A couple of thoughts:
Yes, I’ve heard before, even from people living in Japan, that they are quite xenophobic.
Now, why is this not condemned from the west ? (I know Chinese people and they do remember WW2)
As everything several reasons:
Japan has a great propaganda machine to make their culture look cool AF: anime/manga, the mythology around temples, samurais, ninjas…
The good parts of their culture, specially in contrast to the west: the extreme politeness, how clean and organized they are, civility/safety, super good and maintained public services such transport…
The “pretend WW2 didn’t happen”. They were absolute monsters on WW2, way beyond the nazis, but the combination of doing a 180 towards the west and the atomic bombs made it so the west was comfortable with looking the other way while Japan conveniently forgets his war crimes (for anyone unaware search for Nanjing, be warned is a hard read, but is important not to forget)
The “pacifist xenophobia”. When you go to japan their way of practicing xenophobia is quite passive, like, let’s be clear, you are loud and disgusting for them, but they will never tell you that, and you are probably never going to be in danger. At least as a tourist this is 100% like this, they might even just feel introverted rather than xenophobic. From what I’ve heard from people living there, it gets more clear when you live, but didn’t get any “I’m in danger” feeling from them, so I guess that low key discrimination is like that.
Now, not saying any of that makes it good, but I can understand why there is a different level of pushback than to the USA for example, where if you are brown and meet an angry cop or redneck (or both), you might end up dead.
I know for the fucking internet there is no such thing as grey, is either black or white, but I think the world is more nuanced than that.
BTW, for their work culture alone I would never live there, and while I like an anime or two, I’m not an otaku by any means. I did enjoy my vacation on Japan several years ago, but not more than the one on China or other Asian countries.
Due to their propaganda machine they have alot of soft power (and mainly cause of the “Cool Japan” thing like the post title references)
The discrimination is never direct when it’s regulated. They just try to repress you the legal way. Of course Japan has better regulation than the third world countries (or countries that pretend they are first world but are equally shitty - US, ex Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, etc.).
I thinks it’s source comes more from the behavior of western tourists than anything else.
Really? If it wasn’t for the west all the Asian populations would coexist in harmony?
Have you read any history books?
History has nothing to do with it.
Your curse still lingers 💀 please check the video!
I have worked with a Japanese company for almost 2 years and never ever again. The racism, incompetence and ass covering is astounding. The way they treat women is also appalling but no one talks about this.
I’ll never understand why western people love Japan, but vilify China. My experience in working in China is a total opposite of Japan.
Generally I think it’s because the Japanese have had continuous cultural interacting with the West for centuries at this point. Everything from Dutch and Portuguese trade during the sengoku jidai, to pirate ronin in the Philippines during isolation, to Japanese communities from Baja Sur to the cascades, and then finally stable connections being made post commodore Perry. In contrast the Chinese have had less than stable connections due to massive cultural changes every couple hundred years including periods of isolation, the collapse of the Ming fucking up trade routes for a time, the Qing being notably more isolationist, the warlord and Republican period being a shitshow, followed by the isolation of the communist period shattering a lot of western interst, it makes for less than stable connections.
Also there’s the whole great firewall of China thing going on which further seperates things in the modern age of the internet, it’s not total separation but it’s enough to be notable. In contrast I have been cussed out by a Japanese person, a Ruskie, an Aussie, and a fucken Peruvian simultaneously while playing games.
You found that the Chinese weren’t racist or sexist? I agree with you about Japan, but China was hardly enlightened. They were mostly just louder and more obnoxious, where the Japanese were overly formal and quiet.
Both cultures also had a lot of superstitions, like words or phrases you shouldn’t say, or lucky or unlucky numbers.
I see my self like both China and Japan ngl.
One word: “propaganda.”
1.6 billions worth of propaganda
If you could turn the lights out to the entire world for ten seconds, when you turn them back on half of Asia will have killed the other half. And if you ask where everyone else is they won’t even know who you’re talking about.
“Not in front of outsiders” does a lot of peacekeeping. The second the west forgets NK they’re doomed, that’s why their whole foreign policy can be boiled down to “Look at me!”
