Racism in Japan?

hey Az i was just wonder if people in japan like other people from differnet places in the world. Like if there is rasicm in japan who is it toward? cause if u like went to japan and they hated ur race then ud be like screwd over. So i was just wonder if u could tell me what kind of people they like and dont like.

One for the astute collector.

Originally Posted by Saundies

hey Az i was just wonder if people in japan like other people from differnet places in the world. Like if there is rasicm in japan who is it toward? cause if u like went to japan and they hated ur race then ud be like screwd over. So i was just wonder if u could tell me what kind of people they like and dont like.

They have few foriegners, so yeah.

[羽之助]

The answer is simple. Racism in Japan is directed against those who are not Japanese.
http://www.debito.org/roguesgallery.html
Especially those living here who are visible - like Brazilians.
http://www.debito.org/bortzdiscrimreport.html

Japan's not America. As stated in millions of statements before, xenophobia rules in there. They (the Japanese) don't see a lot of foreigners as opposed to let's say.. the U.S.

As previously mentioned, it's directed against non-Japanese. Caucasians I read are lucky though yet they still get some bashing. However to those other Asians who look like Japanese yet can't speak the language...

And for the sake of the high, Racism occurs everywhere. Don't single out Japan for chrissakes.

[羽之助]

We're not singling out Japan. This whole forum is about Japan so it is obvious that such questions and answers would arise here. If you want an example of another xenophobic racist Asian society, try South Korea. Or taste a little of southern Spain for that good ol' anti-Moroccan hatred.

And, having never been to the U.S., I'm afraid I can't offer any opinions on the clime of xenophobia compared to Japan.

[stsparky]

The USA is average as to racism. The coasts are pretty okay - but Middle America is known to have lunatics who'd shoot an Asian transfer student out of fear on Halloween.

Cheers, Sparky

[rameek]

I have not experienced racism here yet. But its a little difficult to have those experiences with the language barrier. I am staying in Fuchu-shi which is a suburb and there are no black people here. When I walk around town or ride my bike people stare but not in a disrespectful way just a curiosity. Most foreigners are normally located in the major city areas or near military base. Most young people would love to talk to me though I can see it in there face especially when its obvious they are dressed like people in rap videos. My japanese sucks but i can get some thoughts across.
I experience more racism in america daily than I have in Japan but I only stay here a month a year so its not enough time. I prefer to hang in Shibuya and Shinjuku where its less of a big deal. I have not experienced the night life here either to feel it but this weekend I will look to go to a club or bar or something...

Well, there's a complete difference between a country's ignorance and complete hate crimes.

[freeradicals]

Japan isn't as racist as you think, but it all comes down to circumstance.
My Indian friend lives in Japan with his Japanese wife just like any ordinary Japanese person and lives his life without fear of discrimination. In fact, he says the Japanese are more curious than they are racist.

[freeradicals]

Also, as long as you are outgoing and extroverted then there will be even lesser descrimination, since there is the bridge of communication.

I remember being on a golf course in the Middle East, oh, a dozen years ago.

We kept getting stuck behind a group of Koreans and Japanese who would scream at each other every hole about each group trying to get in the other's way (I don't remember who was ahead of the two, just that they were both slowing everyone down).

It taught me a lot about how Asians view each other.

post by:Freeradicals
My Indian friend lives in Japan with his Japanese wife just like any ordinary Japanese person and lives his life without fear of discrimination. In fact, he says the Japanese are more curious than they are racist.





hahah awsome im indian to, thanks i was just wondering

I've been told on 4 different occasions "Japanese only" and refused admittance to different local bars. But I imagine it has alot to do with the Navy base and all the personell getting a little crazy blowing off steam.
When I was a bartender, my Nigerian boss was always bitching about racisim. He didn't want to hire any more Japanese employees because he felt "they" didn't respect him or his buisiness.
I can't say if racisim effects different races differently here simply because I'm stuck in this crakker-ass-honkey skin. And it's all about perception and pre-conceived notions.
But it never crosses my mind until I try to enter a few particular bars. Fahq it, they're loss.

[MNJetter]

I think that kind of racism happens mostly in big cities. Big cities like Kyoto and Tokyo have a lot of people in them, but by no means should be considered the norm in all of Japan. Since they're still a novelty around here, foreigners are almost celebrated in the northern regions where I'm from, in Tohoku.

Once in Osaka, I was politely ushered out of a little restaurant because I was foreign. Here in Aomori, I went to a tiny restaurant that looked almost the same one, and the owners were so tickled that they gave me a free fish!
We may not have all the subway lines and endless urban landscape, but we've got just about the frinedliest people in the world here.

