how bad is sexism and prejudice in Japan?

[MMM]

Is it so terrible for a person who never got any attention in his/her home country to capitalize on his/her newfound popularity? Of course if they hurt people or take advantage of them, that is not right. I have seen lots of "average" guys and gals from the West use their foreign charms to meet people, make friends, date, etc. Both men and women.

"No girls would talk to me in America, but here in Japan, they are actually interested in what I have to say,"

If that was my experience, you can't really blame them for being more social . . .

[lololicious]

What does gaijin mean please?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by kawaiineko

I never said it was. However Japanese need to understand that some foreigners are highly capable to do the same jobs that Japanese can do. To just judge gajin and assume they're not capable of doing a job (they don't have the skill or knowledge because they're not Japanese) well that's really not fair and it's not even ethical morally. I imagine it's not easy to adjust to Japanese culture as a foreigner because it's more then likely completely different then the culture you grew up in. Yes I know it's not easy; I can say this just by learning their
language, it's very complicated and it's not easy to master.

Not racially prejudiced? They have a fear of foreigners which tends to make them bias. They view males as the superior gender. Who do you think primarily dominates Japanese society when you look at the genders? Female or male? If you're going to say that they have no prejudice at all in their culture then you're probably wrong.

I mean in America, look at how the 50's and 60's have done with our view about minority groups (African Americans and Latinos; even though U.S. tries to promote accepting diversity in cultural groups, some people can still view them as inferior simply because of what race they are; it all depends on what time period they were raised in). Look at what the whole 9/11 incident has done; look at how it's made us view Arabs or anybody from the Middle East or Saudi Arabia.

Same goes for what Americans did to Japanese during World War II and why the Chinese and Japanese basically despise each other. Why do the Japanese hate the Chinese? Because from what I've heard, throughout history Chinese have frequently invaded Japan and tried to make at as part of their country if you will.

Chinese hate the Japanese because they used many Chinese refugees as comfort women (sex slaves). They promised food to them if they returned the to their place of shelter, although it had been burned down to the ground by Japanese. They basically just gave an empty promise as bait to lure them. They raped Chinese and Koreans until they could get no more pleasure from them sexually then killed them. They essentially treated them like slaves in every meaning of the word; and they did it mostly to Chinese and Korean women they saw them as beautiful and sexually attractive. Most Japanese won't even acknowledge that they did such horrendous things to Chinese and Korean, so I can understand why Japanese have left a bad
taste in the mouths of Koreans and Chinese, why they don't trust them, and why they're a wee bit bitter.


There are many wonderful and unique things about the Japanese culture. However it's not a utopia, and just like any other culture, they do things that are morally wrong and much of
the time really end up hurting people emotionally because of it (as in seeing a Japanese female or a female in general as inferior simply because of her gender).

Japan may "need to understand" that foriegners are capable, but the working visa laws, just like America, really only cater to people that can do jobs that can't be done by Japanese. That's just simple politics and reality. If they laws were looser Japan would be more inundated with foreigners, and to be honest, foreigners in Japan haven't given Japan any real good reason to loosen the laws.

In the end what it means is that foreigners in Japan will either be teachers or entertainers (or pro athletes, but that is such a small percentage). You can beleive "It's not fair" but remember this is a country only slightly bigger than California with half the population of the US. They don't need to fill the cities any more.

They don't think that foreigners can't do "the job"...just why invite someone to this remote island to do a job when there are capable people in Japan that can?

"Not racially prejudiced? They have a fear of foreigners which tends to make them bias."

I wouldn't want people confusing the American government's actions with my feelings, so don't confuse the actions of the Japanese government with the general attitudes of the Japanese people.

"They view males as the superior gender."

A very very outdated and overgeneralizing stereotype. Boys usually live with their mothers until they are married. Salarymen often give their paychecks to their wives, and she gives him a monthly allowance, as she takes care of all the bills. Women run Japan, make no mistake.

[chachava]

Originally Posted by lololicious

What does gaijin mean please?

Its a shortened version of Gaikokujin meaning foreigner

[lololicious]

Thank you.

