This kind of put's me off going to Japan to study, especially as an Iranian/Kenyan.

If you look at the history of Japanese group identity, some of the things a lot of foreigners complain about, seem like logical, yet unfortunate, outcomes. The Japanese are as racist, short-sighted, narrow-minded or just plain ignorant, as any other culture/people on the planet. They do, however, go to great lengths to either justify it or hide it.

I've been told that I'm an idiot foreigner for literally no reason while walking through the train station; stared at like some museum exhibit by people who claim to be "globalized"; and denied access to basic housing, not because I'm a foreigner, but because I'm not Japanese (They believe there is a fundamental difference).

I have simply learned to accept these things as part of the culture I live in. I won't damn a whole culture because I don't agree with specific aspects of it. You have to accept the bad with the good (To an extent). Realistically, a bunch of fluent foreigners aren't going to change 2000 years of cultural arrogance.

Satakoji is it really that bad? I'm starting to re-evaluate coming over there to study, seriously.

I didn't have a problem when I was over there, but it was just on an exchange program (for 2 weeks.. lol, but I did it twice) and I made some good friends.

On the sexual harassment part, I almost had something like that happen. I was waiting for my friends and our chaperon to come out of a sushi bar (can't stomach the stuff, and yes, my chaperon seriously made me sit outside and wait, after he'd asked numerous times if it was okay with everyone if we went there and every time I said no) and some drunk guy came stumbling up the street, and started heading toward me. I was a bit disappointed that my extremely tall friend came out at the point in time that I backed up against the wall, and he and the other kids just kind of shielded me off.. I was going to run and hide behind the cute guy in line. D: Nothing happened, but it scared me to death that it almost did.

I was only 17 at the time.

I find it interesting that the Japanese people in the videos rarely comment on the complaints.

MethodMan199,

Don't look at it as "Wow! All these bad things happen!" Look at it as "I see the same stuff in my home country, so that means that they really aren't any different from me".

As humans, we tend to remember all the bad stuff we hear and see, and forget all the good stuff, because we take it for granted. So, to add a little balance, here are some good things about Japan:

-Akihabara! (Like that isn't a given!)

-I had a Japanese university student strike up a conversation with me at McD's so he could practice his English. Pleasant lad.

-Some of the best friends I have now are Japanese (more like brothers), and they can be VERY generous when times are tough.

-My local 7-11 worker became an unofficial Japanese teacher. I'd say an item in English (Eigo) and ask how to say it in Japanese (Nihongo). They love when you show an interest in learning Japanese.

There's alot more, but you get the point. Just be realistic about what to expect. A lot of otaku have a utopian vision of Japan, and I don't want to destroy that, but bad things happen everywhere. Your responsibility is to not be one of those bad things.

[quote]I find it interesting that the Japanese people in the videos rarely comment on the complaints.[/quote]

I have found that many Japanese become silent when confronted with the shortcomings of their own group behavior, or when they believe someone else is being rude. It's anyone's guess what they are thinking in these vids. Being conflict "avoiders", it could be either.

MethodMan199, I understand your concern, but don't base your decision off of a few people making claims that are, to tell the truth, more than a little exaggerated.

There is a point behind what the various panelists are saying, but as the Japan Probe story says, "At least a few of the foreigners must have been hoping that saying outrageous things on TV might earn them some fame and income as a foreign tarento [celebrity].

For example, I would consider Japanese culture to be more sexist that what I'm used to in the U.S., but it's not unbelievably oppressive, it's perhaps akin to what the U.S. was like maybe 20~30 years ago.

Or when the man from Brazil complained about Japanese asking why his palms were white but his skin was black, he isn't qualifying that such questions usually don't arise from racism, but from genuine curiosity. To an American (and I would assume that also as a Brazilian), such questions are horribly racist. That's because in the American culture we have become very sensitive to racial issues, especially black vs. white.

