Discrimination

[burkhartdesu]

I don't want this to be a negative thread (well, how can racism not be negative); but has anyone experienced racism in Japan, as well as other countries.

I once went into a kimono shop in Asakusa mid-afternoon where I was promptly shoo'd out by an old, and obviously bitter Japanese woman. Maybe I walked through her sweep pile- as she chased me off with a broom.

Other than that I've only had good experiences, especially in Hiroshima where I expected to atleast be questioned about America's dropping of the first atomic bomb.

[spicytuna]

I was turned down at a Imekura once.

But seriously, I've had my share of discrimination in Japan. When you have a Japanese face and name, it doesn't matter if you were born overseas. Many Japanese expect you to have perfect language skills, complete knowledge of the Japanese culture, etc. Anything less and you could face ridicule.

I'm surprised that you got kicked out of a shop. There must be a story behind that...

[kiyuga]

Heh....I do in America. I get comments like, you're from Germany right? Did Your dad come home drunk last night? Do you drink too? Is your mom overweight? Are you a communist?" Crap like that. And then my accent is "retarded"......whatever......people can be so ignorant sometimes....

[StangGuy]

Racism, not neccesarily, discrimination, absolutely. They aren't the same and people should realize that.

I don't know how long you have been in or spent time in Hiroshima, but many Japanese consider it to be one of the most anti-foreigner places in Japan. Interstingly, almost every foreigner I talked to that had spent considerable time elsewhere in Japan considered Hiroshima to be one of if not the friendliest city in Japan. During the spring and late summer the anti-gaijin wagons run buy the conservative parties are out in full force. Those parties also have more support from the area than in other regions. Though nobody will say why, I expect it is because of the bombing and also the close proximity of the US military base in Iwakuni.

While in Hiroshima I came across many bars that didn't allow foreigners. I also got a few derogatory looks because I was with my then girlfriend, now wife, who is Japanese. While there I was only asked about the bombing twice. Once was by a man who lost his younger brother to the bomb and it was more of a general question about war. My coworkers weren't so lucky. Two of them went to the aniversary remebrance ceremony and were invited by locals to a discussion about the bombing, and one was continually contacted for about a week afterwards. Another was sucker punched outside of a bar by a guy that was continuosly asking him about the bombing earlier in the night.

The most bizarre form of discrimination was being foisted on unsuspecting japanese women or vise versa by japanese guys. I don't know what it is but it seems nearly every Japanese guy expects foreign guys to be interested in Japanese women.

[Rogozhin]

I`m almost never discriminated against in Japan, probably because I look Japanese enough? To the ones that think I`m a foreigner (which is partially true), opening my mouth usually sets that straight.

I`ve experienced a considerable amount of racism in Australia, particularly at school, where various ethnic slurs were assigned to me. Rememberance day assembly was all about bashing the Japanese, so I copped it big time on this day. Outside of school, I`ve had bus drivers rudely say "What? Don`t you understand English?" when I failed to hear something they mumbled the first time. I`ve had ethnic slurs thrown at me on the street as well.

Originally Posted by burkhartdesu

I once went into a kimono shop in Asakusa mid-afternoon where I was promptly shoo'd out by an old, and obviously bitter Japanese woman. Maybe I walked through her sweep pile- as she chased me off with a broom.

Haha, a similar thing happened to me in Asakusa, but it was because I was sniffing expensive mushrooms for sale with no intention of buying :P

[burkhartdesu]

Originally Posted by StangGuy

Racism, not neccesarily, discrimination, absolutely. They aren't the same and people should realize that.

This pretty much sums it all.

Wow, no-foreigner bars- that's new to me. But the guilt I felt in Hiroshima with the not-so-subtle depiction of melting Japanese children made me feel sympathetic enough

But eh, I've come to realize that discrimination, not necessarily racism, is like a natural human mechanism...

[burkhartdesu]

Originally Posted by Rogozhin

Haha, a similar thing happened to me in Asakusa, but it was because I was sniffing expensive mushrooms for sale with no intention of buying :P

LOL! Well, Asakusa is a pretty big tourist destination; I'm not really surprised they're all a little grumpy.

[pixisticks]

XD The only thing that happened to me in Asakusa was a kimono shop lady talked me into buying shoes that were "one size fits all". *facepalm* Not for big-footed Americans, apparently...

I was only there for ten days, though. However, my Japanese teacher in high school did JET in Hiroshima for quite a while, and she LOVED it there. The only discrimination she got was people not expecting her to be able to speak Japanese (even if, oddly enough, they'd been conversing with her just ten minutes ago). It's interesting to read about this stuff, though.

[ThirdSight]

Being a stark white American, I've rarely experienced any sort of discrimination ever. I know I'll face it in Japan, and I expect it.

Half of the time, when it's not violent and blatent racism, just looking beyond yourself and realizing your place in the society lessens the blow.

[Hatredcopter]

After a total of about two years living in Japan, I've never experienced any discrimination or racism - I always hear stories on the internet, but I've never experienced it first-hand. The only exception was on the subway, me and a friend sat across from a drunk old man who gave us dirty looks and told us in a thick, slurred accent to get out of Japan. The other Japanese people around him looked rather unimpressed with what he had to say, and we just laughed it off.

Never seen any establishments in Nagoya with these "No foreigners" signs either.

I've actually gotten more flak in AMERICA because I was born IRELAND. How 'bout that?