Some Tips for Travelers to Japan

[RealJames]

Well for the sake of practicality, I'll say that regardless or racism, prejudiced views, or any other bias; the odds are that whoever is reading this and then comes to Japan will likely come to the same conclusions, which gives them merit in that respect, as you've mentioned apparently these are common notions held by westerners.

I fear some of you may have just as quickly judged me as being the "westerner in Japan" and that seems to lump me into a group that is just as often the target of bias.

Pigeon holing me into the "white guy in Japan syndrome" and inferring that I think "Japanese men are crap in bed and are poor partners" couldn't be further from the truth. If anything that's the "white guys NOT in Japan syndrome", I hear those kind of stereotypes much more from people that haven't been here.
For the record; Japanese men are just as good in bed as any other human. If they are good partners or not is not for me to decide, but white guys are pretty lame a lot of the time, so maybe they're equally lame, or equally good, who knows.

Saying Japanese men are not chivalrous is so entirely true since chivalry is a very well defined, and yes western, code of behaviour, which they very clearly do not abide by. This does not mean that Japanese men are dirt and have no respect for women, it only means that they don't abide by the same code of chivalry that decent western men abide by. And so to someone reading these tips I listed, they should not expect it of the men here.

Originally Posted by masaegu

Only if there were a jokes section here. Neither OP nor you seems to know enough about this country, period.

ouch.
I'm not sure that you know enough about what I know to make such a statement.
A statement so strong shouldn't simply be standing on it's own either without any proper reason for it. At least the other posters try to back up their claims of racism etc, and may well be right.

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by Ronin4hire

As good intentioned as you were might have been trying to be. It was a racist statement to make that "Japanese men are perverted".

You are entirely correct, that was blatantly racist.
Although I meant it as hyperbole I should have known that, like sarcasm, it doesn't carry well online.
I'm not quite used to being so explicit and removing all generalizations and exaggerations from all I say at the risk of being picked apart lol.

But like I said, you were right about calling that comment racist, although I don't think I am, at least not any more than most well adjusted people.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by RealJames

ouch.
I'm not sure that you know enough about what I know to make such a statement.
A statement so strong shouldn't simply be standing on it's own either without any proper reason for it. At least the other posters try to back up their claims of racism etc, and may well be right.

Unlike the other posters, I have been living in Japan for 5 decades since birth. Try naming a member that even comes close in terms of first-hand experience. What other qualifications do I need in judging how accurate a statement about this country or its people is? My mind knows it before I even start thinking.

I'm already used to hearing many of the items on your list because that's what I hear male Caucasians and other non-Japanese persons say on the train and at eateries on a daily basis. They are somehow foolish enough to think I wouldn't know any English just because I don't look like I do. So I get to hear lots.

I just don't want you to be one of those complainers because as of now I actually have no negative feelings about you like I do with some others here.

[diru1]

Well... everything aside, I believe some of you took things a little too much to heart,

when I read "japanese men are perverted etc" I didn't assume the majority are or take it in a bad way, my knowledge tells me this. But you have to keep in mind, the media makes Japan (Tokyo in particular) to be this wacky, weird place... Shows such as Japanorama by Jonathon Ross for example, episode about 'otaku', grown men watching girls dance for them in school girl uniforms as young as 12 only makes you think certain things, why does a show dedicated to things in Japan show this? I know their purpose & intention and don't fall for it, by no means does this reflect an entire race/country, but I can see why people are offended as there are simple minded people who may get the wrong idea. Some westerner's are HUGE perverts, this is coming from a person who lives in the UK, but its just the way it is, but saying that does not mean everybody is perverted.

Realjames tried to do a decent thing for the newbies from a western perspective, so ease up on the guy, he may not be socially "correct" but somebody like me who is going to Japan for the first time later this year took into consideration a few points from his post.

Maybe one of the members on here who knows Japan well could offer a Japanese perspective of what a westerner can expect when coming to Japan for the first time?

[Columbine]

What do you suggest Masaegu? It would be useful to hear from the other end of the spectrum too; what common mistakes or misinterpretations do you think people should be aware of if they travel to Japan?

Heres some of my tips/experiences for living in Japan:

In some suburbs and back-streets, storm drains and -large- flood gutters aren't always covered, so be careful walking at the edge of the road on poorly lit streets, or after very heavy rain. It's not a fun place to fall into, as some can be about 4' deep.

You may be used to talking casually with your friends on the way home from where-ever late at night; walking amongst housing and doing so WILL disturb people, so be considerate and lower your volume in this case. Houses tend to have thinner walls and glazing so in some places you will be easily overheard. You'd be surprised at how much even a normal voice will carry. Also consider that there are plenty of people who attend school or work overtime early on saturdays, or only get to sleep in on sundays so weekend nights are no excuse to be noisier.

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by masaegu

I just don't want you to be one of those complainers because as of now I actually have no negative feelings about you like I do with some others here.

