One thing I hate about Japan is the fact that people can get away with being as hostile to foreigners as they like and we can’t do anything.
I was just rushing home from work. Got off one train and was rushing past crowds of people to get to my next train line to take my connecting train.
I wasn’t running or pushing or physically touching anyone.
Regardless of this, some middle-aged salary man decided to pointedly elbow me, super hard, on my upper arm.
It was ridiculously painful. This was not a mistake or him trying to push past me.
This was him being aggressive to me for no reason.
I hate people.
I know it’s not Thursday but I’m angry now.
16 comments
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One thing I also hate about Japan is the number of foreigners who always seem to jump to the conclusion that anything that happens to them is because they are not Japanese.
Yeah some asshole probably did that to you, but I am sure many Japanese people get elbowed as well by other assholes.
Nothing stopped you from yelling at him. Of course you don’t want to start anything physical, but certainly if I was sure that someone did something to me deliberately I would give them a piece of my mind. Doesn’t matter if you can’t speak Japanese, an angry stream of English explicatives will certainly get the message across
Not a physical aggression but recently at work (supermarket staff) while I was shelving stuff a woman (in her 60’s, i’d say) searching for something called me from behind, “miss, do you know where…” and stopped dead in her tracks when i turned to face her and she noticed i was a foreigner. She just said “ah no, you don’t know” and left.
I usually don’t care about stupid narrow-minded people, but for some reason i was really down after that interaction. Shelved shredded cheese with teary eyes and a lump in my throat for a good 5mn xD
Seems to be another case of the Exclusive Gaijin Syndrome…. it’s quite a common affliction among those on this subreddit.
Middle aged to old men are often utter dickwads here, regardless of their chosen punchbag.
Up your shoulder check game. Try your best not to use it, but if you need it, don’t hesitate. Just because you are not Japanese doesn’t mean you have to be the butt of the anger of others.
Yes, your’e so special. I’m sure everything that ever happens to you in Japan is only because of your special gajijn-ness.
A woman at my office (Japanese) was shoulder-checked so hard at Shibuya station last month she fell and broke her leg. The guy (also Japanese) hurried off. She and the station staff tried in vain to ID him from the security cameras. He’s still on the loose, probably shoving people left and right on a daily basis.
those mad people attack anyone who look weak or anyone who are busy. battery without real injury is hard to convict unless you catch him red handed and physically apprehend the suspect until the police arrives, and you also need multiple friendly witness to make a statement at police station, and you will spend the next 4 hours at police station for interview followed by multiple sporadic summon to police station for extra interviews for the next few weeks. The attacker knows people in hurry can’t afford such time, so people seeming to be in hurry or in tight schedule gets targeted.
“Middle-aged salary, man,” I swear to God, those people (not everyone) hate everything and anyone, despite their race, color, gender, status, and so on. They are just going to find a reason to b**** about anything or cause some displeasure to someone.
Plenty of (Japanese) assholes in Tokyo.
They are assholes to everybody, Japanese or foreigner.
If it’s not touching me, I tend to stay quiet, even if it upsets me internally. (Got almost into fights, when I was younger and called it out.)
If it touches me, I push back.
Recently some salary man tried to smoke on a platform waiting for the train (it was late).
I told him in Japanese, sorry, but I can’t let you do that.
Surprisingly, he accepted.
Then we had an ackward train ride together for 15min+.
Lol
Did you yell at him or call him a fucking idiot ? Gotta put people like that in their place then and there. There is no law saying you can’t call someone a fucking idiot 😂
I can deal with the acts of aggression, but what is harder for me is the perception that because I am a gaijin I am untrustworthy or even shady.
Once I was standing beside a neighbor’s parked and locked bicycle while waiting for my ride in a spot hidden from view when he came along and accused me of trying to steal it. He didn’t have the guts to call the police.
Another time I was with my daughter at the play area of a local department store. Another girl was there with her mother who wasn’t paying attention and when the girl wandered between racks of The mother began looking for her and when the mother went left, the girl went right. After a few minutes, the mother became frantic and took the escalator to look for her daughter upstairs but the little girl was right where she had been. I had been in Japan long enough to know that if I took the girl to her mother I could be accused of kidnapping for sexual abuse or whatever so I went upstairs and told the mother that her daughter was downstairs. She was speechless.
It’s less relevant than you think, being a foreigner.
A lot of Japanese are just cunts.
Cunt-ism doesn’t discriminate. They’re in every country.
I also had angry old grandpas push their way to the train. It’s not unique for old Japanese people to be assholes.
I’ve seen old Japanese people be assholes to Japanese conbini workers.
Stop this “woe is me , I’m a foreigner in Japan”.
It’s typical big city commuting culture.
Especially the salary man, they’ll try to bump into women as well just to gain a sad little glimpse of power in their small sad little lives.
I don’t care though, I fight back 😁 step on the back of their shoes and do a simply lil half assed bow without saying sumimasen or if u see them purposefully steam rolling towards you just move your bag in their way so they hit into it and not you( I always have thick books, coffee cans or an umbrella in bag😈 the small wince is a lil win🤭)
But that’s just me though…. u could be the bigger person and all that, Im just petty😌.