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Comment by marak830 | Hacker News Reader

There is so much here that couldn't work as it does, without the implicit assumption that everyone is going to behave politely. Hell the polite queuing after a major earthquake for water and food is absolutely astounding.

The foreigners who don't try to live up to the social standards while living here should be shunned by the local gaijins.

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Re the polite queuing after earthquakes: I happened to be in Sendai the day of the big earthquake/tsunami/nuclear reactor breakdown. I had no place to stay because I had a flight booked for later that day, which obviously got canceled. I started walking around downtown. There was clearly a lot of nervous energy, and there were hundreds of aftershocks in the first 24 hours, but people were behaving calmly and orderly. I wandered into a hotel to see if I could book a room. They were fully booked, but were letting people who were stuck without a place to stay to sleep in a ballroom. They provided free sheets, pillows and food to about 100 people, many of them stranded foreigners. Some local volunteers brought in gas powered generators so people could charge their phones. The next morning, I went out for a walk, as it was still not possible to get out of town. At 8:00 in the morning, the supermarket in front of the central train station had staff, in uniform, handing out perishable food for free, rather than having to throw it away (there was no electricity so freezers were down.) The word was only starting to trickle in about how serious the damage was farther north. People were universally calm, generous and polite.

I walked around for a few hours, not knowing the town. Many sites of severe structural damage, but some businesses were already open. I passed by a noodle shop run by a young guy. He called out to me and said "You look hungry." (I speak Japanese). He offered me a free bowl of noodles. I finally ended up getting out of town two days later by finding a cab and riding all the way to Fukushima Airport, for the last flight to Tokyo, and then back home to Kobe.

The order, decency, and humanity I experienced those few days still make me tear up when I think about it (even right now).

It's really nice to read about the best side of humanity showing itself. Thanks for sharing.

That was uplifting to read. Thank you for sharing your experience.

> local gaijins

Isn't this an oxymoron? I don't really know Japanese, but as far as I'm aware this means something along the lines of "local foreigners".

"Gaijin" is any non-ethnically-japanese person, so non-japanese long-term residents are still gaijin, even if they've been here for 15y, have a long-term job and married a japanese.

"Local gaijin" are thus simply people living in the area but not of japanese ethnicity. Mostly expats.

I understood it as referring to non-Japanese people living in Japan, who should make sure that the clueless ones among their ranks behave.

That's exactly it. I try and help foreigners who look lost at stations when I can, and while I'm a foreigner myself, I have been here 8 years now.

Aka expat community. Those who have already moved there should work to try to help newcomers integrate.

Aah, I guess they're still considered gaijins.

You're considered gaijin even if you're born in the country. My half-Japanese children (born and bred in Japan) get called "gaijin" all the time.

Shunning as pseudopunishment is silly. If it's not a problem, let them be. If it is a problem, fine them or arrest them.

If it's not a problem, let them be. If it is a problem, fine them or arrest them.

This is very American way of thinking. Japanese society is like it is precisely because it follows different norms than American ones.

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