So I figure in the upcoming months I will be speaking a lot less English and a lot more Japanese. I do not want to be the ignorant American who does not even try to speak the native language of the foreign country I am in. I know, from working in customer service-esque jobs for over 5 years that when a foreigner barely speaks English, it makes it difficult and awkward. Although many Japanese people can speak English, I'm sure they would appreciate the effort of me speaking Japanese.
A few weeks ago I was feeling confident and ballsy and I thought I would try some Japanese out. Unfortunately, it did not go to well. Not on my part, but on the part of the "Japanese" person.
I went to the fast food sushi restaurant at the mall I work at on my break. The restaurant is called "Sakaru Japan", and there are people of Asian descent with thick accents who work there, so naturally, one is to assume they are Japanese.
I walked up to the man at the counter, dressed in a costume Japanese robe and hat and asked if he was from Japan. The young man, maybe in his mid-twenties, had sort of dorky look- skinny with glasses. She sort of laughed and said "no." "Oh," I replied. "Well, do you speak Japanese", once again he laughed shyly and said no.
By this point he definitely thought I was weird. Working just a few away, I know the cliental of the mall and I can be assured I am only person to ever ask him such a thing. I smiled and said "oh, because I speak a little Japanese and wanted to order in Japanese, I thought you'd be impressed!" He did not really say anything and just gave me the tofu and veggie sushi I ordered.
At this point I was disappointed and realized that that food sucked and they were impostors! But, it is actually very common for non-Japanese to own Japanese restaurants.
Many Americans go to Japanese restaurants for Hibachi and sushi. The workers are usually Asian and the chef puts on a show when he cooks. Everyone assumes they are straight from Japan. However, this is not so. My friend Dave, who is of Asian decent is a waiter at a Japanese restaurant that is family owns. I'm sure everyone their thinks he is Japanese, but in fact he is a full blooded America, raised in born. And the rest of his family? They are from Korea!
There is nothing that states you cannot open a restaurant that is not of your ethnicity. But it is funny how with an Asian restaurants it is a common assumption that the employees are from the country of the restaurant's theme. The chain Bennigans is Irish themed, but I do not know of anyone who thinks all the employees are Irish. If I opened a small Italian restaurant would many might assume I'm Italian since I have dark eyes and dark hair serve spaghetti? (For the record, I am not of Italian decent.)
The day I leave for Tokyo, January 5th, is also my grandmas's birthday. So a few days prior my mom wants to go to Mizu Sushi (oddly enough, translates to water sushi), my family's favorite Japanese restaurant. This time I might be a little more cautious before trying to impress chef's with my Japanese, although knowing me, I will probably give it another shot.
マリㇱサ
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