How to deal with people shamelessly talking about you?

Hey everyone,

Please excuse my rant.

I've been living in the Japan for close to 5 months. I speak close to fluent Japanese.
As I'm sure many of you have experienced before, there are many times when I find myself in a situation where there are Japanese people in the streets (restaurants, cafés etc) who bluntly talk about you in Japanese, thinking you don't understand them.
Comments like 外人多いねぇ/外人いた or rudely judging your appearance.
Listen, I know foreigners are a rare sight. But it doesn't mean I am a walking clown.
I think what annoys me the most is the fact they think they can get away with it while saying it to my face (right next to me) nonchalantly. It's just sheer disrespect.

I try to ignore them. Once in a while I might glance back at them, to give them a hint. I haven't directly confronted anyone yet because I wouldn't like to disrupt the peace, but I would like say something back. I don't mean angrily confronting them ofc, but just to help them snap back to reality and realize they're being obnoxious.

Would replying どうかしましたか be too rude?
Please share your experiences 🙏🏻

by UchiR

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