Do I even want to go to Japan anymore?

[Nuala]

Japan is the best country and i'd do anything to go there....but now i'm kind of scared to go there. After hearing things like people point and whisper to foreigners, and the police putting signs that say "beware of foreigners" in public places. When (or if) I do go to Japan, will I even have one moment of a good time (besides being in my hotel room) without racism?

You have to realize that a bunch of gaijin go to Japan, and really **** up reputations for the good gaijin who want to live peacefully in Japan. US Armed Forces personal refuse to pay bills, and generally **** around Japan like it's a playground for them. There are so many reasons why the Japanese should hate us, but I'm just glad they put up signs like, "beware of gaijin". It could be much worse.

 

[Mike Cash]

US Armed Forces personal refuse to pay bills

Would you care to back up that statement?

 

[duff_o_josh]

worst thing to happen to me so far is having a man pay for dinner :S funny doesnt seem that bad to me...but its the worst i say!!!!


ahh actually i have heard things about the armed forces with credit cards, getting them and leaving substantial amounts to be payed.

 

[JNell83]

Yikes! I'm glad I talked my husband out of going there in a military capacity, since the military doesn't seem to behave themselves over there!

I went over this site, reading the information, and while it made me a little apprehensive I generally took it with a grain of salt. Life isn't puppies and cotton candy, and anywhere you go may have some down sides. But how good or bad of a time you have there is all up to you.

I'm planning on moving there in a couple years (when I have my degree), but I haven't been to visit. However, my brother was there for 3 weeks with the military, and while he was a little ashamed of his fellow soldiers, he said that if you treat the Japanese people and their culture with respect you won't have any problems - problem is, many foreigners ESPECIALLY Americans don't act that way, and probably cause many of the negative feelings towards gaijin. Of course, if you're here, I'm gonna bet you have some respect for Japan . But my brother's this giant guy who stands out in a crowd even in America, and has a pretty icky temper, and if he didn't get bugged over there I don't know who really would. So I'm sure it can't be all that bad as it sounds in some of the articles on here.

Don't worry too much!

 

[Brooker]

I rarely got stared at. I must be scarry looking or something. As far as, "Oh I'm afraid people might stare at me," goes, toughen up dude. Who cares.

 

[cicatriz esp]

I rarely got stared at. I must be scarry looking or something. As far as, "Oh I'm afraid people might stare at me," goes, toughen up dude. Who cares.

Staring is fine if you're used to it. I was more remarking on the fact that it happened a lot more in Japan than in Thailand, when I would have thought the opposite would be true.

 

[Nuala]

Would you care to back up that statement?

I'm not saying it was recent or anything, I'm sure they pay their bills now, but my uncle constantly refused to pay his bills while stationed in Japan, not a very bright side of my family, but it's true. I wasn't bashing the armed forces, ^^.

 

[Mike Cash]

So from the actions of your uncle you come up with an irresponsible broadbrushed smear of tens of thousands of people who do behave responsibly. Nice.

 

[Bramicus]

Ease up, dude. It's a common mistake to extrapolate from one or a few bad examples to an entire class. A gentle reminder is called for perhaps, not a sledgehammer.

 

[Mike Cash]

I'm one of those tens of thousands who gets irresponsibly sprayed, so I reserve the right to take offense to whatever degree I feel appropriate.

 

[Tim33]

Thank god you got rid of that picture of that ugly git Mikecash.
No offence if that was you btw

 

[Mike Cash]

Same guy. It's amazing what a little grooming can accomplish.

 

[Bramicus]

You look like a thin man. ;-)

 

[Mike Cash]

And you, dear friend, look like a Greek god.

 

[TyPe-ZeRo]

I hope you haven't gotten a negative image of Japan from Jref. Although negative issues get alot of attention here, it's important to realize Jref is not an accurate reflection of Japan. It's just a reflection of individual's opinions. (Many of whom have never even been to Japan.)

My advice is go and see for yourself. I've lived in Japan for over two years now, and my positive experiences ridiculously outweigh and negative ones I've had. Form your own opinion, and don't be scared to go against what others have said. That doesn't mean ignore everything you read on Jref; there are many experienced people here who you can learn from. But as Uncle Frank says, be prepared to take some things with a grain surger.

Don't be discouraged!

