Racism in Japan
I’m a foreigner living in Japan. That’s clear to me and generally not a problem. I’ve (and all foreigners living in Japan) come across some racism but not very much and in my view less so than when I lived in the great cultural melting pot of the US. I just got off the phone with a bigot. He works for View, a credit card/suica card company. If you’re not aware suica is a card used on the main train company in Japan. I thought it would be a good idea to have this combination card, it sounds very convenient. I was turned down because I’m not Japanese or my Japanese speaking skills aren’t up to snuff. Why speaking is a consideration for a train card I have no idea. In my broken Japanese I said that since I’m a foreigner I shouldn’t get the card and was dismissed after that statement. I guess my next step is to find out what legal recourse I have, I am not going to take this bullshit.
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YOU GO PETE! Don’t take that from the little Japanese man!
“In my broken Japanese I said that since I’m a foreigner I shouldn’t get the card and was dismissed after that statement.” Oh you mean they say this to you? Well I know what you mean. Please stand up and start kicking asses and taking names. DId you get the person’s name? They their boss and complain and they will get fired, probably.
Did you consider that maybe since you admit your Japanese isn’t good he didn’t know what the hell you were talking about and just wanted to get you off the phone since he didn’t know how to help you? I don’t mean to be rude, but if I was in a busy US office selling low-profit items, and some Japanese guy called up babbling something incoherent in semi-English, I would probably just try to get rid of him ASAP and get back to the customers I can understand. Try going in to the office in person, with a Japanese person to translate.
Hmmm…. Lets me guess, you cant read japanese either can you? Which would mean you cant read the credit card agreement which is the governing contract for card use can you? If you ran a business would you extend credit to or enter into a contract with a person who can not be legally held responsible for their actions? You were not denied because you are not Japanese, you were denied because you are not a verifyable credit risk. Plain and simple. So if I understand you right, you did not get what you want and so your response is to cry racism? There is nothing like Equifax or TRU here to do central credit ratings for individuals. The financial system assumes a fixed place of address, a guaranteur and or an employer, not to mention the ability to understand and execute a contract. If you do not meet any all of these requirements, you may not participate. Those are the rules. If you learn to work the system or work within it you will have greater success. Here are a few hints: 1) Get your eijuken. If you have permanant resident status, you are considered to be a functional trustworthy member of society even if you are illiterate. 2) Try and apply for a card through your bank, you will stand a greater chance of success than applying with the company which manages the JR card. 3) Make sure you demonstrate your ability to understand the terms of the card contract. They do not work the same as cards in the US or most cards in the EU even if they are branded Visa or MasterCard. Again, talking to someone at your bank will help with this. 4) Find a Japanese person to act as your guaranteur and bring them in person to apply at your bank or theirs. If I am wrong and you are literate, have your eijuken and are employed by a “reputable” company (by japanese standards) then I’d be perfectly happy to retract my snide comments.
ｏｈ， ｓｔｏｐ ｙｏｕｒ ｗｈｉｎｇｉｎｇ． ｔｈｉｎｋ ｏｆ ａｌｌ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｇｏｏｄ ｍａｎｎｅｒｅｄ ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ａｎｄ ｃｏｍｐｅｒｅ ｔｏ ｙｏｕｒ ｈｏｍｅ ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ．．．
Tell me what happen it that case. I am a new Gajin in Japan. I arrived three months ago and yes there is racims but I felt it mostly from older people. Maybe they remember…that is the only explanation I have. Or frustrated (man especialy)! But you are right, racism in USA is much more flagrant.
they didn’t give you suica card?! oh my goodness.I have no idea what the heck they’re thinking. but I know what you mean. I hate Japanese railroad company. They’re just so unreasonable all the time even for me…I’m japanese. It’s not really racism, they just don’t know anything but their world and just so unreasonable. If I were with you, I’d talk to them and beat them up.
