mikecash said:
The Japanese electorate has it entirely in their power to evict the Americans if they wish. That they have not done so indicates that it is not the desire of a sufficient portion of the electorate. It is the desire of a small minority.
I am not offended, just exasperated with this same crap over and over, primarily from Europeans. I resent your characterizations of what the American military presence represents to the local populace around the bases, a characterization once again presented in overly broad terms and with no basis in fact other than your own conjecture. Remind me again....just what is your experience with living in Japanese towns surrounding American military bases?
Hmmm, well for a start a little set up outside tachikawa train station with bannerrs and a loud-speaker and people handing out anti-western leaflets, wanting us foreigners out, visitting my girlfriends uncles home, and having to leave in shame because it was made clear i wasnt welcome, being a foreigner, the confirmation from my girlfriends family that some of their relatives and friends dont appriciate the american presence nearby them.
Some of the elderly looking less then pleased at some passing american soldiers on leave.
The creaped out look on a japanese ladies face when she saw me standing somewhere once and relizing i was a foreigner, and grabing onto the hood of her child infront of her as if to make sure it didnt run over to me, gaijin-man, destroyer of japanese innocence.
My girlfriends grandfather telling her she should date a japanese boy.
I havnt even been here a month yet and i already have these experiences.
You probably assumed i was just a westerner making baseless comments about japan from the comfort of my western home in my western city/town in my western country.
By far these mentioned experiences are the minority in an otherwise positive experience of japan, and racims, like in the west, isnt a big epidemic as some people would like foreigners to believe, but my point still stands, some japanese dont appriciate the american presence, even without my experiences here you may or may not have assumed i had, from what i knew before hand, it doesnt take a genius to suppouse some japanese less then like american soldiers, americans, or foreigners in general.
If your worried i hate Americans, then i will ease your concerns, an ex girlfriend was american, were still friends today, i have a few american aquaintances over the internet, and when i saw american soldiers, i was actually pleased, if it wasnt so sudden and poor public manners, and was in a more allowing setting, i would have started a conversation, just for some good western conversation (i love japan and the japanese but i do miss a good solid native english chat), and ask them how their liking japan and stuff.
Again, i have no problem with american bases in japan, being british, and neither american or japanese by any percentage, it is fortunately none of my bussiness or concern, but, i can still come to the conclusion, being an unbias outside observer, that some of the japanese people dont appriciate the american military presence.
Edit: Oh and yokata? yakata? whatever airbase is nearby, i would say i have quite a solid experience of living near/around an american military base in Japan.