TOKYO – The growing number of Japanese businesses, including retail, that are closing their doors or limiting hours of service to men in favor of female clientele is creating a backlash.
Japanese magazine AERA writes that a recent “women only” craze is popping up at retail establishments, restaurants, convenience stores and spas across Japan to offer female customers certain times of day and places to relax and shop sans the opposite sex. However, men aren’t taking too kindly to the shutout.
“Ripped out of railroad carriages, shunned by sports clubs and spurned by spas, guys are fighting back, saying they're being subjected to a kind of sexual segregation, even if women are only looking for a little peace of mind and have no intention of inflicting damsel discrimination,” notes the magazine.
According to a male reader, he can understand being excluded in certain places such as the train “because a lot of guys grope.” However, when it comes to kicking guys out of restaurants, “it really seems like both sexes are going to be missing out on a lot,” writes the magazine.
Meanwhile, the news source writes that there is “a certain economic sense” to choosing women over a unisex option.
“Women are generally better spenders than guys are. When a woman goes to a spa, she'll often have a beauty treatment and an aromatherapy session on top of that, where all the guy wants is to get into the sauna,” said Nameko Shinkin, an artist who frequents women-only convenience stores and spas, adding, “Women's only places make more money than men's only joints.”
However, Macchin, a “chicken-on-a-stick” establishment, isn’t rebelling against women because they are, well, women, but because female patrons were hurting sales. The owner says that it developed a strong following with females who would order small amounts and lounge around the premises “for hours at a time,” which would prevent other customers from dining. Now, women are only allowed to dine at Macchin on Saturdays.
”I didn't want to ban women customers,” the owner of Macchin told the magazine, adding, “But I had to do it to survive.”
According to Hiroyuki Murata of Japan’s Social Development Research Center, splitting the boys from the girls opens the doors to discrimination. “Public places are meant to be used by all people, but when you suddenly get places that say they'll only cater to women, then naturally others are going to want to know why,” he said.