I can relate to what you’re talking about. I’ve only been in japan for two years or so but it happens sometimes. But I don’t see why they can’t give you a train card if applying for ETC cards isn’t so hard. Maybe the railroad is funded by the Seirankai heh. Its always a little harder for us Sangokujin, but at least we try. Gambate!
when i went to Japan i quickly noticed how polite and nice the japanese people are.I kept thinking to myself how people in general could be so friendly and polite and especially since i’m from Chicago’s west side, it was just mind blowing. in America and especially Chicago there is all kinds of mean people, you cant even walk down the street in west garfield without some conflict happeniing whether its gun shots or just a simply getting jumped. basically Americans in general are very rude and agressive. i dont think u can complain because there is so much racism directed toward the mexican race not even to mention the black race. of course a few older men might see you as somthing less than them, in america im sure there is much more racism directed toward the japanese people. my japanese teacher lives in a pretty bad area and alot of people vandalize and make fun of her becuase her english is bad. yet she does nothing because she is to kind to.
I’m a japanese who is a disturbed by my own culture. In case you didn’t know, look a little bit deeper into the japanese culture you think you know so well. It’s not all cute fluffy stuffed animals and makeup! READ ON AND DO YOUR STUDYING of the culture! Look into what MADE a samurai. POLITE? of course… also the most SUPERFICIAL FAKING people in the world. they are nice to you to your face and then shit on you behind your back. They are the most repressed, racist, obsessive compulsive disordered culture. No wonder they do such fucked up things for recreation! Think about how many times they wrap a piece of candy with plastic. Even the men wear coverup makeup and pluck their eyebrows now! Not only are they self-righteous and crazy rule followers, but they whitewash their own history textbooks to purify their race even more. They only use nonjapanese to do hard labor and construction work. And what kind of repressed culture has women on high-fiber diets so that they can shit into a bowl for a man to smell or eat? DO YOUR STUDYING!! READ BETWEEN THE LINES. But also have fun and appreciate the culture but don’t be a sucker.
i’m japanese and you guys are so clueless. look into the fake obessive compulsive disordered culture a bit more. just delve in deeper
Hi! Japanese racism is to a significant extent a response to Western colonialism and racism. Portuguese sold Japanese slaves in large numbers overseas, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, de facto head of the state in the 16th century, became furious. He proposed to buy back these slaves as much as possible, but Portuguese ignored him. The slave trade was fully approved by Jesuit missionaries. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in response to the extreme racism in the U.S. and Europe. If you want to know more about these things, visit the following web site: http://www.ifrance.com/p-h/japan_ph.php?lang=en/ Michio Kitahara
TO EUROPEANS, EURO-AMERICANS, EURO-AUSTRALIANS, AND OTHER EURO-HYPHEN PEOPLE: Why do many of you call yourselves “whites”? This is an expression from the days of colonialism based on racism and should not be used today. Get rid of your arrogant mentality of colonialism and racism.
I am from India and live in the USA. I was coerced by Mitsubishi Electric through my contact in Japan to come to Japan and work for them. Later I realized that I was tricked and was used as a guinea pig in some experiment they were conducting. Before my experience in Japan I would have taken argument of Japanese people seriously, but after observing Japan for six very long years where Japanese people, on one hand were subservient to Caucasians while arrogant towards the rest of us, I would have to say that Japan is something. Read details about my racial discrimination lawsuit against Mitsubishi Electric at http://www.kamalsinha.com/mitsubishi/ .
For a lot of foreigners, this is their first taste of discrimination.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism from the 16th century onward, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism from the 16th century onward, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism from the 16th century onward, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism ever since the 16th century, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism ever since the 16th century, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism ever since the 16th century, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha describes is true, then this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action; namely “identification with the aggressor” and “displacement.” Both are Japanese responses to Western colonialism and racism. It is most likely that if there were no Western colonialism and racism ever since the 16th century, much of this problem could have been avoided.
If everything Kamal Sinha is saying is true, this is a beautiful example of psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in action in the minds of Japanese, namely “identification with the aggressor(Westerners)” and “displacement(of aggression against Asians)” as expressed by Japanese. In response to Western colonialism and racism, Japanese responded this way. If there were no Western colonialism and racism, incidents of this nature could have been avoided.
