Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnBraden
I forgot to add that they (the pushers and shovers) were discriminating. They pushed anybody and everybody in their way. If you're a tourist, oh well. But then again, I was born in Madrid and lived there for 21 years and the same thing happened on the buses and subway. In Tokyo I didn't mind it as much because, as a whole, I was normally taller than most and it didn't feel as bad if you're taller than they.
I did notice a bit of youthful discrimination when a group of elementary school kids boarded the train on the JR Nikko Line back down to Utsunomiya. I was sitting by myself and a bunch of boys and girls sat in the seat across from me. I noticed quite a bit of hesitation with other kids wanting to sit in the same side I was in and they decided not to sit there. Not to be rude or react immediately, I let some time go by (the train wasn't set to leave for a bit) and then decided to move further up the car and closer to the teachers so they could all sit together. I knew I was the cause of them being separated. Once I moved away, the kids bunched together and sat where I had. I don't know if it they didn't sit next to me because they felt uncomfortable next to a gaijin or what. But that's the only time I had people sit away from me on purpose.
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Similar things happened to my Italian friend when I took him to Japan several years back. The first time was at Kaiyukan in Osaka, we were at the area with the Jelly fish, there was a group of Elementry school kid on a school trip. I was chatting with my friend, and a bunch of kids start following him, then one kid came to me and asked me why was I able to communicate with him. Some just stood in front of him and looking at him like a freak show
Second incident was on the same trip, but in Kyoto, we were on our way back to Kyoto from Nara, same thing, elementry school kid, sat across from him and I heard a lot of discussion about the Gaijin, funny thing is, they completely ignore my presence and the possibilities of me understanding them....... the conversation was somewhere around "How come there are foreigner on this train", "Where are they going", "Maybe he is a kaiju" etc etc
My friend actually understood enough to make a laugh out of the whole situation.. it was fun in its own way..