- 8 Aug 2005
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I'm often mistaken for an American. I'm from California.
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I'm often mistaken for an American. I'm from California.
I am American, and in my time in Japan, I have been mistaken for being French and Czhechoslovakian.
This has really scarred you for life, it would appear.
Every neighbourhood in Tokyo has its lot of Denny's, Jonathan's, Subways, Mr Doughnuts, Starbucks, Tully's, McDonald's, KFC's, Wendy's, 7-Eleven, and so on and so forth.
Ahh yes, the horrors of American influence!
I learned a lot about American culture in Japan.
You have got to be kidding me. And you rag on Japanese people for the simplistic conclusions they draw.
To this day no non-American foreign bank is allowed to operate in Japan.
Umm, pretty sure America has nothing to do with those rules.
I am not the only European who felt like Japan was the 51st US state. I just wanted to be a European interacting with Japanese people and their culture, not being reminded all the time that the USA and Americans were everywhere and asked how I did things back in America. That's not why I came to Japan. So yes, you could say that it left some scars and degraded my experience in the country.
Wow, you truly allowed your dislike of America to ruin your experience here in Japan. Japan has indeed been influenced by America. But Japan is Japan man. It is not America. The people are their own nation and they do things their way. I would think that is something that would have become clear to you after living here for 5 years.
Yeah, we're everywhere, taking over the place...even though we represent only about 2.5% of the entire foreign population here (and that doesn't count our boys and girls on military bases).I had no idea, before coming to Japan, that the country was so much under American influence. It's not just that there are so many Americans in big cities
As are businesses from other countries.but that American businesses are everywhere.
What restriction is that? No other country is allowed to operate any kind of business in Japan? Kinda hard to believe. BMW, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, etc. Perhaps JETRO sent 2,766 surveys to erroneous foreign companies in Japan in 2007. http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/s...rch='foreign pharmaceutical companies japan'95% of the Japanese I met who worked for foreign companies worked for American companies (because of the legal restrictions on other foreign companies to be allowed to operate in Japan).
Then why does Wikipedia list 67 foreign banks in Japan?To this day no non-American foreign bank is allowed to operate in Japan.
Perhaps, but you certainly seem to have something against the USA here, not Japan. Why is that?I am not the only European who felt like Japan was the 51st US state.
Earlier you indicated your peeve was being told not to behave like a Japanese here. So, interact! I would think that being married to a Japanese wife would have given you some insight and advantage into how to live and adapt here for the 5 years you spent in Tokyo. Apparently she is not very traditional...?I just wanted to be a European interacting with Japanese people and their culture, not being reminded all the time that the USA and Americans were everywhere and asked how I did things back in America. That's not why I came to Japan. .
Sorry, I didn't ask. Nonetheless, it happened all the same. Believe me, I was quite unprepared for that.How on earth would a Japanese think of asking you if you are Czechoslovak ? (especially it is a nationality that ceased to exist 17 years ago)
What restriction is that? No other country is allowed to operate any kind of business in Japan? Kinda hard to believe. BMW, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, etc. Perhaps JETRO sent 2,766 surveys to erroneous foreign companies in Japan in 2007. http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/s...rch='foreign pharmaceutical companies japan'
Your slip is showing.
Then why does Wikipedia list 67 foreign banks in Japan?
Perhaps, but you certainly seem to have something against the USA here, not Japan. Why is that?
Earlier you indicated your peeve was being told not to behave like a Japanese here. So, interact! I would think that being married to a Japanese wife would have given you some insight and advantage into how to live and adapt here for the 5 years you spent in Tokyo. Apparently she is not very traditional...?
As for this "interacting" thing, I have tried to be nice and have repeated asked you to clarify this beef of yours. Yet, you continue to ignore me. Now, I would politely like to ask (again) for you to read my earlier questions and answer them. You are bordering on being labeled a troll.