The people defending this as ‘not racism’… way to miss the point. If this was some BBQ joint in Texas with a sign that says closed in Spanish but open in English you wouldn’t be posting these comments
The odds of a Texas BBQ joint not having any Spanish speaking employees is exceedingly small.
And yet they are cheering for ICE to arrest them all. No matter the status or paperwork. If they’re arrested then they are guilty. That’s how it works down here.
There are for sure racist fascists and bootlickers here, but don’t paint us all with that brush.
https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/protests-against-ice-scheduled-across-texas-this-weekend/
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/us/student-protests-walkouts-ice-texas.html
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/14/texas-ice-shooting-houston-city-council-protest/
lol what? Have you ever been to Texas?I misread the comment 🙃
Have you‽ I was born in Texas. Lived here the last 24 years, and 32 of the last 34. Even asian restaurants here have kitchens full of Spanish speaking people.
Yes, i lived on the border of TX and NM for fifteen years and i can tell you with certainty that i misread your comment. lol
🍻
Having lived in Texas for 40 years, I can confidently tell you you’re full of shit
No i just can’t read
I misread their comment and thought they were saying the opposite lol
It’s been years now, but are you saying that BBQ joints don’t have Spanish speaking employees? Is that a Texas only thing?
Mac is mistaken. There are Spanish speaking employees all over the food service industry in Texas.
Most of the US in fact, especially any decent sized city.
Truth. My favorite Japanese restaurant in the States had a primarily South American immigrant staffed kitchen.
Its called Xenophobia.
Xenophobia and racism are distinct forms of prejudice: xenophobia is the fear or hatred of foreigners, while racism is the belief in racial superiority and systemic oppression based on race. Though they overlap, they target people for different reasons.
It literally isn’t racism though. You can disagree with it and think it should be banned, but there is no interpretation that it can realistically be called racism
I lived in Japan for a while. I’ve seen a couple places with a sign like this. In my experience every place like this is perfectly willing to have foreigners that speak Japanese. They simply don’t want to deal with the hassle of a language barrier
I should also note these places were always in touristy areas. If they don’t have a sign like that, they’ll end up with majority English speaking customers, because Japanese customers prefer places without rowdy tourists that can’t speak the local language. I did too. Going out for an after work beer, you want an entirely different atmosphere from tourists getting hammered
Why not just post the truth then? They could say “We’re sorry, we’re unable to accomodate non-Japanese speakers due to…”?
I mean, it’s also racism. Those people are just stupid.
It would still not be racism
Xenophobia at worst, only hatred of tourists at best
Xenophobia is inherently racist.
Arent they different things? Racism is about race, xenophobia is about country of origin
Probably a venn diagram but with a large overlap.
Yeah let’s start calling it racism when Barcelona locals spray tourists with water guns and see how quickly these same people scream “THAT’S DIFFERENT!”
It doesn’t say “if you are of that race we are open”. It says you must understand the language. So learn it - you’ll need it anyway to live there - or go elsewhere, where staff can serve you on your language, provide a menu on your language etc.
A hate system where you can upgrade your status by learning is not racism. Also not necessarily a hate system in the first place.
If an American moves to Europe and doesn’t attempt to learn the local language, then by a few months to a year in with zero effort people will say they’re in the wrong for not making an effort to integrate and expecting everyone to speak English for them.
Clearly “Americans expecting foreigners to speak English” is different from “Other countries expecting Americans to speak the local language” from a moral point of view. So why is Japan then lumped in with America as the “Local people must accept and accommodate foreigners who can’t communicate in the local language” bucket, when anywhere else it’s “If you’re traveling there and you didn’t even try learning the language, then you’re ignorant and entitled.”?
If an American moves to Europe and doesn’t attempt to learn the local language, then by a few months to a year in with zero effort people will say they’re in the wrong for not making an effort to integrate and expecting everyone to speak English for them.
