Heyho,
***OOOOK. Red light! I'm not entirely sure what you
are pointing to here, but. Gaijin on average do NOT
have it as hateful as you put it. It may seem so to
individuals who have never experienced discrimination
before, however, if you've been through it
before...the Japanese are usually REALLY easy to
ignore. I'm not big on Sento myself... I'm more of an
onsen type, but the very worst I've had is guys in an
elevator talking to each other about what I'm doing
there... entertainment? Yeah yeah racial
bigotry...grow a thicker skin, it happens. Outside of
that one occasion at a Japanese inn (ryokan) out in
the mountains... no problems at all other than some
staring them many many times I've been to onsens.
I'll have to concur on this point. I've seen a number of fics that paint
the Japanese in some pretty terrible lights, concerning their attitude
towards gaijin. A lot of it strikes me as largely unfounded.
Now, first off, I'm writing this from a very limited perspective--I'm a
caucasian western male. Females have it a bit tougher. I've heard
non-caucasians have it even tougher. With that in mind....
There's a definite (and occasionally annoying) prevalent racism in Japan.
Tonight I headed over to one of my schools and cut through a suburban
neighbourhood. A young girl stepping out of her house saw me and exclaimed
'gaijin da!'--something I get prettty often. Later I stopped at a
robo-sushi place, and a group of three (son, mother, grandmother, I think)
stared at me as I walked in and found a seat; the kid kept staring and
checking up on me as I munched on my food.
Now, I live in a fairly rural part of Japan, so it's not all that
surprising, though for anyone from a somewhat more interracial environment,
it takes a while to get used to. Surprising thing is that I've still seen
it in parts of big cities, like Osaka; and even then, it strikes me as odd
how few non-Japanese you see around.
The thing is, it's important to realize (in my opinon) that often, there's
very little if any spitefulness, anger, or resentment behind the staring or
exclamations. When that young girl went 'foreigner!', it really was just an
exclamation of surprise--especially since she was a primary school kid, odds
are she hasn't seen more than a handful of foreigners in the flesh. Also,
this is a language where people
_say_ the emotion they're feeling or action
they're doing, often: kids say 'surprised!' when they're surprised; they say
'erase, erase' when they're erasing. So, girl sees foreigner, she says,
'foreigner'. <shrug> I can't imagine why I'd want to get offended over
something like that. Some people do; my opinion is, grow up and get a clue.
My opinion is, however, one that has been developped over a short time.
I've only been here for two years, with no intentions of forging a niche for
myself here. From what I've learned talking to long-time expats, that's
where the frustrations begin. I haven't tried piecing deep into the
society, and so haven't encountered barriers; but as mentioned below,
obstacles to what should be easy tasks, such as renting an apartment, can be
intensely upsetting. Struggle with the language and you're met with
encouragement and support; master the language, I've heard, and people
become closed.
And it goes on...the point
is yeah there's some stuff that goes on, but it's not
as bad as you seem to be painting it, nor as bad as
some books I've read paint it either.
Yup. For the most part, I've found Japanese people to be among the
friendliest I've ever met. Hell, sometimes I find myself wanting to break
away from the gaijin crowd and 'mingle with the natives', as it were; and
some of the best times I've had here have involved Japanese people I've
never met having me join their party. Yes, I'm aware that in many of those
cases I end up playing 'gaijin stunt monkey' (as I call it--hell, that's
basically my job) for them--who gives a shit? The atmosphere is friendly
and I'm having a great time.
The balance to this, of course, is some truly frightening stuff.
Occasionaly these ultra-nationalist black vans cruise through town, playing
traditional music loudly over a roof-mounted speaker, while some guy inside
shouts anti-foreigner propaganda. They're painted with the old rising sun
symbol. Definitely chilling shit. I've also been bounced back from various
bars and clubs over time--something I'm obviously not used to.
(Though it has to be said, that while being barred entrance based on race is
obviously, well, racist, I can actually understand where they're coming
from, often. The few fights I've seen break out in Japanese bars have
almost invariably involved gaijin. It's one of the things I like about
Japanese clubs--the whole 'meat market', testosterone-thick air thing, is
missing. It's actually fun and relaxing, not aggressive. Also, if it
happens to be a snack, hostess, or lounge bar/club, a lot of these places
assume that a foreigner won't understand what the place is actually
offering. The girls chatting with you at most snack bar aren't there to be
pawed, and a lot of foreigners don't quite seem to get that. Also, most of
these places have heavy cover charges--the only lounge bar I've ever been in
charged 10 000 yen just for walking in the door! I'm positive that, had I
not been with a Japanese friend (who was thankfully paying!), I would've
been stopped at the door. Fair enough; I've heard of too many gaijin
wandering into a place like that, drinking their fill, than getting
(understandably) upset when they discover an extra $100 cover charge slapped
on their bill as they go to leave. Many clubs choose to avoid the conflict
and simply bar all foreigners from coming in (unless accompanied by a
Japanese who can explain how it all works).)
Man. I've got to stop writing these Friday night replies. This shit
belongs in my journal, not the FFML. I've strayed here, so as I crack open
my second Asahi, I'll try and bring it back to the onsen thing.
Onsens and spas are fantastic; when I leave this country, it's at the top of
the list of things I'll miss a whole bunch. I just know the same thing
would never work back home--open up a public bath where people of the same
sex lounge around naked for an hour or two, and it'll quickly get a
homosexual stigma, for some reason. Unfortunate, really--these places are
fantastic.
Now, if you go to an onsen, are you going to get stared and giggled at?
Unlikely. Although it does happen--usually when somebody gets the ritual
wrong, which happens quite often. A few weeks ago I hit this amazing onsen
deep in Tokushima, set in the Iya gorge--anyone who's read Alex Kerr's
self-obsessed 'Lost Japan' might have heard of the place. For many of the
JETs I was with, it was their first time at an onsen. They were
understandably shy. It's not easy for many Westerners to bare it all in
front of others, even if everyone's of the same sex. Is it any wonder,
then, that for a people who have it so ingrained in their society, to find
it amusing when some foreigner comes mincing into the bath, trying to cover
far too much with far too small a towel?
But once you've got the whole thing down, it becomes just another perk of
Japanese life. Sure, you'll still get people coming up to you, but in my
experience they're just men who've lived abroad and want to chat--or
practice their Japanese. The worst I've had is students of mine bumping
into me at a public bath. That's a bit uncomfortable; I don't mind meeting
a student after work hours, but I don't really want my genitals to be a
subject of discussion among the student body....
Umm... yeah. This isn't really C&C anymore, so I'll stop here. I can't
expect that this was of any use to the actual story, at this point--so I
hope it was of some interest to those curious about Japan. Or something.
Later,
Mike Noakes
www.geocities.com/noakes_m
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