I am not a psychologist and therefore, won’t know much about “psychoanalytic defense mechanisms” although I must admit I have heard similar explanations from other Japanses people. The way I look at it is that big corporations like Mitsubishi are aethical (non-ethical) and will do whatever they think they can get away with. In my case the fact that I am a non-Caucasian from a poor country who they thought mistakenly, had lost his chance to live in the USA, played a big role in tricking and coercing me to come to Japan. They could never imagine that I could retaliate. Otherwise they wouldn’t have done it. Hiring me for the purpose of harassing me was fun for them since it indicated to them how “powerful” they were to get away with such acts but was hardly worth the unexpected repurcussions they faced and will face in the future.
I see. Your description fits in the pattern I mentioned earlier. I have heard similar stories in other countries, including the U.S. and European countries. To take advantage of somebody is a familiar phenomenon in all aspects of life, and probably this is found in all countries, I am afraid. In the U.S., people are fired quite easily, compared with Europe thus far, but this is going to change, due to the low growth rates and high unemplyment rates in Europe.
It is true that people tend to take advantage of others. However, this case is somewhat different. Top executives of Mitsubishi, went all the way to entice me for the sole purpose of conducting their “experiment” on me. It was an experiment not much useful to them and I doubt, if any company in the West, however racist or callous they might be, will go all the way to give someone a hard time and try to destroy that person’s career without any provocation, as Mitsubishi tried to do. Considering others as just objects, and not as human being, a concept while part of the modern industrial world, even in the West, is generally used only when there are conflicts of interest. In my case, the company had almost nothing to gain except to have “fun” at my expense. Similar to story of a person in Kentucky who barbecued a live cat just for the “fun” of it. While West is racist too, Mitsubishi, as a racist company is in a league of its own and I doubt that this level of racism is some sort of reaction to Western racism.
Since I am not in your situation, I cannot evaluate it objectively. When I mentioned “displacement,” I was referring to the open display of aggression and arrogance upon people who are considered to be less powerful, such as you. The reason is that the anger and frustration among the Japanese caused by the powerful West cannot be expressed openly against the West. Japan is a member of G7 and G8, but in reality it is the U.S. that orders others to follow. Europe and Russia must accept the American dominance in the world. So is Japan. Therefore Japanese must find other means of releasing the anger and frustration and aggression in the form of displacement. This is my interpretation. Does this make sense?
>The reason is that the anger and frustration among the Japanese caused by the powerful West cannot be expressed openly against the West. While it might lead to anger and frustation, I don’t see why it should be released on others. For example, when I am mistreat by powerful Caucasians in the USA, I don’t go out and start beating up black homeless people in my city. In fact, it gives me more understanding of their plight and I become more sympathetic towards them realizing what they have gone through and that we are in the same boat, in some sence.
You are an admirable person without releasing your aggresion upon others, but this phenomenon is well known as a form of dealing with anger and frustration for most people. Perhaps this is due to your background? Many people beat and abuse their dogs, wives, subordinates, minorities; any powerless creatures. Look at the way Israel continues outrageous acts against the helpless and powerless Palestinians. This may be interpreted as a reaction to anti-Semitism as well as Jews’ experience of discrimination and subjugation over centuries.
