Dirty looks.

[MajideSaiaku]

I've noticed something while ive been here in japan and its this: Whenever i see another person not of ethnic japanese origin, gaijin, for a more lamen term, i get a dirty look, that kinda look as if they suspect you of nicking something small and un-important they put down, but arent sure they can openly accuse you.

I get this pretty much everytime i am spotted by another gaijin, its odd, i mean, i see and am seen by gaijin all the time when im in my home country, but for some reason since ive been here, when im spotted, im given a look, not a passing glance, not even a kinda look thats "hey another white-boy, interesting but ohwell" no i get the kinda look that speaks more like "what the hell are YOU doing here?" as if somehow ive insulted them by my very presence.

So does anyone else get these dirty looks from other foreigners in japan?, or am i just paranoid?...lol.

 

[*Ev3*]

that sounds weird, you would think they would at least be understanding cos after all they are another "gaijin" in Japan so they might think they could understand somthing of your motives .. if you had said Japanese people looked at you funny cos youre a foreiner, i could understand it better ( even though its racist ) but for other gaijin to have that reaction its a bit strange. ☝ Maybe they have a feeling youre intruding into there idlic vision of Japan , and they like to feel superior ? ( like you are "lost Japan otaku" and they are "old timer" )

 

[トラちゃん1]

Are you wearing pants at the time?

I personally don't get that. I get looks, but I look back. It's just common curiosity. Ever tried smiling at them? Most of the time they / we will smile back. I usually do it, half of the time I can get a conversation going.
I sometimes get dirty looks from the locals when I put my bad Japanese to practice.

 

[budd]

men are greedy, thats all
they grouchy because now they have to share the women in japan with yet another foreign person - jizzy said it best -- he don't need no friends babee they just try to peel him from his
just because people leave their country doesn't mean they don't take their country's ignorance with them
i get harassed by somebody from the middle east 1 out of 5 times i'm in tokyo
the safest thing to do is just to ignore them, because the japanese police will either throw both parties in jail or the one with the least skill speaking japanese...

 

[MajideSaiaku]

I bought a phrase book for my attempt at butchering the japanese language.

I'll try the smile thing sometime, it might work, maybe it is just curiosity, though i dont seem curious, i mean it doesnt seem a big deal to me to see another white or black face, i see them, alongside asian faces in my home city all the time.

maybe i am intruding on their idea of japan, most foreigner blokes who seem more like me in regards to other foreigners (ie not fussed) are with a japanese partner.

Ive thought of getting a conversation going with some gaijin but it always seemed a bit silly, just to get an english conversation, and who knows if they speak english.

ohwell, hopefully none of the dirty lookers will go a step further and fop me one in the gob.

as an interesting side-note my first introduction to a group of americans today was by a wierd vommiting sound in a super-market, me and my g/f werent sure what was going on until i heard american voices, and yeah, its my first experience of the loud group of tourist americans in japan (though not my first overall).

 

[Elizabeth]

Are you wearing pants at the time?
I personally don't get that. I get looks, but I look back.

The only ones that really bother me are looks of pity when I seem too lost or confused, or could be for whatever was forcing us both to be there at all
The most common reaction is a simple smile in comradeship and
need to re connect with one of their own. I may be equally paranoid since if I return it I always half expect to be stopped for directions or solicitation ....

 

[Gaijinian]

The first night I arrived in Japan, I saw another gaijin in a train. We exchanged smiles, and thums-up signs. We kept doing this until his train pulled away. It was pretty cool!!

 

[pipokun]

Did you wear Dragon Ball TEE shirt in a tourist place near Tokyo?
It was last summer that my first time to stare at tourists in my life.

Hope it was not my dirty look. I was just surprised.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Welcome to life in Japan!

I read a theory about this some time ago.

Basically, the foreigner becomes used to being special. He or she stands out and gets special treatment (whether he or she realizes this or not). After a while the foreigner starts to believe that he or she is part of the Japanese "wa".

Then, another foreigner comes along. The first foreigner's "wa" is shattered, and he or she is reminded that he or she is not really so special after all.

To try to maintain the "wa", our foreigner hero will ignore or otherwise try to remove the new foreigner from the picture.

I don't know whether you can say this theory is accurate, but it probably is for some people.

