Racism in Japan. How bad is it?

[live2love]

I believe that in every country, there is some sort of racism going on. But I've been hearing from people that the Japanese have been racist to them while others argue that this is not true. I would just like to know in what ways have Japanese people been racist to you, if you have experienced some racial discrimination or something like that while living in Japan.

Thanks.

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by live2love

I believe that in every country, there is some sort of racism going on. But I've been hearing from people that the Japanese have been racist to them while others argue that this is not true. I would just like to know in what ways have Japanese people been racist to you, if you have experienced some racial discrimination or something like that while living in Japan.

Thanks.

I personally have not experienced anything blatantly negative. Just typical stereotypes and assumptions about Westerners. I have heard of people being treated in a discriminatory fashion, but just as you have said, racism and bigots exist everywhere in the world and Japan is no exception. That being said though, I would say there is nothing generally or at least outwardly racist about how most Japanese treat foreigners.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by live2love

I believe that in every country, there is some sort of racism going on. But I've been hearing from people that the Japanese have been racist to them while others argue that this is not true. I would just like to know in what ways have Japanese people been racist to you, if you have experienced some racial discrimination or something like that while living in Japan.

Thanks.

I cannot take this question seriously from a New Zealander.

Trust me, it's much better in Japan than in your country. Many minorities have been seriously assualted in your country recently.　Some almost even died! That's something you won't hear in Japan. All you might get would be the occasioanl, curious stares, mostly by kids.　

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by masaegu

I cannot take this question seriously from a New Zealander.

Trust me, it's much better in Japan than in your country. Many minorities have been seriously assualted in your country recently. Some almost even died! That's something you won't hear in Japan. All you might get would be the occasioanl, curious stares, mostly by kids.　

What a stupid answer. What does the persons nationality have to do with this question?

Also I dont think its fair to take some isolated incidents and to say that it is indicative of the country's race relations. Im a New Zealander living in Japan and Im not saying New Zealand doesnt have a problem with racism... it does of course but its a different sort of problem.

[GoNative]

Japan is one of the few countries in the world (at least the 1st world) that doesn't have an immigration policy whatsoever. They have immigration laws of course but no actual policy about an annual intake of immigrants like most other countries. Currently still only about 1% of the population were born overseas making it very much a monocultural society.
This lack of interaction with other cultures does mean there is a great deal of ignorance when it comes to foreigners. And of course like anywhere ignorance can lead to unfounded fears and certainly right wing nationalist groups and political parties do play upon those fears quite a lot. This has led to things like racial profiling by police and often a general distrust of foreigners.
From a western viewpoint many even extremely nice Japanese people can hold very racist attitudes but in my experience these attitudes rarely come out of any sort of malice or hatred. It's mostly just ignorance. Many wouldn't even realise what they are saying could be conceived as racist.
Also on the whole Japanese people are extremely polite and even when they do express something that is blatantly racist it will be done in a reasonably polite way. It would be extremely rare for it to become violent or in your face at all.
In my more than 5 years here I have personally only ever experienced a couple of occassions of verbal racism directly at myself. It does annoy me how difficult it is for someone like myself to get permanent residency not being married to a Japanese national but I still absolutely love living here!

[Tsuwabuki]

It exists. You will, rarely, run into it. Unfortunately, you may even run into it on this forum. Although the mods are typically good about sweeping it up.

[live2love]

Originally Posted by Ronin4hire

Im a New Zealander living in Japan

Finally, I found a New Zealander living in Japan. Can you please tell me differences between Japan and New Zealand lifestyle?

Oh actually, I also would like to know why you left New Zealand?

[live2love]

Originally Posted by masaegu

I cannot take this question seriously from a New Zealander.

Trust me, it's much better in Japan than in your country. Many minorities have been seriously assualted in your country recently.　Some almost even died! That's something you won't hear in Japan. All you might get would be the occasioanl, curious stares, mostly by kids.　

I thought racism in Japan was worse. Anyway, racism in New Zealand is not that bad. hmm.. Maybe in some areas, like in the south island?? probably..
But I have to say that it is very very very rare you hear someone being assaulted (which was a result of racism).
I'm Asian and I've been living in New Zealand for four years now. The worst thing I experienced was when a bunch of young men in a car yelled F*** Y** at me and honked their horn as I was walking on the sidewalk. (i assumed they were drunk though.. they looked like they were)

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by live2love

Finally, I found a New Zealander living in Japan. Can you please tell me differences between Japan and New Zealand lifestyle?

Oh actually, I also would like to know why you left New Zealand?

Whoah... where do I start.

Actually its not all that different as Japan is a modernized country but there are a lot of little things that are different that can make it seem really different.

Since your question is about racism I guess I will start there. Japan is not as multiethnic as New Zealand is so even in a big city like Osaka you will still get a few stares if you arent East Asian. Very few of them are ever threatening but I suppose it might take a little bit of getting used to and make you feel a little self conscious. I have experienced racism in Japan but not directly rather Ive overheard Japanese people talking about other Asians (Chinese mostly). If you are Asian then people might have trouble believing that you are a New Zealander as in their minds, New Zealander = white person. I say this because I have an Australian friend who is Asian and he gets a few wierd comments and confused looks when he says he is Australian.

Overall though you will find that it is like GoNative says. Racism is rarely threatening in Japan at least towards people of European descent.

Finally I didnt leave New Zealand. Im here on an exchange trip through my university. I will return at the end of this year.

Hope that helps or was at least interesting

[steven]

I think people that go on this forum who live in Japan are the exception... but I see a lot of foreigners in Japan who don't really know the language. I have to admit, I was never really happy about people not speaking my language in my home country... and those people usually didn't have really good paying jobs. I think I'm talking about stuff that goes beyond simple cultural misunderstandings/miscommunications. I'm talking about those real feelings of dislike and frustration. I think it's easier to lump people together when you can't understand them or communicate with them. So as a visitor/foreigner, I think it's important to think about where the people you're talking to are coming from... and the best way to do that is to really have an understandign of their langauge and the manners that go with that.

I have sensed a little bit of distrust or dislike from many people, but once you talk to them, things usually clear up. People that usually say bad things or rude things are very hesitant to do it to your face when they know you know their language. Sometimes people don't know you know their language and assume you don't... that's when you can hear some interesting conversations about yourself and surprise them at the end. Those nights usually end well in that you can get some free drinks and maybe even some new friends.

I think I agree with the sentiment that people who are really racist are everywhere. Their country does nothing but decide the language they bash people with. I wouldn't think of Japan as any different from other countries in that respect. I would, however, argue that in Japans case most of the time Japanese are simply misinformed or they just don't know about certain things rather than purposefully being racist. That's not to say those real racists don't exist, but I'd argue that Japan has less of those real racists than most countries, including my own.

In my experience, the people I talk to are usually quite interested in talking to me in order to get a better understanding of things for themselves. It's that "want to learn" that I think separates "ignorant" Japanese from being racists.

I think most real racist Japanese have an agenda of some kind. I haven't really come into contact with any of those, though.

Edit:
"Overall though you will find that it is like GoNative says. Racism is rarely threatening in Japan at least towards people of European descent."

That is something I overlooked in what I wrote. I wrote what I wrote from an American perspective. I do believe Chinese people are looked down upon here quite a bit. There's a lot of stereotypes about them... but I believe that situation goes deeper than just stereotypes. Maybe someone else can expand on that?