well , all this is very interesting. I’ve been several times in Japan , I especially like Tokyo but that is not the point . At first I’d like to be sure that everybody here remember that racism is sadly an universal feature and it won’t solve anything to treat any country of potentially more racist than an other. Anyway racism is a plague and should not be tolerated anywhere ,even in Japan. In fact I experienced racism in Japan too and what shoked me is the frontal expression it could have sometimes but that not means japanese are especially more racist ,maybe in Europa we have more guilt about it and don’t express it so quickly in current conversations but that is nothing else than hypocrisy,we all know what some people are thinking. History gives us many lessons but it appears it have a lack of good students. I don’t think the japanese way to deal with the subject is better or worse but since I was in certain occasion faking about my capacities to speak japanese I have heard very frightning conversations in front of me by people who thought I didn’t understand . I gues the only right attitude to have with a stranger that has problem in a different country is helping him and explaining but it seems that some people I’ve met in Tokyo thing it won’t worth the effort because even if they do I would’nt understand anything , I’m not japanese so how could I have the nerve to pretend understanding anything ? this is some kind of what is called right of blood and it’s a very dangerous common way of thinking that leads you know where . In this kind of situations ( excuse me I don’t give more details ) my only way to escape from the trauma is to speak about the subject with my japanese friends and to accept their answers which were mostly that they themselves think that there is a problem of racism in Japan based on pointless stigmatas and bad used of paranoia in political current issues . Which mean that Japan is not more or less racist than average just even . Anyway I won’t excuse the incidents that have happened to me ,I won’t take revenge or stop loving japanese culture . I won’t excuse racist people but they are not a whole country and I won’t call behaviourist psychology to justify my opinion>
One problem I often think is the abuse and misuse of the word “racism.” It is possible that what foreiners experience in Japan is not racism at all but “culturalism.” Yet they describe this as “racism.” Examples. The rejection of foreigners at a public bath, where earlier experiences showed that they did not wash their bodies thoroughly first. This is more culturalism than racism. The rejection of Africans at a swimming pool by saying that the water will become dirty is racism, however. When Japanese see Western youths with long hair, beards, who are not neatly dressed and speak vulgarly, they assume these youths are drug addicts and respond accrdingly. Yet another example. There is a strong tendency in the West to drop titles, but this is extremely vulgar in Japan. Never address a Japanese without a title. Say ALWAYS “Mr……” or “Miss…..” Without titles, I assure you, Japanese become angry and act accrdingly. Some of these rules may be written in a guidebook, but not all.
What you describe as “culturalism” is similar to the term “racial profiling.” If some foreigners at public baths didn’t behave properly, it cannot be a basis for rejecting all foreigners. Especially, in the famous lawsuit, the foreign-born plaintiffs, seemed to be all decent persons, and it could hardly be assumed by looking at them that they would behave similar to drunken sailors. It is like not allowing a Afro-American professor from Harvard Law School in a store because some drunk Afro-Americans had caused damage to the store in past. Closer to Japanese experience, there was a report I read prior to going to Japan, regarding London hotels complaining about Japanese tourists who usually messed up their bathrooms by overfilling their bathtubs. It was published in a reputed magazine, but I don’t know how true this might be but knowing Japanese people and their cleaniness and social consideration, I would guess it might have been because of either youngsters being careless or some eldly people not being able to understand English well. (I have seen bathtubs in Japan where the water taps cuts off supply once a desired preset level is reached.) However, now if a Japanese person goes to a hotel in London and finds a sign “Japanese not allowed”, how will that person feel? Racial profiling is illegal in the USA and perhaps many other countries too.
I am not saying “culturalism” is good or bad; nor am I saying it is acceptable. All I am saying is the misuse and abuse of the word “racism.” If you accuse a person, organization, or country by using the word “racism,” you are more likely to get mass media attention. The owner of a hotel, restaurant, night club etc. does not want to lose money by some kind of damage to the property. Therefore, it is quite logical and natural that after a bad experience over and over, the owner begins to think negatively toward certain categories of people. Quite often, this is a matter of making a living, survivial, life or death for a small establishment. I am quite negative to so-called “demonstrators” against G7, G8, World Bank, IMF, etc. At least a significant number of them are vandals, breaking shop windows, spraying graffitti on the walls, burning furniture, and stealing goods! Now, there may be respectable, old-fashined demonstrators who do not do these things. But you cannot check everyone in the street whether or not he or she is a childish vandal. It is unfortunate and often necessary to make a generalization about a certain category of people due to this impossible task of examining everybody in the world. If I see a sign that reject me on the basis of my personal background , I will not feel offended at all. I understand the situation quite well and will not argue. I know I am not allowed to use ladies’ toilet, and I feel the same way.
erm….no mister generalization is not a necessity. and what you may call culturalism is half the time some politically correct way to say nationalism and we all know where things get connected here. you are supposed to be proud of your culture without rejecting the others. that is not so uneasy. and I would not reply to the “youngs on drugs ” part of you comment.easy to go on social stigmatas. and not saying what I think of people who judge the others by the way they look. welcome to the cliche. Maybe you could take a trip to the unlearning racism section of the closest bookstore.all I see is that you just try to justify and justify making a mix between things that are on the subject and other which are deeply irrelevant,you seem to be very touchy on the subject , is that because some people have the nerve to say that maybe everything in Japan is not perfect ? well don’t feel offended ,nobody is perfect anyway.
