>evidence, perhaps, that old, discriminatory habits may yet be consigned to history.
There's ample evidence with regard to foreigners in Japan already.
There's ample evidence with regard to foreigners in Japan already.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15...
The reason why the myth gets perpetuated is because young, white affluent males go over there for whatever reason (teach for a while, anime, exotic extended trips, etc) and don't get treated like little princes. So they go back home, hop on their favorite "gaijin forum" and claim they were discriminated against and that Japan is racist. That's why young hot Japanese girls weren't throwing themselves at them, or why people weren't bending over backwards for them.
I love how the study doesn't agree with your preconceptions so it must be "silly". The study was done by 2 Swedish researchers at a university, not by some online poll. It's backed up by academic rigor. That's about as hard science as it gets.
That's a purely personal experience, but these happened in Tokyo. The cab incident was even in Ginza - one of the most international portions of Tokyo.
Yes, plenty of white males go over to Japan and expect to be immediately accepted/worshipped/whatever, but just because their claims of racism are often able to be safely ignored, it doesn't mean that all accounts of it can be chalked up to unrealistic expectations and self entitlement.
Regarding the study, it requires that people self-report a negative attribute about themselves. We already know it's basic human nature to lie to cover up faults. Why do you expect a study that relies on self reporting is going to be accurate?
Go try to rent an apartment or lease a house as a foreigner in Japan. You will find it extremely difficult to do if you are not specifically looking in one of the expat housing areas. The Japanese may say they wouldn't mind a foreigner living next door in a study, but they make it an extremely difficult process for this to actually happen. This thread has already discussed the family registry, but another important aspect of it is what replaces the credit check in most Western countries - a contact at the company you work for. For a Japanese salaryman, all disputes with a landlord go through his boss. Didn't make rent? Boss talks with the salaryman. Landlord hasn't fixed the running water? Boss talks with the landlord. This isn't something you get as a foreigner unless you've been with the company for a very long time.
Buying a house? You better be doing it outright, or already have your citizenship. Even permanent resident status isn't going to be enough at many banking institutions.
You can read the accounts of plenty of expats who have lived in Japan the frequent struggles they face as foreigners, with the entire system being set up to put them at a disadvantage. There's quite a few of them that have talked about it on HN, even. And maybe Japan isn't more racist than most other countries - but it certainly is racist enough for people to have valid complaints.
I've read them, and I disagree with 99% of them. Sure, there's a couple legit ones, but the vast majority are massively exaggerated. Especially sites like Debito. If you go on reddit's Japan forum (/r/Japan), you mention debito, you'll get laughed at. The guy literally profits from pointing out discrimination and intolerance in Japan. That's how he makes his money so it's in his interest to exaggerate everything. He's written books on the matter.
I don't really want to come across as some overly liberal social justice warrior, but most of those complaints you speak of aren't justified. As I stated above, it's just 20-something white kids not getting treated the same as they did back home and they're not used to it. They're used to people bending over backwards for them, receiving handouts and not being ignored. They were sheltered most of their lives (as were the majority of all millennials) so when they get to Japan and get treated differently, all of the sudden it has to be "racism".
That's really what's happening here. They're conflating their culture shock with racism. I'm an expat myself. I've spoken of my time in Japan here on hackernews several times. I find it's no more racist than any other country I've traveled too. In fact, it's probably the least racist country I've been to, only behind America. Hell, I saw more racism in Sydney the last time I was there.
But it wasn't like that. People always tried to speak to me in English even when I demonstrated I could speak in Japanese. I saw onsen with "no foreigners" sings in front. Because my "race" can't be easily identified, I was more often than not asked where I am from, where my mother is from and where my father is from. I've heard of incidents where people of Arab-looking descent are stopped and questioned by police officers.
Are these examples of racism? Probably not (at least from my experience and perspective), however they are in my view, examples of a deep "us and them" attitude which ignores the fact that culture can be learned. Maybe it's naive of these people (or me), or there is some xenophobia etc.
I think perhaps the most convincing thing for me (not an example of racism) is where we have the situation of someone who has taken up a "Japanese" life in that he has become a citizen, has lived in Japan for an extended period of time and interacts daily within society. Most Japanese would not consider this person Japanese - but what more could such a person do to be Japanese?
This identity issue is provided from the outside, for inside he can feel as Japanese as he wants and get nowhere. On the other hand, if we were to put the situation with the US or perhaps a Western European country, we would see that a person would probably be more readily accepted as an American or a Brit.
Does racism exist? Probably, but it's certainly not as plain and commonplace as little hints of xenophobia and anything foreign being perceived as not-belonging or a little novelty.
Here's an interesting document worth reading: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1551462
It's called "The Wajin’s Whiteness: Law and Race Privilege".