How does one grow to love Japan?

[xerxes99]

Last time I was in Hong Kong I saw ads for Darlie everytime I used the subway.

 

[taehyun]

First, congratulations!Hope you and your girl be happy as in a fairy tale! :romance:

But... how can I love a country that has no laws against racism, and even upholds racist points of view?

Actually there are, but nobody tells you.Just go and ask in the immigration office, or if there is something like international centre...
For example, many Japanese would say - "Gaijin-san, of course you...

- need to always carry a gaijin card, you're a gaijin!!"

They need some ID with photo and current address. If you have drivers license it will do . And the guy who had told you that it has to be alien registration card is just

- can't go into that nomiya, perhaps the landlord can't speak English!"

Good reason to learn Japanese

- can't apply for an apartment, the other tennants might get worried!"

Actually, I know organizations who are fighting now such preudices.Ask your Japanese friends to apply instead of you!

- should be fingerprinted at the airport, we don't want terrorists in Japan!"

So does the US, and EU

- shouldn't get angry if a kid yells 'kusai gaijin' at you and their mother giggles."

A kid annoys me>I look at the kid>then look at its mom>Mom grabs the kid and flees>me giggles Try this!

- should go home if you don't like our laws!"

In the US it's different?

- can't have this job at this MacDonald's- you're western so the customers might be scared!" (this happened to the 17 year old daughter of an American friend... and she's perfectly fluent in Japanese.)

racial discrimination exists under many forms all over the world. But if you feel discriminated, last thing to do is to wheep-only when everything you tried has cushed in the wall of racial discrimination!There are places where you can claim your rights, and you'll be protected.

1) stop whining and put up with the discrimination & ignorance? (if so, how??? Do they remove their emotion chip?)

Even my cat knows when to hold back and when to fight.Fight where is a chance to win, and just avoid and ignore everything else. This one learns fast in Japan.

2) come round to the "it's not the Japanese fault, they were cut off from the world for 200 years, bless 'em" point of view?

Actually 500.In order to prevent riots, Nobunaga Oda (warlord from 16th c) closed the villages and decreased the comunication network)
Love Japan not because it is so and so, but simply because it has given birth of one woderful creature-the woman you love!

 

[Gaijinian]

There was a period ( 1960's-1970's ? ) in Chinese-dominated consumer markets in the Far East,one tooth paste brand literally means " black people's tooth paste " with shoulder-head photo of an extremely-black smiling exposed teeth African.
This was the brand my family purchased in those days.

Don't forget about ﾃｼKﾂ人, the brand my family uses.

EDIT: Never mind... Different bottle here in Taiwan--the face is actually mostly white with a black shadow.

 

[gaijinalways]

Interesting, couple of thoughts,

Rracism is very much alive in Europe; the UK has prominent examples and well as the rise of the skinheads in Germany.

Iron Chef, sounds nice, except there have been protests for housing and labor laws in Japan. Remember, quite a few of the Korean 'foreigners' (even though they were born here!) just try to blend in sometimes, and the number of foreigners is really not that many in Japan. It is true though, many residents here don't consider living here as they don't feel fully accepted here, regardless of what they do to fit in.

So whether it's just xenophobia, racism, or a little of both, it's trying in the long term, and many people decide it's just easier to leave.

 

[craftsman]

I thought I would add some thoughts on the topic.

I think that sometimes Japan appears to be one of the most racist places on earth and has seriously outdated laws and rules. There is certainly a feeling of us and them for foreigners and Japanese. However, if you dig a little deeper, it becomes interesting.

I've been in Japan for a while and have learnt some important things over time. Probably the most important thing is not to lump everyone together in your head into a unified 'the Japanese'. I learnt this some fifteen years ago when I decided to walk from the top to the bottom of Japan. I spent 5 months talking to people in most Japanese prefectures and my conclusion was just how diverse the people were. They may look and act in a similar way but the differences in ideas and views on the world were astonishing. I remember coming to tiny fishing villages in the very poor north west coast of Honshu and being greeted by open-minded, free-thinking people who shared none of the characteristics of the stereo-typical Japanese.

Most people's images of how Japanese people are - seem to be from their interaction with people in the bigger cities in Kanto etc. In my experience big cities anywhere in the world are unfriendly and feel discriminatory. Leave the big cities and things look a little different.

Incidently I was collecting money on my walk for an African charity I worked for at the time and the most generous and interested people were in remote and often poor rural areas.

My home now is on a very small island south of mainland Japan and in all the time I have been here I have never heard the word 'gaijin' or any derivative of that. My first job on the island was as a fisherman and the captain had no concept of foreign - apart from islander/non-islander.

