Lawyer Yasunori Sakurai (pictured) is in the process of suing the 5-star Westin Hotel Tokyo (part of the Marriott Group) for refusing him accommodation because he was unmasked. The hotel claims it did no such thing. A recent article details the case and the legal issues around masks and other so-called infection prevention measures at hotels.
We visited Japan many times on holiday. Our last trip was Nov/Dec 2019. We long to return, but with great sadness we believe this may never happen. We are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks, which has not been an issue for more than a year in the UK. A proposed May 2023 trip has been postponed to November, in the hope that restrictions may lessen, but we have booked flexible flights with full refunds available because we suspect the situation will not change. If Japan wishes European visitors to return, it has a strange way of showing it. Japanese hotel websites, in their zeal to assure prospective visitors of how “safe” they will be, serve only to fill us with horror at the thought of constant temperature testing and mask wearing. Holidays are supposed to be a pleasure, rather than a penance.
I would like to add that the peer pressure to conform also lead to the bayonetting of small children in Nanjing, China. I am in no way comparing the reduction of oxygen intake to the bayonetting of children because everyone knows that the former is slow death whereas the latter death is instantaneous. Let's stop calling it peer pressure. Let's call it what it really is: cowardice. On my way to the coffee shop, in the coffee shop, and on the way home I encountered about 400 cowards and about 5 who seemed capable of thinking. I did not feel afraid of the non-thinkers because they are basically cowards. They may have strength in numbers. Any one who has seen the documentary Dawn of the Dead knows this.
His story is entirely believable to me. Have had too many similar experiences.
For all the reason directly addressed and others touched upon, this is truly terrifying. They are wanting to make it legal to turn away anyone suspected of carrying an infectious disease. Before lockdowns, the typical individual’s immune system would be fighting off numerous infectious diseases, usually successfully. The reality means this could be used as justification for refusing anyone for any reason, just say that they are “suspected” of carrying an infectious disease.
Another point is that despite most of the world seeming to have forgotten, many diseases existed before Covid and still do exist. While not the law, back in 2020 I was told I could not be on campus if I had any of covid’s symptoms. As one who suffers from seasonal hay fever and year round house dust allergies, this meant that technically, I am never allowed on campus again. My son suffers from all the allergies both his parents have and has a few that we do not. At the year end party we had this year, he sneezed and the man next to him looked and asked rather loudly, “Covid?”. He very well may have been joking, as that is his nature, but he just as easily may not have been. Either way, seeing the reaction to a sneeze, cough or clearing of the throat on a train and it is clear that everyone automatically thinks the offending person, and myself for not wearing a mask, have covid and are to be feared.
Just wait until the Covidian hotel staffer is replaced by a Web 3 Smart Contract via a QR code, a facial recognition camera or maybe even a robot operated by a person in another country via haptic robotic suit (https://youtu.be/UxWH5XAcFnM). There ain't no negotiating with that. Let's start taking about what this "scamdemic" was meant to trigger because it's a much bigger existential threat to our children, our children's children and natural life. Have you heard of Japan's Moonshot R&D program? NTT's Human Digital Twinning program? Here's a starter kit:
I believe this hotel is in Shibuya, a tourist area. That might have something to do with it. Without diminishing the gross indignity of what happened in this case, I recently spent a week in Tokyo without donning a mask even once. I hung one off of one ear at one point when asked to put it on at Korakuen. That was the only time anyone even asked. I know I probably only got away with it because I'm a foreigner, however, if the foreigner in this story could understand Japanese, shame on him or her for not speaking up and taking Mr. Sakurai's side.
I find it easy to imagine that, once hotel staff get used to screening guests in this way under color of this law, it would empower bullying and discrimination against people with all sorts of disabilities and injuries or conditions that affect their appearance. A law that validates the kind of behavior that laws are generally meant to curb seems pretty ill-advised.
Ok, I have a question for Guy or Kitsune, or whoever has a thought:
In Sakurai’s account, he says the manager ignored the maskless condition of the people at the adjacent tables, to wit, a foreigner on one side, and “two red-faced [presumably Japanese] men who appeared to be drunk” on the other.
Since this isn’t actually about infection control, I understand why the foreigner would be ignored, since he’s outside the wa, and all the usual Japanese inferiority/superiority stuff kicks in. But why do you think the rubicund drinkers were excused?
