Exposed in Kyoto: The English "Gaijin Tax" Menu
In a video that has ignited a fierce cross-border debate on social media, South Korean YouTuber Choi Su-hoon exposed a blatant double-pricing scheme at a popular sushi restaurant in Kyoto, Japan.
While dining with a Chinese friend, Choi noticed something was off the moment they sat down. Hearing them speak English, the waitstaff bypassed the standard menus and handed them an English-exclusive version. This "foreigners-only" menu featured zero à la carte options, instead pushing expensive set meals—such as a three-piece Wagyu sushi plate priced at a steep 2,600 yen (~$17 USD).
Suspicious of the limited, high-priced selection, Choi asked the staff for a Japanese menu under the guise of filming B-roll footage. The staff hesitated, repeatedly asking if she could actually read Japanese, before reluctantly handing it over.
The side-by-side comparison revealed a massive discrepancy:
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The Japanese Menu: Featured a wide variety of affordable, single-order items starting as low as 500 yen (~$3.20 USD).
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The Foreigner Menu: Completely omitted these lower-priced options and marked up identical or similar items by multiple times the local rate, with no unified pricing displayed outside the establishment.
The Backlash: Japanese Netizens Tell Tourists "Don't Like It? Don't Come"
Expectant of sympathy, Choi uploaded her experience to expose what she felt was a tourist trap. Instead, her comment sections were quickly swarmed by defensive Japanese netizens. Rather than criticizing the restaurant's shady business practices, many defended the "dual-pricing" model, sparking a wave of online hostility.
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The Dual-Pricing Debate Camp │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────┘
│
┌───────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ The "English Tax" Defense │ │ The Tourist Perspective │
│ • Higher communication and service│ │ • Clear lack of transparency; │
│ costs justify premium prices. │ prices aren't posted outside. │
│ • "If you think it's too expensive│ │ • Disguising markups as exclusive│
│ don't come to Japan." │ menus feels predatory and xenophobic.│
└─────────────────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────────────────┘
Many commenters argued that accommodating foreign tourists incurs higher operational and communication costs, making a premium surcharge "perfectly reasonable." Others took a more aggressive stance, telling tourists that if they find Japan too expensive, they "shouldn't come in the first place." Some even deflected by pointing out that South Korean businesses occasionally employ similar double-pricing tactics on foreign visitors.
This Kyoto incident is far from an isolated event. Earlier this year, a ramen shop in Osaka sparked a similar uproar after its English menu featured prices nearly double those of the Japanese version. Following the backlash, the Osaka shop owner doubled down, reportedly putting up a sign banning Chinese customers entirely.
sulaa Games Tech Editorial: Tourism Overload is Turning Local Hospitality into a Paid DLC
From our cultural tracking desk here at sulaa Games, Japan's tourism boom is officially reaching a boiling point, and local businesses are starting to treat foreign travelers like walking wallets.
Let's be real: defending a hidden double-menu system by calling it a "communication fee" is absolute nonsense. If a restaurant wants to charge a service fee for English menus, they should state that transparently on the front door—not hide the cheap food and hand tourists a secretly marked-up menu because they heard English. That isn't a "communication surcharge"; it’s a bait-and-switch.
However, the hostile reaction from Japanese netizens highlights a massive, growing frustration with over-tourism. Historic cities like Kyoto are completely packed, local infrastructure is strained, and many small shop owners are genuinely exhausted by language barriers and cultural friction.
But passive-aggressive pricing tactics aren't the solution. Charging tourists "premium rates" while hiding the local price list under the counter only breeds resentment. If Japan wants to transition to a formal dual-pricing system to fund its tourism boom—much like national parks or historical sites do globally—they need to do it above board. Otherwise, they risk trading their world-famous reputation for hospitality for quick, short-sighted profits, leaving tourists feeling like they just got scammed at the dinner table.
Tags: Kyoto sushi dual menu controversy, Japan double pricing tourism, tourist tax Japan restaurants, Korean YouTuber Kyoto sushi, tourist trap Kyoto English menu, Japan travel controversy 2026.
