why do other tourists and ex pats on the street turn into rude !@# holes when in japan, i looked a lady in the eyes the other day and said hi how are you and she turned her head away and wlaked past me these has happened alot and other travellers that i have talked to in the pub or in hostels have said the same thing. i have only had a few people that will say hi on the street. i am fend up with the rudness of other geigen if some one says hi to you it is the a great insult to ignore that person. sorry to ***** but i can not express my anger on the street so ill do it here. the japanese alway reply in some way iether by saying hi in japanese or engilsh or nodding their head.
other geigen on the street
- Thread starter hutchi
- Start date
Chidoriashi
In imagination land
- 2 Feb 2007
- 824
- 63
I would never ignore someone who said hi to me. But seeing as how I live here I usually do not make an effort to talk to other foreigners that I do not know.
Could it be the lady you talked to was not a native English speaker, maybe Russian or from somewhere else in Eastern Europe? Also, were you in a big city? People are more likely to be jerk-offs in those places no matter where they are from.
Could it be the lady you talked to was not a native English speaker, maybe Russian or from somewhere else in Eastern Europe? Also, were you in a big city? People are more likely to be jerk-offs in those places no matter where they are from.
As Chidoriashi mentioned, there's a good chance that they're not english speakers.
I came across a few "gaijin" when I was in Japan and although I was tempted to make small talk with them, I realized that I was being naive to assume that all foreigners in Japan spoke English. (Not to mention the possibility that they weren't in the mood for talking even if they did speak English.)
I decided to mind my own business unless I came across some foreigners who looked lost or troubled and spoke english amongst each other.
As for saying hello to Japanese strangers, unless you're in a small town, they'd probably react the same way. Heck, you can't even give away a package of tissue paper in Tokyo without getting an evil eye.
I came across a few "gaijin" when I was in Japan and although I was tempted to make small talk with them, I realized that I was being naive to assume that all foreigners in Japan spoke English. (Not to mention the possibility that they weren't in the mood for talking even if they did speak English.)
I decided to mind my own business unless I came across some foreigners who looked lost or troubled and spoke english amongst each other.
As for saying hello to Japanese strangers, unless you're in a small town, they'd probably react the same way. Heck, you can't even give away a package of tissue paper in Tokyo without getting an evil eye.
- Thread starter
- #8
okay i was a little tippsy whejn i started this theard so my spelling was off a little.
any way regardless of the lanuage spoken it was ovious that i was greeting her, i dont walk around noding my head and talking to my self if that was the case i found understand why people would try and get as far away from me as possible.
if i could blow my own trumet here i dont look scary (i hope that i dont any way) i will not beable to post a picure as i hate having my photo taken and im travelling my my self so i dont think that i have a photo of my self on my camera lol, fel1city has met me so if she reads this theard she will be able to tell you.
i still think my ignoring people in the street that are saying hi is very rude regradless if you under stand them or not, its not like i was stopping her or any of the others for a convo and their life story im here by my self and just a hi would make it seem a little less lonely at times. sorry to seem like that im bitching im loving it over here and its my only bad experance.
any way regardless of the lanuage spoken it was ovious that i was greeting her, i dont walk around noding my head and talking to my self if that was the case i found understand why people would try and get as far away from me as possible.
if i could blow my own trumet here i dont look scary (i hope that i dont any way) i will not beable to post a picure as i hate having my photo taken and im travelling my my self so i dont think that i have a photo of my self on my camera lol, fel1city has met me so if she reads this theard she will be able to tell you.
i still think my ignoring people in the street that are saying hi is very rude regradless if you under stand them or not, its not like i was stopping her or any of the others for a convo and their life story im here by my self and just a hi would make it seem a little less lonely at times. sorry to seem like that im bitching im loving it over here and its my only bad experance.
I think it depends on where you approached these people.
I've lived in huge cities for most of my life (Tokyo, Toronto, Montreal, etc.) and I'll tell you right now that if you were to approach a stranger and say hi, they'd probably walk away feeling suspicious of your intentions.
Tokyo people in particular like to mind their own business. You could be getting an *** kicking from a group of guys and everyone around you wouldn't look twice as they continued along like ants. (Something which happened to my friend in Shinbashi.)
A fresh tourist off of the plane may act differently but a gaijin who's integrated into Japanese society would probably act like the rest of their brethren.
- 20 Aug 2003
- 4,910
- 416
This is an age-old complaint by some people. Answers in favor of the respondees:
1. They don't understand you. Not English speakers. Remember, not all non-Asian faces in Japan speak English.
2. The situation doesn't call for a response. Many reasons why. You were drunk. You were scary. The woman felt she was being hit on/stalked/set up for a robbery/etc.
3. The person simply didn't think it was right to offer a response simply because they didn't know you. Not everyone, in Japan or elsewhere, says hi to total strangers.
Watch the movie Crocodile Dundee. Hardly any New Yorkers greeted Mick when he naively said hello to them.
1. They don't understand you. Not English speakers. Remember, not all non-Asian faces in Japan speak English.
2. The situation doesn't call for a response. Many reasons why. You were drunk. You were scary. The woman felt she was being hit on/stalked/set up for a robbery/etc.
3. The person simply didn't think it was right to offer a response simply because they didn't know you. Not everyone, in Japan or elsewhere, says hi to total strangers.
Watch the movie Crocodile Dundee. Hardly any New Yorkers greeted Mick when he naively said hello to them.
Let's spin this around a little. By no means am I implying anything racist here, but why is it you often find black folks nodding hello to each other on the street but you don't see black to other ethnicity greetings in the same frequency? You see it on the streets of the US all the time in a majority white area. One of my pals and coworkers is black, and we were in Japan for work. Every time we saw another black person I saw them exchange the "head nod" in passing with perhaps a little "What's going on man?" Is there a special club or something? I told him if I did that for every white guy I saw, my neck would be hurting for days (got a good laugh out of him).
I don't engage in calling out fellow white dudes when I'm in Japan. I find the practice of some here in the states poor manners, so why indulge in that while overseas?
The funny thing is on one trip we were in Tokyo just before the start of the 2004 World Cup. We came across the Nigerian football team. My pal tried the head nod. The Nigerians just ignored him. I guess it's an American thing...
I don't engage in calling out fellow white dudes when I'm in Japan. I find the practice of some here in the states poor manners, so why indulge in that while overseas?
The funny thing is on one trip we were in Tokyo just before the start of the 2004 World Cup. We came across the Nigerian football team. My pal tried the head nod. The Nigerians just ignored him. I guess it's an American thing...
Taiko666
先輩
- 8 May 2006
- 334
- 10
That's not what tigermilk was saying.
It's the same in the UK for bikers. Just about every biker will nod to an oncoming biker, unless you're in really heavy traffic, or unless the other biker's a hell's angel type! Many a pillion passenger of mine has asked if I knew the bikers with whom I was exchanging nods. This doesn't happen at all in Japan btw (at least, I've never experienced it.) It happened a lot in France when I was touring there though.
As for greeting gaijin on the street... I'll only do it if I sense that the other person wants it. Just the slightest nod is polite.