To a Japanese though, they are more representative of just simple ignorance. You shouldn't expect Japanese to be sensitive to issues of black vs. white when they have very few black and white people there to begin with. It's similar how you wouldn't expect your average American to be sensitive to issues of caste in India. We may have heard of it, but it's not at all part of our cultural consciousness.

Japanese do have racial cultural sensitivity concerning issues in Japan. Ask your average Japanese about Eta Burakumin or Zainichi Koreans, and they will become uncomfortable and very closemouthed. That's because although laws have been passed to eliminate discrimination and progress has been made, for people in those groups discrimination is still a very real issue in their daily lives.

So with black people they are really just curious because they haven't met and interacted with one before. You may be discriminated against for being a foreigner, but you probably won't be discriminated against for being black.

As for myself, I lived in Japan for 3 years, and only very rarely experienced any overt discrimination. As long as I was polite and did my best to speak Japanese, I was always treated politely (treated warmly is another matter, but that's not unique to just foreigners in Japan, in my opinion). There are some things I agree with, such as being hesitant to raise my children in Japan. Pervasive bullying is one concern, but another is an overly-competitive and oppressive education system that I feel stifles enjoyment of learning, creativity, and individuality.

But for going there to study, I think Japan is a great place. I loved my time studying there, even with the cultural differences I had to deal with.

Well said derio.

Sometimes I'm thankful that I was born a pragmatic and unidealistic person. I know friends who do honestly think that Japan is some sort of Otaku utopia, where cute school girls will fall in love with their "beautiful foreigness" (somewhat-joking words from a friend of mine), manga and anime flow from the streets, and all the games are amazing.

Though maybe it's because I'm Chinese that I know that Japan isn't perfect. Especially when you consider the very awkward subject of them and Koreans in Japan. You'd be surprised, but most otaku don't even know about the issue.

Ah well, I still would love to go to Japan one of these days, if just for the experience of seeing the culture firsthand.

@Gee-Man Oh, I know all about that! Mitsubishi's slave labor camp ftw!

Like derio I spent some time studying abroad in Japan. The worst cases of "racism" I heard of were police officers stopping my fellow exchange student friends in the street to check their �O���l�o�^�ؖ��� (Alien Registration Card). I say heard of because this never once happened to me. If anything, I found the people to be extra accommodating and receptive to me precisely because I was foreign, especially since I can speak some Japanese.

If you are looking for racism in Japan you'll probably find it. But when people get all up in arms about it being this horrible racist country it ticks me off. There are countries that make a much bigger deal of race out there (*cough*U.S.*cough). Like derio said, and I agree, most of Japan's "racism" comes out of simple ignorance. Japan is one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world and as such the society is made for and by Japanese people. They don't do things to spite people of other races, it's just a lack of understanding. Of course, that's no excuse for racist behavior and Japan has been opening up to foreigners on a large scale for the past 30 years. But it is going to take time for Japanese society to also be for foreigners. Japan is very slow to change, I had talk with a Japanese exchange student friend at school about this very subject. Eventually Japan will take on outside ideas, but it will be a long time coming. I mean, this is a country that waited half a century to decide that it didn't like the direction its government was taking and only last month did it have an election that brought about any actual change.

So, in brief, don't make plans about studying/working/traveling in Japan based on racism. You'll get that in almost any country as an outsider. If you do come, you'll be rewarded with experiencing one of the most unique and ancient countries in the world and perhaps the most polite people I've ever met, who are genuinely interested in people from foreign countries.

I mean "homogeneous" in that last comment. XD

People who are surprised by Japan's racism, welcome to ASIA. Its just as bad (if not worse, and dissapointingly so) in China. My friend studying in Korea right now tells me its doesn't get any better there. 　Ｉ'm really not sure why people get so surprised this exists in an Asian country. Just like any country of the world, you need to take Japan with a grain of salt. It has its flaws, but it also has a lot of pluses. I really think its due more to the homogeneous makeup of their people than the fact that they hate foreigners or something. Give them a chance. I mean if we all exaggerated stuff like this, then would that mean that states like South Carolina are just a bunch of rednecks that hate the president of the USA? Don't jump to comclusions, people.

