Replies

You still in to the whole 'ruffled feathers' thing foreigners in Japan get 'bout being called or referred to as a -gasp-'gaijin'?

The word in and of itself is not racist. It depends on the subjectivity of the person who says it and in which way.

You tell me it's racist and a mean word for a foreigner, when a girl in a disco goes goo-goo eyed over the Westerner and tells him that she 'just loves gaijin' ('gaijin ga totemo suki na no desu'). It's been heard before! Don't split hairs. It's no more or less hospitable a place for foreigners than anywhere else.

I use the word gaijin all the time.

Regarding another one here: "Apparently the married women only go out after paydays, shop like mad, and lock themselves back home for the rest of the month. Ok, not conclusive evidence, but strange."

Please tell me what planet you are describing? This does not describe the Japan I know.Women in Japan have immense power, both on the surface and often, very potent manipulation subtly under the surface that defies all Western reasoning.

At any rate, please come back again and this time spend 2-3 years instead of 2-3 months (not that your 8 to 12 weeks don't count). Let your impressions form through that time. Sheesh, it takes a single year of living in Japan to begin to even start refuting in your mind the initial impressions you made about the place when you landed!

At any rate, you must be right that you liked Japan so I call pull back from my interpretation that somehow you did not like Japan or Japanese.

Having lived here off and on for over 9 years now (6 years in Iwate-ken and 3 years in Osaka), I can say that he is not completely wrong. There are all types here in Japan, just like anywhere else. I have been called "gaijin" both with utmost maliciousness and with utmost respect by different people. It all depends on the person who is saying it.

I still occasionally run into people (both male and female) who absolutely despise the thought of a "gaijin" living and working in Japan, much LESS being married to a Japanese. I have learned to just consider the source in most cases.

While here, I have generally worked in Japanese electronics manufacturing companies, not in English schools. As such, I have usually been the only gaijin in the company. Just like anywhere else, my Japanese co-workers have had their good days and their bad days. Some bosses were good to work for and some were real terrors. And yes, I even had one who totally despised me because I was not Japanese.

I am not trying to say that you are wrong AIT, but these people are nowhere near saints. Living and working here, one of the first things you have to accept is that you will meet ALL kinds of people. Good AND bad... And, just like anywhere else you go in the world, you try to accept the good and not sweat the bad so much. All in all, it is a great place to live.

Oh yeah, Shryke, I typically refer to myself as a gaijin. Now, do you think that this ol Mississippi country-boy is racist for using that word about myself? If you stay in Japan long enough next time, you may find out what it really means.

Take care,

Ruck

Japanese men really are more sexist, as a national trait, than most Europeans. That may change as Europe becomes Muslim. As for racism, that IMO is pretty much situational and somewhat overlaps with an us vs. them quasi-xenophobia. I say quasi because it seems to be more oriented towards exclusion of "them that are different from the majority" and can apply to other Japanese, not merely foreigners.

Racism towards blacks and those of generally darker skin does exist on a nationally significant scale. The us v. them issue is different and often confused, or rather conflated with racism.

And I too cannot believe the moderators haven't jumped on this thread.