is japan THAT rasist

11 comments

1. As someone who lives in Japan for 8 years and is tall, white dude with visible tattoes I don’t think Japan is racists country at all but you will never be Japanese. I have never felt unwelcome or treated bad but you are and will always be foreigner and seen as such. On the other hand as a foreigner you have lot of advantages and you might pass some things Japanese person wouldn’t.

2. I’m black and have lived in Asia for 15+ years. If you want to actually hear the opinions of hundreds of black people living in Asia, give the first 2min of this YouTube video a watch:

   https://youtube.com/watch?v=-o5HElKKK4Y

   The belief that Asia is in any way more racist than America always makes me laugh. I guess it’s part of the “all lives matter” tactic (if you think white people are racist, look at Asia!! Etc), but I’ve literally never worried for my physical safety in Asia, ever — certainly not true in the States.

   All in all, the amount of hate that I’ve received in Asia (violent or nonviolent) pales in comparison to the loud, vocal and aggressive racism I’ve experienced from white trash republicans or European Neo-Nazis in the West. Sure, physical safety is only one aspect of it, but obviously some forms of racism (like violent attacks) are much worse than others

3. Depends on the quality of your Japanese. If your Japanese sucks you’ll be more likely to have bad experiences. If you sound like a native, people will treat you well because they will think you might be born in Japan.

4. I lived in japan for 4 years. I am a white male. There was no real racism towards me in person but during the corona pandemic, everyone was raving about the foreigners infecting everyone etc. I think there is a lot of hidden racism which comes out when the times are hard…

5. Racism in Japan is not as bad as it is in other countries, but it is there and manifests in very subtle ways. Especially if you don’t look Japanese. I’m Filipino, but I have East Asian features so it was easy for me to blend in the crowd. But I had another grad school classmate in Tokyo who had more “traditional” Filipino features and he was stopped by roaming policemen twice to ask for his ID.

6. You get Nationalist assholes, racists, and xenophobes in every country.

   That said, unlike other G7 countries, Japan’s government actively enable said nationalist assholes/racists/xenophobes to operate as such.

7. It’s BS, come here and have a great life experience.

8. People try to avoid you and it’s obvious that the reason is because they don’t want to have a broken conversation with a gaijin. I wouldn’t say it’s racism, but it can be pretty insulting at times when you’re trying to pay for something. You know that video of the white guy ordering in perfect Japanese but he is with an Asian person who doesn’t speak any Japanese and he gets completely ignored? That video is so true and it happens in 8/10 shops/restaurants that you go to. I’ve learned to go back to the 2/10 places where the staff speak to me like I’m a person.

   The issue about posting this type of question on Reddit is that you’ll get people who live in Tokyo saying otherwise but a lot of them don’t understand what it’s like to live outside of the bubble.

9. So, no country can say they don’t have a racist problem, both from what the country would consider “native residents” and “incoming residents”. Meaning that there are problems on BOTH sides no matter how you look at it, even if it’s a small minority that paints the entire group in a bad light.

   With Japan, one thing people often forget is that Japanese society (ie; culture, country etc) is quite old and in terms of opening up to other nations, it’s still in its early days relatively speaking compared to the USA, who has been “open” all the time, although is much younger a nation and of course there are growing pains. Other European nations have for the most part been open for centuries. Japan is followed by China who in the last few decades did attempt to open up more.

   With Japanese culture and society being centuries old, it’s not something that Japan is going to throw away overnight even if they do make provisions for tourists etc. I’d wager most of the issues arise from individuals who expect a certain level of back bending on the part of Japan and are offended when they don’t get their way.

   For most folks who research and find out how to behave beforehand, there isn’t many issues. As long as they are not expecting to be “assimilated” into the culture. Even for native born Japanese many are rejected by society. But that isn’t really a racist problem *per se* but rather a societal issue that can happen to anyone.

   In every country you will run into people who think they have the right to do as they please, and when that thought process conflicts with society, you see it in the news. Some run under the radar, others not so much.

   Does race play a role? Maybe. But many times people paint it worse than it is because they feel hurt and betrayed because they forgot rule #1: You are not Japanese, and even if you were, we might still dislike you.

10. Personally, I do feel that they are afraid and more xenophobic versus racist.
    However, I definitely do see that their actions can heavily overlap with racist actions.

    The other day, I was standing at the light waiting to cross.
    A Japanese woman was waiting to cross with her child.
    When she saw me, she pulled her child closer and kinda pushed them to move faster across the street.

    A lot of guys who are walking with their girls will immediately grab their hand, or put their arms around them whenever I am around.

    People tend to put their masks on whenever they see me.

    I have heard Gorilla, been stopped for no reason, etc.

    I get stared/looked at on a daily basis.

    Regardless if I am speaking Japanese, they will never look at you if there is another asian person next to you.

    And a lot of other things.

    Overall however, if you aren’t living/working with them, it is fine.
    Daily it does tend to whittle on you.
    And it depends heavily on where you live.

11. Japan is not racist. However lack of knowledge in Japan, and the Japanese language is usually considered very polarizing to a Japanese person in most situations without prior familiarity to that person or persons have you