Mable comments

There exist parts of the system that have inadvertently resulted in racial discrimination; systemic racism."

First of all thank you for contributing in a productive way. Systemic racism would mean that there are laws and regulations in place that clearly discriminate against minorities. Again, discrimination is present in all countries more or less, but you would have to show me modern democratic societies with regulations or laws that clearly discriminate against race.

I don’t see a systemic, institutional racism in the US or Japan, but I do think that a lot of Japanese are very conservative in how they view foreigners which can lead to negative connotations, but not necessarily oppression.

The question remains: Why does the black community underperform despite so much progress in comparison to e.g the Asian community, which suffered tremendous racism in their immigration history to the US (look at the Nikkei during WWII).

Obviously, this discussion is useless. There like is a huge difference between saying:

“There is racism in society” (there is in any society more or less)

or

”There is racism in society and an active system that wants minorities to fail.”

@Bob I fail to see your point, but it is ok to make unwarranted claims and intentionally misinterpret statements, if that is your strategy.

I Must admit that my previous responses were a little bit too emotional and too heavy on anecdotal evidence, but it occurs that some people here are more interested in twisting words, being appalled and constructing straw man arguments instead of engaging in a discussion.

So allow me to clarify and let’s calm down:

Yes, there is racism in the US as well as in Japan.

No, my experience with racism is not more validated or more important than the experience that a colored person has in the US. Racism is Racism. Discrimination is discrimination. It is disgusting.

However, I have always wondered why the black community underperforms academically and economically compared to other minorities despite so much progress in society. We all have the right to point out discrimination we have experienced, but explaining failure with racism or so-called “institutional racism” alone is simply inadequate.

Your victim mentality is creating an invisible oppressor that looks like Japan, Mable.

Learn some self-responsibility and put in some effort into making life better for you and yours in Japan.

I don’t think I have made any statement that I consider myself oppressed in Japan. I am doing quite fine for myself, just like many other foreigners. What bothers me is how foreigners are perceived in this country. Unlike some BLM activitst in the US I have never claimed that there was an institutional racism that is oppressing minorities. But I assume you just wanted to sound intellectually superior by turning my own words against me instead of making a valid argument that rebuttal my arguments.

Btw, still waiting for an answer to my original question at the top.

Could it be that it’s all imaginary and foreigners should stop whining and pull themselves up by the bootstraps?

Yeah, sure. I guess we are all just imagining things when are are refused an apartment, refused entry into venues and our children tell us about being bullied at school due to them being a ハーフ. Closing the borders for foreigners regardless of vaccinations status or motives for entering serves only as a virus counter measure and is absolutely not related to pandering to a scared, old voter base. In western countries there are laws in place that prohibit this sort of discrimination and the support for victims is tremendous. In Japan that support or understanding for minorities is lacking. If you watch Japanese TV, struggles of foreigners are rarely mentioned. Instead, we are given the „funny and exotic“ brand.

Moreover, a lot of highly qualified and successful foreigners are already living and studying in Japan. None of them claim that they are held back by institutions or that they are being oppressed. It is the way we are perceived that bothers me and the lack of support inside the society.

Can’t wait for it. Rockstar is quality-wise on of the most consistent publishers in the business and rarely disappoints. GTA has always been the flagship of ambition and innovation. I just hope Rockstar will stay true to themselves and their direction.

this is how America has treated us. This is how we feel

Every race, gender, religion, sexual orientation etc. was a victim at some part of their history. Should we dwell in victimhood for the rest of our lives? We would never succeed.

The Jews, Japanese, Chinese, Muslims, Irish, Eastern Europeans, Mexicans all faced adversary, racism and discrimination in the US, yet all developed into economical strong communities. Asian-Americans impress with economic and academic archivements. Why is the black community still light years away from these accomplishments despite civil rights movement, end of Jim Crow, affirmative action, increase of governmental anti-poverty measures and a black president? Please explain this to me? Could it be that the victim mentality creates an invisible oppressor and eliminates any self-responsibility and self-effort?

@falseflagsteve

I appreciate your honesty. You provided a good summary of what many Japanese think about gaijin: „You are allowed to spend your money here, stay for a few weeks, praise us, but please don’t live here and have an opinion.“

I guess some of these students have learned something that years of language study, anime/manga consumption and a BA in Japanese Studies never taught them: Japan is not particularly fond of foreigners.

No one with a hint of a clue should be suggesting that Japan doesn't have the sovereign right to regulate its borders as it sees fit. The issue is that these restrictions have little to do with increasing Japan's safety and a lot to do with the ruling party pandering to its aging, xenophobic voter base.

Thank you for your comment. You absolutely nailed it.

Really tired of this self-pity and blaming others. Are you really trying to say that the world has not changed within the last 50 years for black people despite civil rights movement, total end of racial segregation and the fact that the US had a black president? Please tell me what happened?

You want to be successful in life? Stay away from crime, show self-discipline, go to school, study hard and study the right subject at university.

Members of the Penn swimming team and diving team issued a statement supporting their transgender teammate.

Interesting, because an article that I found on a different website mentions that some of her teammates are uncomfortable with Thomas using the same locker room, as Thomas does not hide male genitals and is still attracted to females.

The problem has been identified and it is great that society and media have been dealing with it in a more open manner, but is is concrete action against abuse at the work place that is crucial.

Will managers be held accountable? Will they be fired to make a clear statement? Publicly shamed? Probably not. I assume they will be reprimanded, expected to make a few bows, forced to take a (of course payed) leave or transferred to a different division with no consequences.

Japan's demand for foreign workers has been growing due to a labor shortage caused by the nation's rapidly aging population.

“Trainee” is a euphemism for cheap labor. Especially Japans service and construction industry is suffering, because wages are low and both psychologically and physically exhausting. That is why they import uneducated workers from Asian countries, as they are considered obedient and willing to work for cheap wages. It is them who have to deal with unstable work visas, being dependent on their employers and are the first to be discriminated against their race, as Japanese have always looked down on their Asian neighbors.

He probably forgot that he is not working for a Japanese company. Bad for him, but bowing, a dishonest 申し訳ございません will not fix this. Unfortunately, there are still way too many dinosaurs like him in Japan, who look down on foreigners.

"I could not give up living in Japan, so I decided to continue to learn Japanese to work in Japan in the future. 

Why work in Japan and subject yourself to low wages, an archaic, rigid company atmosphere, unstable work contracts and difficulty for being promoted due to your nationality?

Japanophiles like her with that degree are usually the at highest risk to become disillusioned gaijin, contemplating about their life while sitting in their 6万円 prison cell-sized apartment. When still a young Japan Fan, you probably don’t mind, but when you are getting older and plan to have a family, things will look different.

@M3M3M3

Because foreigners often tend to fall outside the norm of Japanese society in many respects. They differ in terms of occupations, wealth, social status, religious/social/political beliefs etc.

Silly me. I always thought Japan is a democracy, but according to your enlightening explanation, it is more like a plutocracy with discriminating traits against non-Japanese.

Just so you know, not every foreigner falls into the student/konbini worker category. A lot of us have higher income, more expertise and a better standing in the company than some Japanese salaryman who tries to boost his income by making unnecessary overtime work.

Another example of real omotenashi

In May, the boy's mother consulted the local government in Settsu about Matsubara allegedly abusing the child, but the city's consultation center concluded the situation at the time did not require any protective measures for the child.

I guess these officials are all 公務員, who have huge financial and career privileges than the average salaryman?! Hope some heads will roll, but they will probably only reprimanded as it the usual procedure here.

Saw it on Netflix and enjoyed it.

A Batman show with real life actors on stage in Japan? Well, based on these pictures please count me out, unless you can provide me with anti-cringe pills.

In the two years since Misaki disappeared, Tomoko has been on the receiving hand of hateful messages online.

what is wrong with social media? I guess modern people are so unhappy with their lives, that they have nothing better to do than insulting a grieving mother who is desperately looking for his daughter.

FIFA argues biennial World Cups will give more players and teams the chance to compete in meaningful games, improve talent globally and raise more money to fuel development programs.

Let me translate into simple English:

“we try to make more money through sponsorship contracts and tv rights, because we have to raise the salary of our officials and a bigger bonus would also be nice.“

Sweet Jesus, has she never heard of an abortion? There is never any scenario when this needs to happen. The woman is either mentally retarded or sick.

Obviously, it is a terrible and tragic story, but at this point there is barely any Information why she did it, if it was an unwanted pregnancy or - as the article mentioned - a stillborn. Keep that in mind before you recommend abortions out of the blue.

Thanks for the list. I can definitely recommend dramas with Nagase Tomoya. His shows are usually very funny and he is a good actor. Ayase Haruka also has a couple of good shows.

However, most of the time I stay away from Japanese dramas. A lot of them are very cringey, have the same characters (eg. the stoic, intelligent ikemen) and it is just awkward seeing real life persons overacting like anime characters. There are even embarrassing rip offs from successful US-shows such as 24, Suits or Walking Dead.

LOL. I can’t help but laugh when I think of these creepy salaryman who let the girl treat him like a living ATM so he can get a few compliments and feel attractive. The only thing that I consider more dasai is going to a hostess bar.

Mother Teresa was an activist for social causes but she got her fame by her actions and not by TV shows. And when I saw her funeral live via satellite, the attendees were of various religions - monotheistic and non.

Mother Teresa is one of those examples where due to mystification, unreflective media coverage and support from followers a symbol rather than an actual human being was created. Yes, she helped a lot of people, but if you actually read about her life and philosophy, you might come to the conclusions that she was a heartless Christian radical. She would let people suffer intentionally, because she would consider sickness and suffering as a pathway to get closer to god. Not to mention the hygienic situation in her hospitals and the question where all those millions of dollars went.

If he did grope her, then he should be punished without any doubt. Chikan is still a big problem in Japan and these creeps must be taken into custody.

However, information about this particular case are not very concrete and it has not been ultimately proven that he did it intentionally. It is merely statement vs statement up until this point.

Young hypebeasts will go crazy for it. As a grown up man with interest in fashion, both Kenzo and A Bathing Ape are completely overrated. Kenzo design can be summarized as pretty much „Big letters and a tiger“ with average quality and Bathing Ape has some of the ugliest designs I have ever seen. Who wears those ugly overpriced shark hoodies with zipper?

Not so good story for Gaijins. Do they ever support Japan truly other than complain about the Japan this and that?

Well, considering many gaijin in Japan are highly qualified, they assure that Japanese companies stay competitive and they also pay a lots of taxes, probably more than some Japanese. Those foreigners who don’t fall in that category keep the Japanese service industry alive and keep on smiling even when Mr. grumpy salaryman goes irate for waiting for a few seconds at the register.

If you talk about direct support of Japanese, my faculty in Germany had a lots of Japanese exchange students and we approached them positively to make friends with them and help them out. However, when we went to Japan on a year abroad we all were surprised that no Japanese students took the chance to approach us first. Of course, cultural differences, but it goes both ways.

Japan loves to portray themselves as this kingdom of kindness which welcomes and supports foreigners with the best omotenashi imaginable. However, long-term foreign residents are aware of the dark side of this society. Discrimination, nationalism and feeling of superiority are often palpable in the interaction with us foreigners.