well it's true that the internet isn't always a good source and now that you say it, it starts to seem like the article really is harshly racist against the japanese. but that was my first impression, i didn't decide to not visit japan anymore, only because i read that article.

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whatever

I've met some people from Japan and they were all very nice and friendly although that was *abroad*. I can't decide however they are within their country's boundaries because I have never been there.

That put aside, they are some troubling facts in history that point out that they have already been *very* arrogant (to use a mild word) toward foreigners. But this might be said about Germany as well. So what's it to choose?

Everyone I met in Japan was extremely polite and helpful. Like Razril said the only places I've heard of that don't allow westerners are certain traditional places like onsen or ryokan. Thats simply because too many loud mouthed obnoxious tourists came who didn't bother to learn polite manners such as taking your shoes came and ruined it for everyone. Now I'm not going to say that they aren't a little ethnocentric but to varying extents so are many countries.

Also everyone has bad days, and there are in any culture by sheer number of odds going to be some who are just plain rude. People remember these experiences much clearer because it sticks out from the usual. No one feels the need to write an article about a polite shop owner helping them find a book because it is a daily occurence.

As to portrayl of gaijin in manga. Every culture has generalizations of different groups and races. They may not be correct but the established view is often the source of humor and what makes comedy.
The U.S. has these: Asian=smart,good at math, white people can't jump, cheerleaders are ditzes. How many times do people use these cliches, they become part of a cultural joke.

for the the few that thought they wouldn't want to go to Japan after reading some of those articles. Is it really that much worse than your own country? Japan isn't some mythical place where everything is perfect. It exists in reality and has the same problems as the rest of the world.

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"Tu es responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as approvoise." Le Renard en "The Little Prince" Antoine de St. Exupery.

Here's a good link: http://www.jref.com/culture/misconceptions_prejudices.shtml



It was a game shop in Akihabara.

Here's a direct input from my diary:Now, I know this isn't direct racism, but that's a typical thing they say on the train/sidewalk/restaurant or whatever.

I can't seem to find it, but there was a guy who got upset over a japanese girl asking me out as well.

I don't think I kept any more dialogs in the diary, but if I find them I'll post them.

Um.. and yeah, I take offense for people calling me American, as well as calling me a bad drawer I was particularly happy about my drawing to begin with :< It's a drawing of a girl that was sleeping on the train, if I had a scanner, I'd scan it

I know it isn't really racism, but I took a photo of a sign that says "if you don't speak Japanese, we can't help you" ;D



Don't get me wrong though, I love Japan and it's people - there's always going to be some sour eggs in the package, but we don't need to eat them.

I don't have any first hand experience but from what I've gathered the Japanese look down on foreigners quite a bit, and not only Europeans or Americans, they don't seem to like South Koreans or Chinese either...

My grandfather has gone there multiple times for a business trip (mind you the last trip was 1998) and from what he told me is that compared to Europeans the Japanese live in a whole other world. Everything from their customs and traditions to their workplace environment and habits is very different than ours (I am talking about Europeans even though I live in Canada temporarily at the moment).
He says that everything is so different that its expected that they don't take kindly to foreigners. Apparently his experience with their culture wasn't the most pleasant. He told me that while it was easy to do professional work with the Japanese, when him and his colleagues were on their own time they had a number of "interesting, mildly amusing and some embarrassing" moments. For example they had tried to enter a Japanese restaurant only to be kicked out "politely" and their translator/guide telling them that it had been a "Japanese-only restaurant". Later they had entered another without taking off their shoes much to their translator's embarrassment.

Anyway thats just what my granddad told me. I can't say from personal experience but from what I read off the net foreigners have a hard time finding a place to rent as most seem to have a "no pets or gaijin" rule. I think that says something... It seems odd to me that the Japanese have no problem assimilating some parts of foreign culture (ex. baseball, western food, many other sports, etc. etc.) but are reluctant to accept the Westerners themselves.

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i went to japan..they were real nice as a ppl
more friendly then new yorkans
they treated me like kobe lol
but then again i'm blk not white....
and ass we all know...most foreign countries...hate white ppl...that...is most deffinitly tru...for the most part

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"You just bleed there and think about what you've done!"

The writer of this site http://gaijinsmash.net/ is a big black guy who is 6"3. Not only is he tall in that country but he's black. He's actually marrying a Japaneses girl pretty soon there.

He has been in japan for 3-4 years now and has profound experiences according to his articles. He even has some pictures to prove it; with a seemingly vast knowledge from his own understandings regarding how he is treated in Japan.

Most of the stuff he says might have a exaggeration to it but there contains truth in most of his words.

I'm going to touch a topic that I think has been skipped for some reason or another.

The experience for a male and a female in a foreign country can be completely different.

I have never been in Japan, but I travel a lot and have been in many countries, and most of the time, the locals act friendlier with females. I have never been in a Muslim country, I guess those are the exception.

BTW, all those journals have been written by males....coincidence?....I don't think so.

