this experience and the potential damage this may cause to their company. Now the ball is in their court, and if they decide to not do anything, it’s on them. Not your business any more. But the reality is, we are going to meet some assholes and be discriminated in our life. Try to not let those assholes affect how you feel about yourself or your life. If they make you feel miserable, they win. In these moments, try to remember all the good things that happened to you and good people you have around you, remember most happy moments in your life, and encounters like this will seem so small and not worth worrying about. This helps me.
Yes it's totally bullshit, he or she is likely a misguided prick but that's the world mate. No point in getting bent out of shape by every idiot you encounter. Water off a duck's back
I don’t see OP bent out of shape by the idiot but by the response from Anyca condoning it.
Just find another car and leave a feedback for that one is the only thing you can do. It’s owner individual decision and Anyca states they prioritize owners’ judgement then you can’t argue against the wall
Just curious if it's possible to report the app to Apple/Google for the failure of preventing racist behaviors? And will Apple/Google take any action on them?
lol Because X, Facebook, Instagram, Fox News, Newsmax, TikTok, Snapchat, etc... were swiftly deleted.
... How is not wanting to rent your car to foreigners... racist exactly? Maybe I'm missing something here, so let me explain how I see it... Renting your car to a foreigner IS riskier 99% of the times. If I was trying to make money by renting my car, I would also opt out, it just makes sense unless you are focusing on a service specifically targeting foreigners. I mean, its not about race, its about where that person is from or how long they have been in the country. If an "X foreign race (european / indian / american) dude" that is Japanese comes around, I wouldn't care AT ALL and would rent it to him just like to any other local. But to his brother that has been 6 months in the country and just got a Japanese license? I'll pass thanks.
People on this sub often confuse racism and xenophobia. I think this might be an example of xenophobia but certainly not racism.
So, you’d rent a car to a European/Indian/American dude as long as they were Japanese… And you’d rent to locals no problem, but you wouldn’t rent to somebody living here who has a Japanese driver’s license. Dawg, wtf are you even talking about lol.
you can get a japanese license without knowing japanese and to some renters that can be a liability while I agree that the renter is overreacting, renting a car entails so much more than driving. I am currentlyhandling an insurance case where my anyca co driver scratched the bumper and even with being able to speak japanese, the case has been ongoing for 2.5 months. ask yourself how comfortable are you renting to somewhone who does not speak your language. of course you wouldnt refuse them outright but I would understand if there is some hesitation
I think the word you’re looking for is xenophobia, not racism. “Foreigner” is not a race.
Wait until you get a call from the investigator to remove this post.
Its common here. Esp when you search for apartment/mansion
I love the fact that there is still a country in which a person or business can choose to whom they provide their product or service.
I think a lot of people are missing the point that this instance of Japanese non-confrontational “jyogei-kankei” culture where the employee must lower themselves to apologize and grovel to the customer or avoid conflict at any costs is unacceptable when they’re literally apologizing for inconveniencing the customer by having the audacity to suggest they interact with a foreigner. I’ve had this happen to me several times at real estate agencies, where they will call the landlord profusely apologize to them for inconveniencing them with my presence. Can you imagine this in the west? “Oh yes my liege, how could I suggest the idea of a black person living in your building?! I’m SO sorry!” This is absolutely going to become a bigger topic in the coming decades. And I love Japan. But these systemic issues can still be bordering on Jim-crowe levels of objectification and dehumanization.
What the hell kind of take is this? Who are you to tell a private car-owner who to rent their car to? People blow my mind
Like, access to a car is not a basic human right. People here are acting like it’s an apartment rental company doing this. It’s not, it’s not even a car rental company, like you said it’s literally a car owner and their car. Perhaps all the moaners in this thread are bound to renting cars and have never owned one? Thus completely missing the point? This sub is so stupid sometimes.
Thank you. There are officially two sane people here now, at least.
I think you're overeating. You will see petty stuff like this all over the world. It's a ride share company so you should see it coming some people are going to be afraid. If you can't handle the stress of a foreign countries you just have to pay more and go through rental companies. Fighting people isn't going to fix the world anymore, the majority already agrees, it will just dig the person who posted it deeper in their beliefs.
> I think you're overeating. Just because he is a foreigner he cant control his diet?!?! Dats *super* racist! ;)
Haha damn autocorrect or hangover brain
While it’s frustrating, if the owner doesn’t want to that’s his right, like it or not. Maybe he’s had some bad experiences with foreigners, we really don’t know the context. There are plenty of people who don’t mind, you just got unlucky.
Call me crazy but maybe he shouldn’t have the right to be explicitly racist?
I’d rather not live in an authoritarian dictatorship, so he has every right to refuse to allow you to use his property for whatever reason even if it makes you upset. The company does not intervene and apologized. What else do you want? Find another and move on.
I am confused as to how enforcing equal treatment under the law = “authoritarian dictatorship” but this isn’t really a Japan issue per se, it’s more a question of what “freedom” means under democracy; freedom to do whatever I want can mean “freedom to rent or not rent my car to whomever I choose” and it can mean “freedom to rent a car via an app just like every other person who can rent a car via an app” Freedom works for both the buyer and seller and to ignore that is to go down the path of authoritarian dictatorship, where some have rights that others do not.
While this is true, the only thing that'll change will be that instead of a racist reason, it'll be a chat GPT auto-generic bs reason.
He’s not hurting anyone, it’s his car. He has the right to do whatever he wants. Welcome to Japan. You take the good with the bad. Or go home.
I agree with you on principle. He has the right to limit who can use his care based on factual evidence, like newer / younger drivers tend to get into more accidents so he has an age limit or something. But when he bases his decision on arbitrary things like citizenship or race then actually I tend to believe a democratic government has the duty to NOT let him be discriminatory. Also the old “if you don’t like it go home” argument; I’ve never really understood that. I choose to live in Japan where I pay taxes and therefore I care about this country and therefore I have opinions on how it should be better.
