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Asahi cartoon about discrimination in Japan

Debito has posted a scan of an Asahi article about the discrimination foreigners face in Japan. It includes the following cartoon to explain the kinds of discrimination foreigners most often suffer:

discrimination against foreigners in Japan

Included in the comic are: real estate agents that discriminate against foreigners, employers making foreigners do only hard physical labor/simple tasks, passengers on buses and trains that avoid sitting next to foreigners, foreign children who suffer bullying and name-calling (“gaijin”) at school, Japanese people who are afraid of encountering foreigners on the street at night, and police who repeatedly ask foreigners for identification.

Readers who have lived in Japan: Did you experience anything like the examples shown in the comic? Please answer the following poll.

Have you ever experienced the kind of discrimination shown in the cartoon?

[hat tip to FG]

91 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - October 6, 2008 at 11:18 am

Categories: Discrimination, Foreigners in Japan Tags: foreigners, gaijin, japan

http://mshades.livejournal.com MShades

The Nos outweighed the yesses – I’ve had people avoid sitting next to me on the train, but I think that’s the least offensive of the examples. My employer has never made me do heavy labor – or anything outside my contract, I had no trouble finding a place to live (I don’t have kids, so I can’t really claim that one), no one’s acted afraid at my approach and the police haven’t talked to me once in the eight years that I’ve lived here.

I must live a charmed life.
http://sleepytako.blogspot.com Sleepytako

I’ve only had the train/bus chair thing happen. Seriously not a big issue. Actually a bonus.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net/ Jordan

I agree whole-heartedly on that one. I don’t even notice it to begin with. Pretty much everyday someone sits next to me. Never been an issue.

http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

I think the no-one sitting beside you on the train business is overdone, and trivialises the article, quite frankly. I wish no-one would sit next to me on the train more often, and in fact today some old person sat right beside me in an almost-empty carriage, taking up the elbow-room I was planning on using for a bit of note PC work!

Oh, and I don’t see anyone on Debito complaining about the big gaijin noses, and it’s interesting that the two Asian faces are for the person being assigned hard labour and the presumably foreign mother comforting the kid.
jb

i think it’s a cold kind of bonus to gain a little more space on a bus/train if you bear in mind people would also move away if they noticed vomit on the seat…

i think this is a well put together list that might help to raise the consciousness of readers towards how their actions might be to the detriment of the part of this population that wasn’t born on this particular piece of rock
Rita Skeeter

I’ve never been asked to do hard labor, but that’s probably because I’m a woman. But everything else, I’ve experienced.

I was routinely turned down for multiple apartments every time that I’ve had the misfortune of needing to search for one (three times so far, multiple agencies). And over and over again the agent would start out his call to the owners with “Excuse me but I have a GAIJIN and they’d like to…” UGH I’ve never thought that was relevant or fair, it makes me sound like a criminal for not being Japanese. >.<;; 9 times out of 10 the owner said immediately that no, they wouldn’t allow me to even look at the place.

I don’t mind people not sitting next to me on the train. I wish it would happen more often! It should be encouraged, as should be getting up for gaijin. After putting up with so much crap from people here, I wouldn’t mind taking advantage of my foreignness to get a seat on the train, lol.

Being avoided by people, repeatedly asked for ID (especially while riding a bike), and pointed at and being called “AH! GAIJIN!!” by kids seems like routine life. People don’t even realize that they are being rude. I don’t think they would like it if all of the foreigners suddenly started pointing and yelling “NIHONJIN!!” every time they saw one. Of course we’d be pointing a lot more, but ech…

Fred Weasley

Sounds like your life is downright horrible…maybe you should consider moving out?

http://blog.ruderetro.com/ Rude Retro

In 7 years I have never been stopped by police.
When I was apartment hunting I was give fewer choices because I wasn’t Japanese and one of the apartments I got I wouldn’t have gotten if I was Chinese. They even asked me if I were Chinese which is hilarious if you could see my Irish face. I think that because I am a foreigner I haven’t been asked to do some menial tasks at my job (positive discrimination?). The train thing sure but I find the staring worse. I’ve been called Amerika-jin by kids but I think it was just an observation rather than a feeble attempt at bullying.
On the other hand I was refused at a small Tokyo hotel when I first arrived though and I was completely ignored by the police after I apprehended a thug who had just beat up a salaryman but I was kind of glad not to have to deal with that.
fh

I also think the train/bus business is rather trivial. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s partially a reaction to incidents like the gaijin Yamanote Halloween train. I wonder if Debito would say that stunts like the Halloween train are fully acceptable while the resulting apprehension (of sitting next to gaijin) is downright discriminatory.

LB

Tell me about it. Same thing used to happen in Osaka, foreigners in costume would ride the Kanjo line around the city, with coolers of drinks and food, getting drunk, climbing up onto the baggage racks etc.

And then complain about the staff telling them to stop, or Japanese around them giving them dirty looks or moving away from them. Morons. I’d like to see these yahoos try that stuff at home. Betcha someone would get tasered before the night was out.

jmadsen

I think the manga is quite good. These are all real issues, and not over-the-top, Debito-like stuff.

Personally, my own daily annoyances are pretty much limited to old people staring and kids shouting “he-ROO!”, but different people run into different things.

Ironically, in part because of my wife and children and our more “settled in” appearance, the worst cases of discrimination I’ve heard have been told to me by Japanese, about other foreigners – as if they had sort of forgotten who they were talking to, or didn’t realize what they were saying was somehow bad.
LB

“real estate agents that discriminate against foreigners”
Never seen a real-estate agent do that, but have met such a landlord. Once. And it was the real-estate agent that advised me I could sue if I wanted to, as such discrimination was illegal.

“employers making foreigners do only hard physical labor/simple tasks”
Never done a blue-collar job in Japan, so can’t comment.

“passengers on buses and trains that avoid sitting next to foreigners”
Never even seen this happen to others!

