Posted on 09/05/2023 7:56:59 AM PDT by aquila48
Renee Marant is a college student living in Japan, something she dreamed of from a young age.
She says living in Japan feels safer and is more convenient than living in America, where she's from.
But Marant has decided to move back to the US, citing low job prospects and experiences with racism as factors.
This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Renee Marant, a 21-year-old college student attending Temple University at the school's Japan campus. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
Me and Japan go way back. Since I was about 9, I was super interested in anime. When I was younger, I did a lot of storytelling and was also an artist, and seeing the two come alive in anime was so interesting to me.
Through anime, I picked up on aspects of Japanese culture, noticing how people take their shoes off when they go to school and how they clean up their classrooms. I could tell it was a completely different culture from Philadelphia, where I grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
It became a sort of gateway. I got deep into the history and architecture of Japan. In middle school, I started teaching myself Japanese, saving up my allowance to buy workbooks from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
In high school, I got the opportunity to go abroad for a year. I had the traditional high-school experience in Japan, which made me want to come back for college, where I am now.
It has always been my dream to live in Japan, and I'm so glad I did it. But instances of racism and weak job prospects made me decide to move back to America.
I quickly realized I'd over-romanticized expat life in Japan When I came to Japan for my high-school sophomore year in 2017, I realized I'd definitely over-romanticized it. I had this idea from how it was depicted in the media. The curriculum was very strict, and the school had a very traditional environment.
I thought my Japanese would hold up, but even after five years of studying, I wasn't able to communicate very effectively. I joined the volleyball team, and that's where I made my friends, but for the most part, I spent a lot of time alone.
I also had this expectation that people were going to seek me out, and, being in such a different environment, I didn't have the courage to really put myself out there. There was just one other foreigner at the school with me. At first, we decided we weren't going to talk to each other because we wanted to immerse ourselves in the culture. But we ended up hanging out all the time a few months later because she was going through the same thing.
I really enjoyed living with three different host families. Living under a family's roof was very comforting to me, and we'd go out to eat and hang out, even if there was still a bit of a language barrier.
Living in Japan feels safer, cleaner, and community-focused Even though the experience wasn't what I'd initially imagined, I discovered things that I loved about living in Japan and returned for college a year and a half ago in April 2022. I'm now studying economics at the Japanese campus of Temple University.
In Philly, I always had to look behind me to see if I was safe. Here, I've never had to worry about my safety. Everything is also incredibly clean here, and there are tons of fun things to do, like festivals, interactive art exhibits, cat cafés, and karaoke.
The customer service was another thing that surprised me. You go to a McDonald's and — unlike in America — they're smiling, getting your order done. They're very particular about how they come across to their customers.
I think the differences arise because the rules here are for the community, whereas America is more self-focused. In Japan, for example, if you go on the train, you make sure you're quiet and don't have anything blasting on the speaker. There are a lot of different rules here, so things can go smoothly for other people.
Because society here is so community-based, I've noticed people aren't very confrontational. Once, a manager at a country club where I work part time said something that was very disrespectful to me about women. Everybody just awkwardly laughed and said, "Yeah, he does that."
Experiences with racism
One of the downsides of living in Japan as a Black woman is the fetishization that we face. I've observed that Japanese people often view Black women as being "sexually free," and I've encountered a lot of men who have harassed me because they think I'm that way. I think a lot of these ideas come from the way Black women are portrayed in the media.
For example, I've had men come up to me and touch me, ask me if I like Megan Thee Stallion, and ask if I can twerk. It's really frustrating and dehumanizing to be treated this way, and it makes me feel like I'm not being seen as a person but just as a sexual object.
As far as Black culture is concerned, I see a lot of Japanese people "participate" in the culture, but they don't fully understand the context and history behind it. For example, when I went to a hip-hop club in Japan once, I saw many people with braids, dreadlocks, and jerseys. When they spoke English, they used a lot of slang and AAVE (African-American Vernacular English).
I've also encountered a few overt instances of racism. There's something called a "gaijin seat" — the foreigner seat — on the train, where nobody sits next to you. One time, I sat down next to a lady who got up and said, "You should die," before leaving the train.
That said, the racism I've felt here is more undercover. That's a problem in itself, but I'm glad I don't have to see it. In America, you're going to feel it. It is very much in your face.
My decision to move back to the US I decided to move back to America a little while ago and will be returning to Philadelphia to finish my senior year of college.
It was a difficult decision to make because I had been building myself up to start a career here. But as I started looking at options that are open to foreigners and their salaries, I realized that Japan is somewhere I want to live, but not somewhere I want to work.
The work culture here is very hierarchical. I plan to go into the finance industry, but the corporate environment here is very strict, where you have to listen to your superior. I'm very collaborative and thrive in a more horizontal environment, but here, seniority and title trump everything else.
I can envision moving back to Japan for the sheer enjoyment of living here, but I probably wouldn't do so only for professional reasons.
“The problem for her is that only white countries have been browbeaten into groveling at the feet of blacks.”
And sadly, it’s been WHITES that have done most of the browbeating of whites.
“If you see racism everywhere you go, you might be the common denominator.”
