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[rothgar]

I find the Japanese use of the batsu gesture pretty funny, I like when they say 'no' with it. If you know enough Japanese to understand batsu, you know enough to understand 'ie', 'dekimasem' and 'ikemasen'.

I certainly took it as a funny gesture. I laughed and he smiled as he was doing it. We both knew I wasn't anywhere near Miyamoto

 

[matt360]

And on the "No foreigners" stuff... 99% of the time those places, which I know exist but are SUPER HARD TO FIND, are doing some shady illegal shit inside guaranteed. 9 times out of 10 when you see someone making this complaint, they were trying to get into a prostitution place for sure.

Yeah I don't know about that. Have you been to Kyoto lately? Namely the Gion district? There are still plenty of mom and pop style shops that bar entry to foreigners. I suppose it's possible that there could be shady dealings, but it seems unlikely.

Luckily, in my 8 years in Japan, I've only ever been turned away from one place in my adopted city of Hiroshima. It was a darts bar that I tried to take my friends to when they were visiting from the states. They didn't say "no foreigners" they just said the place was closed even though there were people playing darts. But when the dude found out that I could speak Japanese he said I could stay. It looked like they were having a tourney or doing some mid-stakes gambling so I said no thanks and left.

Instead we went to a bar where the owner stood up on the counter in a fundoshi, pulled his dick out, put an egg in his dick (covered it with his foreskin), shook his dick around, dropped the egg into a frying pan, cooked the egg, and served it to a willing customer. Ahhh, Japan.

 

[Philippo]

I'm studying Japanese Language and Culture at college, so eventually i'll have to work with japanese people, who knows maybe even moving there, i hope they won't be too racist on me because i'm italian

Well, at least i heard we pick up girls pretty easily there, lol.

 

[jerry1594]

Why do japanese dislike foreigners so much anyway. Aside from Chinese and Koreans,

 

[BocoDragon]

Yeah I don't know about that. Have you been to Kyoto lately? Name the Gion district? There are still plenty of mom and pop style shops that bar entry to foreigners. I suppose it's possible that there could be shady dealings, but it seems unlikely.

Luckily, in my 8 years in Japan, I've only ever been turned away from one place in my adopted city of Hiroshima. It was a darts bar that I tried to take my friends to when they were visiting from the states. They didn't say "no foreigners" they just said the place was closed even though there were people playing darts. But when the dude found out that I could speak Japanese he said I could stay. It looked like they were having a tourney or doing some mid-stakes gambling so I said no thanks and left.

Instead we went to a bar where the owner stood up on the counter in a fundoshi, pulled his dick out, put an egg in his dick (covered it with his foreskin), shook his dick around, dropped the egg into a frying pan, cooked the egg, and served it to a willing customer. Ahhh, Japan.

Wow.

I swear all those bars in Kyoto Gion were yakuza joints anyway...

 

[KtSlime]

Why do japanese dislike foreigners so much anyway. Aside from Chinese and Koreans,

I don't think they dislike foreigners, but like many other cultures they are adverse to change, and really don't care for when others who come don't follow the 'rules' (even if they are unspoken rules) and especially when they tell them that they are doing something the wrong way.

This my understanding of the situation. I live in Tokyo and don't experience much racism at all, about the most 'racist' thing to happen to me in the past few months was when I was returning to Japan from South Korea, the flight was mostly Chinese and South Koreans, I was the only white person going through immigration at Narita, and when I walked in the the area the person that appoints you to the proper line said 'you're white!' and sent me to the diplomats line (which was empty).

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Instead we went to a bar where the owner stood up on the counter in a fundoshi, pulled his dick out, put an egg in his dick (covered it with his foreskin), shook his dick around, dropped the egg into a frying pan, cooked the egg, and served it to a willing customer.

Story transformed to this voice the further into the post I got.

 

[Kenshin001]

Why do japanese dislike foreigners so much anyway. Aside from Chinese and Koreans,

Most Japanese I've met don't dislike foreign people. If they did I'd be out of a job. I can see animosity towards foreign people stemming from those people not abiding by the local laws or customs, generally being obnoxious douchebags. I've been here so long that even I get annoyed if I hear a loud American voice on my crowded but silent train. There are plenty of obnoxious Japanese douchebags but they don't stick out as much.

 

[Philippo]

So i just read about the Burakumin in preparation for my Jp philosphies and religions exam, and man it's a pretty sad but fascinating condition, considering that Shinto supported the reasons for their exile.

 

[matt360]

So i just read about the Burakumin in preparation for my Jp philosphies and religions exam, and man it's a pretty sad but fascinating condition, considering that Shinto supported the reasons for their exile.

That's another interesting issue. I also studied about Burakumin in uni, and when I finally moved to Japan, I found out that nobody will talk about Burakumin. It's not like I was going around interviewing people and asking their opinions, but every time the topic would come up one way or another, the Japanese person would always shut down or change the topic. Even people I considered to be good friends.

