[Nyororin]

This message left me raising my eyebrows so much I wasn`t even sure who I should reply to - The original, or MMM`s reply. At first, I didn`t look at the quoted text and figured it was to one of the complaining posts... Never imagined it was to ME.

Originally Posted by Anubis_Jill

I really feel for you.

You REALLY need to clarify on this, because as MMM said - I`m perfectly happy living in Japan, have lived here almost 10 years now, and have absolutely no intent to leave. Do you feel for me because I live here? Because I`m happy living here?

They do treat women horribly and I have seen it on a video my friend had when they went to Japan.

Clarify on this one too - Last time I checked, not only was I not ethnically Japanese but also female. The "mistreatment of women" topic has been brought up multiple times, and covered in depth. I think that the assumption that women are incapable of making their own choices about their life paths and are being "oppressed" is pretty sexist to begin with.

They caught so many horrible things in normal living, I hated this one part which showed a two face part, literally some people will wave and look happy when a camera is confronted to their face, but when my friend turned the camera around to the passing people (the ones that smiled and waved) they got scowls and ugly faces. I guess they did not realize the filming was still going on.

So... You would just be thrilled to have a camera randomly shoved in your face? Especially if you couldn`t understand what it was about, and were given no explanation later?

But that is some people of course, some of their experiences in this country were good. But you could tell that the people did not like to talk back to them.

Ever consider that maybe they couldn`t speak English well? Here is a good thing to try - Walk up to people in your town and randomly ask them questions in a language they aren`t really good at (or flat out don`t know hardly any of). See how many people hang around and are happy to carry on a conversation.

Their culture is so strict that they have to act a certain way towards foreigners if confronted by them.

Really? Wow. I`m sure this is news to most, if not all, of the native Japanese population.

They are racist they are sexist, and most of their personalities are very ugly.

How very knowledgeable you present yourself, having never been here and only looking at second hand information.

Their family will welcome you and friends, but do not expect for everyone to want you around. The japanese do not want anyone to embarrass them and will happily ignore you when they get the chance.

Substitute "People" for "The Japanese" in this instance, and "others who make random assumptions about them" for "anyone" - and it is accurate. Expecting everyone to fawn over you and love you on first sight is a bit unrealistic, don`t you think? Especially when you`re carrying these inaccurate preconceptions around.

I just wish everyone to be safe and have a good experience, knowing that this kind of experience is rare, especially in such a congested community.

How about actually visiting somewhere, without looking for evidence of a "dark side"?