👍👍
I am sure when she tried to bow and such, it offended them because SHE didn’t understand the context and history!
see! it works BOTH ways!
They also by large and small, deny visas to Muslims. Where Islam arrives, disorder and chaos ensues. Japanese like order and politeness.
“He showed them a video about black farmers and they were puzzled.”
I see TV ads showing black families with a father and mother and children together and I am puzzled.
There are more reptilian aliens than intact two parent black families in these parts.
Correct. The Japanese do not want their culture diluted. If you want to live there as a citizen, you must assimilate and accept their culture. If you want to live there like a tourist, then you will be treated like one. Also some older Japanese do not like white people, or black, period. They think we will corrupt the minds and traditions of their people. They also understand statistics and know the ratio of black crime versus population percentage is. They DO cause the majority if criminal acts. Japan has about the lowest crime/murder/theft rate in the world, and the least amount of blacks.This is what I noticed in the 2.5 years I lived in the Sagami Otsuka area.
Good for her to have this experience while she’s still young and unmarried or tied up with obligations. Her writing style could use a remedial course or two, but she is observant and still gets her message across.
Many people used to have trips such as this between high school and college or right after graduating. They called it ‘going on hiatus’, where they could explore and move about like a gypsy.
This is one of the reasons I volunteered to join the Navy back in the Carter Era right after getting my degree. I figured now is the time to see the world and be around folks who were very different from those I grew up with.
She went there expecting it to be like anime! Discovered it wasn’t! Japan is placed where if you are not Japanese, you are not! They’ll be very polite about it.
Before I read the article let me guess.
The Japanese are racist?
Until France opened it's borders to the mooselimbs {in the 50-60s} and got swamped with true believers, France was very open to all races.
I was there in the late 50s, early 60s and was surprised at how open their society was.
Since the mooselimbs have taken to burning French cities to the ground, their attitude has taken a turn toward nationalism.
Someday, the US citizen may even come around and I hope I'm still here to see it.
There was a time, I believe, that the sentiment among the Japanese people was that if you weren’t Japanese, you were sub-human. This was no more evident than in the inhuman treatment of people in other nations during WW II.
I am a lawyer. I was waiting in a line at a municipal office to do some business for a client and said hello to a little “African American” male child in line with an adult “African American” male. The child did not respond, just stared at me. The adult stated to me, “He has to contend with ‘Caucasians’ in school.” Flabbergasted, I looked away and said nothing.
However, I have repeated the story multiple times. There is no hope for us if “African Americans” continue to teach children to hate “Caucasians”. My parents taught me the opposite about “African Americans”.
“As a black this, as a black that, as a blackety black…” Just STFU with the racist BS. America is the least racist country in the world as it is multi national and multi racial. This country affords her more than most other Americans because she IS black.
Most Africans think American blacks are arrogant jerks—and treat them accordingly (even when not deserved).
The other well hidden African cultural norm is “colorism”.
In Africa that means that she would be treated very badly in any part of Africa that had a lot of light-skinned blacks.
How does she - or anyone - know she is "black"? After eons of humankind, isn't it possible EVERYONE has a gene other than what you are labeled?
There are several forms that ask for race and ethnicity information. Some of these forms include:
US Census Bureau: The US Census Bureau collects data on race and ethnicity every 10 years. The next census is scheduled for 20301.
College Applications: Many college applications ask for race and ethnicity information to help universities track diversity and ensure equal opportunity.
Employment Applications: Some employers may ask for race and ethnicity information to monitor compliance with equal opportunity laws.
Medical Forms: Medical forms may ask for race and ethnicity information to help doctors identify health risks that are more common in certain populations.
Voter Registration Forms: Voter registration forms may ask for race and ethnicity information to help ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
As a teenager, a wise teenage friend of mine who saw me upset 'cuz I was deaf, said: "You are Joe, and I am Dave. We are different. But you are human, and I am human. We are different, yet we are the same."
Since then, I literally ignored everyone's "race" - there's no such thing.
Friends were missionaries in rural Africa. They said a lot of urban black women, if dropped into rural Africa, would be killed by the men. Or the women. Because NO ONE would tolerate their behavior.
The problem isn’t “blacks”. It is toxic black culture in many parts of America.
What’s bad is referring to most whites in the U.S. as “Caucasians” even though few of us have ancestors from there. It’d be like referring to most blacks as “Ugandans”.
Race relations have deteriorated in the past few decades.
My favorite story was when I was a very young man and worked for the US Census Bureau as a supervisor out of the Dallas office.
I had to “clean up” messes in the field. In this case we were putting together maps in advance of an upcoming ten year census—and the enumerator assigned to a part of a rural Arkansas county had quit leaving some loose ends.
I was sent there to finish their work. The county was almost all black. I remember driving down dirty and dusty roads far into the hinterlands—and eventually getting to the house I was supposed to verify.
It was a large structure with agricultural fields around it as far as the eye could see.
A couple of black adults greeted me and were very friendly.
Then they said “do you mind if the kids see you?”
I said “sure, no problem”.
There must have been ten kids—ranging in age from two or three to teenagers...and they surrounded me and started touching my hands and my clothes in wonder (and a little fear).
They had never seen a white person before...
We all had a good laugh about it.
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