I've driven in Japan. The speed limit seemed good to me. Compared to the U.S. the roads are much more narrow and turns are on a tighter arc. U.S. speed limit on city freeways is 55mph(89Kph) but everyone drives 70mph(110Kph). U.S. freeways are wide and straight so cars can go faster.

I will disagree with you on this one.
The driving center is a licensing and testing center. It`s not a school and is not a place of learning. It is your own responsibility to research and learn the laws. All the center is obligated to do is test and license.

Saying that they should be the ones teaching you is kind of like saying that an SAT testing center is responsible for teaching you the material on the SAT. There are schools for that - it`s not the responsibility of the testing center itself.

If you don`t know the laws, there are books out in English covering them. There are courses offered in English (although probably not out in the countryside.)

When I first got my licence in the US I think you could take the written test in English or in Spanish (early 90s). Recently I was at the DMV and you could take the written exam (actually on a computer, not "written") in a dozen+ languages, including Japanese.

Wow
 

I'm a Japanese... I don't think that people are racist. They just don't know English or never contacted a foreigner :)

I think that's a good point about racism, more often than not in Japan it's just ignorance or a lack of experience/education, not a conscious effort to discriminate.
Then when most people get the chance to have that experience or education regarding foreigners, they lighten up and are very kind and welcoming, unless it was a horrible experience I guess.

Japanese are taught that they are superior to everyone else (a cultural thing, so I am not judging them just the way it is good or bad). I experienced racism just by this belief. My students never listened to my advice(even though I have 20+ years of experience and it was not English lessons, a science was what I taught) because they all believed they could figure things out once they had a basic knowledge of the subject. Of course when something went wrong, us Americans were to blame. After several years of this, we went home when a manager with no experience in our field convinced the board of directors they didn't need us any more. The program lasted 2 years after we left and was closed due to excessive complaints of the quality of work.:mtongue:

You're way off base man, sorry to say.
Students here don't follow their teachers, that's all there is to it.

I've never once met a Japanese person who believes Japanese people are better than others, in fact Japanese people have massive insecurity issues and admiration issues towards the US.

Maybe back in WW2 things were like you said, but not even close now, not even among older Japanese people who might have received that kind of education.

Being treated like a tourist. That's my complaint for today. I fully well know that I'm a gaijin, and I am not trying to sound like an elitist, but it really bothers me that people just assume that I'm a tourist.
I was shopping at H&M today and had bought a few things. I responded to the question he asked me in Japanese (basically just confirming I got the right sizes), and then proceeded to take like 400 yen off of my purchase. I asked him what it was for, and he said it was a tourist discount. This made me rage, but I didn't take it out on him. I just told him I wasn't a tourist and had him remove the discount.
He took one look at me and because of my blonde hair and blue eyes assumed I don't belong here. I don't blame him, just this kind of societal problem.

bELyVIS lived in Japan, just as you are. I think my very general opinion falls somewhere in between. I think IN GENERAL Japanese people are humble about there they stand in the world picture, but I learned through experience that sometimes that was an honest opinion, and sometimes that was being humble for the sake of conversation.

Talking to Japanese every day living in the US, literally EVERY DAY I hear about how Japanese do things better than other people. Whether it is customer service or culinary arts or electronics, I am reminded constantly how things are better in Japan... and many times (but not always) they are right.

Most foreigners who shop at H&M in Tokyo are tourists.

If you were a tourist and he didn't give you the tourist discount he would have lost his job.

I am sorry, but this story sounds quite silly. You insisted he charge you more because you are a temporary resident, rather than a tourist? I would have taken the discount and ran.

This kind of self-righteousness is what gives gaijin a bad name in Japan. Oh, good for you! You made a fuss in an essentially homogeneous country to show you were an extreme minority in order to pay MORE money for a item because you have blue eyes. The foreigners who will now have to show their visas at H&M to get that discount now surely thank you.

When you have lived there 10 years and get this treatment at stores you regularly frequent, then this complaint is legit. But when you go to the Disneyland of retail fashion and complain about being mistaken for a tourist, I feel no sympathy.