[Paul11]

I experienced very little racism in Japan. I beleive Japanese people are not generally racist. Many Japanese are shy about interacting with foreigners because most foreigners don't know how to follow the social cues, non-verbal communication, etc.
One of the differences between Japanese and English is that there are more defined and standard responses in their proxemics and language. I say A, you say B. A successful conversationalist in English will be much more prone to use imaginative appproaches to language. If a foreigner doesn't know the dance, then the native speaker might feel outside of his/her comfort zone. No more safety net of standard replies! How to respond to the foreigner who doesn't follow the dance? Uh oh, panic!
So people might be less willing to deal with foreigners, which may lead to the perception of racism.