I don't doubt that you overhear a lot, hell I'm white and any racial stereotyping will assume that I can understand English and yet I also overhear a lot of foreigners talking about a lot of similar points.
For that reason I guess I can't be surprised that when you read my points you took them as "complaining" but the truth is that it was meant only as a way for visitors to the country to have an idea of what to expect.

Looking back, I can easily see that what I wrote was not written in the best way to show that what is there is how things appear and not how they are.
I removed the ambiguity from the original post, and apologize for coming across the wrong way, I'm not used to having to be so explicit to be understood, everyone that knows me in real life understands I'm not that typical foreigner.

I honestly don't see the things I've written as negative in anyway.
As I explained earlier about chivalry, the whole "gentlemen" concept is entirely western and of course Japanese culture doesn't abide by that. It doesn't mean the men here are assholes. That is an inference that someone might easily make though, understandably.

Originally Posted by Columbine

What do you suggest Masaegu? It would be useful to hear from the other end of the spectrum too; what common mistakes or misinterpretations do you think people should be aware of if they travel to Japan?

Heres some of my tips/experiences for living in Japan:

In some suburbs and back-streets, storm drains and -large- flood gutters aren't always covered, so be careful walking at the edge of the road on poorly lit streets, or after very heavy rain. It's not a fun place to fall into, as some can be about 4' deep.

You may be used to talking casually with your friends on the way home from where-ever late at night; walking amongst housing and doing so WILL disturb people, so be considerate and lower your volume in this case. Houses tend to have thinner walls and glazing so in some places you will be easily overheard. You'd be surprised at how much even a normal voice will carry. Also consider that there are plenty of people who attend school or work overtime early on saturdays, or only get to sleep in on sundays so weekend nights are no excuse to be noisier.

I honestly think it's very difficult for someone living in a culture all their lives to understand how it might be perceived by a visitor. Which is why I did that list. The other side of the coin might be interesting.
"How foreigners are perceived by Japanese people"

Columbine I like those two points, they are both very valid! Would you mind if I added them to the list on the first page?

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by RealJames

But like I said, you were right about calling that comment racist, although I don't think I am, at least not any more than most well adjusted people.

Fair enough. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you're generally one of the cooler members on here and you usually say smart stuff.

[GoNative]

James you're just coming up against the issue I discussed in this thread

Love everything or you're a hater?

You have to love everything here or you immediately get labelled as a 'hater' or 'racist'. masaegu especially cannot abide any foreigner on this forum having any opinion about this country or it's people that is not completely flattering without getting rather upset and start pigeonholing you as someone who just dosen't know enough Japanese language or culture to have any valid opinion. As though having an opinion based on our own western experiences holds no validity whatsoever because it's somehow wrong to use our own experiences and background to make any comparisons with the society here (how you cannot do that is quite beyond me). Your opinions are exactly that, your opinons, and you don't have to feel bad about them regardless of how others see them. We don't have to change the way we feel about things in this country just because a select few on these forums can't accept any criticisms of the place.

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by GoNative

James you're just coming up against the issue I discussed in this thread

Love everything or you're a hater?

You have to love everything here or you immediately get labelled as a 'hater' or 'racist'. masaegu especially cannot abide any foreigner on this forum having any opinion about this country or it's people that is not completely flattering without getting rather upset and start pigeonholing you as someone who just dosen't know enough Japanese language or culture to have any valid opinion. As though having an opinion based on our own western experiences holds no validity whatsoever because it's somehow wrong to use our own experiences and background to make any comparisons with the society here (how you cannot do that is quite beyond me). Your opinions are exactly that, your opinons, and you don't have to feel bad about them regardless of how others see them. We don't have to change the way we feel about things in this country just because a select few on these forums can't accept any criticisms of the place.

I think the concerns brought up here were valid but they seem to have been settled.

I have no idea what you went through but I don't think this applies to James.

[RealJames]

I think I chose my words very badly in the first list I made.
I took a little more heat than I expected for it but in hindsight:

@GoNative,
I'm not sure what your experience has been in Japan, but I have met a lot of foreigners here that actually do fit the bill of a "hater", and I think that people like Masaegu come across these foreigners a lot. It's easy to be mistaken for one of them, hell even my girlfriend assumed I thought Japanese men were not kind because I said they weren't "gentlemen" when all I meant was that's not a part of this culture, (and that the men here are just as kind to their women, if sometimes in different ways).
I'll reply to your haters post to make my point more clear.

In this thread, I admit I should have chosen my words more carefully.

Side-note: There's a post somewhere about what's bad in Japan, there's a good place to go point out Japan's shortcoming's, which it certainly has many of (just as all countries and cultures do). I might go mention a few things about Japan's sex-trade and workplace discrimination (based on very factual, non-anecdotal, information). But I think I'd be better writing a "what's good about Japan" post to help people get out of the mindset that everything is good here lol.