“foreign children who suffer bullying and name-calling (”gaijin”) at school”
I have taught in public schools with non-Japanese or interracial students. Never noticed “anti-foreigner” bullying. I suppose it could happen, just like getting picked on for being fat, homely, slow on the uptake or any of a thousand other things kids pick on other kids for. Kids are mean no matter where you go.

“Japanese people who are afraid of encountering foreigners on the street at night”
How about foreigners who are afraid of encountering foreigners on the street at night? Some of those guys who run the hip-hop clothing shops would make me cross the street to avoid them…

“and police who repeatedly ask foreigners for identification”
Finally! One to which I can relate – yes, used to happen. Many years ago living in a port town which had a huge problem with Russians stealing anything that wasn’t hitched (and some stuff that was), being drunk in public etc. The cops would stop me, I’d pull out the gaijin card (OMG!!! Did I say “gaijin”!?!) and that was that. Quick and painless. Now, you know who really used to give me grief in that town? The Russians. They’d stagger over reeking of cheap vodka and start talking, and then get all pissy when I’d tell them in English “I don’t speak Russian”. Lots of rolled eyes, hand waving and angry-sounding somethings about the “Amerikanec”.
zs

First hand I’ve experienced people not sitting next to me on the train but I agree the staring is more annoying. It does make me laugh when young kids point and say something to their parents and they quickly muffle them so as to try and not offend.

I have been “used” to carry heavy objects a couple of times at work but me and an American guy here offered the help. To be honest, I didn’t mind because you inevitably get the ”強い” comments…. unless they’re just saying that to get me to do more heavy lifting? That’s probably thinking about it too much.

I haven’t had to deal with the agency problems on the whole as I’ve normally found apartments through friends or friends of friends but I am aware they exist. I can’t imagine it’s going to change anytime soon but credit to Debito for highlighting the issue.

In 2 and a half years I’ve only been stopped once by the police in a train station. However, they only asked me if I am American, to which I said no (from the UK), and where I was going, which at the time was work.

I can’t imagine how parents would feel about their child being bullied/discriminated against in school because of they’re race. Perhaps somewhere between intense rage and crippling depression.
nigelboy

A comment from 44 year old U.S. (23 years in Japan) who was refused service from Yaktori restaurant because he was “gaijin” states.

”ここが米国なら真っ先に警察に通報した。でも日本には差別を取り締まる法律がないから取り合ってもらえない。”

“If it were the States, I would of reported it straight to the police. Unfortunately, in Japan, there isn’t such a law for discrimination so they won’t cooperate”

“If it were the States, I would of reported it straight to the police”…..
Jake

real estate agents that discriminate against foreigners

Never happened to me personally. I have a few friends who were rejected because they were foreigners, though.

employers making foreigners do only hard physical labor/simple tasks

Never had this happen either, but I’ve never worked a blue collar job either (which is the type of job the majority of foreigners living in Japan probably work).

passengers on buses and trains that avoid sitting next to foreigners

Might have happened once or twice, but who knows what the people were really thinking, and I might have forgotten my deodorant that day, too.

foreign children who suffer bullying and name-calling (”gaijin”) at school

Can’t comment.

Japanese people who are afraid of encountering foreigners on the street at night

That I have experienced.

and police who repeatedly ask foreigners for identification

Not repeatedly, but once is enough in my book.
somegirl

In my six years living in Japan, I have never experienced any of the stuff shown in the comic nor have I seen anything like that happen around me, though I have heard of it happening. Perhaps it depends on where in Japan you live.
sod

just the bus and train thing. occasionally when the theft of a bike rises to a heady 3 for the month the police do stops but its just bike registration, gaijin card and where you going. no hassle at all.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

My own 2 yen:

1. I’ve never been rejected from renting a place because I am a foreigner, but I’ve spent most of my time in Japan outside of the Tokyo metropolitan area, so it may just be my environment.

2. I’ve never been asked to do menial work. On the contrary, I find Japanese tend to take menial work upon themselves because they feel guilty asking me to do it. I try and help out when I can, of my own volition.

3. I’ve never had people avoid me personally, but I have seen Japanese women avoid sitting next to Japanese men, especially at night when they are potentially drunk. However, there’s one point that the comic/article completely overlooks: What if the Japanese people aren’t sitting next to foreigners on the train because they are aware (or think it is the case) that Westerners typically have a greater circumference of perceived “comfort space”, and the act is merely out of consideration? Have we asked the sources about their decisions?

4. It’s not that Japanese children are bullies – It’s that children are.

5. I avoid people on the street late at night. The bigger they are, the more I avoid them. Alcohol inhibits rational judgement, and I don’t want to be involved in anything that I don’t have to be.

6. I’ve never been stopped by the police and asked for ID, although this is only three years of experience, and I may have just been lucky. Back in 2004 when I lived in Tokyo, a Pakistani-American friend of mine was stopped 7 times in one year, but never when he was with white people. I can’t say that racial profiling by police is unique of Japan.
Tim

A while back, I stopped by the police station to ask them where to catch a cab and they actually asked to see my passport, which was strange.
dobokun

The only thing that happened to me when I went to Japan for the summer, they got overly excited when they talked to me, which can happen a lot to go to one extreme and not in the middle or a normal reaction. My host bro was sort of like serious, and he went on a exchange trip but I don’t know if he really wanted to or just to learn English.
hiryu

I can relate to all of them from first and second-hand experience, except for the work abuse thing. As an exchange grad student from Latin America living in Tokyo, I have really felt the worse part of Japanese racism, quite likely because I don’t fit the physical stereotype that Japanese have of a foreigner from a “developed” country (despite, ironically, having grown up in conditions far better than the average Japanese).