Not especially. The only thing I am ranting about is that the overwhelming presence of Americans among Westerners in Japan give a false American image to all Westerners. Because Americans are much more likely to be monolingual, they give the impression that Westerners in Japan rarely speak Japanese.
Americans are also much more likely of exporting their American lifestyle when living abroad than Europeans. It's not just true in Japan, but also in Europe. I see here in Brussels that many relocation companies care almost exclusively to the needs of American expats because they are almost the only ones who need to feel as if they hadn't left the USA. Brussels is the EU capital and NATO headquarters, so there are several thousand Americans, but many time more European expats. I know for being in frequent contact with the expat community here that Americans are the least likely to learn French or Dutch (or even try) and do the less effort to adapt and try to understand the local ways and customs.
It's a well known fact around the world that Americans try to impose their ways rather than learn from others. Why do you think that is constantly the Japanese who have to speak English with their American colleagues or business partners and almost never the other way round ? It's the same in Europe too.
So what I am trying to say is that I tried hard to adapt to Japanese ways from the very moment I arrived in Japan (well, actually preparing a few months before as I didn't want people to laugh at me if I couldn't ask my way around in Japanese), but my efforts were in great part undermined by the Japanese image of the typical American behaviour in Japan, and so treated me as if I was an American. It made it harder for me to integrate because I always needed to explain to new people I met that I wasn't American and that I preferred to speak Japanese than English, that I preferred to eat Japanese food than hamburgers, that I wanted chopsticks and not a fork and knife, that I didn't mind having a menu in Japanese (even if I needed my electronic dictionary at the beginning), that I was ready to make the effort of sitting in seiza position despite my long legs, and that I was also brought up to remove my shoes when entering a house.
I blame Americans for that, more than the Japanese. Well, it would obviously be unfair to blame all American residents and visitors to Japan for that. There are always exceptions, but it is only because so many Americans have behaved like this that the Japanese associate it with the way Westerners are. I am sure that they are also Europeans who go to Japan and act as if they were home or expect people to speak to them in their own language and provide them the same food, accommodation or services as they would find "back home", but they are the minority in Europe.
There aren't any counter-arguments. Japan is under such influence.He argues that Japan is under a heavy American influence. I don't really see any viable counter-arguments here, only a bunch of people whining and whinging.
You yourself have started threads recently citing how the Chinese treat Western foreigners and how it is similar to the Japanese. Is that because of the huge American influence there too? In reality I think your complaints about American influence in Japan are unfounded, because you most likely would still have found yourself facing the same/similar stereotypes and same barriers in your quest to fit in with the Japanese regardless.
Attempts to get him to pinpoint his concern have failed.
Don't mix up everything. The passages I quoted from Mark Kitto's book China Cuckoo were about people pointing at Westerners (laowai) as if they were attractions, and the Chinese self-consciousness about the use of chopsticks, which is the same as in Japan. But I didn't say anything about Europeans being perceived as Americans in China. I only went on two short trips to China, so my experience won't account for much in the comparison. However I travelled for 3 months around South-East Asia and 6 months in India and was perhaps only asked twice (in Thailand if I recall well) if I was American. In the 8 countries I visited people just asked where I came from instead of saying "Are you American ?" or just assuming I am and ask "how about this or that in America ?" as they often do in Japan.
I only stayed 5 days in South Korea and was mistaken twice for an American ! I suspect that Koreans are pretty much like the Japanese in this regard, because the American influence as big (the percentage of Americans from the total of Westerners is actually higher, I think).
Note that I am not complaining about being called a gaijin in Japan. Although it happens all the time and can be annoying, I have come to accept it as an inevitable part of being a Westerner in Japan (or in East Asia, as the phenomenon is basically the same is other countries). I actually prefer to be called a gaijin than an American. Better be neutral about one's nationality than mistaken. I have realised that the Japanese understand that quite well if you ask them how they feel about being mistaken for Chinese when travelling abroad. I told them I feel something similar about being called an American. It works wonder.