Have you encountered discrimination or prejudices in Japan ?

[Mike Cash]

- being treated like a mere tourist and complete outsider, not like a permanent resident (almost daily in my last year in Japan)

That has been the norm, for my first year in Japan...my last year in Japan...and every year in between. One of those things some of us mentioned having to make our peace with.

- hearing prejudiced comments, questions or reactions (average 100 to 200x a year)
- people replying to me with gestures when I address them in Japanese (average 20 to 50x a year)

You wouldn't believe me, perhaps, if I told that for as bad as it may seem now, it is unbelievably improved over what it was back when I first got here.

- hearing "oh gaijin da!" or similar comment in public toilets, lifts/elevators, or when a salesman rings at my door. (average 10 to 15x a year)

Same as my response above, basically. It used to be a daily (or multiple times daily) occurance. These days it is so rare that rather than being irritated by it I feel wistfully nostalgic.

- being checked by the police (average 2 or 3x a year)

Been here longer than a large portion of the JREFers have been on the planet...and it has never happened to me.

- being checked and questioned by customs officers at airport (happened about 2x a year)

This goes back to my earlier remarks about it being hard to settle one's heart and mind in Japan when one's body is bouncing in and out of the country multiple times a year. (I average under twice a decade, I think).

- being refused accommodation in real estate agency because I was a foreigner (happened only 2x, when I was looking for something at the beginning)

Been there before. Even had the novel situation of being refused accommodation in the very house I was moving out of.
I have the additional distinction, though, of on multiple occasions having been denied employment because I was a foreigner, despite professional licensure and experience (in Japan).