When looking for apartments, I was turned down more than 30 times and was even told, straight to my face, stuff like “we don’t take Latinos in because you people are dirty and rowdy!” Probably one of the most humiliating moments in my entire life… Since I was not getting anywhere, I changed my strategy into telling them that I was Latino but with US permanent residence. “Ahhh! America? Ok, let’s see what we can do for you then!” Unbelievable…

I have been randomly stopped by the police on the street, out of no reason, no less than 15 times in a 2-year period. Once I was even stopped twice in a row on the same day. When I showed them my school ID, they would not believe it was real. Sweet…

Japan is a completely vertical society, and as such has only two ways of viewing their peers: upwards or downwards. The problem is that they also apply this judgment to the rest of the world, based on their stupid stereotypes, and, thus, people from countries other than US and Europe are viewed and treated as “inferior”…

Anyway, just my 2 cents…

ponta

”we don’t take Latinos in ”
I am just curious, what was the exact words for Latinos in Japanese?

A dictionary says ラテン系アメリカ人　for Latinos, I rarely hear it said in Japanese and I don’t know what it is.　Mexicans　or someone ? And I don’t think average Japanese share the stereotype of “Latinos” as dirty and rowdy. Is that the stereotype in the U.S.?
Average Japanese just know little about “Latinos”
Dance and Dontakosu come to mind when I hear “Raten”
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=nNmSHVGiZ80&feature=related

LB

While I wasn’t there, if the conversation was in Japanese they probably used “中南米の人”. That is the common expression, and from my experience the image associated is not exactly positive.

But in English while we sometimes say “Central Americans” it is rarer to refer to “South Americans”, the description of preference is “Latino” or “Latin American”. If someone asked me real quick to translate “中南米の人” into English, I would use one of those two, probably the latter, but never “Central or South American”.

ponta

The word ““中南米の人” is used ,but my guess is that more often than not, people just use gaijin/gaikokujin for them. And I don’t think “中南米の人”has negative images. Googling “中南米の人”
http://www.google.com/search?hl=ja&client=opera&rls=ja&hs=MW8&q=%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%97%E7%B1%B3%E3%81%AE%E4%BA%BA&start=0&sa=N
I still hold the impressions that the Japanese just lack the knowledge about them.
hiryu

Usually they refer to Latin Americans as 中南米人 or ラテンアメリカ人, although I’ve also been called just ラテン人. And yeah, I’d agree that the overall image that Japanese have is NOT good. Although stereotypes are quite strong everywhere, I would say that Japan ranks among the top. So much for the 2nd most developed, first-world nation in the world.
OK, so these things I can understand, but what I cannot really stand is being denied housing and being treated like crap during the process for things that in other developed countries could be considered human right violations… or being stopped and bullied by the police for no reason at all every so often. And the worst thing is that feeling of powerlessness in that there is nothing I can do to change or avoid that, short of me leaving this place.
ponta

Hmmm. Okay I’ve googled ラテン人. Some say Ruy Ramos is Raten-jin.
Is that correct?

While googling, I’ve found an interesting blog by a Japanese wife who is married to Raten-jin. You might be interested.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mujer_celosa
She talks about her marriage. At first she was hiding the fact she was dating with gaikokujin because her parents seemed to want her to marry a Japanese guy just as everyone else. She does not particularly mention being a Latino was an obstruction. I think that is an average perception by Japanese. Ramos was gaikokujin、who became a naturalized Japanese citizen and a popular director among Japanese.

I would say that Japan ranks among the top.

I would say some Latinos who hold stereotypes about Japan rank among the top.

the worst thing is that feeling of powerlessness in that there is nothing I can do to change or avoid that, short of me leaving this place.

Have you tried Jinken yougo kyoku、a bureau for human right?
http://www.moj.go.jp/JINKEN/index.html
phauna

I think calling South Americans ‘Latinos’ is an American English habit, not an English habit. I think the rest of us regularly use the term ‘South Americans’. Perhaps you meant -you- usually use the word Latino, not the entire Anglosphere.
nigelboy

I smell Mark in Yayoi type BS here.
The Overthinker

“Latinos” covers Central America as well as South, so is a very usefully broad term.

http://theghostletters.blogspot.com/ freedomwv

I have a hard time understanding where all this talk of discrimination in Japan is coming from. I know that it is out there but I have never experienced it myself and if I did I didn`t notice it at all.

I am treated pretty good in Japan. People don`t look down at me because I am different; at least I don`t think they do. And the whole thing about getting all upset about being called Gaijin, get over it will ya. Who gives a damn anyway? If you do not like the way someone treated you then call them out on their shit or stop complaining. Take matters into your own hands instead of complaining about it all the time.

Here is some advice I think will work:
When you feel that someone is treating you bad because you are not Japanese stop and ask, `Do you have a fucking problem with me asshole?` That will shock the person so much because they never expected someone to call them out. You can vent your anger and teach them a lesson at the same time.
http://www.japanprobe.com James

When you feel that someone is treating you bad because you are not Japanese stop and ask, `Do you have a fucking problem with me asshole?` That will shock the person so much because they never expected someone to call them out. You can vent your anger and teach them a lesson at the same time.

This should work well on people who seem afraid to sit next to foreigners on trains and buses. Police officers would probably also enjoy getting yelled at…

LB

Yeah, but cops here are wimps. Try that on a cop in most other countries, and they will say “Yeah, I do. Now, can you walk the walk or do you just talk the talk?”

nescire

A lot of these comments about not witnessing any of this are surprising.

To people who answered no, have you ever been out of Tokyo/Osaka for any length of time? Things are much different outside metropolitan centers…

LB

Actually, I’ve never been in either of those places, aside from a day or weekend shopping trip. I might consider living in Osaka, but never, ever Tokyo.

But I agree, things are much different outside metropolitan centers. At least 95% of the bitching I hear comes from people who live in metropolitan centers. Those of us who live in smaller cities or rural areas almost never seem to have these problems.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

I live in the booniest of boon-docks ken; typically the butt of most inaka-mono jokes in Japanese comedies. I’ve never felt any form of racism here. I’m not saying my experience is the norm, but just one man’s experience だべ.

