People paste pro-China slogans and national flags on the windows to protect restaurants selling Japanese cuisine at Lucky Street, near the Japanese embassy on Saturday. Photo: Li Hao/GT



A number of Japanese restaurants suspended business on Sunday in Lucky Street, Chaoyang district, fearing they would be targeted following the protests at the nearby Japanese embassy on Liangmaqiao Lu.

The Global Times found Sunday that 16 restaurants along the bar and dining strip were closed, including three that do not sell Japanese food.

On the doors and windows of all of these premises, staff had hung the Chinese flag or posters with slogans that echo those of the protesters outside the embassy, such as "Boycott Japanese goods" or "Diaoyu Islands belong to China."

Anranwuyang Benny, vice general manager of restaurant Japanese BBQ Dining, told the Global Times via Sina microblog Saturday the reason he had decided to shut the restaurant. 

"Days ago, some people holding national flags refused to pay for their meal and claimed whoever asks them to pay is a traitor… They also scolded our other customers as traitors… so we closed it down," said the post.

Yang Taohui, manager of Sushi Nami Royale, a Chinese-Canadian operated restaurant, confirmed that nearly 100 protesters came to the street on both Thursday and Friday.

"They smashed the window of a Japanese restaurant and refused to pay for the food in another," she said.

There were no signs of the alleged damage on Sunday.

Yang added that thanks to the Canadian national flag hung on their restaurant, they safely survived the protests.

A female manager of a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant said that she was too sad to be interviewed. 

"I have suffered too much [from the protest]," she said.

The name of her restaurant, which included the word "Japanese," was mostly obscured by black plastic bags and red banners as protection.

Another female manager of a sushi restaurant, surnamed Jiang, was alert and nervous.

She repeatedly said the restaurant was closed because its employees had gone to join the protests at the embassy.

Her restaurant was not disturbed by protesters, but she believes some guys just want to make trouble under the guise of patriotism, such as "dining without paying."

Some non-Japanese restaurants were also worried and voluntarily ceased trading.

An employee, who asked for anonymity, working at Indian restaurant Punjabi, said that they have closed for two days for fear the restaurant could be mistakenly damaged.

The business owners are also facing large economic losses.

According to Yang, besides the rent they have to pay, their daily economic loss is up to 20,000 yuan ($3,168).

People should show their patriotism in a rational way, Yang said.

"No one should be accused of being a traitor just because he ate in a Japanese restaurant," she said.

"Every country's food culture is beautiful and it shouldn't be influenced by the political atmosphere," she noted.

A Japanese restaurant operator in Sanyuan Bridge area, Chaoyang district, who only provided his given name Hiroyuki, told the Global Times that everything is fine at his restaurant, and he is not worried about his business or his personal security.

"I think the protest didn't target the restaurants but the Japanese embassy. The disturbance in Lucky Street is only random because they are too close to the embassy," he said, adding that since there have been no protests in Japanese residential areas, he does not think there is a danger to individuals.

Separately, Muji, a Japanese household and general goods retailer has also closed several of its Beijing stores.

An employee in the Muji branch in Solana shopping mall, who would not give her name, said the store had closed on Saturday, and only two branches are still open in Beijing.

"Management at the mall asked us to close down," she said. The mall is opposite Lucky Street.

"They are afraid that if protesters go into our store, the mall's business would be disturbed," she said.

Only two stores in Beijing remain trading, the employee said, adding she does not know when they will reopen.