My Experience in Japan

[QuoyaNatsume]

Originally Posted by Housetek

i look japanese so i can usualy sneak by hehe

only places i wasnt allowed to go into is the onsens

=P they dont like tattoos

Wow U guys seem pretty lucky.I wasted so much time wondering if I was brave enough to go to a college out of state only to be stuck inner city. I'm from New York. I'm so jealous.They probably wouldn't like a japanese speaking Native-American anyway

[vulgarshudder]

Que I'm scared to go to Japan cos I'm native-american thread.

Foriegners can go into onsen, unless you have tattoos. If you have tattoos you won't be allowed in if you're japanese or foriegner. Well if you're foriegn you might be able to sneak in with tattoos, cos you're obviously not a yakuza and they'll be too embaressed to throw you out.

[SaginumaEki]

There was a Native American foreign exchange student. He didn't have trouble. He was weird though...so everyone kind of made fun of him.

[QuoyaNatsume]

See wat I'm saying. You all made fun of him anyway,but I wouldn't care because u gotta have fun right? And besides I only have 1 tat anyway

[SaginumaEki]

There a difference between making fun of someone becuase he's Native American and making fun of him for being an otaku. Especially because all the host okaasans were looking forward to him doing his traditional dance. Except he didn't do it because he was kind of creepy. But whatever.

[QuoyaNatsume]

Okay I guess I see what U mean But what the hell kind of dance was he suppose to do anyway?!

[SaginumaEki]

He put on his student profile that he can do a traditional dance. I don't know. He didn't end up doing it and a lot of the okaasans were offended becasue we had to have this talent show. And everyone tried. Like, we were all really bad. Except some people were really intense and good. Well, I was bad. Haha. But he didn't even try. It's not like people hated him for being Native American. The truth is, most Japanese people dont' know what Native Americans are. Just like the majority of America doesn't know tons of stuff about Japanese history. It really doesn't matter.

[LoreZyra]

Originally Posted by SaginumaEki

...
I was in Japan for 2 months,...even though I lived in Kawasaki and commuted to Yokohama/Tokyo everyday.

1) I never saw one of those "Japanese Only" signs. ...
2) Japanese people have a lot of so-called stereotypes for different nationalities. ...

...

2 months in Japan hardly qualifies as an expert observation... Plus, you were around the big cities... you haven't ventured out of the safety of Tokyo... Japanese are typically benevolent towards kids. You wouldn't typically experience any harsh lashes direct toward you...

I've traveled all over Japan. From Okinawa to Fukuoka, Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. And all around Tokyo. I've been to Sapporo in beautiful Hokkaido.
Granted I haven't lived there for more than a month at a time, I've seen all types of Japanese people over the years. I've traveled through the rural townes of Hyogogen -- between Kyoto and Osaka.
Many are very surprised to find an American "tourist" that understands Japanese. No matter how long you've been there, they will always comment on your language skills. Initially, it's nice... and then it starts to get annoying. Makes you feel like a baby that did something neat.

Tell me your "life" experiences in Japan when you have _lived_ there for over five years...

[Mabuikoneko]

Originally Posted by SaginumaEki

I'm not sure how many people have lived in Japan, but here I go.

I was in Japan for 2 months, going to school and staying with a host family. I think one of the major problems people on this forum are having with Japan is the "racism." I'd like to touch base on this, even though I lived in Kawasaki and commuted to Yokohama/Tokyo everyday.

1) I never saw one of those "Japanese Only" signs. However, if I would've seen one, I would've been upset. A lot of people on the forum have been excusing this by saying "OH, I wouldn't like it if foreigners came to my country and blah blah blah." No, this is wrong. Pure and simple. You shouldn't excuse this at all. It's wrong. End of story. If a foreigner (who happens to be Caucasian or black) has Japanese citizenship, they are still discriminated against in these places. That is just plain wrong. What Debito Arudou did was the correct thing to do. Debito Arudou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2) Japanese people have a lot of so-called stereotypes for different nationalities. Fact of the matter is, if you're country is not by Japan or English speaking country, they probably don't know about it (with exception of Italy, France, and Germany). Most of the stereotypes are good. The people I was around, had no problem whatsoever with anyone. One of the host brothers even started dating a Korean exchange student. And the most popular exchange student was one from Korea. They did tend to point and stare, but that was because they were curious about the exchange students.

My experience in Japan was amazing. I didn't have a problem whatsoever. None of the foreign exchange students did. We often went in groups and got lost in Shibuya and Shinjuku, but we still were treated nicely by all store owners. It was a good experience. I love Japan, moreso than when I first started taking Japanese about 3 years ago. (Btw, I'm still in highschoool, and I went to a Japanese high school)

When I actually talked to some of the students about this stuff (because our handbook basically said that if you're not Caucasian you'll probably have stereotypes thrown at you). They all said that racism is wrong. They think black people are "sugoi" and stuff like that. I believe them. It was a very sincere talk I had with my host brother and his friends. However, whenever I went into a restaurant, they'd give me and this American-Korean girl Japanese menus. They thought I looked Okinawan, which maybe explains why no one moved when I sat down on the train. However, I commuted with 2 other guys. One of them was a red head, and they both stuck out. They never had anyone move away from them on the train. Nor did anyone ever talk down to us. When we were playing with fireworks in the park, the police came and was very VERY kind. (We didn't get in trouble, we were just making too much noise)

All in all, I never had one bad experience in Japan. I loved it. I miss it so much. I hope this might clear some things up.

Omg thats so cool makes me wanna go but im always afraid of getting lost or traveling

[SaginumaEki]

Originally Posted by LoreZyra

2 months in Japan hardly qualifies as an expert observation... Plus, you were around the big cities... you haven't ventured out of the safety of Tokyo... Japanese are typically benevolent towards kids. You wouldn't typically experience any harsh lashes direct toward you...

I've traveled all over Japan. From Okinawa to Fukuoka, Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. And all around Tokyo. I've been to Sapporo in beautiful Hokkaido.
Granted I haven't lived there for more than a month at a time, I've seen all types of Japanese people over the years. I've traveled through the rural townes of Hyogogen -- between Kyoto and Osaka.
Many are very surprised to find an American "tourist" that understands Japanese. No matter how long you've been there, they will always comment on your language skills. Initially, it's nice... and then it starts to get annoying. Makes you feel like a baby that did something neat.

Tell me your "life" experiences in Japan when you have _lived_ there for over five years...

I never said it was a "life" experience. It was just my experience in Japan. I don't understand why you mentioned people saying your Japanese was good. Was that directed at me or everyone in general? I got that from my host family all the time. And everyone in my home room cheered when I could introduced myself. It might be annoying, but I see it as them encouraging you to keep on learning. But whatever.

If you want to know details. I was down in the Kansai area for a few weeks too. My host family took me to Kamakura and random little towns outside of the Kanagawa. I went to summer camp with my host brother somewhere really south-west. I forget the name. Basically small towns where people would touch my hair and say "sugoi." I know that I only lived there for two months, but I'm just saying, I didn't have any problems.

Plus, most of the people here are of highschool or college age, and they're all worried about going to Japan for some reason or other. Why shouldn't I tell them what I experienced if that's basically what they're going to do? I doubt most highschool students want to go to very rural places. Speaking of which, one of my friends did another exchange program and he was placed in Hokkaido. He lived in a farming community. He's of Indian descent (From India, not Native American). He didn't have any problems. Another kid I know was Puerto Rican and another one was Caucasian. They lived in rural communities for about 2 months also. Again, they didn't really have any problems. Maybe it's because we're kids. But whatever. No need to flame.