Also, it’s important to note that most of what you read of experiences will be negative, because when people are living a great life they don’t need to write about it on a blog. It’s only the negative drama that people want to write or read about, so webidence is not valid in assessing the conditions of foreigners in Japan. (Also, consider the language barriers for foreigners in Japan who don’t speak English. Koreans complain much less than Westerners, according to my wife’s experience in the Korean expat community.)

http://www.japaneconomynews.com/ Ken

1. It has happened. No big deal, was able to find another place to live. If someone doesn’t want my money, I don’t want to give it to them.

2. Hasn’t happened, and I wouldn’t put up with that for a second anyway.

3. Happens here and there, though I’m not sure if it has anything to do with being a foreigner. Some people just like the empty space next to them I bet. I’d rather stand than be between two people in those tiny seats.

4. I’ve heard stories from others, but have no kids myself, so no first hand experience.

5. I wouldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t risk messing with me either.

6. Once in almost nine years. No biggie. I was on a bike anyway. We ended up talking about baseball for a bit.
Jeef

I have a long standing vendetta against Debito.

I think that these instances are so ridiculously few and far between compared to the crap that minorities in America have to put up with every day. Yes there’s discrimination, probably anywhere, and while it may not be right I think it’s really hard to take such offense at a stare in a country that is still predominantly Japanese. Of course someone is going to take notice at a “gaijin”. You ask any minority walking into a predominantly white neighborhood in america, and a stare is the least of their worries. I think that white people in Japan get away with a lot more than any minority in America, and he needs to freakin put things into perspective.

Is discrimination right? NO. Is Japan’s policy towards foreigners the most enlightened? no. But I think that’s he so used to being able to get anything as a white American (or I guess he’s expat now) male, that suddenly a stare from “Japanese only” sign in the middle of nowhere is suddenly some egregious crime.

He needs to shut up and just deal with it, because every non-white non-Euro American has has to put up with far worse in the land of the free.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

I don’t agree with Debito’s methods, or much of anything he has to say or his opinions on Japanese society, but “Japanese only” signs I don’t find palatable. Of course, the signs he focuses on in his book are shady, possibly yakuza-affiliated operations. But I wouldn’t be able to stomach seeing a “Japanese only” sign on the local supermarket entrance, for example.

LB

“But I wouldn’t be able to stomach seeing a “Japanese only” sign on the local supermarket entrance, for example.”
Agreed, but you won’t. And the reason you won’t has nothing to do with Debito and his crusade to make easy access to Filipina dancing girls possible for himself.

ponta

To Debito’s credit, what he said on the newspaper is right.
“If you are worried about the manner, state the rule explicitly and reject the people who don’t follow it. The skin color and the nationality are irrelevant. Japan needs foreign labor, so protecting human rights for foreigners are a important message to welcome them.”

Where he went wrong is his claim that the shops like that are rampant and his method of trying to get the benefits for foreigners by lying and insulting Japanese and Japan as in the rape case and the case of his approval of the site that says “don’t visit japan” because “Japan is a fascist police state, intent on ethnic cleansing & racial purity.”

Someone gave Debito a credit for highlighting the issue of the landlords rejecting foreigners. He is wrong. Debito has little to do with it.
Saitama established a system to help foreigners looking for accommodation in the prefecture.　Debito had nothing to do with it.
Kawasaki enacted a regulation forbidding discriminations against foreigners in renting. Tony László　picked it up and praised it and appealed to the Japanese not to the Japanese landlords not to reject foreigners. Debito bashes Tony.

I think it might be better for foreigners to focus on one thing at one time. The most serious problem as I understand is the issue of the landlords rejecting foreigners, Education is needed. Setting a site in Japanese for it might be of help. Let me know if someone started it;I’ll help.

ponta

his claim →his claim on his blog.
Japanese not to the Japanese landlords not to
→the Japanese landlords not to

koan

So you agree that discrimination does occur and that it is wrong. And you don’t like Debito. Fine. What are you doing about these issues ?

J-probe often has many comments from people ranting about Debito “going about things the wrong way” but you rarely see anyone else doing something about these acknowledged problems. Why don’t you people (you know who you are) drown him out with doing things the “right” way ?

He needs to shut up and just deal with it, because every non-white non-Euro American has has to put up with far worse in the land of the free.

Is it accepted in the land of the free ? No.

Yeah, it happens and far too much but most people know it is wrong. So why should it be accepted here ?

By your reasoning, if a Japanese person is discriminated while in another country then it is OK because discrimination exists in Japan. If you are discriminated against while you are in Japan it does not somehow balance out foreigners being discriminated against in your home country.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

“J-probe often has many comments from people ranting about Debito “going about things the wrong way” but you rarely see anyone else doing something about these acknowledged problems.”

You rarely see anyone else shouting at the high heavens from a soapbox, at least. How do you know what everyone else is doing? Not everyone is narcissistic.

koan

“How do you know what everyone else is doing?”

So why aren’t there any comments along the lines of ‘this has all been done before, see webpage url…’ ?

My point is, the problem is not Debito, even though I agree that he goes too far. There simply aren’t enough people out there tackling these issues. When anyone googles about these things they can only find Debito. If there were half a dozen alternatives out there then people would see that he’s at the extreme and not take notice.

Let’s face it, his HTML is scary, his blog template is dire as are his overuse of bold italics and all capitalised words. Any blog can easily look more friendly.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

“When anyone googles about these things they can only find Debito.”

That was my point – It’s not that Debito is the only person doing anything; it’s that Debito loves to talk about Debito and what Debito does, whether he does it right or wrong.

Talking primarily to foreigners on the issues is not very productive at all. The target audience should be native Japanese citizens. Debito’s agenda serves himself above all others. That he claims to do it for “日本人ではない人” (NJ…) is where most of us have legitimate contentions – We don’t share the opinions for which he’s fighting for “on our behalf”.

Debito doesn’t cut it as an activist because his actions are more controversial than whatever issue he was protesting. He doesn’t rally the foreign community – He divides it. The worst part of it all is that creating controversy (read: strife) is his primary goal. (He thinks he’s the catalyst for this new controversy, when it has been around for a long time. He’s just the kind to stir the mud around.)

