Haisun L.
Google
I had a very disappointing experience at IMADEYA GINZA in Ginza Six and felt I should share it, especially for other foreign and Asian customers.
My husband and I went in to buy two bottles of sake. We asked a white male staff member (who was already helping some Korean customers) if they had a specific sake from a brewery in Kyoto. He said they didn’t have it, which was fine.
Right after that, I asked him where the Akita prefecture sakes were. He rolled his eyes and, in a very condescending tone, said something along the lines of, “You just asked about Kyoto sake, why are you asking for Akita sake now?”
I was honestly shocked. As a customer, it’s completely normal to look for another option when the first one isn’t available, and there is nothing “weird” about asking for Akita sake after asking for a Kyoto one.
He then showed us the Akita section. Ironically, the exact sake we had been looking for was there, so I said in English, “This is the one I was looking for.” Instead of a normal response, he said “Good for you” in a very sarcastic, dismissive way and just walked off.
Both my husband and I felt that his attitude was extremely rude and borderline discriminatory. We are Korean and have lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, so we unfortunately know very well what racial bias and microaggressions from white people feel like. It really felt like we were being treated with less respect because we are Asian foreigners. I honestly doubt he would have spoken the same way if we were white customers.
Other Japanese staff might be perfectly kind and professional, but this particular white staff member (seemingly European, with a noticeable accent in English) should not be working in customer service. Because of his behavior, we decided not to buy anything and left the store.
I hope the management takes this seriously and provides proper training, especially around how to treat foreign and Asian customers with basic respect.