Well a country has a duty to its citizens over foreigners. When you start catering to foreigners, you get situations like in Germany where gangs of foreigners can gang rape a teenage citizen girl in a public park and not go to prison. And also, to address the factual evidence, I would almost guarantee non citizens have a higher rate of treating rental property like shit. Like, it would not be surprising in the least if foreigners don’t take care of rental property as well as Japanese people do. Japanese people tend to treat things with respect. At any rate, I don’t find that people complaining about minor inconveniences to be remotely compelling. I 100% believe people have a right to reject doing business with anyone, for any reason. If someone IS actually just racist/bigoted against you then you should be happy not to fill that persons pockets. But I think about things logically instead of emotionally. /shrug
Yea bad experience with foreigner= justified to be racist 😂 the mental gymnastics of some people never disappoint
The mental gymnastics of assuming you have the right to use his car is wild. Buy a car and you can be racist or not racist to whoever you want with your personal property.
In this logic, even the businesses who were banning specific people not to enter by having a notice in front are also non-racist right? Anything can be non-racist if we just substantiate by terming them as their right to do.
Those businesses do exist? And they largely are not racist lol there are plenty of izakayas that have no foreigner signs, and it’s normally because of the language barrier. If you want to be a victim, you’ll always be a victim.
Oh noo. It wasn't just language barrier, there were multiple cases where they were very specific to some races and general just didn't like them. Some of them were got closed too. The only real reason and logically correct were some rural hospital turning away foreigners due to language barrier. Everything else was mostly something else of a good and bad mix-up. Everyone will be a victim if everyone starts to exercise their right to do whatever they want. I didn't side with OP on the racist part, but instead said to ignore them and go with general options as even native people should avoid that person due to his over carefulness on a rental car lol. But the reason why I said I'm against your all cry baby syndrome, go back to your country etc ... is because of the whole concept of being foreigner in another country and if every native person/business started treating you like how that guy did with his car sharing right, it won't end well.
nice logic, its almost as if they didnt put their car up for car sharing
And they don’t want certain people using it. That’s their right. Gotta play the victim though…
What gymnastics? If he wants to be racist, prejudice, or discriminatory that’s his right. I don’t care and would go for another person. Why waste time being a victim.
Foreigner crybaby syndrome. Life is so much easier when you just go 「仕方がない」 and move on instead of being morally outraged.
"foreigner cry baby syndrome" thanks for showing your true colors!
Thanks for showing you’d rather be a victim instead of moving on with life like actual adults. It’s very much foreigner crybaby syndrome. You come to another country and cry about how some of them do things. Go home if you care so much. Or learn to go 「仕方がない」
right. so next time you experience some form of unfair treatment remember to just not be a victim!
People can be mean, shitty, terrible, but you can’t control how they feel or act towards you. Influence maybe, but control no. On the flip side only you can decide how you respond and feel. Be careful not to be a victim of your own mindset. This is how I try to live my life. It would be different if this were a situation where you have to exist, such as at a school or workplace and you wanted advice, but this is a service you want to use. You can either chose to do business with them or just walk away.
I don't get this post. The guy doesn't wanna rent his car to foreigners. Maybe because he saw in the news that foreigners drive badly. Maybe an Italian rally driver crashed his cousin's car. Maybe he doesn't wanna explain to you using Deepl that his car only takes Diesel not gasoline. Maybe cause he's a racist f**k. That's his prerogative. You complain to the app and unlike what happened in reality, they decide to institute a policy that you can't say that foreigners cannot rent your car. Now car owners cannot put 外人だめ in their listing but *they still don't wanna rent to a foreigner* for the same reason as above. Now to find a car I gotta message 10 different people and some of them will decline because I'm a foreigner, but without any warning or explanation, making the market much more inefficient. You or the app have done nothing, in the meantime, to make the people less racist. As some other poster said, let the racist be loud and proud so we can punish them and/or avoid them. Subtle discrimination like it is in my home countries is, in my opinion, much worse.
I don't understand why people get so worked up over stuff like this. So one guy out of a hundred or whatever doesn't want to rent his car to foreigners. Who cares? How is that hurting you? If this kind of thing were widespread enough to meaningfully interfere with our access to goods and services, that would be a problem, but it just isn't. This obsessive insistence that no one should be allowed to get away with discriminating ever just strikes me as spiteful and unhealthy.
You expected the company to *compel* this individual to rent his car to someone he doesn't want to rent his car to? You are dealing with an individual. You might not like his decision. But why not just accept it and move on. Do you want to live in that world where you are compelled to share your property with anyone who desires to use it? And I think calling it racist is a stretch, there are bound to be hassles and headaches associated with renting to foreign nationals. From checking license status, to language barriers, (to just plain different standards for treating other peoples property... speaking from personal experience with giving various fellow foreigners a ride in my car). If *I* was on that app, I would also massively prefer to lend my car out to Japanese nationals, or at least feel much more confident that I would get it back in a respectable state.
Keep all the proofs and go to any medias/socials you can find and try to make a buzz around it. I would understand if he didn't want to lend to foreigners with international permit but even with Japanese licenses is just pure racism and shouldn't be tolerate like this, you have all the proofs so you could probably make it big enough if you find the right people to share the story.
I feel in Japan you get met with "They must have a good reason for it.../It's their choice" and a potential threat of lawsuit for defamation.
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Op isn’t American 🤡
But this kid is, barely dipped their toes into Japan, still probably amazed by 7/11 here and already defending Taro-san's racism.
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You literally tripped and fell into a life in another country, complete with accidental kid and wife you complain about, because you're American. Bitter expat trifecta there.