But I think that in Japan, you shouldn't really care about what other foreigners think about you. You're not in Japan for their sake, after all.

If you really want a support group of other foreigners, there are many resources out there for you to exploit.

I know you've had a lot of awakenings, Nurizeko, recently, but this is the world we live in. Good luck!

 

[MajideSaiaku]

Heh cheers for the advice, the only time ive met a friendly gaijin was another brit at narita ariport, we joked about showing the japanese how professional waiters stand in line, lol (theres a joke or somethnig where if you stand in a british street and look up, people will wait in line behind you for their turn to look up and see what the deal is).

Next time i see a gaijin i'll be sure to shoot a "hey buddy, woot japan" kinda smile or a thumbs up.

The funny thing is i dont feel like a foreigner here, i still feel british and stuff but japan doesnt feel so disconnected and alien to me as i expected.
Plus im fairly short for a gaijin and i have black hair and dark eyes so with a cap on i can blend in more easily then some of the giant blonde blokes who i sometimes see.


I do wonder sometimes if ive seen some of the gaijin living in japan here who come to jref....
As for a support group, im fine, i got jref to rant on in english with.

I did flick though a book at a bookstore here called "you know you've been too long in japan when..." i wish i had bought it now, it was pretty bloody funny and true in many cases.

".....when your idea of a park is a bench under a tree on an 8 by 8 metre patch of dirt."

or ".....when you rush onto the train because the next one wont be for another whole FOUR MINUTES."

Heh.
If any of you spot a dark haired bloke with glasses and stussy clothing, and being harrassed by a wavey haired short japanese girl with a jacket with white fluffy trim, assume its me, and feel free to talk to me.

The codeword is "jref".

lool.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Yeah, but my policy is not to talk to anyone I wouldn't talk to anyway.

What?!?! you ask?

I don't feel comraderie with other non-Japanese people in Japan based purely on the fact that we both happen to be non-Japanese people living in Japan. And actually, I get offended sometimes when someone assumes that we should be friends only because we are both white.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I don't see any reason why I should treat people differently in Japan than anywhere else. I don't go around to every non-Japanese person in America and try to be their friend. Why should I do so in Japan?

However, if we were to arrange a meeting and such, I would be more than happy to talk and etc. But it would be the same anywhere else, too.

If we were to randomly meet in Japan, I don't think I would give you a dirty look, but I probably wouldn't really acknowledge your presence any more than you would acknowledge the next random bloke you met in London.

I hope you can understand this.

But seriously, next time you make it to Japan, let me know. It would be fun to meet up!

 

[MajideSaiaku]

Yeah, but my policy is not to talk to anyone I wouldn't talk to anyway.
What?!?! you ask?
I don't feel comraderie with other non-Japanese people in Japan based purely on the fact that we both happen to be non-Japanese people living in Japan. And actually, I get offended sometimes when someone assumes that we should be friends only because we are both white.
I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I don't see any reason why I should treat people differently in Japan than anywhere else. I don't go around to every non-Japanese person in America and try to be their friend. Why should I do so in Japan?
However, if we were to arrange a meeting and such, I would be more than happy to talk and etc. But it would be the same anywhere else, too.
If we were to randomly meet in Japan, I don't think I would give you a dirty look, but I probably wouldn't really acknowledge your presence any more than you would acknowledge the next random bloke you met in London.
I hope you can understand this.
But seriously, next time you make it to Japan, let me know. It would be fun to meet up!

No worries Mik,ﾂ i understand completely what you mean, i have the same policy, but, indeed, if im ever expecting to be in your corner of japan i'll conisidor a meet-up, lol.

 

[Tireich]

I'll be sure to let you know if it happens to me when I go. I'll probably get looks anyway considering I'm freakishly tall. I'm used to it.

 

[RockLee]

I only stare at assholes who think they're king in Japan and treat the Japanese badly by making fun of them.

 

[Pachipro]

Dutch Baka posted a thread similar to this called "Gaijin Greets" and may have some relevance to this one.

 

[Mitsuo]

People here in the United States are unpredictible. They might seem nice but there not. They look mean, but their not. It's a confusing world.

