Calling all black women who live / have lived in Japan

8 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

   —

   **Calling all black women who live / have lived in Japan**

   I am a 2nd year university student from the UK studying Japanese, preparing for a year abroad in Japan during my 3rd year. As I’m writing this, I haven’t yet decided which university I would like to study at, but I would like to stay in or around Tokyo, although unis in Kyoto and Osaka are on my list of choices. If the university provides it, I would like to stay in accommodation, but if I really have to, I will look for an apartment.

   I would like to hear your experiences about being a black woman in Japan. I am a black woman myself and I am aware that the experience will be entirely different compared to the UK (which would obviously happen if I were to go to any other country in the world). I would like some advice on what I should mentally, and potentially physically, prepare myself for before going to Japan. I would like to hear from people who have spent a long period of time there, preferably those who have studied there for university, although I would be happy to hear from people who have worked there. I would also like to hear from people who have lived in the city and the countryside respectively.

   I do have some particular concerns in mind:

   1. As Japan has a strong culture of conformity, I’d very much like to know your experiences regarding your natural hair (especially for my type 4 girlies out here, the struggle is endless no matter where we are!!). How were you able to take care of it, as I’m assuming suitable products and services are very hard to find over there? What were some of the challenges you faced when it came to your natural hair? Were you treated differently to other people, and if so, how? Is wearing braids or any kind of protective style allowed? And were there any times when you felt pressure, or were forced to, change your hair to adhere to a certain rule or standard e.g. straightening your hair or wearing wigs?
   2. As I have in the UK, I will encounter some form of racism in Japan at some point, whether it be intentional or unintentional. Every country handles it differently. I’ve been warned that Japan isn’t very kind to foreigners anyway, such as the “gaijin seat” on trains or being rejected from jobs / apartment applications due to being a foreigner, but are there any other nuances when it comes to experiencing racism in Japan as a black person?

   This post is not limited to those 2 aspects, so if there are any others that I haven’t mentioned here but will need to consider, please let me know!

   I have been told that as a foreigner, I will never be truly considered a part of Japanese society. I can make peace with that, but as long as I follow the rules and respect the culture (which I plan on doing anyway), I should be relatively okay right?

   Thanks for your help!

   *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

2. Expect that strangers will think they can walk up and touch your hair. Not everyone. Not daily. But someone, in someday, will see you in the train or standing on the sidewalk and thinks it’s okay to walk up and touch your hair. Then they’ll giggle, say something to their friend, and walk off.

   At some point similar will happen but in regards to your skin. Someone will walk up and sort of wipe against your arm or back of hand, and then check their own hand to see if color came off of you.

   I don’t see it happening to Black women, but kids and teens will sometimes mock Blacken with “gorilla, gorilla!”

3. Not sure how many answers you will get…

   From what I see in Tokyo you will be a rarity indeed but really in the immense majority of cases people keep themselves to themselves.

   You can find “black” hair salons as well: they do [exist](https://www.afrocurlys.com/faq/about/).

   Frankly the very best thing you can focus on is speaking the language: this is the magic trick.

   Gambatte kudasai

4. You might be interested in contacting [Black Creatives Japan](https://instagram.com/blackcreativesjapan?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

5. I’ve lived in the Kansai region for 6 years, and honestly my experience as a black woman has been the same as most gaijins. As long as you’re mindful of others, you probably won’t face any problems.
   Yes, you might get more stares as you might be the first black person someone sees, but curiosity is what it is.
   I studied here and I work in a small tech company (only woman/foreigner working there), and no one has ever cared about my hair/race.
   My hair type is 2B, but I don’t know much about salons here. I have friends who do braids and they have to order it online and do each others’ hair since it’s ridiculously expensive.
   I can’t say no color/race discrimination ever happens, but it never happened to me or my friends so I wouldn’t say it’s common.