Debito is like the Andy Kauffman of foreign-related issues in Japan. In the end, the controversy isn’t the point he’s trying to make; it’s him.

ponta

So you agree that discrimination does occur and that it is wrong. And you don’t like Debito. Fine. What are you doing about these issues？・・・・you rarely see anyone else doing something about these acknowledged problems

Debito hasn’t achieved anything particular about the issues in Japanese society. He does not write in Japanese, he doesn’t talk with Japanese about the issues. He just provides a place for foreigners to rant about Japan, blocking a lot of comments critical of his tactics. And in the process, his blog is pissing Japanese who understand English by lying and/or insulting Japanese and Japan as in the case of gaijin convicted rapist and of the site full of lies about Japan.
My impression is that successful expats are handling their issues individually by consulting Japanese friends or an administrative office　like Jinken yougo kyoku, speaking Japanese.
http://www.moj.go.jp/JINKEN/index.html

As for the acknowledged issues, the most serious one, I think, is about the discriminations in accommodation. Education is needed and voices should heard IN JAPANESE.

Some foreigners should start the project otherwise the Japanese do not even understand there are issues. The problem is that foreigners who feel the need thinks somebody else should do it.

As for the shops with gajin only sign, I have a feeling that it is not so serious from some experiences dealing such shops. All they need to be told is that it is wrong and what they wanted to say is they only provide service in Japanese language and they will reject customers who can’t follow the rule, gaijin or not.

ponta

http://www.moj.go.jp/JINKEN/jinken21.html
Ops, it seems Human Rights Counseling Offices For Foreigners provide the service in Chinese, English,German,Portuguese.Spanish.Tagalog,Korean
koan

Debito hasn’t achieved anything particular about the issues in Japanese society

He’s got you discussing them here, hasn’t he ?

He’s also got them in print in a national Japanese newpaper, even if it is in English.

The problem is that foreigners who feel the need thinks somebody else should do it.

Right, so we leave it all up to one guy and then complain when we don’t like how he is doing it.
ponta

He’s got you discussing them here, hasn’t he ?

On what issue? —-the issue of his trick?

so we leave it all up to one guy and then complain when we don’t like how he is doing it.

Who is “we”?

Some foreigners do not need Debito’s type of “help” because they can handle their problem on their own.

There are people who are annoyed by his tactics because it is promoting negative image of gaijin.
And I don’t see why foreigners supporting, directly or indirectly, the tactics I specified on other comments is not promoting negative image of gaijin.

There are some other foreigners who feel the need for whatever help they can get, even if the method is not right, believing—I think, mistakenly—-that it is helping.

I am suggesting the last type of the people to set up a site for foreigners like them. I am saying I’ll help. And I am saying the problem is that people who need it just leave it to the dirty tactics I specified.
Jeef

I think the point is that, great he’s the only one who’s really “done something” about the issue, he’s setting a really bad reputation for people who want to. He’s not exactly someone I personally would want to be associated with.

He goes to some onsen, flashing his Japanese passport like its some proof from god that he’s Japanese. I think that anyone can tell you is that ethnicity is distinctly separate from nationality. And I think it’s on this issue, that he seems to remain oblivious.

So he’s got people discussing it, and what. I think any attempts he’s trying to be civil come off as just another American trying to get his way. I think if anyone has the right to cause such a rucus, are the Koreans who are born in Japan and still aren’t recognized. I don’t see him fighting for them. When he says he’s fighting for non-Japanese, it just seems like he’s still bitching about not being able to get his ass into some onsen in the middle of inaka-nowhere. He may be the only one, but he’s one I could do without.

Bob

One of the above…

Japanese who do not want to sit next to me on the train.

As for the staring, I’ve had lots of success with:

“Watashi wa sone ni handsome desu ka?”

Roughly: Do you think I’m handsome?

Works well if you catch a dude staring at you – say it in a loud gay voice and guaranteed you’ll get the rest of the train compartment ROFL’ing at the dude (ROFL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing)

Bob

Just an additional note:

It’s not a sin to stare in Japan – It’s only a sin to get caught staring at someone. If you get caught by a ‘slow-witted gaigin’ then it’s potentially very embarrassing.

Sometimes I have a bit of fun – it’s a bit like tennis. Wait until someone stares at you. Then all you do is act like you’re trying to catch them staring at you. Try looking out the window for a while just to one side of the starer – then suddenly, just turn your head a little towards the starer, but keep your eyes pointing at the thing you were originally looking at. You’ll notice (using your super-gaigin peripheral vision) that they turn their head away from you, thinking that you were about to catch them staring at you. Try this a few times and they eventually give up staring at you for fear of getting caught. If they don’t give up staring that easily, try narrowing your eyes – so the starer can’t tell where you’re looking – they will give up staring, because after all, they don’t want to get caught staring by a ‘slow-witted gaigin’. If all else fails, break out the sunglasses.

Why do you think Japanese people hate gaigin who wear sunglasses? It’s because there’s a greater chance of you catching them staring at you.

Actually, it seems that a prevalent rule in Japan is: It’s not a sin to do something, it’s only a sin to get caught doing it because it makes you look inferior. You’ll receive denial after denial that ‘I didn’t do it, no, not me.’ Even when they’re holding a smoking gun… ‘not my gun…’ Selling bad rice, hit-and-run, political corruption, Livedoor, embezzlement… the list just goes on… It’s easier to find someone else to take the fall and divert attention from the guilty party.

LB

“Actually, it seems that a prevalent rule in Japan is: It’s not a sin to do something, it’s only a sin to get caught doing it because it makes you look inferior. You’ll receive denial after denial that ‘I didn’t do it, no, not me.’”

And this is different from anywhere else on the planet HOW, exactly? Not that doing it elsewhere makes it right, mind you, but what you describe is not “Japanese” behavior, it us human behavior.

