On the 23rd, there was a post on China's SNS Xiaohongshu (RED) stating, 'The customer service attitude in Japan's service industry is not as good as it used to be.'

The poster wrote that shortly after arriving in Japan, she was shocked when she couldn't contact the landlord of her reserved accommodation, her reservation was unilaterally canceled, and a refund was not (easily) processed. She hadn't kept a record as evidence because she trusted the character of the Japanese people, believing that 'such a thing shouldn't happen in Japan.'

She also recounted, 'When the three of us went to a restaurant specializing in alcohol, we ordered two alcoholic drinks and one soft drink. After the staff brought the drinks, they brought bread. We naturally assumed it was a free service, but at checkout, we were charged for the bread as well. We had already eaten it, so we paid, but it left a bad taste.' She then complained, 'If there was a minimum order charge, I wish they had explained it properly. Then, we could have ordered other things we wanted to eat. We couldn't accept the way they served it without asking and then charged separately for it later.'

Furthermore, regarding 'a hotel we rebooked in Japan, the sheets had holes, and the sofa bed in the triple room was also faulty. However, there was no one at the front desk, so we contacted the travel site's customer service to explain the situation and create a record. Even though we re-explained it to the hotel front staff the next morning, they showed no sign of apology.'

In addition, regarding the initial accommodation that was unilaterally canceled, she called the customer service of the Japanese booking site, but also pointed out that the staff member who responded had an overbearing attitude.

The poster also stated, 'On the other hand, I also met Japanese people whom I found to be kind personally,' and explained, 'When we went to the coin laundry, we only had 10,000-yen bills, but a kind Japanese person exchanged money for us.' She added, 'At a restaurant, we coincidentally met two Japanese people who spoke to us and even told us about recommended tourist spots.' She wrote, 'I am truly grateful for such kindness, but regarding the feeling of being belittled (by the customer service at some shops), I still want to express a complaint.'

In response to this post, Chinese netizens commented with remarks such as: 'That's really true.' 'I went to Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya this time, and the attitude was terrible everywhere.' 'No matter how bad it is, it can't be worse than Kyoto, can it?' 'Ten years ago, Japanese customer service was truly excellent. It started getting worse after masks (COVID-19).' 'I think it's mainly because they stopped pretending (to put on a good face). It's not that the Japanese people's character itself has declined.' 'Before, (Japanese shop staff) used to deliberately pretend to be friendly, right?'

On the other hand, opinions such as 'What's the standard for good or bad? I don't think it's particularly terrible,' 'Personally, Hokkaido is better than Tokyo,' 'I just came back from Osaka. Personally, I didn't think the customer service was that bad,' 'Tokyo has gotten worse. Osaka hasn't gotten much better either. Hokkaido still feels good,' 'I just came back from Fukuoka and it wasn't bad. I went to Osaka before, and Osaka people were kind. Others were just so-so. Bus drivers and lower-tier employees sometimes had rough attitudes,' and 'In places with many tourists, you're more likely to encounter shops with poor service. Places with fewer tourists are a bit better. Female staff members who didn't smile at all were truly unpleasant. It felt like they were in pain and just doing their job reluctantly' were also seen, indicating that it depends on the region and location. (Translation/Editing by Kitada)