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07-01-2010, 08:39 AM
Yeah I'd agree. Racism towards westerners is pretty limited but the Chinese and South Koreans aren't so well tolerated.
Not sure of the exact reasons for this but it may be a bit of a hangover from the past. Let's face it when you are about to go and invade a whole lot of countries like Japan did in the 30's and 40's you generally use a lot of governement propaganda to demonise and denegrate those you're about to go and kill, torture and enslave. It makes it easier for the general populace to stomach that kind of behaviour if they think very little of the people your invading. Hitler of course used similar propaganda to get his people behind the atrocities he went on to commit. Not sure if this is right but maybe a plausible reason. I think I'm also right in saying that Japan doesn't really have any laws against racial villification. So the media and politicians can be as racist as they like without no recourse available to those on the receiving end. And gosh some Japanese politicians have come out with some amazingly racist comments over the years!! 
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07-01-2010, 09:22 AM
I think I second Steven's comment. The majority of what I've personally seen as labelled as racism in Japan is frequently not meant maliciously, it's just a blind spot. I'm not excusing it, and I'm not saying there aren't some real cards out there, but generally it's perfectly nice people saying something without realizing it could offend, even if it's blatant to us. And if you point it out, they're usually pretty decent about it.
There's certainly more actively negative racism against non-japanese asians, with the exception maybe of Hong Kong Chinese, but it's not quite in a KKK sort of way. EDIT: On the Korean note, a lot of that stems from governmental bias and the law and is aimed mostly at long-term korean residents in Japan. Recently though, korean language and media are getting more popular in Japan, so I think attitudes are changing a little bit towards Koreans.
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07-01-2010, 09:32 AM
I`ve lived here 11 years now (finally passed that 10 mark, woohoo!!) and honestly have yet to experience any real racism. Curiosity, ignorance, stereotypes, assumptions, etc - yes - but never any intended negativity and always with the ability to educate and inform. And pretty much universal appreciation of giving them better and more accurate information.
Of course, there are tons of people out there who look for racism and discrimination in Japan... inevitably ending up with more than enough minor things that could be interpreted as racism that they start to see it everywhere. This is something I find particularly true of people who have a poor grasp of the language. A poor grasp of the language usually indicates a poor grasp of the culture - and a poor grasp of the culture is a slippery slope of misinterpretation. This is important because there is a difference between what people would consider racism in Japan and outside it. Things that are viewed as completely normal and harmless aren`t necessarily so outside of Japan. The racism in regard to other Asians seems to be a pretty mutual thing. They tend to harbor very negative opinions of Japanese, so Japanese tend to expect to be thought of negatively and respond negatively in backlash. And... It goes the other way. Other Asians often expect to be treated negatively so it comes full circle. I hate to say it, but in my own personal experience I have seen a LOT of racism baiting coming from South Koreans in particular. As in, they`ll do something that would get a negative response even if they were Japanese... And then jump to "Racism! Discrimination! I knew it!" and call for backup from the various support groups for South Koreans in Japan... And end up getting something in return for it in the end - like money, free housing, etc etc. People tend to be on guard because of it. Somewhere around here I even have a pamphlet that a group was passing out to Asians at immigration (they mistook my husband for something other than Japanese) that is titled "How to dupe the Japanese government for many free things!" or something very close to that. In multiple languages it has "baiting" tricks listed, and who to call if you got them to "take the bait" so that you could get support for free housing, free utilities, etc etc. It`s a deplorable practice and really hurts everyone... Especially the normal Asians in Japan who just want to live normal lives.
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07-01-2010, 09:47 AM
Well you can always go to debito.org for plenty of discussions on racism in this country. Mr Debito himself who speaks, reads and writes the language fluently and has become a Japanese citizen has somewhat tirelessly taken on and battled many racist issues in this country.
I personally don't subscribe to the attitude that racism is mostly misunderstood in this country because of a lack of understanding of the language or culture.
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07-01-2010, 10:01 AM
Quote:
Let's not forget that the group of people in Japan who has the most grudge against the Japanese government is the Zainichi Kankokujin (Koreans who came to Japan prior to the end of the Japanese colonialism; and the end of the Korean War with a bad disservice by the American military). Newcomer Koreans (South Koreans who came to Japan since the late 1980s but finally established recently as a "different" group from the ZK) have less and less problems against the Japanese government these days.
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07-01-2010, 10:52 AM
This is a very interesting thread I think.
Because in that thing sometimes I can't really understand Japanese. :/ Actually not me the one who have been assaulted, but I have a friend. We write our blog on Ameba, I think you know this page. I love it very much, I started to write blog in 2008 there and in this 2-3 years I haven't got any problems. But my friend had and have. She always got messages from Japanese people. In these message they write many terrible things to her. The 'kindest' message was 'you, gaijin bitch die!' Actually they addressed her with many terrible word, yesterday she got a message, and they called her 'jewish', because she has curly hair. Those people who sent her messages like this, hate her because she is not Japanese. I think, this is racism. :/ I don't say it, every Japanese is like this, because I know Japanese people, and she have Japanese friends too, who are really kind and nice. They try to comfort her, but she is really sad because of these messages. The thing I don't understand. Japan in many thing is like western countries, mostly USA. But it looks like for me a bit, the only thing they can't change, is their way of thinking. There are Japanese people who actually hate non-Japanese people, but there are many Japanese who adore western culture and try look and act like western people. This duality is really interesting. But... I have one kind of experience, what I can't understand. If there are many Japanese who really adore western things, culture and everything, why can't they understand our love towards Asia? o_O Sorry if I didn't follow the main topic, or my post isn't really understandable. English is so hard for me. >_< I hope my post doesn't hurt anybody. ^^
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07-01-2010, 11:01 AM
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07-01-2010, 11:44 AM
I would love to hear from Japanese people themselves. Are there not many on here?Maybe because we write mostly in English.
I wonder how it feels for them to read many of our comments or questions about THEIR country. It would be wonderful to hear their thoughts especially. They could resent us intruding. I read recently that Japan is encouraging more chinese to visit their country. One only has to know past history between Japan and CHina to understand hesitancy-- although I would have thought it would be the Chinese who are wary. The same with Koreans.
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07-01-2010, 11:52 AM
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I think that it is all too easy to send hurtful messages. It happens a lot in our country at school etc. Nothing to do with colour or ethnicity. Just some people like the freedom to bully on the net because it is so easy. Youngsters Can be very cruel world wide. Its best to ignore bullies who ever they may be. If they know that the bullied one is upset, they will do it more. Of course I do not know the type of blog she writes on. Is she respectful to Japanese people? I think we are all human beings-- none of us were in control of where we were born or whar country. Best to make friends and be understanding and also have a sense of humour.
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07-01-2010, 11:58 AM
There is an element in Japan that will not tolerate any criticism of Japan at all, mostly made up of ultra nationalists and right wing groups. They are especially intolerant of any criticism of Japan from foreigners. An example of this were the recent protests and threats against any cinemas that wanted to show the The Cove.
Such groups called Uyoku dantai can be found in most large cities and it's not unusual to see them driving around in buses with loudspeakers spewing out their messages of intolerance. Although a small minority they are nothing if not loud. They also have a history of violence at times but mostly against left leaning politicians.
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