We visited Japan many times on holiday. Our last trip was Nov/Dec 2019. We long to return, but with great sadness we believe this may never happen. We are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks, which has not been an issue for more than a year in the UK. A proposed May 2023 trip has been postponed to November, in the hope that restrictions may lessen, but we have booked flexible flights with full refunds available because we suspect the situation will not change. If Japan wishes European visitors to return, it has a strange way of showing it. Japanese hotel websites, in their zeal to assure prospective visitors of how “safe” they will be, serve only to fill us with horror at the thought of constant temperature testing and mask wearing. Holidays are supposed to be a pleasure, rather than a penance.
I would like to add that the peer pressure to conform also lead to the bayonetting of small children in Nanjing, China. I am in no way comparing the reduction of oxygen intake to the bayonetting of children because everyone knows that the former is slow death whereas the latter death is instantaneous. Let's stop calling it peer pressure. Let's call it what it really is: cowardice. On my way to the coffee shop, in the coffee shop, and on the way home I encountered about 400 cowards and about 5 who seemed capable of thinking. I did not feel afraid of the non-thinkers because they are basically cowards. They may have strength in numbers. Any one who has seen the documentary Dawn of the Dead knows this.
His story is entirely believable to me. Have had too many similar experiences.
For all the reason directly addressed and others touched upon, this is truly terrifying. They are wanting to make it legal to turn away anyone suspected of carrying an infectious disease. Before lockdowns, the typical individual’s immune system would be fighting off numerous infectious diseases, usually successfully. The reality means this could be used as justification for refusing anyone for any reason, just say that they are “suspected” of carrying an infectious disease.
Another point is that despite most of the world seeming to have forgotten, many diseases existed before Covid and still do exist. While not the law, back in 2020 I was told I could not be on campus if I had any of covid’s symptoms. As one who suffers from seasonal hay fever and year round house dust allergies, this meant that technically, I am never allowed on campus again. My son suffers from all the allergies both his parents have and has a few that we do not. At the year end party we had this year, he sneezed and the man next to him looked and asked rather loudly, “Covid?”. He very well may have been joking, as that is his nature, but he just as easily may not have been. Either way, seeing the reaction to a sneeze, cough or clearing of the throat on a train and it is clear that everyone automatically thinks the offending person, and myself for not wearing a mask, have covid and are to be feared.
Lawyer? He did not record the conversation? Or ask for the directive in writing?
As John McEnroe would scream "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!"
Just wait until the Covidian hotel staffer is replaced by a Web 3 Smart Contract via a QR code, a facial recognition camera or maybe even a robot operated by a person in another country via haptic robotic suit (https://youtu.be/UxWH5XAcFnM). There ain't no negotiating with that. Let's start taking about what this "scamdemic" was meant to trigger because it's a much bigger existential threat to our children, our children's children and natural life. Have you heard of Japan's Moonshot R&D program? NTT's Human Digital Twinning program? Here's a starter kit:
1. Japan's Moonshot Program & NTT Digital Twin Program: https://youtu.be/_og-LVZlRnE
2. Globotics: https://youtu.be/MAL42CnyJNE
3. Smart Contracts & Extended Reality: https://wrenchinthegears.com/2023/01/06/dear-city-of-brotherly-love-we-really-need-to-talk-about-the-constitution-smart-contracts-and-extended-reality/
With love. G
I believe this hotel is in Shibuya, a tourist area. That might have something to do with it. Without diminishing the gross indignity of what happened in this case, I recently spent a week in Tokyo without donning a mask even once. I hung one off of one ear at one point when asked to put it on at Korakuen. That was the only time anyone even asked. I know I probably only got away with it because I'm a foreigner, however, if the foreigner in this story could understand Japanese, shame on him or her for not speaking up and taking Mr. Sakurai's side.
Oh, great. When my maskless 6'5" gaijin husband shows up at the Marunouchi Hotel in Tokyo in March, are they going to throw him out?
I find it easy to imagine that, once hotel staff get used to screening guests in this way under color of this law, it would empower bullying and discrimination against people with all sorts of disabilities and injuries or conditions that affect their appearance. A law that validates the kind of behavior that laws are generally meant to curb seems pretty ill-advised.
Ok, I have a question for Guy or Kitsune, or whoever has a thought:
In Sakurai’s account, he says the manager ignored the maskless condition of the people at the adjacent tables, to wit, a foreigner on one side, and “two red-faced [presumably Japanese] men who appeared to be drunk” on the other.
Since this isn’t actually about infection control, I understand why the foreigner would be ignored, since he’s outside the wa, and all the usual Japanese inferiority/superiority stuff kicks in. But why do you think the rubicund drinkers were excused?
At least today we can declare (supported with evidence) that the japanese herd of modern moron slaves is DUMB AS A ROCK.
I say that they deserve another 3 boosters!
Sue the rat tails off of them!