Would you please write clear and simple and understandable English? Have you ever taken and passed Freshman English? My impression is that you are a product of a dying civilization. If you do not understand what I mean, read Spengler.
I have read Spengler,thank you ! As long as I know it’s not forbidden to have a different opinion . Well,if all you have to say is that my english is broken , which is indeed true , I’m not sure it worth continuing this conversation . In fact your last answer was the one I predicted to myself,strange isn’t it………..well whatsoever these are your opinion, don’t feel offended but I don’t share your point of view . Goodbye Mister product of a rising civilization.
Good. I shall stop visiting this site as well. As my final words, let me say the following: 1. The West collapses in a few crnturies. So does Japan because Japan has been incorporated in it. 2. I have been accused of being a “racist” because I have criticized Japan hard. 3. My point is that probably every country has racism and culturalism, and you should not mix these two in your arguments. Furthermore, each country has its own version of culturalism, and this is hard to grasp for an outsider. I regret you cannot understand such a simple thing. Good bye.
I could not possibly comment on whether your refusal was prompted by racism, in whole or in part. However, buying a train ticket in Japan for a person who cannot read Japanese is a daunting task, since one has to look up the train one wants in the huge timetables laying on tables in the station. That was enough to put me off. I cam back with a friend to buy it for me. As for hostility to foreigners, shikata ga nai, ne?
Racial profiling is illegal in the USA? Please tell that to the police forces in every metropolitan city in the USA. Geezz. We have a term here for being pulled over while driving. Its called DWB. It is a crime in every city here. They always say something about having a report and matching a recent description on the the police radio of a perpetrator of a crime. But the real offense in DRIVING WHILE BLACK. We get it. We know not to drive with 4 in the car. We know not to drive too fancy a car in the white neighborhood. We know not to pivot the head and look at the white women. And we know what parts of town we should stay out of. After being put face down on a pavement with guns drawn and directed towards our heads, we learn really quickly. So someone… Please tell the police that racial profiling is illegal in America. Thank you.
racists are everywhere. they run free in Southern USA, they run free in Northern USA. every country just shows their racism differently i guess. and americans hate foreigners too. take away jobs from good red blooded americans! i’m being sarcastic, but the belief exists. and american police profile like its nobodys business, especially of African Americans and of any Arab after 9/11. there shouldn’t be any racism, but i think that people are much too hypocritical when it comes to criticizing other countries for being racist.
Don’t Like it? Then leave and quit your whining.
many japanese people are racist, this is a fact, but what you, and many other americans who live in japan fail to say is that racism is present everywere, even more in korea than in japan. I think you americans only like to point this out because japan is a rich and prosperous country, but it is JAPAN ie, only availible to JAPANESE, so how would you feel if you (american) were just driving your car and then a sipid(yes that is a real word) little chinese man ran into you and then just drove off, not only would you hate them man, but you would also hate him for being chinese, this account has happened multiple times in japan and that is why there is great resentment, also because AMERICANS, who have no culture, merely leech off of others, are balmed for “stealing” japans culture, adopting it as their own, its all very bigamist and self-rightgeous, stay in your own culture or at least try and stay out of other people’s culture.
yeah yeah japanese are ugly and we call ourselves whites, because we are whites, black are black and they yellow ones are the yellow ones.
I never have injected myself into any conversation on this site but that last comment was so purely racist and thus so stupid I couldn’t let it stay without comment. I have never met a Japanese person (or any person who was not sick) with “yellow skin”. I won’t delete it because I don’t censor anyone (except spam).