Question about Japan

[TheRundownRabbit]

A friend of mine came back from two years of studying in Japan and he told me something interesting, he said that he wasn't allowed to go to most conventions there because he was American or something. Is this true? Is it some sort of language barrier?

PS: My mind has been all over the place (finals and all) so this might be a stupid question.

 

[Grospoliner]

Japanese are notoriously nationalistic and much of the "old guard" are incredibly racist. Mostly though I suspect he was a victim of intimidation by individuals seeking to assert their dominance in the face of what they perceive to be a threat to their masculinity. They can hardly "disallow" him entry into a public location from a legal stand point. The Japanese are however, very subservient to authority, so if he would have in fact challenged the authority of the people telling him he can't there's a chance they could very well have called the police on him, though whether or not the police actually care is something else all together.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Yes, there's a language barrier. Yes, you occasionally get stared at. No, the cops don't treat you like garbage (when I lost my passport I had an awesome talk with a cop in Ueno that looked almost like Beat Takeshi). No, no one cares how you dress or look depending what scene you're in. Yes, you can buy Asahi Super Dry in certain Konbinis in these awesome tankard like mug-thing thermoses. Yes, Japanese are actually lazier than people make them out to be. Yes, you can smoke in restaurants and in the Odd numbered Shinkansen carriages (or is it even numbered? I can't remember <.<). Yes you can only smoke in registered smoker's locations, and you're not allowed to walk around with a lit cigarette. And Yes, Japanese people aren't short, only the girls (though that might be an exaggeration <.<).

Oh and most places you can go, but there's a good reason why certain conventions you just don't go to ... unless you like waiting for hours on end, and like being smacked about constantly.

Oh and if you're 5'10'' or taller, wear sunglasses when it rains ... it will save you the occasional eye injury. Umbrellas hurt.

 

[Turtleboy1017]

I'm Japanese American. I have never once seen Japanese people segregate like that. There may be a language barrier, but if you can speak it well enough, you will receive more positive attention than negative.

 

[Toriver]

There are certain establishments here in Japan that don't allow foreigners, but they're very few and far between, and I've never heard of something as big as a convention discriminating. It's a bit more common for some places to give foreigners crappy service or even deny them discounts or charge them more for things to express displeasure at having to serve them, but that's quite rare too. Discrimination is illegal here, but unless someone actually presses charges in court, some businesses will do it anyway and even get away with it if the victim complains to the cops. One form of discrimination that actually is legal is in finding housing. Landlords here are completely allowed to refuse to rent out a place to foreigners on grounds of nationality, and a good half of them exercise that "right".

But really, in 3 and a half years here and all the places I've been to, I've only ever seen one or two Japanese-only places and have only suspected that one business ever gave me subpar service on account of my race. I've never experienced direct, overt expressions of racism here. Some people, especially in smaller towns, can be intimidated by foreigners, but many of them are just shy by nature and putting a language and culture barrier between us only makes them less likely to speak up. The great majority of Japanese people I've met have been very friendly and a pleasure to get to know and work with. In that sense, I am very glad to have come here. I certainly do have problems with life here, but few, if any, have anything to do with racism.

 

[tobi the good boy]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

 

[tobi the good boy]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

No, this like saying "you want to keep me out, make sure you can back up your mouth"

Except you're labeling an entire race as 'xenophobic' and then proceeding to promote your desire to incite fear and hate upon them ... I'm pretty certain my analogy worked perfectly fine.

 

[ckam]

The Japanese have been known to be incredibly racist and basically putting down groups that aren't "normal". Homosexuals, anime fans, video game fans, women, Asians of other countries, etc.

There's a lot that they have to fix. It's sad, but true. Also, before anyone accuses me of being bigoted or something, I recognize that many other countries and cultures have this problem too; like most Asians hate other Asians.

 

[tobi the good boy]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

No, this like saying "you want to keep me out, make sure you can back up your mouth"

Except you're labeling an entire race as 'xenophobic' and then proceeding to promote your desire to incite fear and hate upon them ... I'm pretty certain my analogy worked perfectly fine.

Yahtzee's words

I don't incite fear, I'm just saying if you want to keep me out of a function you'd better be willing to physically keep me out.

