Should all Japanese directly address foreigners in Japanese ?

[hanbun]

Interesting poll...

I started to see so much more non-Japanese people speak Japanese, which is good thing.

But those who have felt Japanese often don't reply back to you in Japanese even though you are fluent in Japanese...you have to understand, there are not many Japanese speakers out there, so the expectations are low. Besides, majority of Japanese people have lived their entire lives without having any interactions with cultures and people outside of Japan, so they are just not used to it, or simply incapable of such interactions I wonder...just look at how much money Japanese people spend for English lessons and still so few people actually speak it. Keep spending...spending...spending...

I am half Japanese and can carry a "light" conversation in Japanese. Because I grew up in North America w/a Japanese mother, my accent is quite correct (but not always my grammar or vocabulary). My other half is asian so i look 100% japanese to most people. Usually, i can carry a conversation a few sentences until a native Japanese person figures out I am not "one of them".

I want to write about something related that has been confusing me for many years here in New York: Why then would Japanese restaurant workers IN NEW YORK (i presume they would be able to get by and interact in English if they have a paying job in this city) consistently ignore that i can speak to them in Japanese and reply to me in English when i order in Japanese - it is not perfect, but often much better than their English! I could understand this reaction if i were caucasian, but perhaps no less irritating.

I have found this to be a REMARKABLY consistent reaction to me when i order or ask questions to them in Japanese. What is going on in their heads? Does each person have a different reaction, b/c we are all individuals and thusly "unique" or is their culture driving most of them to react to me in the same way- which i take to be exclusionary and unfortunately typical of Japanese institutions.

I feel that once they recognize you are not purely Japanese most of them immediately respond to me as if I were unfamiliar - there is no room for nuance, which i have so thankfully taken for granted among other New Yorkers. The thing is, aren't most of these young restaurant workers here to experience life outside their own conservative country? aren't many of them aspiring rock stars, musicians and other transgressive types? Is their cultural DNA that deeply ingrained that they react this way to foreigness? There is an ugly word for it and it is xenophobia...

I'd like anyone who is a native japanese person to respond to me as this is starting to really perplex me. I obviously do not want to think the people who represent my own heritage are xenophobic so i deeply feel the need to understand.

Is this a defensive reaction on their part? Is it threatening or confusing for Japanese to deal w/ someone who looks 100% japanese but cannot speak japanese fluently? why wouldn't they want to encourage me to speak their language like other cultures i have come into close contact with ( i have learned and spoken fluent Chinese, French, Indonesian and some Italian)

Anyone out there know the answer? I would really appreciate a candid opinion! Thanks

Ed

[pipokun]

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Is their cultural DNA that deeply ingrained that they react this way to foreigness? There is an ugly word for it and it is xenophobia...
...

First, correct my English if it is right to use the word, xenophobia, in a situation where someone, probably Japanese in your opinion, who speaks English in an English dominant country.
I don't think you went to all Japanese restaurants, so it might be possible that the guys in the restaurants were not Japanese. I cannot forget strong protest against "Sushi Police" were mainly from non-Japanese restaurants overseas. (*snip* also, please keep in mind that the police stuff was less autocratic than the Italian one.)

I don't know how to sue the (poor) English-speaking staffs in NYC for the genetically intolerant discrimination, but before that, how about trying to be a French person who does not speak any English, but Japanese?

Keep posting!