“In order to preserve the atmosphere of the restaurant, we try to maintain that the total number of guests are split between Japanese and foreigners,” a representative from Sushi Mizutani told Nikkan Gendai.

“Since we’ve had foreigners make reservations and not show up and other problems, we only take reservations through a hotel concierge or (through a service provided by) a credit card company.”

The restaurant representative later told AFP that “We have an increasing number of cases in which people are abandoning their reservations,” adding that Japanese-speaking customers are called for reconfirmation a few days before their reservation.

Tokyo has a huge selection of top-class eateries, and regularly tops the global list for Michelin-starred restaurants. But despite decades of exposure to non-Japanese tourists, many facilities, even in cosmopolitan Tokyo, have difficulties dealing with people who they assume cannot speak the language.

The number of foreign tourists coming to Japan has rocketed in recent years as the value of the yen has fallen and as tensions have eased between Beijing and Tokyo. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he wants to attract 20 million foreign visitors a year by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympics. No one from the Michelin Guide was available for comment.

The confirmation came after a report that the restaurant, located in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district, had refused to take a reservation for Chinese journalist Mo Bangfu.

Mo, a resident of Japan for 30 years who is fluent in Japanese, intended to host three guests at the high-end restaurant, where prices start at 20,000 yen ($168) per person, the Nikkan Gendai tabloid reported.

The magazine said that his secretary — a Japanese woman — was told the reservation was fine, but as soon as she gave restaurant Mo’s name and contact number, the person taking the booking changed his attitude and said “some arrangements were necessary” — indicating the reservation was not acceptable.

When Mo himself telephoned the restaurant about the booking, he received the same information.

“It was disappointing,” Mo told Nikkan Gendai.

“I, a permanent resident, find the conscious separation of foreigners and Japanese to be discriminatory.

“For the betterment of the entire image of Japan for visitors, conscious change may be necessary,” he said.