And given my deployment to Okinawa where I witnessed first hand the xenophobia, I would say I'm more qualified to to speak about the race than you unless you spent more than 6 months there.

Forgive me for believing that no one is able to justify an entire race's state of mind/perceptions. I looked at your avatar and assumed you were one of those Bronies. Aren't they supposed to promote 'Love and tolerance'?

 

[Archangel768]

It's interesting to see the different stories I hear about peoples time in Japan. It always ends up having people on either side of the fence. Some that experienced a lot of racism and others that didn't. I've also heard stories that black people usually have a harder time there as well. I wonder how much it is to do with the locations in the country as I've heard some places that don't have as many foreigners visit are worse because they're not used to it etc.

I guess I'll find out eventually for myself one day as in a couple of months I'll be starting my major in the Japanese language and I'll get the opportunity to study there as a part of my degree.

 

[Toriver]

Umm, usmarine, I hate to bring up the issue, but you're dealing with Okinawa and the bases there. And I hate to say this, too, but the marines on Okinawa pretty much have the worst reputation as foreigners in Japan for their treatment of the locals, even among the other servicemen I've spoken to here. Not saying you personally engage in anything dubious, but I've heard horror stories. When I was in Okinawa a couple years ago for New Years, I was chatting with some Navy guys stationed there, and they said there's places on the island they won't go to avoid association with the marines. Not to mention that the bases are terribly unpopular with the locals to begin with, evenif they are necessary. The issue even got Prime Minister Hatoyama kicked out of office for not standing up to Obama and demanding they be moved to Guam. You probably weren't treated badly for being American in general, but for being a member of the Marine Corps in Okinawa. I, and pretty much all the other foreigners here I know, military or not, have been treated very well in general by the Japanese. Honestly, I both expected and dealt with more racism for being American in Europe than in Japan. The Spanish weren't exactly the most pleasant hosts.

 

[tobi the good boy]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

No, this like saying "you want to keep me out, make sure you can back up your mouth"

Except you're labeling an entire race as 'xenophobic' and then proceeding to promote your desire to incite fear and hate upon them ... I'm pretty certain my analogy worked perfectly fine.

Yahtzee's words

I don't incite fear, I'm just saying if you want to keep me out of a function you'd better be willing to physically keep me out.

And given my deployment to Okinawa where I witnessed first hand the xenophobia, I would say I'm more qualified to to speak about the race than you unless you spent more than 6 months there.

Forgive me for believing that no one is able to justify an entire race's state of mind/perceptions. I looked at your avatar and assumed you were one of those Bronies. Aren't they supposed to promote 'Love and tolerance'?

See, that's the politically correct stuff they taught you in school, but unfortunately, it doesn't always apply.
As unpleasant as it is, certain stereotypes hold truth to them.

Am I going to say that every single Japanese person is xenophobic and racist?
Of course not.

However, they have a distinct culture, and that culture, generally speaking, rejects foreigners and foreign influence.
That's why they maintain such a strong and distinct national identity.
Truth is, many Japanese people are racists.
I'm not just being bigoted either. The nation that I come from also has many racists.
A lot of nations are populated by racist. Just because people are accepting where you live do not assume that it is like that everywhere else.

You see very few non japanese in japan, and even fewer white people.
There's plenty of opportunity for racism to exist on a nation wide scale.

I wish I was taught to be politically correct in school (Very staunch Catholic Schools have some skewed views) And while I admit you're very likely to be correct, I was referencing the absoluteness of his statement in aiming at the entire race. If he had said "A great deal of them that I had met are Xenophobic dicks" I'd not have an issue. Exaggeration leads to conflict where it shouldn't need to arise.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I honestly had no idea that Japan had a racism problem.

I thought that they were all about respecting others and shit like that.

 

[floppylobster]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

No, this like saying "you want to keep me out, make sure you can back up your mouth"

Except you're labeling an entire race as 'xenophobic' and then proceeding to promote your desire to incite fear and hate upon them ... I'm pretty certain my analogy worked perfectly fine.

Yahtzee's words

I don't incite fear, I'm just saying if you want to keep me out of a function you'd better be willing to physically keep me out.

