Never had a kid be rude and shout foreigner at me, but I get plenty of hellos, which I generally return as normal.
Act panicked, look around behind you with vigilance and ask どこだ!
I must be having very different experiences. Although I’m in west part of Tokyo so maybe not uncommon but I never see foreigners at my station either.
I did get in an elevator once and the kid shouted 高い cause I’m tall though
If it’s just a “hello” my husband says “hello” back.
I love the look on their faces when I reply with ni hao!
Complete and utter confusion.
I usually snap around, look wide eyed panicked and shout **DOKO!?** . Gets a giggle every time.
I also get plenty of “hello” or “bye bye “. But never gaijin (10 years Japan)
“Ahh! Nihonjin!”
“Doko desuka? Eee? Watashi?! Uso. Muri.”
“Goodbye!”
“Ahhh, shogakusei!!”
Take your pic.
I got one too. What do you do when some 16 year olds say お姉さんかわいい to you? 😅 So awkward
I always say “good morning/afternoon/evening” and smile/wave
I just say hello back. They are just trying to communicate.
I had kids say, “hello! baseball! Thursday!”. It was like they were throwing out any random word they could to communicate.
With a hello back, a smile and a wave. They’re just being curious, and the impression we give them is important!
say back at them jokingly “Nihonjin!”
I get plenty of “hellos” but I think its a combination of being a foreigner and having a heavy “punk” aesthetic. I just smile and say “hi” back; I’ve never had a negative interaction in those cases.
YO YO Gaijin Da YO!
i had a kid stare at me for a moment and then say *very loudly* while yanking on his dad’s shirt ‘*americajin!!!*” and pointing at me
I have never seen a man run faster with his kid lol
I used to shout 日本人！
I just ignore them and continue eating my hamburgers
Fat kid rinsed me at the park the other day by saying “Hello Michael San!”
Had full body stares and “Americajin” (I’m not American, just white) and lots of hellos and byes. Never just “gaijin” – at least not yet anyway.
I find it hard to know how to react when it happens.
On the one hand, I want to just be polite even though I do find it rather rude. On the other, I don’t want to reward/ normalise the behaviour.
I just find living here pretty jarring coming from a *much* more diverse country/ city. I don’t know. Maybe it gets easier with time.
I’ve been here a long time and never had a chil shout gaijin at me, but kids shout hello! At me all the time. I just shout hello back and wave.
Back in the 90’s (yes, I’m that old) I was leaving with a Japanese friend of mine to go drinking. I got the “gaijin da” from a couple of kids. I turned to them and explained to them, in Japanese, that I wasn’t gaijin, I was nihonjin because we all know foreigners can’t speak Japanese. They agreed with me. Then I told them to go home because the announcement in the town had been made for all kids to go home because it was five o’clock.
NANIII?
I don’t get the “gaijin” comment.
Guess I don’t live remote enough .
Hello, I respond with “hello” 🙂
I answer in my own language
“Bonjour”
Never experienced the “gaijin” I think you had a very bad luck.
Last time I had an interaction with a kid, she was with her mother waiting at the pedestrian crossing, there was a crow at the other side, she went to me and say “ねーねー見て、カラス近いよ！”
It was so cute I couldn’t answer anything but it gave me a smile on the face. A child that doesn’t care about difference is too wholesome.
Well, up here in the boondocks it’s usually adults, so I just ignore them. Or say ’こんにちは’.
Depends on context. If it’s a little kid, I just say “Hello” back. A group of older kids saying “hello” in a mocking way? Just ignore. And if I’m with my kid, I respond with a very casual “Hey” and then go back to whatever we were doing before. Weirdly enough, “Hey” tends to throw them off the most.
I was just thinking the other day it would be funny to start speaking to them in fast English , asking questions, teaming bout the Easter, whatever, like I assume they’re fluent just because they said hi.
I say “Hola, que tal estais?”
Experienced this once on my way to a football match in Yokohama. 2 or 3 kids started shouting gaijin-da!! gaijin-da!! to which I instinctively responded with nihonjin-da!! nihonjin-da!! matching them with as much energy as they had dished it out.
They ran away laughing and I thought nothing of it. Only time its ever happened and seemed pretty innocent. Funny memory now.
Kids are stupid, so usually I just say hello, but one time a kid was with her dad and she kept calling me Americajin which… I’m not but anyways her dad said the usually konnichiwa which I returned in kind, but she says dad you have to speak english they dont understand japanese! To which I said, in japanese, yeah only english, I dont speak ant japanese, to which she said see dad! He doesnt understand! Dad laughed as he went home with his daughter. Gold.
kids shouted nihao at me but im black
Ignore them. Hate that they always assume you are American and want to talk. I am not some circus Animal.. I am Norwegian and we hate talking to strangers..