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THIS POST DOES NOT EXIST......IT'S ALL IN YOUR IMAGINATION

I'm just commenting about what you said (I started reading the thread backwards), but if the service is exceptional, it would be mentally noted by one who cared. Otherwise a person who is even given exceptional service would believe that he or she was entitled to it and think nothing of the experience.

403...

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My avatar was Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Evening Dress (with big bow) first shown in 1983, photographed from his 2002 retrospective and final show. [color=#CC0066]Check out some of his collections for free (pre-2008) HERE[/color] courtesy of FirstView.

LOL @ the notorious "Octopus".
The geography down there remain forever changed...
His ex (that bitch), how could she...

Oh and if you could point out where the pics are, cuz I cant see any...

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I've read it for like, 2 years or something and I can only remember like 3 pictures max. Here's two of them (1) (2)

#2 is probably his best entry (it brings tears... of joy!)

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The funny thing is, this reminds me of a post someone made (I don't remember the poster) on this forum in another thread. They mentioned at the end of his or her post that no matter how long you live there 'you'll always be alone and never belong'. (Was this the 'Moving' type thread? )

Even if you don't read the rest of my post, I hope you read up to the end of this next paragraph (after the URL).

http://www.japanforum.com/index.php

I remember I when I found this site when I was missing Japan and so I found this site. I found a thread on here about a year ago that was taking about Japanese stereotypes towards foreigners. I would have just linked it but it seems unfortunately I did not bookmark it and don't have more than a summary and an approximate memory of what happened. About 10 pages in the thread, some 'counter' points to the stereotypes was that the "You're good with chopsticks" comment isn't always meant as something like "You're not an unaccommodating/useless foreigner". The guy that heard this remarked to him said that he realized that is was a compliment in his situation since he was picking up foods that were roundish and tended to be hard to pick up with chopsticks. And there was also another point that the discussion that was near the end of it (to the date that it was post on) about how pretty much even though this guy talked Japanese to the people, they always treated him like a tourist. Like he would ask the cost of something and they would show the number on a calculator or that he was travelling with a person who was Japanese and the salesperson would talk to her instead of him. One pointed out that a person who thought that his Japanese was correct, that he had actually made a mistake. There was also remarks that foreigners are in the minority, so the majority of Japanese will just admittedly lump another foreigner with them in a sense (grabbing for the English version of a travel pamphlet instead of the Japanese one, greeting a person in English), because foreigners rarely become fluent in Japanese. One person mentioned that people in the shops that they regulared, learned or knew to accommodate the person by speaking Japanese instead of assuming they wanted English.

Also while I was going through that forum looking for the post that I mentioned above, I found this thread. http://www.japanforum.com/forum/living-japan/3229-%22do-you- like-japan-japan-doesnt-like-you-%22.html?highlight=chopsticks
It depresses the people on the thread by the looks of it. 10,000 comments and after a year on the place a bunch of people are still picking fights with each other http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments& v=xCeK0Trz9E0&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DxCeK0Trz9E0 I guess don't know what to make about the YouTube video... I can't help but think that the people that usually comment on YouTube constantly are like idiots, and the rest of the users that watch but probably don't comment are reasonable or okay. But at the same time, if enough people watch stuff on YouTube, does that mean something like "We agree with this video and that's why we watch it (repeatedly) and Favorited it"?

And the funny thing is, when I think of the other crap that could happen to a person can happen that is worse than racism (I heard on either 20/20 or Dateline about this kid that was 15 years old that went to Delhi with his family and he was forced into gay sex by some guys there. There's robbery, including pit pockets to think about when travelling), it seems that the racism of the Japanese is what is scaring them from really considering to go there. But is it just because one is hearing Japan is "nice, polite" that they are going there? And then once that person hears that Japan is "evil and bad" they drop their long-thoughtout plans? I guess maybe that kind of person doesn't deserve the pleasure of travelling and the enjoys that come with it really.

I think an Australian travel guide accused my country, or the area that I live in it, of being "dangerous" because of avalanches. The only avalanches that I've maybe heard on the news is about people that put themselves in harm's way (like the snowboarders that worked at a ski resort knowingly went down the side of a mountain that was considered dangerous and closed off to the public). I haven't heard about any ski resorts getting buried. *shrugs*

Anyhow, I hope that even though I know my post lacks clarity (and that may have been due to length ^^U), that the idea behind it is understood.

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My avatar was Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Evening Dress (with big bow) first shown in 1983, photographed from his 2002 retrospective and final show. [color=#CC0066]Check out some of his collections for free (pre-2008) HERE[/color] courtesy of FirstView.

I think people just like to make a big deal out of it. I dare everyone to just go to Japan and see for themselves. Its not as bad as everybody claims it is.

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what's your point?

Indeed. And I would like if you didn't stereotypize muslim countries. >_>

Japan isn't bad, it just depends on the person. Just give it a shot, and if do you get bad experiences, just give it another shot but in a different area. D: Not all people are the same.

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source: animenewsnetwork

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