[MMM]

Originally Posted by GoNative

In my experience here most of the black people I've seen in Tokyo or Sapporo (they only seem to be in bigger cities) appear to be involved in fairly dodgy bars and clubs and to be honest you get the feeling other less than legal activities. This is just my own personal experience and I haven't spent much time in Tokyo and there are very few black people up here in Hokkaido but this image is one I think most Japanese see as well.

Also take into account that we whites are thought to be weird enough, black people here are just a complete unknown and there are heaps of somewhat ignorant stereotyes associated with them. Remember this is one of the most racially and culturally homogenous countries on the planet. Anyone not Japanese stands out like a sore thumb and black people even more than that.

In my experience that is an overstatement, a little. Most of the black people I knew were English teachers, and they seemed to be doing just fine, for the most part, in the mid-90s. Roppongi is actually a nicer place than it was 15 years ago, and the people that experience those guys (generally not from Western countries) are people that are experienced with big city dive-bar hunting.

Originally Posted by manganimefan227

Would they think hispanics are weird?

Only as weird as anyone else.

Originally Posted by WellThatHurt

I guess I understand. I'll just have to ignore the looks. I'm sure if I just be myself then people would start to understand that I'm really a nice, laid back guy.

Do people still get "looks"? I have a feeling this thread has entered the wayback machine.

Originally Posted by GoNative

I agree. Even if they stare and find you somewhat uncomfortably fascinating to look at I've never come across violent dislike of foreigners here. There are a very few ultra nationalists here and there who'd love to see all of us leave but it's not a place to fear for your safety purely because you are a foreigner. Even the most racist Japanese are usually pretty polite about it, at least to your face

Plenty of other countries where this is not the case.

You have as much chance of being directly approached by one of the extreme-right wingers as you do of meeting someone that wants to burn Qurans in the US. Yes they exist, but they are such a minority, it isn't worth mentioning. They are barely a blip on society's rear-end. Literally NOTHING to worry about.

Originally Posted by cranks

I was gonna write something to him/her but this pretty much summed it up. haha.

If you are not Asian, you'll stand out. That's a given. But most people are just very curious because they don't see people like you very often. There is nothing to worry about, but if you don't like people looking at you, it may annoy you...

Again, it depends where you are. In the city you WILL NOT stand out. People are NOT VERY CURIOUS. People see people like you VERY OFTEN. This might be true out in the country, but if you are in a city you have heard of before, you are not going to be looked at as anything special.