I've said this on GAF before, but I had a buddy that was teaching a cultural studies class at a local university here in Hiroshima, and the Burakumin issue was on the curriculum. One of the students complained to their parents and the university forced my friend to remove that lesson from the syllabus.

And finally, my Japanese mother-in-law had absolutely no problems with her daughter marrying me, a white American, but when my wife's older sister got engaged last year, mom-in-law did one of those illegal background checks mentioned in the OP to make sure that her husband wasn't of Burakumin ilk. Really, really messed up. She's a real piece of work, though. When my wife and I told her of the Korean ferry disaster last month, the first thing she said was, "Were there any Japanese on board?" Unfortunately, this kind of response is fairly typical.

 

[marimorimo]

Most Japanese I've met don't dislike foreign people. If they did I'd be out of a job. I can see animosity towards foreign people stemming from those people not abiding by the local laws or customs, generally being obnoxious douchebags. I've been here so long that even I get annoyed if I hear a loud American voice on my crowded but silent train. There are plenty of obnoxious Japanese douchebags but they don't stick out as much.

This 100%. While racism in Japan *does* exist, the people who complain about it the loudest usually deserved the treatment they get. You may get away with douchebaggery in your country, but that doesn't fly in Japan. Follow the rules (unspoken and unwritten) or get out.

I've been living in Japan for 4 years now and have never experienced racism (but then I'm Asian and can blend into the crowd).

 

[Upsidedown Fuji]

That's another interesting issue. I also studied about Burakumin in uni, and when I finally moved to Japan, I found out that nobody will talk about Burakumin. It's not like I was going around interviewing people and asking their opinions, but every time the topic would come up one way or another, the Japanese person would always shut down or change the topic. Even people I considered to be good friends.

I've said this on GAF before, but I had a buddy that was teaching a cultural studies class at a local university here in Hiroshima, and the Burakumin issue was on the curriculum. One of the students complained to their parents and the university forced my friend to remove that lesson from the syllabus.

And finally, my Japanese mother-in-law had absolutely no problems with her daughter marrying me, a white American, but when my wife's older sister got engaged last year, mom-in-law did one of those illegal background checks mentioned in the OP to make sure that her husband wasn't of Burakumin ilk. Really, really messed up. She's a real piece of work, though. When my wife and I told her of the Korean ferry disaster last month, the first thing she said was, "Were there any Japanese on board?" Unfortunately, this kind of response is fairly typical.

Sorry to hear that they did the shady background check. For as much as they avoid discussing the topic, there are still some who feel the relic caste system still is relevant.

My wife has disappointed me a couple of times letting general Japanese held stereotypes get the best of her opinion of others. I've done my best to ease back the lifetime of blind distrust of Chinese and Korean immigrants here. For the most part she's improved which is great because we'll be eventually moving back to the US.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Japan's not as bad as everyone who's never actually been seems to think

Sidenote: I recently read a thread on a Japanese blog about how messed up America is

 

[Shouta]

Sorry to hear that they did the shady background check. For as much as they avoid discussing the topic, there are still some who feel the relic caste system still is relevant.

My wife has disappointed me a couple of times letting general Japanese held stereotypes get the best of her opinion of others. I've done my best to ease back the lifetime of blind distrust of Chinese and Korean immigrants here. For the most part she's improved which is great because we'll be eventually moving back to the US.

Really often comes down to exposure. A lot of those held beliefs start dissolving away as they experience more with their own eyes and without a certain lens to it. Education helps too, which is a problem with Japan as well.

I know someone I met through mixi's Skype chatting who absolutely hates Filipinos from their experience back home. I've tried pointing out how that view is distorted and wrong but to no avail. Stopped talking to her as a result. =/

 

[Zoc]

Japan's not as bad as everyone who's never actually been seems to think

Sidenote: I recently read a thread on a Japanese blog about how messed up America is

Have you got a link to that blog?

 

[TFlat]

There's also the opposite side to being a foreigner in Japan.

If you are working for a Japanese company (especially one with few foreigners) you tend to get treated a lot better than Japanese people of the same level as they are scared of pissing you off and causing all sorts of HR problems (it's not going to look good for the boss/people involved when the lone foreigner everyone needs for translation/whatever gets pissed and leaves). No idea what it would be like in an English teaching job though, I hear those can get a bit shitty depending on where you go.

You notice differences living in Japan but it's never really a huge problem (except maybe finding an apartment if you are single), especially if you speak the language and prove you aren't just a loud obnoxious tit who is completely oblivious to what's going around you. The rest you just brush off and stop caring about as it's never particularly ill-intentioned (and it's not going to change any time soon anyway).

So basically, speak the language and you are gold! Or be a tourist then it doesn't really matter.