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Japanese Gaijin against .... Foreign Gaijin?

Seij

後輩
13 Aug 2011
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Hi everyone,
It's a strange title especially the "foreign gaijin" (lol) but:
I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences communicating with foreigners who now live in Japan who have less tolerance for foreigners interested in Japan?
Anyone ever experience people who live in Japan for a while start to talk about foreigners in an "us vs them" context where the us are the gaijin living in Japan + Japanese natives vs them...the foreigners?
I have my own thoughts but I would like to hear your theories. :)
 
Forty years ago I enjoyed sitting down with my friends and playing with blocks.

The thought of sitting down today with people who play with blocks does not hold the same appeal.

That doesn't mean I'm "against" six year olds or playing with blocks.

I could sit down and play with them for a while, but I'd get bored of it before they would.

I can also hang with people for whom Japan is still new, exciting, exotic, etc. But I'd get bored of it before they would. Fascination has a way of going stale after a while.

You also need to consider that all other factors aside, by the time someone has been here long enough to become the sort of gaijin you're asking about, we have also aged considerably, are at entirely different points in our lives, with completely different experiences, may not have lived in our common birth countries perhaps since before you were out of diapers (or even born), and that consequently there will be a wide age/cultural gap....meaning that in many ways some of us do have much more in common with our Japanese contemporaries than we do with some of our much younger countrymen. You should avoid reading too much into it, as even among people who have never left their home countries at all the tendency is to socialize with and relate to people close to one's own age and life experiences. If you found a guy in his 40s - 50s married with children showing a preference for hanging out with single guys in their early 20s you'd think he was weird. Just because the location shifts to Japan doesn't make that any different.
 
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Having been in Japan for almost 15 years now, and having given advice on working here for the same length of time, I have seen a lot of people come and go on various forums. I don't really see the 2 groups of people you describe. Not as polarized, anyway.

Veterans will do their best to offer advice to most newcomers. The problem I have seen (and it has grown worse in the last 5 years or so) is that many newcomers have no idea of what they are getting into, and what is worse, they don't do basic research before asking basic questions. This has a tendency to polarize people, but only when the newcomers see the remarks by veterans in a way that were not intended.

"Do some basic research first" often gets mistranslated as "Stay away", for example.
"No, that's not possible" gets shrugged off as "Oh, you want the whole country to yourself, eh? Screw you! I'll find a way to do..." (and they never do)

There are those veterans who remain here quite jaded and unpleasant towards everyone, including other veterans, but there are many veterans who have learned to adjust to the culture here and are happy as they can be.

So, Seij, what are your thoughts?
 
Mike Cash:

These are all interesting points and provide an insight not only through the eyes of someone who is living in Japan but also through a more matured perspective. I think the age of the individual is a great point due to the emotional maturity that one (supposedly) gains as they go through life.

Glenski:

Well, I have to agree with your statement that it's not 'as polarized' as well as the examples you have stated. (Great examples by the way because they are examples of what I've seen posted and how people respond to them.)

My thoughts are on the other side of the coin. In my personal biased opinion, I sometimes feel that people who like Japan are great people but often perhaps a little misunderstood by their own society or just a little socially awkward in their own respect. I like these people and find them warm and intelligent. My 2nd degree is in computer animation and I have seen the 'stereotypical' self-proclaiming "otaku" who would make any Japanese resident (native or gaijin) shudder in bewilderment. lol. They are great people but because of the typical "japan-o-phile's" appreciation of Japanese animation, samurai, or karaoke they "seem" to be the bane of all serious students of Japanese. The more serious student in the Japanese culture immediately distances themselves from them(or seems too). I have this notion in my mind that overtime this persistent stereotype of the socially-awkward-non-fluent-trench-coat-wearing-anime-loving person has caused people who are fluent in the language, appreciate various aspects of the culture besides the aforementioned, and/or live there to overcompensate for these people's light hearted interest by serving a raw dish of "reality" in the form of cutting humor, sarcasm, or put downs to their more naive and idealistic cousins.

However, like you said: there are a few jaded ones in everything (and God knows i've been through a point in my life like that) and others at the opposite end of the extreme. I was just curious to see if anyone else has noticed and really appreciate yours and Mike's viewpoint.
 
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