And given my deployment to Okinawa where I witnessed first hand the xenophobia, I would say I'm more qualified to to speak about the race than you unless you spent more than 6 months there.

I have spent more than 6 months there and Okinawa is a completely different place from mainland Japan. Besides that, are you really surprised that some Japanese are not happy about having an American military base on their island? (Especially in light of some of the behavior of the troops when off-base?) I'm sure you're aware of the history of the island in World War 2 as well (when the Japanese mainland pretty much abandoned them too). I'm not saying you have to agree with their suspicions of 'outsiders' but you must surely be able to understand where such feelings might have originated from.

 

[Silvianoshei]

The Japanese are the most xenophobic dicks on the planet. I'd like to go there because of my 6 years of frontline experience... see how scared they really are of violence

Isn't that sort of like saying "I want to go stab every game developer on the planet in the face because they promote violence"?

No, this like saying "you want to keep me out, make sure you can back up your mouth"

Except you're labeling an entire race as 'xenophobic' and then proceeding to promote your desire to incite fear and hate upon them ... I'm pretty certain my analogy worked perfectly fine.

Yahtzee's words

I don't incite fear, I'm just saying if you want to keep me out of a function you'd better be willing to physically keep me out.

And given my deployment to Okinawa where I witnessed first hand the xenophobia, I would say I'm more qualified to to speak about the race than you unless you spent more than 6 months there.

I have spent more than 6 months there and Okinawa is a completely different place from mainland Japan. Besides that, are you really surprised that some Japanese are not happy about having an American military base on their island? (Especially in light of some of the behavior of the troops when off-base?) I'm sure you're aware of the history of the island in World War 2 as well (when the Japanese mainland pretty much abandoned them too). I'm not saying you have to agree with their suspicions of 'outsiders' but you must surely be able to understand where such feelings might have originated from.

This. Okinawa is COMPLETELY different from mainland Japan. Tokyo is also different from the rest of the country. In many respects it's not all that different from NYC, except some places are a LOT seedier in Tokyo. Plus the US doesn't have the Shinkansen (JEALOUSY). Shit can be really expensive, but the hotel room I was staying in provided a DS, which was SICK.

 

[Rednog]

It is funny when people come to the realization that people all over the world are racists to one degree or another.
I've been around Europe, South Africa, Malasia, and Japan (only for 2 weeks).
And most of those places there was always someone who was anti american or anti white.
Sad how the states gets demonized when other countries are just as bad or worse.

 

[TorqueConverter]

I have no personal experience with nation of Japan. I've met their people and they are as good as anyone else, but my impressions of Japan is that there are indeed a nation of Nationalistic and, at times, overtly raciest people. I have not gotten these impression from the people I have met, but from the internet. They only drive Japanese cars, only purchase Japanese products, strongly support JDM industry and strongly disapprove of interracial marriage. It's as if they are 1950s Americans but in Japan in 2011. Doesn't Toyota in this day and age forbid anyone non Japanese from being on the board executives?

 

[Toriver]

I have spent more than 6 months there and Okinawa is a completely different place from mainland Japan. Besides that, are you really surprised that some Japanese are not happy about having an American military base on their island? (Especially in light of some of the behavior of the troops when off-base?) I'm sure you're aware of the history of the island in World War 2 as well (when the Japanese mainland pretty much abandoned them too). I'm not saying you have to agree with their suspicions of 'outsiders' but you must surely be able to understand where such feelings might have originated from.

This. Okinawa is COMPLETELY different from mainland Japan. Tokyo is also different from the rest of the country. In many respects it's not all that different from NYC, except some places are a LOT seedier in Tokyo. Plus the US doesn't have the Shinkansen (JEALOUSY). Shit can be really expensive, but the hotel room I was staying in provided a DS, which was SICK.

Just throwing in my endorsement of these two statements as well, as they are very good points to also take into consideration. In other words, this is just a very long way to say "this".

 

[Zeren]

I stayed in Tokyo for a month and never once encountered something like that. They were all the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I don't even speak Japanese, but that didn't seem to phase them at all.

 

[thiosk]

What "conventions" are we talking about here?