@Brad Rice- Er...ftw?

I'm not going to bother considering the unfortunate implications of that statement.

I think he was being sarcastic.

Ahh cheers guys for putting it into perspective. ;)

The more I look at this.... the more I feel like doing an article.

I've been putting off a particular animve-movie comparison article for a while. Not sure if I can get it done by next week (considering I have another commitment)... but I'll try.

Some of their complaints made me think, while others made me go those are the same we have here. one thing I see is the same is that sexual harassment as just as big a problem here as it it there.

The only comment I really have to contribute here (you guys have said most of it already), is that I loved that Kitano and co. seemed so proud when the Vietnamese (or was it the American?) lady said that Japanese men were the most perverted on earth.

Although sexual harassment is certainly a problem, it's sort of charming that Japan has nearly made perversion into a point of national pride.

@mrberns- Ha ha, then that would be yet another case of me failing to detect it due to it being impossible to discern tone of voice over the internet. :P

japanese are racist but its more of a super ignorance variety. they just don't know better. it will change with time, and it already has. i'm 33 now, and when i was there when i was a teenager, it has changed a lot. though they are still a long way off, you have to understand that japan was a super isolated society. also, they were a class society, like india.

i find it encouraging at least that they are having such issue brought up on tv.

also depends on where in japan you go. in tokyo, they are more accustomed to foreigners.

my biggest problems are how they treat their aboriginal people and the former koreans that were brought over during WWII

I've been to Japan, and i'm the most Caucasian person you'd ever see, both genetically and physically. I'm very mixed in European races, mostly Irish and Polish, and I can tell you:


The Japanese stare. Stare so much they give you nightmares. Staring and staring. It wont stop. IT WONT STOP!

Though Tokyo was pretty nice though.

One of the mistakes we make is seeing another culture as "just not knowing any better". As if they are the quaint ooga-booga tribe that is still mesmerized by fire or the "fire stick". Consequently putting ourselves in a position of cultural superiority.

Japan is very much a 21st century society that is well aware of racial tensions and prejudices. Ask any Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Southeast Asian their opinions of the others and it becomes pretty apparent, pretty quickly. To give them a pass because "they don't know any better" is excusing the behavior as if it wason par with a petulant child.

There is a unique Japanese-ness that exists in the marrow of Japanese enculturation and socialization that fuels their group survival barometer. When something threatens this innate Japanese-ness, it becomes necessary for it to be either categorized, and thus controlled, or eliminated. Now, the Japanese know, just like any other culture, that elimination can never be violent or overt, so it becomes subliminal and subtextualized. Things such as finger-printing foreigners upon entry to the country, the "gaijin card" and the proposed ID chip to be added, the demanding of ID from foreigners by police for no reason. It goes on and on.

These prejudices and discriminations are perfectly legal, but toe the line. They are meant to serve the same purpose as the Japanese educational system: to produce productive members of society and to deter any disturbance of the perceived fragile balance of peace that exists therein. of course, this is done on an ex post facto basis for foreigners, who have already formed defined expectations of liberty and/or freedom. Thus causing the Japanese/foreigner tension.

Children can be forgiven. They learn by making mistakes, but when perceived discriminations are institutionalized, they cease to be mistakes to be corrected and learned from, and take on the appearance of outright racial hatred.

Some have said this behavior in Japan was the result of the extreme nationalism of the 30's and 40's. Others suggest that identifying the emperor as a diety early on, gave them a sense of being "the chosen". Whatever the case, if sociologists are right about placing Japanese culture on a timeline and equating it with late 50's, early 60's America, it may be just a matter of time before these practices and attitudes are abolished and socialized out of the collective conscious.

If anything, this is a great time to visit Japan, because it is at a cultural/social/poltical crossroads, and all paths are visible from the middle. Many believe that there can be a blending of all ways, but history has proven that wrong time and time again. It will be interesting how the Japanese reach the next stage of cultural evolution without sacrificing more of the uniqueness that has seemed to be trademarked as of late.