[lololicious]

I really think that your question in it's entirety is racist. It seems that you have formed an opinion on speculation and hersay. I mean living in the US you should already know about the racism and stereotypes we have here. So why are you making it seem like any prejudice from members of anothr country is shocking. Just as you have formed your opinion (and many other people in the world) why would you expect anyone else not to? I don't know anything about Japan and it's view of Americans or anyother race or creed but I would not be angry to find out if they were. It is HUMAN nature to fear the unknown. Fear is the parent of prejudice so it just makes sense. Perhaps you should focus your energy on portraying a good example of the citizens of this country? You never know you may just change someones perception. And furthermore if you are a strong woman you will keep it movin. And as far as jobs are concerned, how many Americans are upset about people coming from other countries and getting jobs. I know a lot of people that don't like it. Listen I'm not trying to be smart but it seems like you are stressing over something that that you simply have no control over. Besides if everybody told you what you thought was true times 100, would that stop you from doing what you wanted?

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by MMM

Is it so terrible for a person who never got any attention in his/her home country to capitalize on his/her newfound popularity?

Of course not, I was mainly responding to the idea of becoming a womanizer.

[jasonbvr]

I wanted to explain a bit more about the term gaijin even chachava is right in saying it is just a shortened version of gaikokujin. Before I do though, you have to realize that 99% of gaijin living in Japan refer to themselves as gaijin and others as gaijin as well.

I have heard that some people take offense to being called a gaijin and here are some of my theories on it. When you look at the meanings for the character that makes up the first syllable gai 外, it can mean from the outside. So literally a person from a country outside of Japan for the term gaikokujin 外国人. Shortened to gaijin, some people may take it to mean outsider. Then there is another meaning that translates as bad. So gaijin becomes bad person.

But honestly, taking offense to being called a gaijin is just retarded. However sometimes their are people who have lived in Japan for quite a while, maybe even there whole life, but don't look Japanese. In this case they have a bit more to complain about being labeled a gaijin, but they are usually knowledgeable enough of Japan and Japanese to accept and expect this little faux paux.

I'll leave you with one of my new favorite phrases, just because we're both gaijin doesn't mean we're friends. HaHa...

[Lilongyue]

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

I wanted to explain a bit more about the term gaijin even chachava is right in saying it is just a shortened version of gaikokujin. Before I do though, you have to realize that 99% of gaijin living in Japan refer to themselves as gaijin and others as gaijin as well.

I have heard that some people take offence to being called a gaijin and here are some of my theories on it. When you look at the meanings for the character that makes up the first syllable gai 外, it can mean from the outside. So literally a person from a country outside of Japan for the term gaikokujin 外国人. Shortened to gaijin, some people may take it to mean outsider. Then there is another meaning that translates as bad. So gaijin becomes bad person.

But honestly, taking offence to being called a gaijin is just retarded. However sometimes their are people who have lived in Japan for quite a while, maybe even there whole life, but don't look Japanese. In this case they have a bit more to complain about being labeled a gaijin, but they are usually knowledgeable enough of Japan and Japanese to accept and expect this little faux paux.

I'll leave you with one of my new favorite phrases, just because we're both gaijin doesn't mean we're friends. HaHa...

I know that Japanese uses many Chinese characters, but I was a little surprised to see that they use 外国人 as their word for foreigners. That's exactly what Chinese say, only it's pronounced wai4 guo2 ren2 (the numbers being tone markes). Another expression used in China, one you'll usually hear every day as you walk the streets, is 老外 and is pronounced lao3 wai4. Do Japanese use it also? For anyone interested in language, check out the Chinese language page on wikipedia. Some scholars believe that a lot of words to describe recent inventions, like telephone, etc., came originally form the Japanese. Since the Japanese used the Chinese characters to write the word, like 电话 (dian4 hua4) for telephone, it was easy for Chinese to adopt them.

[Lilongyue]

Originally Posted by MMM

Is it so terrible for a person who never got any attention in his/her home country to capitalize on his/her newfound popularity? Of course if they hurt people or take advantage of them, that is not right. I have seen lots of "average" guys and gals from the West use their foreign charms to meet people, make friends, date, etc. Both men and women.

"No girls would talk to me in America, but here in Japan, they are actually interested in what I have to say,"

If that was my experience, you can't really blame them for being more social . . .

Not at all, like Jasonvbr I was refering only to the negative side of the situation, womanizing. People being lied to, manipulated and taken advantage of only for sex ain't cool. This kind of behavior actually contributes to the racism that does exist towards foreigners. I've had to work really hard with my finacee to convince her that all American's aren't womanizers. That there are normal people in America raising families, have values, morals and a sense of responsibility to their family and spouse.