Meek Gaijin Stereotype

So not sure who this is directed at but in my limited interactions with other westerners I’ve noticed a particular set of traits.

They appear incredibly shy, often single, working for average wages in Japanese companies, and they come across as kind of reserved, slightly weird, completely domesticated.

Living in Japan has helped me unlearn a bunch of negative behaviors that are common in America but not to the point of having the personality of a dead fish.

I’m just curious what about Japan does this to people or were they like that to begin with?

6 comments
  1. The truth is, you just want less eyeballs on you because that reduces the chances of people noticing your shortcomings as a surrogate Japanese person.

    Like it or not, we are oft subconsciously comparing ourselves to the natives, and we do pick up traits from them for better or worse.

    Have you noticed yourself going ‘Eeeee—‘, or ‘naruhodo’, ‘desune-!’ without even thinking, having them be your go-to reactions when speaking to someone, even another foreigner? It’s not because you are a weaabo lord.

    Our mind works automatically even when we haven’t designated a task for it.

    It’s called *adaptability,* one of humanity’s greatest traits.

  2. There are a lot of meek foreigners here to be fair. Most people interested in Japan are the nerdy stay home types so it’s not surprising

  3. You got a problem with me boy?

    Well getting a slightly more than 5M a year salary is enough to buy my awkward silence in a company.

  4. I think there’s probably a degree of confirmation bias at play here. If you keep running into this kind of person, the common link is probably you and/or the kinds of places you tend to frequent. Anyone with a family is probably busy at home, for one thing.

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