“Hallo” I don’t really mind, from kids it’s cute and I always say it back; from older people sometimes they may actually be just trying to be friendly. Even if they’re being intentionally rude, the fact i usually look completely unfazed, tends to mean they don’t try it twice.
As for “gaijin” if they’re not kids, and should know better, I usually just point back and say “nihonjin da!”
Some years ago in a small town in hokkaido. I went with my son to a daycare. We were the first one there. I remember kids coming in and be surprised to see someone different looking! One kid pointed at me and exclaimed anpanman da!! I’m dark skinned
99% of the time it’s kids, so I just say like “Hello! How are you? What’s your name?”. Followed by giggles and then I just say “bye bye”. I speak decent japanese, but also have no interest in actually talking to random children, lol
A wee boy in McDonald’s earlier kept saying hello to me and my mrs. I responded by giving him my elementary Japanese introduction and the high fives for all his wee pals. It was a great wholesome moment tbh.
I find the kids to just be genuinely curious. My wife and I were with our 2 year old daughter in Nara last week and got multiple “hellos” from a tour group of kids. When my daughter hit them back with a “konnichiwa” they were so excited. One boy reached out and wanted to touch my daughters hand as we were walking alongside them and she gave him a high five. Next thing it was a mad rush and competition from all the kids to high five her. Mostly kids are just curious.
私のホバークラフトはうなぎでいっぱいです！
Pick the kid up, RKO him on the side of the street and take off running. I’m 2 and 0 atm
Smile and say hello, they’re usually amazed/shocked/ enthralled with my beard and several have either reached out and touched it or asked to! Parents are always mortified but I laugh and play along, it turns into a great interaction for everyone involved or watching. Lots of thank yous and smiles from onlookers.
Why be offended or rude?
Banter with them in English. That’s what they way to hear
Stay out of trouble
Be nice
Have a nice day
See you tomorrow
Have fun
Personally, I don’t mind being called gaijin directly or talking about foreigners with Japanese people. I don’t like kids or adults talking about gaijin t each other as I walk by.
Also I say hello if the kid is alone. I don’t respond if the kid only says it when they are around friends to impress them lol
43 comments
Never had a kid be rude and shout foreigner at me, but I get plenty of hellos, which I generally return as normal.
Act panicked, look around behind you with vigilance and ask どこだ!
I must be having very different experiences. Although I’m in west part of Tokyo so maybe not uncommon but I never see foreigners at my station either.
I did get in an elevator once and the kid shouted 高い cause I’m tall though
If it’s just a “hello” my husband says “hello” back.
I love the look on their faces when I reply with ni hao!
Complete and utter confusion.
I usually snap around, look wide eyed panicked and shout **DOKO!?** . Gets a giggle every time.
I also get plenty of “hello” or “bye bye “. But never gaijin (10 years Japan)
“Ahh! Nihonjin!”
“Doko desuka? Eee? Watashi?! Uso. Muri.”
“Goodbye!”
“Ahhh, shogakusei!!”
Take your pic.
I got one too. What do you do when some 16 year olds say お姉さんかわいい to you? 😅 So awkward
I always say “good morning/afternoon/evening” and smile/wave
I just say hello back. They are just trying to communicate.
I had kids say, “hello! baseball! Thursday!”. It was like they were throwing out any random word they could to communicate.
With a hello back, a smile and a wave. They’re just being curious, and the impression we give them is important!
say back at them jokingly “Nihonjin!”
I get plenty of “hellos” but I think its a combination of being a foreigner and having a heavy “punk” aesthetic. I just smile and say “hi” back; I’ve never had a negative interaction in those cases.
YO YO Gaijin Da YO!
i had a kid stare at me for a moment and then say *very loudly* while yanking on his dad’s shirt ‘*americajin!!!*” and pointing at me
I have never seen a man run faster with his kid lol
I used to shout 日本人！
I just ignore them and continue eating my hamburgers
Fat kid rinsed me at the park the other day by saying “Hello Michael San!”
Had full body stares and “Americajin” (I’m not American, just white) and lots of hellos and byes. Never just “gaijin” – at least not yet anyway.
I find it hard to know how to react when it happens.
On the one hand, I want to just be polite even though I do find it rather rude. On the other, I don’t want to reward/ normalise the behaviour.
I just find living here pretty jarring coming from a *much* more diverse country/ city. I don’t know. Maybe it gets easier with time.
