We (my wife and I) were placed at the Route Inn Kitami Nishi Odori for three nights after the original hotel in Kitami where we had a reservation closed unexpectedly. Route Inn is a business hotel chain in Japan, and is reasonably priced, and the rooms are not bad. Here was my experience. We arrived at 4 pm and proceeded to the check-in. I spoke to the check-in woman in Japanese, gave her my name, and she confirmed we would be staying for three nights (we means 1 permanent resident of Japan (me), and 1 Japanese person (my wife)). The female clerk handed me a check-in card and asked me to complete it. I did, giving my name and address in Japanese. She then said to me ”在留カードかパスポートコピーを取らせてください。This means, ”Please allow me to take a photocopy of your foreign registration card or passport. I responded in my most polite Japanese, ”お断り致します。日本の住所ある永住者です。必要ないです。This means, ”I refuse. I am a permanent resident of Japan with a Japanese address. It isn't required.” She simply answered, ”分かりました。I understand.” I'm sorry, but you heard me speak Japanese. You saw me enter my information in Japanese. And yet, you ask for something I am not required to give you. I am not a tourist. What it is is discrimination, plain and simple, because you saw a foreigner. And this is not the first hotel in Hokkaido where this has happened to me. After this unpleasant event, I paid, using my Japanese credit card issued by my local Hokkaido bank. The Japanese man next to me checking in at the same time was not asked to show any identification. Yet, because I don't look Japanese, I must show you my ID, even when the person with me is Japanese? No. I will not. And please feel free to check with the police to confirm what I am telling you. The law clearly states (and I know this because I have read it in Japanese) that non-Japanese with a Japanese address do not have to show any identification to check-in, and cannot be refused check-in for not showing an ID (Law related to hotel lodging, parts 5 and 6.). I cannot tell you how much that request will instantly ruin a pleasant stay. It certainly ruined mine. And when I looked over at my wife standing next to me listening to everything, she was really saddened seeing this happen to me because she saw firsthand the discrimination here. So, Route Inn, please stop asking non-Japanese residents of Japan for ID. It is not, and has never been, a requirement. Because of this, I will not stay at your hotel again. Now, let me get to the rest of the hotel review. The room was reasonably comfortable for a hotel outside of one of Hokkaido's main cities. And the temperature controls made the room comfortable. The beds, however, are really really hard. That's not bad for people who like a hard bed. But, be aware, they are very hard. The bathroom was a unit bath but reasonably large for a business hotel. I did not use the restaurant at breakfast, nor the communal bath on the first floor, but my wife did. She stressed that breakfast was nearly impossib
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