Interesting – if a landlord refused to rent to foreigners because he previously rented to, say, Indians who splattered curry all over the walls and floor and left a smell that couldn’t be removed even with judicious use of napalm, folks would be up in arms saying “how dare you lump all foreigners in together or make such biased, sweeping statements!”

However, saying “Japanese are all blame-shifters based on these examples” is OK I guess.

*sniff sniff* Ah, I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning…

nigelboy

“Why do you think Japanese people hate gaigin who wear sunglasses? ”

Is it me or does Bob has serious issues?
I guess I missed the latest opinion poll which asks

“Do you hate gaijins who wear sunglasses” Yes/No.
Bob

The point was to stop people staring at you – just wear sunglasses.
Bob

“However, saying “Japanese are all blame-shifters based on these examples” is OK I guess.”

Which is just what I was saying… – but maybe not **all**.
nigelboy

No Bob. You’re completely delusional. Japanese people aren’t staring at you. It’s you that’s doing the staring.

Your quote

“Wait until someone stares at you. ”

Seek help.
LB

“Which is just what I was saying…”
Roger that, thanks for confirming, I will pencil you onto my growing list of “folks to ignore”.

onceuponatime

i have been denied entrance to a restaurant – no, not a snack or a nightclub – to make matters worse i was with my family visiting from the states. my kid has been bullied. i hate it when people are walking and talking and laughing and then they see me and just stop and stare or yell “gaijin da!” but, i have also had wonderful experiences here. i hate being called a gaijin. i feel people should be called by their nationality, if known. i have worked with people who treat me very well and then one day they show their true colors and i know i am, and will always be an outsider. i just try to deal with it. in all, the good outweighs the bad and for better or worse this is now my home.
Level3

They’re missing a much more important discrimation problem. There are multiple stories on the Net, and 2 cases from friends, of people being turned away at hospitals during off-hours, for emergencies, because the doctors claim they can’t treat someone because the doctor on duty doesn’t speak English.
Refusing ambulances and telling them to find another hospital.

Read one story of a guy going through a severe allergic reaction, possibly anaphylactic shock, who after the doctor said “No English” and tried to send the ambulance away, the guy literally begged for his life, and the doctor then treated him, proving that the doctor had the ability to treat him in the all along. The doctor had been perfectly happy to just send this guy off to his possible death….

This is a problem for many Japanese, usually because the doctor on call claims either the hospital is full, or the correct kind of specialist is not on duty. But a foreigner gives the hospital an extra excuse, and since there is no accountability for these refusals of live-saving treatment, this poses a serious problem.

As for personal experience, all of the 6 cases, though the manual labor thing was at the office, because I was taller than everyone else and could reach the shelves, not speicifcally because I was gaijin.

I’d also wager that all the people who voted “No” are white.

ponta

To be exact, a foreigner who can’t speak Japanese gives the hospital an extra excuse.
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

You think the hospital problems are limited to foreigners?

What about the pregnant woman last year who was turned away from 9 hospitals before finally miscarrying? The hospital problems in Japan are deeper than just some “No English” doctor.

“I’d also wager that all the people who voted “No” are white.”

You’d lose money on that wager.

concerned Filipino

I’m sure not all the people who voted “No” are white, but honestly, which type of foreigner do you think has discrimination worse in Japan – whites, or non-whites?

Some scientists say that, contrary to the assertion that children are color-blind and racism has to be taught, discrimination against what’s different is a completely natural response among human children (probably a survival skill or something). Still doesn’t make it right, in these times.

Since we’re on the topic, why is Japan one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world, anyway? With its living standards, if conditions were as good for foreigners as so many of you seem to think (what with insightful comments such as “Sounds like your life is downright horrible…maybe you should consider moving out?”), then why isn’t the population more ethnically diverse?

Why?

_kovert

“I’d also wager that all the people who voted “No” are white.”

I’d wager many of them do not live in Japan but voted anyway.

Lee

It is very sad to say that I experienced the “seat” one and a friend of mine experienced the “school bullying”.

I was on a Japan Airlines flight to Osaka when it just so happened that my seatmate was Japanese. Then the Japanese national requested for him to be transferred to another seat apparently because I was chinese. My first trip to japan and my first taste of discrimination.

Regarding school bullying, I have a half japanese friend who told me school life in Japan is extremely hard especially if you dont look japanese. It’s very hard to make friends and they always call “look out for the gaijin monster”.

Japan was never an open country to begin with. I really have no plans on staying there permanently because even the government itself discriminates! Even my seniors who worked in Japan before in the IT industry, they went to the US soon after. Their comment “I do not belong here”

ponta

Then the Japanese national requested for him to be transferred to another seat apparently because I was chinese.

Why do you suppose it was apparently because you were Chinese? Were you wearing Chinese traditional clothes?
I personally can’t tell Japanese from Chinese.
When they speak that is another story, but a Chinese kid whose mother has heavy accent speak perfect Chinese, so if he didn’t tell me he was Chinese, I wouldn’t know.

they always call “look out for the gaijin monster”.

What was Japanese words for “gaijin monster”?

Japan was never an open country to begin with. I really have no plans on staying there permanently

Please tell it to your compatriots. Though there are a lot of respectable Chinese scholars and writers and workers in Japan, at the same time we have a lot of illegal immigrants from China.

bob

Why do so many people assume that just because they haven’t experienced something it can’t possibly exist?
Who reads this site? Attractive white straight men living extravagant sheltered lives in Azabu Juban?
It certainly seems that way whenever these kinds of issues come up.
All of that shit happens in Japan. I’ve seen Japanese nearly injure themselves to avoid sitting next to a black man on a train. I’ve met non-white foreigners who are virtual slaves at factories in Saitama and Aichi. I have colleagues who even after 5 years of working at the same small suburb of Tokyo are still stopped by the police and asked to show an ID. I’ve had a hell of a time getting a decent place to live at a decent price in this country because of real estate discrimination. Of course you’re not going to deal with that if you’re renting from some gaijin-specialized place. But, little do you know that you’re paying 30% more than a Japanese would be paying for the same place for the luxury of feeling like you’re being treated equally.
I don’t know what goes on in schools but if the behavior of their parents is any indication, I’m sure Japanese children are not exactly welcoming their foreign classmates with open arms.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Makes you wonder why they’d even stay, doesn’t it?

bob

Not really. Maybe being here for some people is better than the life they would have elsewhere. That doesn’t make discrimination okay.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Discrimination is part of human nature. Don’t misinterpret that to mean that I excuse it. But humans are wary of “difference”. When some people see a person in a wheel chair, they stare. That’s discrimination. When other people see a person in a wheel chair, they try not to stare. That’s discrimination, too.