I’ve been here a long time and never had a chil shout gaijin at me, but kids shout hello! At me all the time. I just shout hello back and wave.
Back in the 90’s (yes, I’m that old) I was leaving with a Japanese friend of mine to go drinking. I got the “gaijin da” from a couple of kids. I turned to them and explained to them, in Japanese, that I wasn’t gaijin, I was nihonjin because we all know foreigners can’t speak Japanese. They agreed with me. Then I told them to go home because the announcement in the town had been made for all kids to go home because it was five o’clock.
NANIII?
I don’t get the “gaijin” comment.
Guess I don’t live remote enough .
Hello, I respond with “hello” 🙂
I answer in my own language
“Bonjour”
Never experienced the “gaijin” I think you had a very bad luck.
Last time I had an interaction with a kid, she was with her mother waiting at the pedestrian crossing, there was a crow at the other side, she went to me and say “ねーねー見て、カラス近いよ！”
It was so cute I couldn’t answer anything but it gave me a smile on the face. A child that doesn’t care about difference is too wholesome.
Well, up here in the boondocks it’s usually adults, so I just ignore them. Or say ’こんにちは’.
Depends on context. If it’s a little kid, I just say “Hello” back. A group of older kids saying “hello” in a mocking way? Just ignore. And if I’m with my kid, I respond with a very casual “Hey” and then go back to whatever we were doing before. Weirdly enough, “Hey” tends to throw them off the most.
I was just thinking the other day it would be funny to start speaking to them in fast English , asking questions, teaming bout the Easter, whatever, like I assume they’re fluent just because they said hi.
I say “Hola, que tal estais?”
Experienced this once on my way to a football match in Yokohama. 2 or 3 kids started shouting gaijin-da!! gaijin-da!! to which I instinctively responded with nihonjin-da!! nihonjin-da!! matching them with as much energy as they had dished it out.
They ran away laughing and I thought nothing of it. Only time its ever happened and seemed pretty innocent. Funny memory now.
Kids are stupid, so usually I just say hello, but one time a kid was with her dad and she kept calling me Americajin which… I’m not but anyways her dad said the usually konnichiwa which I returned in kind, but she says dad you have to speak english they dont understand japanese! To which I said, in japanese, yeah only english, I dont speak ant japanese, to which she said see dad! He doesnt understand! Dad laughed as he went home with his daughter. Gold.
kids shouted nihao at me but im black
Ignore them. Hate that they always assume you are American and want to talk. I am not some circus Animal.. I am Norwegian and we hate talking to strangers..
“Hallo” I don’t really mind, from kids it’s cute and I always say it back; from older people sometimes they may actually be just trying to be friendly. Even if they’re being intentionally rude, the fact i usually look completely unfazed, tends to mean they don’t try it twice.
As for “gaijin” if they’re not kids, and should know better, I usually just point back and say “nihonjin da!”
Some years ago in a small town in hokkaido. I went with my son to a daycare. We were the first one there. I remember kids coming in and be surprised to see someone different looking! One kid pointed at me and exclaimed anpanman da!! I’m dark skinned
99% of the time it’s kids, so I just say like “Hello! How are you? What’s your name?”. Followed by giggles and then I just say “bye bye”. I speak decent japanese, but also have no interest in actually talking to random children, lol
A wee boy in McDonald’s earlier kept saying hello to me and my mrs. I responded by giving him my elementary Japanese introduction and the high fives for all his wee pals. It was a great wholesome moment tbh.
I find the kids to just be genuinely curious. My wife and I were with our 2 year old daughter in Nara last week and got multiple “hellos” from a tour group of kids. When my daughter hit them back with a “konnichiwa” they were so excited. One boy reached out and wanted to touch my daughters hand as we were walking alongside them and she gave him a high five. Next thing it was a mad rush and competition from all the kids to high five her. Mostly kids are just curious.
私のホバークラフトはうなぎでいっぱいです！
Pick the kid up, RKO him on the side of the street and take off running. I’m 2 and 0 atm
Smile and say hello, they’re usually amazed/shocked/ enthralled with my beard and several have either reached out and touched it or asked to! Parents are always mortified but I laugh and play along, it turns into a great interaction for everyone involved or watching. Lots of thank yous and smiles from onlookers.
Why be offended or rude?
Banter with them in English. That’s what they way to hear
Stay out of trouble
Be nice
Have a nice day
See you tomorrow
Have fun
Personally, I don’t mind being called gaijin directly or talking about foreigners with Japanese people. I don’t like kids or adults talking about gaijin t each other as I walk by.
Also I say hello if the kid is alone. I don’t respond if the kid only says it when they are around friends to impress them lol