On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:34:11 +0900, Eric Takabayashi
<etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote:

>Raj Feridun wrote:

>> I had a racist experience on my very first visit to Japan back in
>> 1985. Curiously it took place in Tokyo! I came over in a break from
>> university to visit a Japanese friend who lived in Ikebukurom Tokyo.
>> My buddy wanted to show me what pachinko was about so we wandered into
>> his neighborhood pachinko parlor only to be ushered right back out the
>> door. The owner angrily explained that the night before a group of
>> drunken Aussies had gotten into a brawl in his place and damaged some
>> of his machines. So he had decided to ban all foreigners. My Japanese
>> friend went BALLISTIC on the owner's ass and I just sat there
>> semi-stunned having felt racism directed at me directly for the first
>> time in my life. 18 years later I still remember that well.

>> Sheesh! I'm not even an AUSSIE!!

>Though this may be an uncommon experience for many, and maybe a one time
>experience for you, I hope you realize that it can represent reality for
>many people such as the visibly Chinese, whatever that means, or those
>presumed to be Chinese, because there are so many people in Japan who harbor
>such feelings. For example, when one survey of Tokyo real estate agencies
>reported in the Hiragana Times showed perhaps 98% would refuse service to
>foreigners, that represents a serious problem. And it would not be mere
>stereotype, generalization, or racist broad brushing to say that Tokyo, at
>least, has or had a serious problem with racism in housing. Even I had a
>hell of a time finding housing, living in the first place that approved me,
>and can be sure of only three local companies or real estate agencies which
>accept foreign renters, with or without a corporate guarantor. And even if
>the foreigner is offered service to begin with, of course the permission to
>actually view and rent is up to the individual landlord or property owner.
>Real estate agencies making assumptions about the willingness of owners and
>neighbors, and landlords and owners making assumptions about the willingness
>of neighbors, when the community might actually be accepting of foreigners
>if asked, are a major obstacle to finding housing, as well as people making
>negative assumptions about the client simply because they are foreign.

No, I do not try to deny that there is a big problem in Japan of
racism towards other Asians. It reminds me very much of the problem in
America of black racism. I grew up in a whitebread, middle-class
community that an African-American family would have had a very
uncomfortable time of moving into.

That pachinko parlor thing was just the very first time in my life
where I got a taste of what it was like at the receiving end of it. So
in that respect, educationally speaking it may have been a good thing.
I wish the racists in the world could ALL feel it so they knew what it
was like

>> Can you define "stranger" again? Also, when one of these strangers
>> (Japanese) greets me do his actions somehow not count since I'm a
>> foreigner??

>Do you know there are Japanese who are friendly or "kind" ONLY because they
>encounter a foreigner, for whatever reason, when they would not and DO not
>behave the same way with a fellow Japanese? The many Japanese strangers who
>load up my mother who does not speak the language, with gifts when she walks
>aimlessly down the street, giving her even personal belongings and display
>items, don't give a squirt of warm piss to the homeless, though they are the
>ones in actual and immediate need. This is a simple fact which can be
>demonstrated easily enough, and commonly seen.

Is saying "hello" to a stranger really kindness or just a greeting? As
for unneeded items my experience here in Japan is that the Japanese
tend to throw away amazing amounts of perfectly good working things
and clothing often for no better reason than they just replaced them
with new things or are moving and don't/can't bring them. They may not
actually physically deliver them to the homeless but they put them on
the street where anyone can take them. That's down here anyway and
from what I've read and seen it's even moreso in the big cities.

>This is exactly the reason I do not make an issue of my being foreign in
>daily life, and why I test people's reactions by revealing my alien status
>when I feel like it. I prefer people simply to treat me as a fellow person.
>This usually means me attempting to pass for Japanese.

In other words you're going "undercover"? ;-)

>> Does that unkindness only apply to the actions of Japanese
>> with other Japanese strangers?

>The reason above. A foreigner is not a Japanese, nor are they treated quite
>the same. I've spent literal years in some cases, with people simply
>assuming I am Japanese like them. Most of the people in the neighborhood
>still do not know I am a foreigner. But watch some reactions when people
>find out the truth. You should see them.

I think it all depends on what type of foreigner it is if I've read
you correctly.