Also, just a note, in some cases, it's not racism in terms of "we don't like foreigners" that keeps some bar owners from turning away strange faces. The little businesses depend on regular customers coming in every evening to relax and wind down after work. The business owners fear that if there is a foreigner present, no matter how nice a foreigner is, they might keep customers from being able to relax, and therefore the customers might leave. It's the whole group-orientation thing. The individual doesn't matter in the face of the needs of the larger group. Discrimination, yes, but I would hesitate to call it sincere racism.

[BigJDiesel20]

Originally Posted by MNJetter

I think that kind of racism happens mostly in big cities. Big cities like Kyoto and Tokyo have a lot of people in them, but by no means should be considered the norm in all of Japan. Since they're still a novelty around here, foreigners are almost celebrated in the northern regions where I'm from, in Tohoku.

Once in Osaka, I was politely ushered out of a little restaurant because I was foreign. Here in Aomori, I went to a tiny restaurant that looked almost the same one, and the owners were so tickled that they gave me a free fish!
We may not have all the subway lines and endless urban landscape, but we've got just about the frinedliest people in the world here.

Also, just a note, in some cases, it's not racism in terms of "we don't like foreigners" that keeps some bar owners from turning away strange faces. The little businesses depend on regular customers coming in every evening to relax and wind down after work. The business owners fear that if there is a foreigner present, no matter how nice a foreigner is, they might keep customers from being able to relax, and therefore the customers might leave. It's the whole group-orientation thing. The individual doesn't matter in the face of the needs of the larger group. Discrimination, yes, but I would hesitate to call it sincere racism.

Oh my God what the hell, that’s pure racism. Racism doesn’t incur pure hate. Racism is when you base your thoughts and decisions on race. Racism is born out of Fear and Humans always want to destroy the things they fear. As a result that fear turns to hate. In this case, the bar owner wont hire any one who's not Japanese because It my frighten away his Japanese customers. God this used to happen a lot in the old USA from 1989 and back. See my mom is in her 50's and approaching her 60's and she grow up during Segregation era. She told me that when she was a kid when ever there was a concert that all the white kids got to stand near the stage and all the black kids (HAD) to stand in the balcony. The white people back then wouldn't hire you to work at a job unless you were in the back and out of site, you couldn’t be in the front because you would make a the white customers uncomfortable and they might not come back.

There is a different between being a Racist and being part of a hate group like the KKK, neo Nazis, or Christian identity(this is a hate group of all white Christian that believe God cursed the Jews and made Whites God's chosen people). See this is why many white people today believe that they are not racist because they not like the members of the KKK but these same white people discriminate like hell.

Oh and Japanese people don’t Discriminate because your are a foreigner they discriminate against your because your not Japanese. The Japanese can’t separate race from nationality. That’s why ethnic Japanese people form other country will always be seen as Japanese to Japan. And if you don’t have Japanese blood and your family has lived in Japan for 2 or 3 generation you will always be seen as an outsider.

Originally Posted by MNJetter

Here in Aomori, I went to a tiny restaurant that looked almost the same one, and the owners were so tickled that they gave me a free fish!

Some restaurants I've been to give you a fish as an appatizer, free... are you sure it was because you were foreign?

Was it like a salty, kinda small fish?

You made good points anyways though :p

[Chinpokomon]

Originally Posted by BigJDiesel20

Oh and Japanese people don’t Discriminate because your are a foreigner they discriminate against your because your not Japanese. The Japanese can’t separate race from nationality. That’s why ethnic Japanese people form other country will always be seen as Japanese to Japan. And if you don’t have Japanese blood and your family has lived in Japan for 2 or 3 generation you will always be seen as an outsider.

Yeah, this whole paragraph is kinda racist.

Originally Posted by BigJDiesel20

That’s why ethnic Japanese people form other country will always be seen as Japanese to Japan. And if you don’t have Japanese blood and your family has lived in Japan for 2 or 3 generation you will always be seen as an outsider.

I've definitely gotten the impression that even if you're of Japanese descent, but grew up in the US or another country, you will not be regarded the same as a native in Japan.

[atomiton]

I'm a minority. I'm white and I live on the West Coast. Cities like San Francisco, Vancouver, LA are less than 50% "White" if you ask me.

[kitsunepixie]

Originally Posted by Kuzzy

I've definitely gotten the impression that even if you're of Japanese descent, but grew up in the US or another country, you will not be regarded the same as a native in Japan.

That is generally true, but there are programs here to educate and employ descendents of Japan from countries like Brazil or the States, since they can bring "internationalism" into the workplace while still looking as Japanese as everyone else. Now there is also the trend of having a token Westerner in the office as well...

A little about my Japanese-American's experience in Japan...generally, people are curious about her since she's a foreigner yet has Japanese blood, but she gets frustrated because she has had people assume that she has some sort of mental disorder because she can't speak Japanese that well.