So my point is basically this. You may come across many things in Japan which are racist and discriminatory but this does not mean that all ordinary people share these views. Indeed, if you ever challenge something which unjust, and this is something I always do here, you may be surprised just how many people share your views and back you.

 

[Terumoto]

What a refreshing post, Craftsman.

I would like to share an experience I had not in Japan, but in America.

I live in Australia, I look like an average caucasion; 6ft tall, brown eyes, brown hair, normal build. At the end of 2005, I went on a vacation to Hawaii for a couple of weeks. One night I was out at McDonald's, buying my dinner, everything was going fine. Then when I got to the counter, as soon as I opened my mouth the girl that was taking my order was shocked. She looked at me as if I was the most foreign thing she had ever seen, like I was the wierdest thing ever, and kept saying "Uhh.. What?" to me very rudely because she apparently couldn't understand what I was saying. My native language is English, I dont have a heavy Australian accent like you would see on TV or in a movie. Just because I sounded slightly different, by the end of the ordeal everyone was looking at me. I was originally going to eat my food there, but decided to take it back to my hotel room because of the alkward aura.

Its not like it was extreme prejudice or anything, it just kind of took me by surprise. America has been exposed to Australia and Australians for a very long time, so I didnt expect that kind of thing to happen. Suppose I was an Australian who had lived in Hawaii for many years... It just doesnt add up.

 

[Greg JetRock]

I really think lots of foreigners come here and can't handle it because usually THEY'RE the privileged majority, and now they get to be in the minority. (This does not apply to minorities back home.. you get it both places. Sorry)

I'm from the good ol' red white and blue USA and we were geniuses when it came to discriminating against people who were different than us. I really can't complain about living in Japan. I have a good job, cops don't kick my *** on a regular basis, people stare at me a little but nobody wants to kill me because I'm different than they are.

Well, if they do want to kill me, they'd never say it, and I'm fine with that. I guess I always felt like kind of an outisder back home, so here it's no problem for me. I really can't understand what so many people complain about living in Japan.

 

[ricecake]

I really think lots of foreigners come here and can't handle it because usually THEY'RE the privileged majority,and now they get to be in the minority.

Yeah...... it's no brainer,I've figured it out earlier on.

 

[Steve Ototo]

How does one grow to love Japan? You must own it with your OWN eyes, your OWN being.

If someone calls you "gaijin" does it strip the beauty from Fujisan?

You see another, and say "That person is Japanese, and I am not!"

But does that person say "I will never be ouchou kizoku. I am not 皇子 so therefore I do not belong."

Do you wish to be defined by something that does not exist? 外人 - "Not Japanese?"

Are the cherry trees in Nagono ugly, because you cannot see Fujisan behind them?

 

[gaijinalways]

Uh, I think the bigger thing to get past is being blamed for the crime rate increasing (strangely enough, a lot of those arrested are still Japanese) and any other social problem sometimes. Yeah, really loving Japan is a hard deal to make, in my opinion. Liking it is okay, probably enough until I leave, anyway.

 

[yukio_michael]

I'm from the good ol' red white and blue USA and we were geniuses when it came to discriminating against people who were different than us. I really can't complain about living in Japan. I have a good job, cops don't kick my *** on a regular basis, people stare at me a little but nobody wants to kill me because I'm different than they are.

What I'll never understand is the ammount of self-hatred that goes on from people who were born in the United States who happen to live in, or have an interest in Japan...

The way you, and many people write it racism was practically invented in the United States... Assides from the slave trade which was a global pandemic, the United States's history as regards to racism is rather narrowly (yet seemingly most visably) defined.

These same types of racism existed and still do exist quite strongly all throughout Europe today, but still the United States is lauded as somehow being the progenitor of racism.

 

[Emoni]

Ahh, it is threads like this that make JRef worth reading. Great thread.

 

[gaijinalways]

I'm from the good ol' red white and blue USA and we were geniuses when it came to discriminating against people who were different than us. I really can't complain about living in Japan. I have a good job, cops don't kick my *** on a regular basis, people stare at me a little but nobody wants to kill me because I'm different than they are.

Uh, try moving out of the slums (in the US) and talking to the homeless here. Recently they seem to be a target, though often they are Japanese! Economic discrimination?

 

[pharaoh21]

Uh, try moving out of the slums (in the US) and talking to the homeless here. Recently they seem to be a target, though often they are Japanese! Economic discrimination?

Similar to HK, some people over there actually discriminate you (even if you're a HKer) for not catching up with fashion. The young generation has became more materialistic.