Quote:
Originally Posted by GTJ
@KaiTea:
From what I've heard from asking many Japanese students (colllege-aged), they're kind of scared of black people. Specifically, black men, I think. I ask them for some sort of rationalization and they can provide none. They're just not used to them being around. I'm not sure about black women; I had a black friend studying abroad in Tokyo and apparently she hated it, but whether that had to do anything with her race or not, I cannot say.
All I can say for certain is being black, you stand out more than a white gaijin. Also, in many urban areas, a large portion of the black population (I'm citing Amemura in Osaka for this) stand around all day dealing drugs. It's worth noting that that may affect the reputation of black foreigners in Japan.
Of course, if you're just going to visit, I doubt you'll encounter any of this. The chance of meeting someone who is racist or who is going to single you out is very low, and you will only encounter a serious probability of seeing them if you stay there for an extended period of time.
So that's the negative. You should know, though, that the positive far outweighs it  |
It varies a lot.
I knew a black Canadian while I was over there. He had it made; the man went from being an eikaiwa dispatcher to working as a computer programmer at a Japanese firm in Osaka. Of course, he spoke damn near fluent Japanese, as well as some French (being that he originated near the Ontario-Quebec border. How I wish I had paid more attention in French class =p).
He also got along quite well with the local Japanese.
Now, I met a not-quite-retirement age woman, who was lovely all around except for the subject of blacks. She told me that on one of her trips to San Francisco, a young black couple gave up their seat for her. Oh, how scared she was!
Seriously, she said that they scared her when they did that. Keep in mind, this woman was also very conservative. She also told me she would immediately sever contact with an old friend if she discovered they had a tattoo.
I personally have only been to amerika-mura once or twice, and being that I'm not that interested in hip-hop fashion I didn't spend long there. I didn't notice many black people on the streets I visited. I did notice quite a bit of graffiti though.