Thanks for this excellent feedback Pachipro.

Quote Originally Posted by Pachipro
I was turned down for an apartment by about three fudosans before I found one that would rent to foreigners. Near the base this was understandable as servicemen usually trashed apartments and played loud music and made alot of noise. This disturbed the "wa" of the Japanese people.
Don't think it's because it was near a military base. It's exactly the same in Tokyo (even Eastern Tokyo, faraway from dubious areas like Roppongi or Shibuya). I personally resent it that they would even consider that I would damage their apartment or play loud music just because I am a gaijin, because I hate loud music (or anything loud), have had very noisy Japanese neighbours, and would think twice before renting my apartment to a Japanese after seeing how disorderly my own wife (who have to scold for it) or her friends can be. I am not really Monica Geller in Friends to say that "if it's not a right angle it's a wrong angle" (well I still insist on books between arranged in the right numeral order and by categories and sizes), but there are limits.

I was allowed to buy my first stereo on credit at a major department store with only my gaijin card while I was a student. I paid in three monthly installments.
Never heard of any problem with that, even without gaijin cards. Aren't Westerners richer than the Japanese nowadays (Japan only ranked 17th worldwide in GDP per capita at PPP in 2003). If you were there in the 70's, the difference was even bigger. It's mostly in the 80's Bubble Years that the Japanese thought they'd become master of the world and thought gaijin came to rob them.

In all my years there, and every year since, up to my most recent visit last month, I have not experienced any outward discrimination from the Japanese.
In fact I have never been asked for my gaijin card since I moved away from the base or in any of the yearly visits there these past 17 years.
Maybe that's because you came as a tourist. What may have caught the police attention in my case was that I was always wearing a business suit, so they guess I was a resident and it was their duty to harass me so that I do not consider staying too long in Japan.


In the 17 years we have lived here in the states, my wife has never received any discrimination or prejudice from other Americans, even here in the South. She has been accepted as just "another American citizen." For that she is impressed.
Yes, and all that in the country of the KKK and were innocent Muslims get lynched after terrorist attacks and Blacks only got equal rights in 1967 (?). I would not even imagine that a Japanese would be discriminated in most northern European countries.

I have never been refused entry to an onsen, public bath, or nightclub in my 32 years experience with Japan.
Me neither in 3.5 years, but I have only been twice to onsen, never to public bath and twice to a nightclub (these are not the kind of places I like going to). However I heard that people in Kyoto especially tended to less hospitable (even toward Japanese) than anywhere else, and that quite a few restaurants (not just the geisha tea houses) will not let foreigners in (even accompanied by a Japanese). But that's ok, as it's not really necessary to go to such places. The annoying thing is when you can't ride your bicycle safely in the streets without fearing being harrassed by the police (no it's not Mexico or Vietnam, but Japan I am talking about!).

But the most common form of discrimination remains for housing. That's where you really see what people think of foreigners. Many shops and restaurants in Japan are chains, where the staff wouldn't even dare refusing someone (they just don't have the authority), Anyway, most shops, restaurants and hotels need customers to survive, and foreigners are welcome as long as they have money. But when it comes to houses or flats, we are usually dealing with individual owners (it means ordinary people who do not have to follow to corporate rules) and the majority of them will just tell you that they don't take gaijin and that's it, no matter how rich, well mannered, responsible and orderly you are.

As I said earlier, discrimination in Japan rarely comes from people who want to meet foreigners, i.e. the people most foreigners end up meeting, be it as exchange students, at parties, or in English conversation classes. These people are exception (usually young and international-minded). The majority of the Japanese does not speak English, did not study abroad and does not take Eikaiwa lessons with native speakers. When I notice negative attitudes toward me as a foreigner, it is most often from people that do not want to meet foreigners and that foreigners wouldn't usually come in contact with as short-term visitors (even 1 year). They are the salespeople who ring to my door twice a week and always look so disappointed and embarassed to find just a "gaijin" (in exchange, when it rains I let them explain their stuff while making them wait on the doorstep and thensay I am not interested). They are also the (mostly elderly) neighbours who always greet my wife with a smile and "konnichiwa" but after 3 years still ignore me when I am alone and look at me suspiciously (or tell their grandchildren to be careful of the gaijin). They are people in shops who reply to my wife and ignore me when I ask them some questions (this happens 90% of the time). These people didn't ask to meet a gaijin, but when they have to they do not hide (or very badly) their contempt and prejudices.

Many foreigners in Japan may be happy and not feel the discrimination because they don't meet such people. Anybody who stays with other foreigners, with Japanese who want to meet foreigners, or do not need to live a life like in their home country (including getting a loan, buying a house, being accepted by the neighbours, asking a question without having the reply addressed to somebody else, etc.) may just not notice the underlying bad feelings shared by a large part of the Japanese population towar foreigners. Remember the cultural differences. Japanese people don't like direct confrontations, are hypocritical and polite. Therefore they will rarely tell you "piss off, bloody gaijin!", but they may think it. Remember also that the Japanese are no more angels than other peoples. After all, they were real butchers during the 1930's and WWII, killed and raped more people in more atrocious conditions than the Nazi ever did. Most of these proudly nationalistic people are still alive nowadays, and those that butchered and raped Koreans Chinese and SE Asians during WWII have shaped the government, media and education system of today's Japan. So that their nationalistic and racist ideas have influenced the younger generation they have educated, in typically Japanese indirect and subtle ways, so as to avoid too much criticism from the US.

My advice would be, go away from touristical places, meet the people who don't try to meet foreigners. Listen discreetly to their conversation whenever talking about "gaijin". Try to read their mind and emotions when talking to them. See how the kids react to foreigners. Get a Japanese grandmother. Read between the lines of what the media say. Understand why people have come to address all foreigners as "gaijin" and not 欧米人 (obeijin) or 西洋人(seiyoujin) for Westerners, and アジア人 for other Asians, for instance. Try to understand why most people are so ignorant of the world, or rather why the government would want its people to be ignorant of the world (i.e. so as to breed prejudices and eventually racism). Try to wonder why there is such an attitude in real estate agencies as refusing "all foreigners" before even considering their nationality, status, job and personality - especially since most Western residents in Japan (i.e. those renting a flat for the legal mininimum of 2 years) have a university degree, are better paid than the Japanese average, may be fluent in Japanese, and almost never commit any crime even compared to the Japanese.

It cannot be a coincidence that all these things are the way they are. So yes, the Japanese can seem very polite and respectful, girls are cute, the country is safe and has plenty of entertainment and great food. It's all good fun... until you realise that this was only one side of Japan. Looking at the other side, you see that those foreigner-friendly and well-travelled people are far to be the norm. How many landowners rent flats/houses in Japan ? 10 million, 20 million ? Would I be far off saying that 80% of these are so prejudiced against foreigners that they won't even consider them as a potential tenants ? This usually means that their spouse (or whole family) is also like-minded. Add to this a few millions elderly people, a few million nationalists (e.g. those in the black vans shouting nationlist comments in loud speakers around Tokyo). Almost none of those people are those that the typical Westerner will come into contact with in Japan, even staying as long as one or two years in Japan. But once you've decided to live somewhere, you can't just ignore that all these people exist and live around you - and are reminded of it by the occasional police checks and grandmotherly nonsense about foreigners.

In Europe, I would fight against racist, prejucided and ignorant people and denounce their behaviour. Why should I act differently while living in Japan - especially that this time I am directly concerned. One thing with me is that I don't forgive easily (especially to people I am not intimate with) unless the faulty person has made all they could to repair their wrong - and I never forget, in any case (I can't, which is another problem, too vivid memory).