 

[Live91]

I've noticed something while ive been here in japan and its this: Whenever i see another person not of ethnic japanese origin, gaijin, for a more lamen term, i get a dirty look, that kinda look as if they suspect you of nicking something small and un-important they put down, but arent sure they can openly accuse you.
I get this pretty much everytime i am spotted by another gaijin, its odd, i mean, i see and am seen by gaijin all the time when im in my home country, but for some reason since ive been here, when im spotted, im given a look, not a passing glance, not even a kinda look thats "hey another white-boy, interesting but ohwell" no i get the kinda look that speaks more like "what the hell are YOU doing here?" as if somehow ive insulted them by my very presence.
So does anyone else get these dirty looks from other foreigners in japan?, or am i just paranoid?...lol.

That's strange, I'm actually very interested in foreigners, they're fascinating~ >.> I don 't see why they would look at you this way.I'd be so glad! I'd sit down and find an excuse to talk and exchange e-mails or something.
(Yes, I'm a social freak ^^)

 

[Live91]

I only stare at assholes who think they're king in Japan and treat the Japanese badly by making fun of them.

People in my country do that to! It's horrible!They think they're so cool it's pathetic. Then they wonder why they're not welcomed..psht. I mean when you go in someone else's house do you act like a king and literaly make yourself comfortable? or are you polite and respectful?

 

[gaijinalways]

If we were to randomly meet in Japan, I don't think I would give you a dirty look, but I probably wouldn't really acknowledge your presence any more than you would acknowledge the next random bloke you met in London.

Some of the foreigners living in Tokyo tend to do this. From what I've heard, in areas where the resident gaijin population is small and usually everybody know everybody who has lived there for more than a year, you can't risk it.

Personally, it would be odd in most places except the States where some people just chat in line for waiting for something to pass the time.

I have met a few people too that think that talking Japanese all the time is cool (even when there are no Japanese speakers there!). This sort are not much better.

 

[MoBay]

This thread is funny. When I see s gaijin as I am one myself I really don't know what to do. And why the hell do I have to do anything. Why should i seek some solidarity or acknowlegement from a complete stranger unless the situation calls for it. I will do nothing unless they do something. It is the monumental standoff in effect. A bit like the a gun fight, let them draw first. Black people in general don't really have this problem they acknowlege each other all the time even if they have never met. It is a kind of silent collective recognition of us against them because we know they are struggling with the concept of us.

 

[Gentleman10]

I think this may be true in terms of a "Self-hating Jew" sense. I noticed once not the center of attention, many of my foreign high school friends would instantly start reverting to pessmisic attitudes about Japan. I think my saving grace was that I did my best to try and normalize myself within the society, and that I felt good about myself whenever I *didn't* get special attention as a 6 ft 4in black man in Japan.
I think it's funny how some foreiners have a "Power Struggle" over there, it seems like a sense of insecurity that they tend to release when not in their home country. I will admit, the foreigners I *did* envy, though, were those who could speak near fluently and got along without any flukes in the stores like I did, because I wanted to be "normal" like them as well.

--
This thread reminds me of when I just finished my after school Basketball practice walking home with my clubmates, and randomly here comes this American guy in a shirt with an American flag on it waving at me saying "Happy July 4th!". Suprisingly (sadly?) it reminded me that it was my country's Independence day, and I had gone through the entire day completely going about my Japanese routine...

 

[Jpstw]

Black people in general don't really have this problem they acknowlege each other all the time even if they have never met. It is a kind of silent collective recognition of us against them because we know they are struggling with the concept of us.

yeah something like that lol
at least in the United States, its hard to go through the stuggle lol

 

[包龙星]

I think you misunderstood most of them~

 

[Davey]

I think you misunderstood most of them~

Explain your post. Don't post one sentence that does not contribute to the discussion

 

[Nall-ohki]

I know in my case, when I lived in Akita, where foreigners were extremely scarce, it confused the heck out of me to see a foreigner that I didn't know.

Also, there was a weird feeling in general: I felt like what are you doing here?

It's similar to what was mentioned earlier; perhaps it interrupted my wa, but that wasn't entirely it.

I think it was in part an effect of socialization - foreigners were rare things, things to be stared at. Somehow after a period of time, this was imprinted upon me without reference to the fact that I, myself, was a foreigner.

There's probably not a single reason for what you describe, but a lot of different reasons for different people.