What's it like for an American to live in Japan?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by cranks

Hahaha, I know. Colorado is no Tokyo. I was born in Shinjuku. You will not stand out in Shinjuku, Akasaka, Ginza and Roppongi. But you will in Motoyawata which is just 20 minutes from Tokyo station. I agree though, it's not really "stares". But the "staring factor" a non-Asian guy can get is a lot more in Tokyo than in NY. There is like 0.2 percent of black people in Tokyo, and there is what? 30% in NY, so it will be different. Shinjuku, Akasaka, Roppongi are the exceptions. Ginza, mmm maybe.

You know, I have spent small periods of time here and there all around Kanto, from Chiba to Rokko to Yokohama to Saitama, and the level of looks from the 80s to the 90s to the 00s has dropped greatly. Again, at this point I think if you think people are "staring" at you, you are probably are being too sensitive.

If a woman was wearing a kimono in my neighborhood in the US, I might look twice and think "I wonder why she is wearing a kimono?" but that is as far as it would go, and I would probably forget about it 30 seconds later. I think this is a realistic thinking.

The idea that foreigners are so special and weird in Japan went out a couple decades ago.

[chiuchimu]

Originally Posted by MMM

Where are you from in Japan, chiuchimu? In 2010 do you really think Japanese are "startled at first" by foreigners?

How would you expect a foreigner to imitate the the clothing and facial expressions of Japanese? That seems like an odd expectation. Don't most Japanese wear shirts and pants like everyone else?

Sylmar by way of Nagaski, Japan. Not knowing were the OP will end up at, The reactions he'll get from people he meets will vary. Startled is the more extreme case.

Bit tired to explain today, next time OK? In short, Easy to tell FOB from Nisei: Clothes mannerism, hair cut, facial expression. posture etc..

[MMM]

Originally Posted by chiuchimu

Sylmar by way of Nagaski, Japan. Not knowing were the OP will end up at, The reactions he'll get from people he meets will vary. Startled is the more extreme case.

Bit tired to explain today, next time OK? In short, Easy to tell FOB from Nisei: Clothes mannerism, hair cut, facial expression. posture etc..

Is the OP asking how he should dress as a 二世? Why are you endorsing the idea that foreigners should try and assimilate and pretend they are Japanese? Should foreigners in Japan get Japanese haircuts, imitate the same expressions, take on the same postures, and copy the same clothing?

When I see foreigners in America doing this I find it quite odd. I would think Japanese people would find the same thing just as odd.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by MMM

You know, I have spent small periods of time here and there all around Kanto, from Chiba to Rokko to Yokohama to Saitama, and the level of looks from the 80s to the 90s to the 00s has dropped greatly. Again, at this point I think if you think people are "staring" at you, you are probably are being too sensitive.

If a woman was wearing a kimono in my neighborhood in the US, I might look twice and think "I wonder why she is wearing a kimono?" but that is as far as it would go, and I would probably forget about it 30 seconds later. I think this is a realistic thinking.

The idea that foreigners are so special and weird in Japan went out a couple decades ago.

Kimono is a good example. I don't think a black guy in Tokyo today would get as much attention as a Japanese girl wearing Kimono would in the states. You have to go really Inaka to get that much attention. There are sensitive people out there though. And they might feel the "stares" which isn't always a bad thing. I like to stand out as long as it is not in a negative way.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by cranks

Kimono is a good example. I don't think a black guy in Tokyo today would get as much attention as a Japanese girl wearing Kimono would in the States. You have to go really Inaka to get that much attention. There are sensitive people out there though. And they might feel the "stares" which isn't always a bad thing. I like to stand out as long as it is not in a negative way.

Sensitive people will always feel stared at. Some people will feel fine in their hometown, but in Japan they assume they will be "stared at" and therefore they feel "stared at". That is called paranoia. Trust me, in populated areas of Japan, no one over the age of 5 is staring at anybody.

[DaisukeKigurou]

Originally Posted by cranks

Kimono is a good example. I don't think a black guy in Tokyo today would get as much attention as a Japanese girl wearing Kimono would in the States. You have to go really Inaka to get that much attention. There are sensitive people out there though. And they might feel the "stares" which isn't always a bad thing. I like to stand out as long as it is not in a negative way.

Me too, as long as the people aren't giving me any crap, being racist, bigoted, harassing me because of my interests, hobbies, or the way I look or dressed. I the I want have to bring in the "Kira rule" into the situation.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by DaisukeKigurou

Me too, as long as the people aren't giving me any crap, being racist, bigoted, harassing me because of my interests, hobbies, or the way I look or dressed. I the I want have to bring in the "Kira rule" into the situation.

Why do you think anyone would give you crap, be racist or harass you?

[DaisukeKigurou]

That sentince doesn't make any sense to me, no offense... ( Please, don't take that the wrong way)

[Nyororin]

I really find all the stare talk fascinating as apparently I live in another Japan where this doesn`t happen. No one around is "startled" by foreigners, let alone giving them glares. Or maybe this is just me? Which leads me to wonder what other people are doing that earns them so much staring - especially as Japanese people don`t tend to give nasty looks in the first place.

I also had old ladies giving me dirty looks for sitting next to them on the subway.

Wait, next to old ladies? Were you sitting in the elderly/priority seating area? Because that should earn a glare regardless of where you`re from.

but when a foreigner complain like "I got a dirty look from a person who sit next to me" or "Nobody wanted to sit next to me", most of the times, they are breaking some rule.

I think this is pretty much accurate. I`ve been riding the trains for over 10 years, and have never had stares or people not sitting by me. I`ve never heard anyone talking negatively about foreigners/me.
I have however seen other foreigners sit down and take up two or three spots with their way of sitting, or plop their bag on the seat next to them when it is crowded in the train, or sit in the priority area without noticing, or keep talking loudly with friends, or be generally inconsiderate.
I have had other people with me who only speak poor or elementary Japanese THINK that other people were talking about them - when the other people were really talking about something completely unrelated. (And the lower level Japanese speaker think they were quite sly for "understanding" the people talking about them, saying something to the people who were talking - earning them stares and avoidance... Which is pretty understandable as I think I`d do the same if I were talking to a friend and someone came up and said "I understand what you`re saying!" or "I know you`re talking about me!")

Having seen far more people misinterpret normal things as being negative toward them than actually have negative things happen to them... I tend to take these accounts with a grain of salt. There is WAY too much "this happened to me because I was a foreigner!" and way too little "this happened to me because I was doing something something" - when most of the time it is something that would earn a Japanese person just as many stares. People aren`t going to not look when you do something that they find weird just because you`re not Japanese.

Seriously though, I have been waiting 12 years to catch someone saying something about me thinking I couldn`t understand them so that I could make some snarky comment - and have yet to find even one.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by MMM

Sensitive people will always feel stared at. Some people will feel fine in their hometown, but in Japan they assume they will be "stared at" and therefore they feel "stared at". That is called paranoia. Trust me, in populated areas of Japan, no one over the age of 5 is staring at anybody.

Yeah, it's not exactly "staring", that's why I have been using the double quotes and saying things like "staring factor". Some people will probably feel people are looking at them even in a populated area. But, claiming "people are staring at me" is probably an exaggeration and it sounds like you had enough of it over the years. It's nothing compared to a Japanese girl walking on the street wearing Kimono in the states, I agree.