My American cousin lived and worked in France as an engineer for several years. This is absolutely not true. He did make an effort to learn some French, but it wasn’t because of any pressure. He just wanted to.
that’s absolutely not the case in places like the netherlands and the nordic countries, people dont really give a fuck cus everyone speaks english anyway (unfortunately)
i think the dutch and the scandinavians have hit their head or something cus their languages are so easy to learn but in iceland and finland it’s possible to never get fluent even with a lot of effort, cus the languages are damn hard, so people are understandably more forgiving
You yourself are saying it’s unfortunate that people mostly speak English in the nordic countries, and yet you argue that it would be xenophobic and wrong to try to incentivize society to use the local languages more?
people don’t “mostly speak english” here, they mostly speak their native language but are also proficient in english.
i’m all for encouraging people to speak local languages but i don’t think basically banning non-fluent speakers from restaurants is the way to go
one of the first steps of learning a language (properly) is using it in simple situations like ordering in a restaurant. how is preventing learners from using the language in any way productive?
Then what did you mean why you said “unfortunately”? I guess that part through me off.
And look, I’ve done a bit of traveling so I’m definitely grateful for places that welcome foreigners who don’t speak the language. I’m not saying those should go away.
But I’ve also spent enough time in some places to gain a little proficiency, and at that point it would be nice to have a few places to go where I’m expected to use the language. Otherwise people see me struggling and then they default to English. It makes it harder to get the level of immersion necessary to go from intermediate to advanced.
Plus, when I’m really immersed in a culture I like to avoid the touristy spots. I try to go to the places where the local language is used more. If I rely on every local’s English proficiency to get by, I’ll never learn.
And it feels nice to be able to differentiate myself from the average tourist, like “no I’ve actually been living here for months and have gained some basic proficiency in the language.” There’s a difference between going somewhere for a week to hit all the tripadvisor spots, versus going somewhere to immerse in the local culture and try to build a life there. Most places view tourists as a nuisance, and I don’t see why that’s a problem because the level of respect for the local culture tends to be lower among tourists anyway.
i meant that it’s unfortunate that natives often don’t care about people not learning the local language
I used a bus in Japan to go to Mount Fuji. Seats were assigned like on a plane and I was sitting next to some Japanese guy. I did my best to respect their customs and remained silent and kept to myself for the two hour ride. The inside of the bus was as silent as a church for the entire drive even though it was full.
On the way back at the end of the day, the bus had dropped a few passengers somewhere and stopped at a station for a toilet break. When we boarded again the driver went to see the passenger beside me and moved him to another seat on the bus to sit in a seat that had been freed up next to another Japanese person. It looks like the passenger went to see the driver to request the seat change during the break.
I’ve spent the rest of the ride wondering what I had done wrong. It’s really a fucked up feeling and it must be horrible to be experiencing this sort of passive aggressive racism on a daily basis in your own home.
It probably wasn’t anything wrong you had done wrong. From what I’ve been hearing from some family who do business in asia. As they explain it, Japan has had an economic whiplash from the 80s and a lot of those cultural and economic policies that gave them initial success were not sustainable long term. And since Japan is a VERY proud culture, they’ve found it easier to blame outsiders than their own miscalculations.
they’ve found it easier to blame outsiders than their own miscalculations.
Enough said, round the world
Yep, xenophobia went up globally following the financial crisis of '08.
Sure America was the big trigger, but no country did anything to guard themselves from the risk ongoing at the time - And in Europe mena immigrants was the bogeyman written about in the media…
It’s really nothing you did. The people there just randomly decide to stand up in crowded trains if you are a foreigner and sit beside them. Or this time I was just walking down the street and the lady who was walking towards me just randomly crosses the street and walks past.
The inside of the bus was as silent as a church for the entire drive even though it was full.
Is that not the case where you’re from? Genuinely almost never heard anyone having a conversation on an intercity bus
In my country, almost any group travelling together is going to speak on a long-haul bus or train, many of them most of the time. And lots of people make loud phone calls (forbidden on most public transit but nobody enforces it: someone recorded 5 simultaneous calls from a tram once). There have to be designated quiet coupés (or open rail cars since coupés are falling out of fashion). They are experimenting with making them first-class only, very asinine given the ticket price difference and the near-zero cost 🤫🔇 stickers add to a railcar
It’s pretty common for long haul routes to feature chatter, the chatter goes up exponentially if something goes south. As we’d then have a shared experience of sitting in queue on the highway together
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Important to note that English is the global lingua franca.
So tourists from Mexico, Nicaragua, Sweden, Adygea, Italy, Rojava, Tajikistan, Djibouti, and Mozambique etc also use English language while visiting most foreign places.
This is NOT an “American tourists litter too much” thing.
Are you American and embarrassed about it?
Your entire post screams so, nobody mentioned Americans but you
No, not American. I just read a lot on newspapers about how another tourist got drunk and pissed at the local holy site and such.
I feel sympatethic to anti-tourism, but this sign is xenophobic rather than anti-tourist so wanted to mention that.
Also holy shit #7 from the tesseract list replied to me, I am saving this. So cool :3
Are you not??
American tourists speak Chinese?
I do, right into a toilet ( term for throwing up while drunk)
Since when was “speaking Chinese” a euphemism for drunken hurling?
It’s a term my father in law uses
Sounds like your father-in-law is racist.
No, or would you say the term ‘Pardon my French’ is racist?
Probably yes, why would it not be? Or are you suggesting that the French language is only made up of slurs one should excuse himself for speaking it?
Everything can be spun to be racist now a days
Where I live it is
Japan is one of the most xenophobic countries on the planet. This is just one example.
I’ll never prejudge an individual from Japan or any other nation.
I will however judge the polity as a whole.
Mfs still pretending like they never did any warcrimes.
Despite having population crisis and financial loses, they are still committed to xenophobia. They are master of that.
Sure would be a shame if they also had an abysmally low birth rate which will result in their societal collapse.
Probably on my list of reasons why I don’t want to visit Japan
Ive been to Japan a few years ago and they always felt very friendly and welcoming. They’re somewhat shy and awkward, but can’t say I had any negative experience.
If you want to feel bad, go to Italy, especially Rome. Many Italians are super racist, hate tourists and are not afraid to hide it.
You’re going to face it anywhere you go. Don’t let it hold you back. There’s always a slight feeling of unease around those that are different from yourself. But not everyone turns it into a justification to hate. I saw this video 5 years ago about a guy going to Japan trying to track down the location of a meme image from the early internet. They ended up heading off to a smaller town that wasn’t very touristy. Something that could go very badly. As some of the small towns like anywhere else can be very insular. But instead when they got there. Ended up spending the night chatting up an eager bar owner about Kurosawa and star wars.
Literally every country on the planet is xenophobic, people only make a big deal out of it when it’s a western or western-aligned country.
The entire idea of inclusivity, tolerance, and multiculturalism is primarily a western idea sprung from western humanist values and honestly only even taken seriously in secular democracies which tend to be aligned with the west.
And then people act like the west and west-aligned countries are so depraved for not perfectly living up to those values, when hardly any other nation even tries or has any desire to.
It’s honestly kind of amusing once you stop giving a shit.
This is such an ignorant take. Multiculturalism is actually the norm in most of the world throughout history, and the rare instances of isolationism are more often a result of geography than culture. The current xenophobic and nationalist state of the world is an aberration resulting from rampant and ongoing colonialism in the past few centuries. Many nations that exist today encompass regions that were far more multicultural and politically complex prior to their colonization by Europeans.
As for the West, our current secular humanist values are the result of the enlightenment period in which European colonizers appropriated and synthesized the ideas of colonized peoples around the world. The reason we don’t live up to them is because we stubbornly refuse to reckon with our colonialist past and present, such that we just go on living with the contradiction to the detriment of the world and ourselves.
It’s honestly kind of amusing once you stop giving a shit.
Not caring doesn’t make you cool, it just makes you another cynical asshole among many. IMO the world could do with less cynical assholes.
It’s hard not to be cynical in this world.
And you think everyone before western colonization was enlightened and multicultural? Sure their political regions were more complex, but in-groups and out-groups have existed in every region since at least the dawn of civilization, and those in-groups were typically defined by a range of factors including but not limited to culture, language, ancestry (and by extension, ethnicity), and religion.
You must have been sleeping through World History class if you think everything was kumbaya all around the world until the Europeans showed up…
I said that multiculturalism was the norm, not that everyone was holding hands and singing kumbaya. I also am not saying that colonialism is new or unique to Europeans, it just so happens that European nations are the most recent colonial powers and we happen to be living in the historical period immediately following their rise to hegemony. Obviously conflict and colonialism existed prior to European colonization, but it has never before had the global reach and dominance that European nations achieved. The fact remains that prior to colonization by Europeans, many regions around the world were more diverse and politically complex (i.e. multiple cultural, religious, and organizational paradigms existed parallel to and in conversation with one another). Though there was conflict, it was more local and restrained with different groups finding ways to coexist even if the relationship was tenuous. It’s impossible to deny the profound impact of Europe’s global conquest on the political environment in which we all currently live.
I don’t know. I told people in North Iraq that I grew up in Turkey, and despite my country spending better part of the 20th and 21st century massacring and displacing their population, these people were saying shit like “yeah government is bad, but the people are good.”
This, tbh. The less you expect your own government to cater to your preferences, the less you tend to judge foreigners by their nation’s foreign policy.
They seem like lovely people. :>
Not racist. You can learn whatever language you want. In fact you don’t even need to learn Japanese. You can just use a translator app. This only is discrimination against those too lazy to do either.
Lol right, well go in there and see if that works.
In Japan many stores don’t let in foreigners / tourists. This is an instance of it.
Yep, one cafe in Kyoto said that they were by reservation only and I’d have to come back the next day. The entire cafe was empty except for one Japanese couple. Was immediately obvious what was going on.
oh yeah, like only letting in three middle school students at a time. we have similar limitations here in statesia to limit knife fights
Its also discrimination against those who can read all 3 languages but have poor eyesight so they can only actually read the larger text English.
Japan, where racism doesn’t usually get the same criticism it does elsewhere for whatever reason…
Japan cast cat girl, it was super effective. All knowledge of atrocities was erased from western nations.
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Japan is too far away and too aligned with the west to receive criticism for racism
I’m not sure being aligned with the west means much while people are extremely critical in and outside western countries about racism.
Most westerners don’t care about racism beyond its utility to attack something they already don’t like. Same with homophobia. How much “tactical homophobia” did we just see against Lindsey Graham by people who probably think they’re allies because they don’t like a lot of people who are hostile to LGBT+?
Have you been anywhere? Racism is just a full on aspect of most places I’ve been west or not. Like anyone Asian whatsoever is just mchina or anyone white whatsoever from anywhere is mzungu and both get treated differently than wafrika. Same to locals, if you’re dealing with a hiring manager and you are in his tribe you’ll likely get the job, if you’re a different ethnicity then probably not.
They’re hateful, but they’re cute.
Just like the cats.
This. Also the massive online love affair with Japan and anime sure does a lot to distract people from the less savoy aspects of Japan.
They get an easier pass because their products are top-notch. Toyota basically invented Six Sigma/a globally used process for manufacturer defect elimination. A Japanese automaker invented QR codes. They have Nintendo, anime, etc. They changed and continue to impact the world in highly recognizable ways, not by merely cheap products (China), cheap labor (India), etc.
lol Nintendo
They get an easier pass because the US needed a vassal state in the Pacific.
Tldr if your good enough at engineering you can be as racist as you want to be unless you’re white.
That is because they have soft power.
I think it’s more so that what looks like them being polite to most is meant as something extremely rude. Also not to mention the love affair most have with Japan online.
IMO, they have a similar thing going on as the US does where one of their largest exports is culture.
The veneer is peeling on the American Empire, but Hollywood and American media giants (and credit card companies) still hold massive sway over much of the world’s cultures, and Japan holds similar power with the export of anime and manga, as they are often one of the few things people know Japan through (that, and stuff about feudal era Japan and samurai as the Japanese counterpart to the American cowboy).
PR is one of their biggest products, whether it’s through their media or the reputation of the quality of their consumer goods, etc.
Yeah when I travel people think the street are paved with gold in the US and Japanese animators are famously progressive in comparison to their culture. Also the obvious weeaboo / otaku love affair so many have with Japanese media. I would say their racism is on a different level. Things they do would be extremely illegal in the US or Europe but are condoned there. I kinda get some of it because their culture has so many unwritten rules and it’s difficult even for immigrants who have been there for years to properly know them all. If people in the US behaved the same there would be mass protests.
Guess who’s reading this, lol
Anyway, this is blatantly
racismxenophobia and don’t give me the “yes but what if they don’t have anyone who speaks english or chinese?” That’s fair but in that case you put something that says “sorry we don’t have any english speaking staff” or tell me directly but anyway, it shouldn’t be that hard to order tbh, yeah i can’t talk but we are in 2026 with such translation tools, i can scan, look at what it says and then point at the various menu entries with my finger, to pay i can just look at the numbers lmaoEdit: corrected racism in to xenophobia
“Lmao” your ability to use software to translate for you doesn’t change the intent behind this sign. Japan is racist AF despite their polite society, and there are a growing number of restaurants and other establishments with signage that outright says some version of “no foreigners/no white people.” You will probably get a frosty reception in this establishment if you enter it because you decide you were too clever to be deterred.
The Cardinal Rule: Don’t fuck with the people who handle your food
Well, what is the alternative? Not eat? It may not be a problem in bigger cities but smaller ones it probably is (but i have never been to japan so idk)
The alternative isn’t hyperbolic starvation, it’s to go to a different restaurant, or even one of their famous 7-Eleven shops. Barring a medical condition there’s nothing but some minor discomfort for the vast majority of us if you miss a meal. Obviously your poor planning for mealtimes isn’t an emergency on their part, but you’re welcome to try the restaurant in this situation. They may serve you and they may treat you coldly or offer the least service, or, they may not serve you, or even ask you to leave. But the sign is there for a reason.
your poor planning for mealtimes isn’t an emergency on their part
What does this even mean with regards to a tourist staying in a tiny hotel room? How much grocery shopping and meal preparation of their own are you expecting tourists to engage in?!
Your response in general is crazy. “If they won’t serve you, just don’t eat.”
“If Kim Davis won’t give you a marriage license, just don’t get married.” “If the school bars your children from attending, just don’t send them to school.”
I’m sorry you took it as personal, but you seem to be making this whole event surround your hypothetical ineptitude and personal inconvenience. Plan to eat. If you can’t, don’t expect sympathy. Christ, it’s like you expect to be catered to and spoon fed as a tourist. I’ve spent many a tourist evening having food like bread and cheese from the grocery store or convenience shop because there were no restaurant seats to be had. Grow up. That’s life.
I’m not sure what you think it means to take things personally? None of my response had anything to do with my personal experience in life.
And I could provide some! I’ve been on a road trip through the Spanish countryside where I was scoffed at and waved away at 3-4 restaurants for asking (as someone with Celiac!) if they had comida sin gluten. So I’ve definitely gone hungry as a tourist before. Didn’t love it! Wouldn’t recommend rural Southern Spain to anyone with Celiac!
I’ve done the bread and cheese thing in Paris back when I could eat bread. It was fine, you know, since I didn’t have to go hungry.
Due to logic like yours, I guess the most rational thing is to recommend against visiting Japan for anyone who isn’t Japanese? Or Japanese speaking at least. Save your money, folks!
I don’t see the problem? Even smaller towns usually have a convenience store, so you’re probably not going to starve.
I mean, if the Japanese text says “if you can read this, you’re welcome”, it does suggest that English or Chinese people who speak and read Japanese are welcome. It’s a real weird thing to pull, like they think they’re being cute.
It’s kind of a meme that Japanese people think only other Japanese can speak and read Japanese.
Your phone will be allowed in, but you have to stay outside.
Can people really no longer differentiate between xenophobia and racism?
Not being pedantic, but misnaming thins only adds to the woes of the world, to (mis)quote Camus.
But japanese people are not only xenophobic, they are also racist. There was a show that, if I remember correctly, made fun of a black person for making sushi. Like it was the funniest thing ever for them. Racism has been normalised in the japanese society, but there’s also blatant xenophobia.
However, if I were to chose between being victim of racism in the US or in Japan I would always chose Japan because there would be fewer threats to my life.
When I lived in Japan I once watched a show where they flew to Turkey, gave a Turkish chef all ingredients for a common Japanese dish and then played laughing tracks when he tried to cook it without knowing what it is. There were a lot of similar shows, like following foreign tourists and playing laughing tracks when they struggled with the ticket machine at a train station.
I can only say I agree. They are both poisons, if slightly different poisons.
It’s both. I knew a guy who was half black, half Japanese but he was born and raised in Japan. Despite being native born and culturally Japanese, he still faced a lot of discrimination because he was black. Among the expats, we were all discriminated against due to being foreigners, but the black people got it the worst. Even among the Japanese people, there is colorism with lighter skin considered more desirable.
I know a handful of white Americans who at a glance you’d never guess they’re highly educated polyglots and would meet the requirements for entering this restaurant. The way the sign is worded, I think you’re right, only fluent Japanese people allowed here because we only speak Japanese here.
Meanwhile in the west:
Racism: 🤬
Racism against Asians: 😆😝🤡
Nope. Racial against Asians is an US thing.
I am an Asian and live in Europe. Racism against Asians exists here as well. And it’s pretty much normalized.
OK I didn’t know that. Sorry
“heh you must be good at math because you’re Chinese” (they’re Filipino)
Google Lens tells me that the description is accurate. Even though i love japanese culture, they are racist as fuck, so i am not ever surprised.
My wife is southeast Asian. Going to Japan, I felt a lot of like… weird energy at times where they just kind of looked at me. I never felt unsafe, just judged. I told my wife this, who said she felt the complete opposite. People were normal to her. She blended in.
She was born and raised in the States, and we traveled to a bunch of States (fuck Missouri) where she really felt unsafe like if she didn’t leave town, they would make us. And Ive shared before how we got a “Go back to your own country” from other people, and even one showing off his gun.
Do I feel like Japanese racism is uncalled for? Absolutely. Again, I never felt unsafe. So it’s really interesting to see this perspective in the comments like this is the worst disgusting attitude in the world because someone snubbed them vs feeling like you’re not wanted/you should leave for your own safety.
I lived in Japan for 2 years. I had several expat friends with stories of going to the hospital, being told they were full, their Japanese wife showing up, and suddenly they have space. Other stories of legal disputes between a Japanese person and a foreign immigrant will always go to the Japanese person. Japanese culture is very non-confrontational, but don’t think their brand of racism is safer. If we’re comparing racism and deciding one is less bad than the other, we’ve already partially accepted that it has a place in society.
As someone in a similar situation, there are differences in the racism are stark.
They treat you differently but far more often than not, it is just curiosity or looking for entertainment from a zoo animal. They are not hostile or aggressive.
The “zoo animal” thing seems about right. Sometimes they look at you like they think you’re about to start flinging shit around. Sometimes they’re curious about how the zoo animal is going to do something simple like handle chopsticks. Often they don’t make eye contact or keep their space because they don’t want to have to interact with the zoo animal.
OTOH, part of their being polite is that if the gaijin actually asks them for help, they’re obligated to try to help.
Overall, I liked it. As an introvert, I don’t like countries where people approach the foreigner and try to practice their English on them. There are also too many countries where you’re frequently approached by someone who wants to scam you, or wants you to give them money.
They are not hostile or aggressive.
… until you try to open a bank account with them ad a foreigner. Tourists are fine and tolerated but become an expat and you’ll have a much steeper time.
Why do white immigrants often call themselves expats? I’ve never heard anyone who wasn’t a well-off immigrant white guy self-describe that way.
and yet japan is still viewed as an utopia by reddit weebs, despite japan being really racist
I love their trains, the food is good, it’s a beautiful country.