Now, if we’re talking about malicious discrimination, that’s a different story. It depends on how you, as an individual, interpret “malicious discrimination”. Historically, I’ve read about a lot worse than what’s in Japan. Hell, I moved to Japan because it’s a tolerating society. That’s my perception of it, at least. People don’t move to a foreign country to live in worse conditions than they had in their home nation.
concerned Filipino

“Hell, I moved to Japan because it’s a tolerating society.”

Somehow, I find that hard to believe. Still, you live in Japan and I don’t, so I’ll take your word for it. But “Tolerating” compared to what? Saudi Arabia? How about the US?

“People don’t move to a foreign country to live in worse conditions than they had in their home nation.”

Living conditions are multidimensional. Foreigners who move to another country may earn more money than they would at home, but at the cost of being discriminated against in a way they would never be at home. Filipina domestic helpers know this only too well. So it’s not, as so many posters here seem to think, that the fact that so many foreigners go to Japan, sometimes illegally, is because conditions in Japan are so good for them in every way.

Don’t kid yourselves. The main reason many lower-class foreigners (most of whom are non-whites) go to Japan is that they are desperate and can earn here, not because they expect to live in a paradise of racial equality.

Or does anyone want to claim that Filipinos are treated like kings and queens in Japan?
The Overthinker

Filipina servants go to Japan because conditions ARE better for them. Not all conditions are better of course – saying “People don’t move to a foreign country to live in worse conditions than they had in their home nation” doesn’t mean “conditions in Japan are so good for them in every way.” You are distorting the message from a general “conditions,” which does not imply everything, merely some, to shoving in an idea of “all.” Still less a “paradise of racial equality.” A cheap debating trick to score quick points.

Japan is also surprisingly tolerant in many ways – just not necessarily the ways the US, for example, is. For example, homosexuality has long been more accepted, and there are several famous transvestite stars in Japan – and no, Wada Akiko is not one, despite what you might think….
concerned Filipino

“You are distorting the message from a general “conditions,” which does not imply everything, merely some”

You’re the one saying that, not Alex. But let’s say that he meant only “some” conditions (which ones?). How then do you say that “conditions ARE better for them,” and at the same time, that “not all conditions are better”?

That would mean that there is an overall rating of “quality of life” in countries, and some categories of conditions have greater weight than others, so that a high score in a more heavily-weighted category can outweigh a low score in a category with smaller weight, leading to a higher overall rating. But I’m sure that I would disagree with you as to which categories are more important.

Maybe conditions aren’t that much better for lower-income Filipinos in Japan. Sure, Japan has better public transport, schools and hospitals than the Philippines. But do Filipina bar girls really get to use all these schools and hospitals? As far as they are concerned, these don’t count.

I think you’re leaving out the role of family. These domestics and others go abroad to earn enough money to support their families at home. So in fact, conditions may be worse for them abroad, but they endure it in order to improve conditions for their loved ones back home.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Japan turned out to be more tolerant than the US in some aspects. To me, the US’s famous multiculturalism and tolerance is an exaggerated national image, whether of race, class, religion, gender, or others. The US has always had trouble with race, and if you ask me, it’s worsening, not improving (the rightward trend of the US as a whole, for example).

ponta

Why do you assume that just because some people say they haven’t experienced something they think it can’t possible exist?

I don’t know what goes on in schools but if the behavior of their parents is any indication, I’m sure Japanese children are not exactly welcoming their foreign classmates with open arms.

I don’t know if your anecdotes are true just as I don’t know if the fucked gaijin behave so badly as some Japanese tell. But I think it might be true that there are some sweatshops.
As for the school, a Chinese woman in my neighborhood who has a kid in an elementary school said there were no discrimination. But there might be in other schools. I don’t know.
Here is a nice video of the life of a Chinese students for your reference.
http://www.oniazuma.com/2008/01/angel-from-china-to-japan-one-little.html

Gusuke

I find all this supposed hatred of half people to be dubious at best; if that’s the case there wouldn’t be this trend of having half people on TV (Becky, Weintz, to name a few). Maybe this was true in the 1950′s, but I doubt it’s still around or going to be around in the comign decades. Also, I live in an area with a sizable Brazilian minority, so I end up having Brazilian students in the classes I teach, and I’ve never seen the other Japanese kids ostracize them, quite to the contrary that people are portraying here the other children seem to accept them.

About the discrimination supposed in the article:
1. Never had to get an apartment, but 3 of my American friends had no problems in finding apartments to rent in Tokyo.

2. I didn’t know having the other teachers in my schools asking me to help carry stuff or to fix a sliding glass door because I’m bigger than them could be considered discrimination. /sarcasm

3. I’ve had it happen to me and I can understand why they’d want to move away if there were open seats, I do the same thing on the train. If this bugs you or you think it’s racist, grow a pair and stop being such a little girl about it.

4.Already explained it.

5. Never had this happen to me.

6.I’ve been stopped by the police here once asking me what I do for a living, didn’t ask for my gaijin card, and just continued walking on his beat, so I don’t consider that racist or discriminatory.

Kevin

What’s a half person? Is that like a mermaid or a minotaur?

Kris

The only thing I’ve experienced is people moving do a different seat on the train, even if that seat is just a tiny space between two japanese people. I’ve had the experience of sitting in a train where every seat was taken and several people were standing, but there were two empty seats on either side of me. Even though it’s a relatively small thing, I still remember it even after 4 years.

