Haha... It's always funny that White people get such a shock when they suddenly become a minority.

This is not unique to Japan. This happens in the US to Middle Eastern/South Asian people all the time.

Awgh... It aches every time I here soldiers screwing things up like that.

i agree, i hate how people do that.

hi. im planning to go to Japan soon to. is it really thAT hard to fit in there? im native american and im pretty sure it wll be hard for me to look normal there. should i prepare to feel descriminated against?

My question to you, should you care? At best you since your an minority in the USA it shouldn't be that different from here, you should at least have first hand experience when it comes to being an minority and know at least what you would expect. I cannot say from not having visited yet, but I'll presume it's like being any minority in any country.

This is just another country with all the problems that every other country has. Some less so....some more so.

That is it. Analyze and compare all day long but in the end. It is what we make "of" it.

As a Japanese, I would like to apologize for the fact that some Japanese people descriminate or even hate "gaijin". They really do. I have to admit the fact.

But I would like you to know that as many as or more people try to understand, like to communicate with, or respect foreigners.
Many Japanese people will be glad when you tell them you like Japanese music, manga and so on.

I think that generally speaking, elder people tend to dislike gaijin more than younger people.
So I'm not sure but if you come to Japan as a worker, it is possible that you might face a kind of seperation.
On the other hand, I think that people who engage in somewhat international activities, they may be kind to foreigners.
But ironically, people who have experience in more intensive international activities, for example studied abroad or lived abroad when young, sometimes dislike foreigners(I don't know why but this is personal experience).

So whether you will face discrimination or not will depend on the environment, circumstances where you will be put. Unfortunately.

To sum up, what I tried to say was this.
It is true there are people who don't like gaijin, but there are people who do like foreigners, too.

You shouldn't apologise.

You get good people and bad people in any country...

I'm not going to apologise to people who had bad experiences in New Zealand or with New Zealanders just because I'm a New Zealander.

Hmm, you're right. I like your idea. Thank you.

hehe glad you like Montreal for every aspect of it :vsign: