Travers Naran wrote:
> Jim Breen <jimbreen@gmail.com> wrote:

>>Er, no. Japanese society has a lot of people who are treated badly.
>  
> I did try to use a relative comparison. :-)
> 
> But I meant compared to the Japanese.  If you are a fluent Japanese-speaking
> gaijin, how much worse are you treated compared to the native Japanese?

In some areas like renting apartments and getting real jobs in
universities or schools, the treatment is *on average* worse. The
situation in national universities is well documented. Some of Mike
Cash's anecdotes from when he began truck-driving are very amusing,
but also symptomatic of a pretty deeply-ingrained xenophobia in a
lot of areas.

Then there is access to various sorts of establishments. Haven't you
seen the "Japanese only" nightclubs around Shinjuku? Not to mention
certain onsen in Hokkaido (try Googling Debito Arudo). Japan has signed
all the anti-discrimination treaties and protocols, and has never
produced a shred of legislation to give them force.

OTOH, there are a lot of times when being a white-skinned gaigin puts
you a pedestal to a certain extent. You can swan around in permanent
tourist mode, and many times be treated better than a typical Japanese,
and MUCH better than a non-white gaigin.

-- 
Jim Breen        http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology,
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
ジム・ブリーン@モナシュ大学