I was in Japan for three hours, and I really don't want to add to the negativity of this thread, but I have to say that I did get pointed and laughed at. But theres a reason behind it, of which was me saying out loud at a duty-free store in Japan "Hey! They have Pokemon cookies here, the heck?" and two kids (Japanese, age 5-8) were pointing and laughing at me. But whatever, its not like i'm going to cry about it, and neither should you. Bad things are everywhere, though bad things get more attention than good things.

 

[Brooker]

I was in Japan for three hours, and I really don't want to add to the negativity of this thread, but I have to say that I did get pointed and laughed at. But theres a reason behind it, of which was me saying out loud at a duty-free store in Japan "Hey! They have Pokemon cookies here, the heck?" and two kids (Japanese, age 5-8) were pointing and laughing at me. But whatever, its not like i'm going to cry about it, and neither should you. Bad things are everywhere, though bad things get more attention than good things.

I would have laughed at you too. That would be like a Japanese guy coming to America and saying, "Look! They have McDonald's here."

 

[duff_o_josh]

I rarely got stared at. I must be scarry looking or something. As far as, "Oh I'm afraid people might stare at me," goes, toughen up dude. Who cares.

on tuesday i got conjuctivitis, now people stare at me because i have to wear an eyepatch

and mr cash isnt that clark gable as your avatar?

 

[Meshane]

It's fun being the center of attention all the time. People always look at me especially when I'm wearing my school uniform and I like it...most of the time. Only bad part about standing out is that it's difficult to go unnoticed. No one's been mean to me at all so don't worry about it.

 

[Meshane]

What's up with the eyepatches over here in Japan anyway? I always see people wearing them. People catching some kind of virus or they just banging their eyes into stuff?

 

[duff_o_josh]

its the same as face masks. just polite. i have to wear mine because i work with children and conjuctivitis is very contagious..

 

[deadhippo]

What's up with the eyepatches over here in Japan anyway? I always see people wearing them. People catching some kind of virus or they just banging their eyes into stuff?

well after pirates of the carribean there was a pirate boom
so mothers have started to send their children to pirate school
in japan, you see, there is a fine line between fantasy and reality
the mothers have johnny depp crushes and they think that if their children grow up to be pirates like johnny perhaps one day they would bring johnny home for green tea and rice cakes
and if johnny came he may be able to convince Orli (Orlando Bloom) to come too
young girls wear eyepatches just in case they bump into johnny or orli on the high seas or perhaps perusing the high fashion in shibuya
they are trying to fool him into thinking they too are pirates

also the media have also started promoting this fad
the rumour is they were pressured into it from some select governent officials who believe that having johnny in japan would increase morale and if they are really lucky that he would invest his vast booty in the ailing supermarket chain Daiei
but thats just speculation

 

[King of Tokyo]

well after pirates of the carribean there was a pirate boom
so mothers have started to send their children to pirate school
in japan, you see, there is a fine line between fantasy and reality
the mothers have johnny depp crushes and they think that if their children grow up to be pirates like johnny perhaps one day they would bring johnny home for green tea and rice cakes
and if johnny came he may be able to convince Orli (Orlando Bloom) to come too
young girls wear eyepatches just in case they bump into johnny or orli on the high seas or perhaps perusing the high fashion in shibuya
they are trying to fool him into thinking they too are pirates

also the media have also started promoting this fad
the rumour is they were pressured into it from some select governent officials who believe that having johnny in japan would increase morale and if they are really lucky that he would invest his vast booty in the ailing supermarket chain Daiei
but thats just speculation

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Mike Cash]

on tuesday i got conjuctivitis, now people stare at me because i have to wear an eyepatch

It's going around. My son missed three days of school because of it last week. How much he missed them, I haven't asked.

and mr cash isnt that clark gable as your avatar?

Ronald Colman

 

[duff_o_josh]

It's going around. My son missed three days of school because of it last week. How much he missed them, I haven't asked.



Ronald Colman

haha i have no clue, too youngﾂ to know i guess.... a plus side to this cunjuctivitis is that i learned what its called in japanese 窶堋ｯ窶堙や?堙懌?堋ｭ窶堋ｦ窶堙ｱ

 

[Mike Cash]

If you want to amuse your Japanese acquaintances, call it 窶堋ｨ窶堋ｵ窶堙ｨ窶堙懌?堋ｭ窶堋ｦ窶堙ｱ