A guest house in Japan says she is under pressure from local authorities to change a policy asking guests to declare that they have never committed war crimes, following complaints from the Israel ambassador.
Israeli ambassador Gilad Cohen accused the Wind Villa guest house in Kyoto of discrimination following an incident in April where an Israeli tourist was invited to sign a commitment declaring that he had never “been involved in war crimes that violate humanitarian and international law”.
In an article on X during the weekend, Cohen described the request as an “blatant act of discrimination against Israeli citizens and an unacceptable attempt to assimilate them to war criminals”.
“I call the authorities of the city of Kyoto to approach this case quickly,” said Cohen.
“We hope that the Japanese authorities will continue to maintain the values of hospitality and respect for which Japan is so well known – and ensure that all visitors feel welcome and security.”
Deeply concerned about the discriminatory incident which took place in April at Wind Villa Guesthouse in Kyoto, where an Israeli tourist was invited to sign a statement indicating that he had not committed war crimes.
It is an act of blatant discrimination against Israeli citizens and a …
– Gilad Cohen 🇮🇱🎗️ (@giladcohen_) May 10, 2025
Wind Villa owner, Ace Kishi, said in an interview that he did not intend to modify the policy following an investigation by the authorities of the city of Kyoto and a reprimand of the Israeli envoy.
Kishi said he started asking guests to sign the commitment about six months ago in response to world events.
“I was really concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukrainian and Israeli attacks against Gaza,” Kishi told Al Jazeera.
“I just wanted to take measures for our security, as well as for customer safety, and express our disagreement with war crimes and international violations.”
Kishi said only four people have signed the promise so far – three Israelis and a Russian.
The Israeli tourist in April was the first to contest the request, he said, although some guests were surprised by the document.
“Above all, they had no objection, they looked a little confused,” said Kishi.
“The last was quite confused and upset. But he finally signed and said that he had not committed any war crime.”
In a story of his interaction with the Israeli tourist published on X last month, Kishi described the man as a pleasant guest and admitted having felt a “little sorry for him”.
“The pledge made us quite annoying, but he always greeted me every time we met,” wrote Kishi.
“He even held the door open for me while I wore my luggage. But he thought that what Israel was doing was absolutely correct and thought I had undergone brain washing to have it critical. ”
Given the number of troops deployed in Gaza, the number of victims there and the number of Israeli travelers abroad, it is statistically undeniable that those who have committed war crimes walks freely in major cities and tourist destinations in the world.
– Villa Windhouse Guest (@windvilla) May 1, 2025
The Israeli tourist, who was not appointed, shared a similar version of events with an Israeli media after his trip to Kyoto – although the Israeli report suggested that commitment was a “condition for recording”.
“In the end, I decided to sign it because I have nothing to hide,” was quoted the guest by telling Ynet News, who said that the tourist had served as a combat doctor in the naval reserves.
“The declaration is true-I did not commit any war crime, and the Israeli soldiers do not commit war crimes. I have signed because I did not want to create problems, and because this form does not mean anything,” he was quoted as.
Following the complaints of Cohen and the Israeli Embassy, Kyoto tourist authorities visited the guest house several times to investigate, said Kishi.
“At least, the authorities, both of the City and the Japanese government, do not think that it is a violation of the Hotel Act,” said Kishi, referring to the Japanese law governing public housing.
“They simply express their concerns and try to convince us to change our measures. But it is beyond their authority, so it is very indirect. ”
Kishi said he had changed the wording of the commitment to say that this would not affect the eligibility for customers to stay at Wind Villa, to avoid other incidents.
He also specified in a public letter to Cohen that the commitment requires that “all the guests that our guest house identify as having potentially been involved in war crimes to sign the form”, including those of Burundi, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Mali, Myanmar, Palestine, Russia, Syria and Sudan.
Booking.com has suspended the Wind Villa account from the April incident, although the Israeli guest used the Rival Expedia.com site to book his stay, according to Kishi.
On April 28, our guest house was suddenly suspended by Without any prior investigation, just three days after receiving a letter from the Israeli ambassador.
However, the Israeli guest in question had used a different booking site, not . pic.twitter.com/t9z2oj3GHF– Villa Windhouse Guest (@windvilla) May 1, 2025
The other Wind Villa accounts on booking sites, including Expedia.com, continue to operate as usual, said Kishi.
The government of Kyoto and the Israel Embassy in Tokyo did not respond to requests for comments from Al Jazeera.
The Japan Times cited a city official saying that Wind Villa had not violated Japanese law, but that the commitment was “inappropriate”.
Booking.com told Al Jazeera that the mission of the company “is to facilitate the experience of the world for everyone, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”
“We temporarily suspended this property so that we can investigate the issue more,” said the spokesperson.
The Wind Villa incident follows a similar event to Kyoto last year, when a local hotel refused Israeli housing on its potential links with the actions of Israel in Gaza.
The Kyoto Hotel in question has received verbal and written warnings from the city which it had acted illegally, according to Kyodo News from Japan.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told local media at the time that he was “unacceptable” for any hotel to refuse accommodation because of the nationality of a client.
“We hope that all visitors in Japan will be able to participate in various activities in Japan, feeling safe,” she said at a press conference.