   Edit: I’d like to add: to integrate here naturally you’re going to have to put in a lot of effort; learning the language, culture, mannerism, etc.
   People who don’t put in such efforts, might attribute not integrating to race/gender/nationality, and since it’s their experience, they might be right. But they’ll never know.

6. Check out Kemushichan’s channel on YouTube (by Loretta Scott, unless she changed her name after her marriage), and maybe reach out to her about her experience/ask advice/to network! (This is a good habit to get into in general, not just in this matter) You might also reach out to JET Program alumni groups to cast a wider net than you might find here (extra points if you’re in the social sciences and turn this into a research project 😁)

   As a foreigner, you’re already not going to fit the Japanese mold, so there’s less pressure. There will still be stereotyping, based on what people see/know about you, but this might end up being as much about your Britishness as your skin color in the end 😅

   It was a while back, but I remember friends who were from stereotyped groups (Russian woman, Nigerian man) had very different experiences when people know they were in ‘prestigious’ situations (post docs at university) than when they assumed they were ‘riff-raff’ 😕 So you might consider having some fun with your fashion/self-presentation and seeing how that changes things (cosplay poshness?)

   Hair is hard, but a big city will give you the best chance of finding a stylist/salon. People are generally free to express themselves more with their hair in college, so as long as you aren’t interning somewhere super conservative, hopefully you’ll be free to do the same.

   Tokyo is going to be a bit harsher in some ways (outside of the student bubble) than Kansai, but only in the same way as NYC- people can be busy and cold, and parts of the city block out the sun. People in Osaka can be too friendly/up in your business, and people in Kyoto are kind but maybe snobby as well. Hopefully wherever you land you’ll get to travel within Japan and get a feel for that yourself- and share what you learn in your journey!

7. I DM’d you a few other resources including an active FB group where you can find additional support info regarding experiences and other fellow Black students studying and living in the countryside. For the most part, the experience is great and positive, sure there’s a few outliers here and there, but a lot of the students I have met here have nothing but praises regarding their experience. Ganbatte and good luck!

8. I’m black, not at all light skinned, and I look 100% black. People often ignore me in public because they wrongly assume I don’t speak Japanese. They always lose their minds when they see that I can and it gets old quick. When walking around, people either assume I’m on vacation or going to cause trouble. I get stared constantly, especially by the police and old people. They don’t care that you know they’re staring, which is insane to me.

   People talk about the gaijin seat, but strangely, I don’t get it often. People are constantly sitting next to me or behind me even if there are open seats elsewhere, and it’s mostly gross old men who I feel do it on purpose. It makes me very uncomfortable. In terms of fashion over here, people are very dressed up, and everything feels very superficial. You will immediately feel like you stick out, trust me.

   I wear my hair straight. I flat ironed it every week, but the rain and humidity became too much, so I stopped after 7 months to order a relaxer online. Bring products with you, because they aren’t sold here. I haven’t had much success with salons and the ones that can do our hair are expensive.

   There are people that are genuinely nice to me but I don’t get to meet them often. When at a restaurant the staff ignore you and speak only to the Japanese person with you. Only when you’re alone will they acknowledge you.

   The one time I went out with my white friends to a bar, I was ignored while they were flirted with even though they only spoke English. The only people who do try to flirt are those Nigerian guys who sit around on the streets trying to sell stuff. Most of them are old enough to be my dad, but I ignore them. In ads with foreign people, 90% of them feature white people. It’s rare for me to see a black face. Its obvious I’m not their type even remotely for beauty. Sometimes people at my company have met me and asked if I even worked there! You will probably get asked the most ignorant things. I only befriend Japanese people who have been abroad as they are more tolerable.

   Dating apps aren’t really worth it as there are hundreds of disgusting men who literally don’t say hi, only ‘have sex with me’. Living here makes me feel like a spectacle or a zoo animal. I only know 1 other black girl, and I really miss the West. Bring seasonings with you if you can actually cook cause a lot of the food here isn’t that great.