[MNJetter]

Originally Posted by BigJDiesel20

Oh my God what the hell, that’s pure racism. Racism doesn’t incur pure hate. Racism is when you base your thoughts and decisions on race. Racism is born out of Fear and Humans then to want to destroy the things they fear. As a result that fear turns to hate. In this case, the bar owner wont hire any one who's not Japanese because I my frighten away his Japanese customers.

Diesel, I don't mean to pick an argument, and I certainly don't mean to sound like I condone any form of discrimination, but I still have to disagree with you here.

The particular bar owner I'm thinking of isn't making this decision based on race, as you define racism. He's making the decision based on survival - he would rather make one or two tourists uncomfortable every year than lose his business, which is a very real risk he runs by doing anything out of the ordinary. He caters to a very regular and very small crowd, the loss of even one of whom might ultimately spell the loss of his business.
With this type of business, it's not even really race that decides it. He'd be more likely to admit an American that he knows is an acquaintance of his regular customers than he would even a Japanese who he knows is a tourist from a different region of Japan.

The official definition of racism is a belief that one race is superior to others, or that one race is the cause of detriment to society (the word you're thinking of is discrimination or racial discrimination). In this instance, I think that the bar owner is almost being racist towards his own people, rather than towards non-Japanese. He's not keeping out foreigners because he believes they will cause trouble, but because he believes that his customers will become uncomfortable. Outside of his business, he's perfectly willing to interact with anybody. It's just in his business that he's discriminatory, a decision based off of an unfortunate but genuine practicality.

I know that some business owners do base their decisions off of genuine racism. That is unforgiveable. But I think there ought to be at least a degree of difference between a guy who does it because he dislikes foreigners, and a guy who does it because he needs to feed his daughter. Personally, I don't like it, but I can think of no other practical way for him to change his policy and not end up homeless. He's one really un-wealthy guy in a city of twenty million.

[Azrael]

Are the Japanese racist? Yes. It is a racism based on xenophobia and ignorance.

Before I say anything else though, understand that it will almost never escalate to the point of violence or hate crimes.

The population of Japan is 99% Japanese. Think about that - 99% Japanese. Of the 1% who aren't Japanese, most are Chinese/Korean immigrants who live in Japan, and probably speak Japanese or at the very least, don't stick out so much. So, in some ways, it's natural. If you were on a subway train in America, and there was a lady wearing a giant fruit hat like you used to see in Looney Tunes, you'd probably catch yourself staring too.

At first, it's easy to blow off the staring, because you are understandably and obviously different. "They're just curious" you think. After a while though, it does start to grate one's nerves. "What the hell are you looking at!"

Japanese people auto-assume that you being foreign, you don't know Japanese and know nothing of their culture. And while this is true for the majority of tourists who come here, the assumption becomes annoying for those who have made an effort to try and learn. I bought a new cell phone this past weekend - the sales clerk was explaining some things to me. I nodded and said "I understand", actually understanding what he said. Towards the end, my Japanese girlfriend comes over and joins me. "...She is...?" The clerk asks, a little unsure. I said she was my girlfriend. So then he immediately more or less turns away from me, to her, and says "Ah! Well, I'm not sure if what I said got through to him, so I'll explain it to you...". I could have been holding a conversation with him about the effects of foreign trading on global markets (which I can actually do - thanks 2-kyuu!) but he would have still turned to my Japanese girlfriend anyway. ...What I found amusing about this was, at no point did she ever demonstrate she knew English, and could translate. She understood my frustration, so as he re-explained all the stuff he'd already said to me, she would turn to me and, word for word, repeat it in Japanese, and then we'd converse a bit, in Japanese. ...At no point since her coming though did the sales clerk ever directly address me again.

Some of my friends report people taking exception to them because their foreigners. One of my friends likes to tell the story about having been chased around on a train by a drunk businessman who took exception to him having recieved a phone call. The businessman's comments somehow went into "you rude foreigners are ruining this country!". ...This doesn't happen to me that often, as most people are more or less afraid of me at first sight.

Originally Posted by Azrael

...she would turn to me and, word for word, repeat it in Japanese, and then we'd converse a bit, in Japanese.

That's pretty funny

[Komachi Angel]

I haven't had much of a language problem, personally. Sometimes you do get people talking about you as though you weren't there, but it has only been good words so far, and hardly offensive.

I do get culture lines now and then, though, but it's quite uncommon.

As for open acts of what some might call 'racist' behaviour, I have a few experiences. It doesn't dim my perception of the people as a whole, however, because there are some in every group, eh. Besides, I came here knowing the full story, so I take responsibility for that decision and put up with some of the difficulties that arise along the way.