[trunker]

with the recent surge of tourists from mainland china, even the japanese have learned to diffrentiate between mainlanders and overseas chinese people. they may not be able to tell mmediately whether or not you are from say hong kong or milton keynes, but many will be able to tell that you arent a mainlander.

and this is pretty much true anywhere, not just in japan.

mainland china is still pretty much its own planet, somewhat like japan, so when its residents come out for a holiday they do stick out.

at the same time i'm not saying you absolutely wont face any discrimination,.... if you go looking for it you will find it, for example, some english schools may prefer to hire the stereotypical white person over you. but thats a marketing image business decision. and arguing against that kind of mentality is just a waste of time.

on the whole though, i think you'll barely notice it unless you make it an issue. I've lived in places where rascism is a fact of life, if not a lifestyle choice, and compared to them, Japan is a cake walk.