My cousin was stopped a couple of times every week while riding his bike home from work. He always went the same way home, past a koban, and always it would be the same police officers stopping him, asking for identification, asking where he was coming from and where he was going, and checking if the bike was stolen.

We are both caucasian.

Other than that being an exchange student in Japan and later studying at a language school was just wonderful. Can’t say that my Chinese, Korean, or Middle-East/Latin-American friends had quite the same experience though.
KOBE

I go to other countries around the world and people everywhere are racists. Japanese people are discriminatory but not racist.

Japan is cool
Pingback: Philosophical musings regarding discrimination « Victory Manual
dumpmatsumotorevisited

Why bother to even debate the issue? Nothing ever changes in this dump, except more trees get chopped down. Of course there is discrimination against foreigners: that is life in Japan and I have been here 36 years, so I should know. I have no problem if people avoid sitting next to me on the train; I just wish more Japanese men would, for they too often stink of cigarettes
…and then I have to move my seat.

ponta

I guess you love living in this dump; you have been here 36 years! despite more trees getting chopped down.

I just wish more Japanese men would, for they too often stink of cigarettes
…and then I have to move my seat.

So there are many reasons someone move his/her seat. I wonder why some foreigners automatically assume someone avoid sitting next to a foreigner because he/she is a foreigner.
Bob

Because we’re smelly gaigin – but hey, more space for me thankyouverymuch.

Pingback: Korea Beat › Anti-Discrimination Cartoon in Japan
Yuichi

I am a Japanese guy who grew up in the US as a kid. I think it’s simple fact that any person with “different” appearances are subject to increased attention, no matter which country you are in. Kids are brutal and I remember my American classmates would come up to me and start singing “Chinese, Japanese, Dirtynese, Boobynese” as they pull their eyes up and down, then they pull their chest. In a restaurant, a kid was asking his mom “Why do Orientals have such a flat face?” And in college, when I was looking for off-campus housing, one landlady told me on the phone, “sorry, no Japs and no dogs, please.” These are just common things many foreigners experience when living outside of one’s homeland.

And in Japan, I am still stopped by cops several times, particularly am I ride my bicycle, either in the early mornings or evenings. My ex-cop girlfriend once told me, that cops try to “improve their performance” usually at the end of each fiscal quarter, which are March, June, September, and December. Foreigners or people appearing to be foreign become easy targets because cops would always have the official excuse of asking for an ID. One night I came home drunk, and had trouble finding my keys in front of my door. As I was trying to pull out my keys from my bag, a cop came up to me and asked for my ID. I asked why I would need to show him an ID and he said that I need to prove that I live here because I looked “suspicious.” Later that week I went to the Koban to file an official complaint, because nobody should be required to show one’s ID in order to get inside one’s own residence.

About the train seating thing, I would say some people are too shy and afraid that the person sitting next to him/her would suddenly start asking questions in a foreign language. In some cases, frankly, people put on too much perfume. This is especially true when you ride the Tokyo subways on Friday and
Saturday evenings.
mike

I’m on holiday in Tokyo – last week my wife and I were refused entry at two restaurants; the first was a smart place in Asakusa, and we couldn’t be sure whether it was the case that you needed a reservation to sit down at 5.30pm … the place was empty and their manner was not polite. The second place is in Yanaka, just on the left at the entrance to the little traditional shopping strip near Nappori station – the owner literally shouted at us “no, no, no” with his arms x-crossed in front of him … we just stumbled out feeling a little shocked and with a real bad taste in our mouths.

I came across this thread while doing a Google search for discrimination in Japan to see if there was more to it.

But that’s just small-town stuff – Tokyo is a great place to visit; I would still recommend it!
Eddie

It’s funny how some white people living in Japan react to their first experiences of “racism” whilst living in Japan.

As a black man who was born and bred in London, I have to say that not one of you could survive a single day in England walking in my shoes. Not a day. The kind of things that you complain about are the kind of things that I brushed off as a eight-year-old kid.

Rei

As an African-American who grew up in the South, I can relate.
Ian

Ditto, Eddie. Growing up as a Pacific-Islander, (from a COMMONWEALTH country, no less), can be pretty brutual in North London. Japan is a cake-walk compared to N11.

momonga

1.Some agencies did refuse, indeed.

2.Yes, this happened. I was hired as a translator/interpreter by certain company in Osaka, but a month ago, the girl who was in carge of shipment and inventory control was fired, and they made me do her job in addition to mine( resulting in solid overtime work, often “voluntary”).Besides, since the other workers were all men, I was supposed to clean the company before work too(“How would you expect the men to do women’s job?).Then, another Japanese woman was hired, but she was never asked to do shipment(packing and sending goods) and inventory control( carrying heavy packages upstairs, packing, repacking, cleaning, testing the equipment..)BTW, previous girl in inventory was Chinese.And the new ,Japanese girl was never asked to clean. I waited for a week to see how things are going , and left. Now, they are looking for another “translator”.
3. Only young guys won’t sit next, but I guess they are simply shy.
4. My teachers, married to foreigners, did complain a lot about discrimination at school.
5.Gee, I’m afraid to meet some Japanese at night. With all these pervs on the loose…
6.I was stopped only once, and the guy was really polite and cool.
Irene

I guess things are very different for Asians (particularly East Asians) and non-Asians. Sadly.

I didn’t know we were supposed to be carrying ‘gaijin card’ all of the time, and I’d never carried it with me until recently (been here for most of the time). I’d never had a problem with this, I’m East-Asian, so..
rose

im a nipo-brazilian and the question about discrimination is very hard because i felt it in many countries considered “economical developed”,even in Brasil i had many situations like discribed in this cartoon,i think that nowadays is much better than a 10 years ago,maybe the globalization and internet are helping.Im feeling that Japan is changing…like others countries,like America with president Obama.Its sure that we cant tolerate any kind of discrimination and need to press the government for more effective punishment in this area.

Asahi cartoon about discrimination in Japan

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