But also, holy shit, Japan has just never reckoned with its imperial past in the slightest.
If you ever see those tourism promotion photos of mt. Fuji with a pagoda in the foreground, that pagoda was built in the 50s, around the end of the US occupation, to commemorate soldiers who fought in essentially every war that imperial Japan got itself into. It’s very clear political statement.
And I learned this, upon climbing that damn mountain, and reading the plaque in front of the pagoda, only to learn that it was a monument to imperialism the whole time
Police aren’t likely to kill you over there. Just harass you if you’re clubbing with their women.
But they can force confession out of you. Japan has one of the most conviction rates in the world…
That’s true for everyone though. Their police are equal opportunity bastards.
edit: oh and the clubbing thing is in regards to an old law banning dancing after midnight that was being selectively enforced against gaijin clubbing with Japanese women. Japan or Tokyo’s tourism board had to step in and tell the cops to stop before the law was officially overturned. https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/21/asia/japan-midnight-dancing-ban
It’s worse than that though. Their court system is entirely rigged against defendants. Conviction rates elsewhere do not match those of Japan.
yup the first A in ACAB is ALL
actually no exceptions, because the exceptions all stopped being police very quickly
I went there recently. The organization and efficiency are truly astounding. I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia. But it’s never gonna happen because those best parts are direct results of the cultural mindset that leads to each one’s dark ends as well. They’re both sides of their respective coins, unfortunately…
The US has ‘best parts’? Really can’t imagine anything good about them lol
I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia
Big Hero 6 moment
Not despite.
Still racist
It wasn’t saying it wasn’t tho
I mean, genuinely, how? It’s not saying you need to be Japanese to enter, just that you need to be able to read Japanese. IMO, learning the local language of a country you plan to visit is a basic courtesy that too many people don’t bother with.Okay, I take it back. I was thinking too much from the perspective of an American who’s been scolded for not spending enough time learning the language of places I visited. Thank you to the people who pointed out that what I said was ignorant without just piling on insults, I’ll try to be more thoughtful in the future.
“I’m tired of all these immigrants coming over here and not even being able to speak the language. This is [country] and we speak [language] here!”
That’s what you sound like.
It’s their country. Aren’t they entitled to make rules?
If you tie the availability of housing to whatever language someone speaks instead of something tangible related to the respective person, it’s racism.
I used Google Lens to translate the bottom text. Do you think that if i would go in there using my phone to translate i would get a room for the night?
This is a restaurant, not housing
I realized my mistake, but i think i wouldn’t get food either.
racism
Language is not a race.
Not being able to communicate, participate, doesn’t help either side. Buying a house, without being able to communicate is on its way to forming and insular community and not simply being denied service that is otherwise open to the public.
But this sign is for a restaurant, not for buying property. This is simply racism because they don’t want anyone outside of their cultural circle intruding…
Culture is not a race.
It was your example
Do you believe that anyone existing in America must speak English and only English? If a couple next to you at a cafe are speaking French to each other do you tell them to go back home?
Do you believe that anyone existing in America must speak English
Yeah, eventually. If I’m going to live in a country indefinitely, I’m going to try to learn their language. If I’m in France for more than a year, I’m going to try to learn French. I’d expect the same of friends and family. It’s not racist to expect people living in a place long term to be able to converse with the locals.
If they’re working here for just a summer or two and spending most of the year in another country, no.
and only English?
No?
Yeah, eventually. If I’m going to live in a country indefinitely, I’m going to try to learn their language.
We’re not talking about eventually or indefinitely we’re literally just talking about visiting a restaurant for a meal
Sorry, you asked a question that could have been seen as different from that context, so I was very explicit.
No, for just visiting you don’t need to learn the language. If you plan to stay long term, you should learn the local language.
So shouldn’t all Americans speak (or at least learn) native American languages? You know, on the account that English isn’t native to America. Neither is Spanish for that matter. Nor French.
They are even racist to their own… Also you seem to be cursed. you should to watch the video.
America is a country founded upon immigration, so it’s not a comparable example. In broad terms, Japan is historically a fairly homogenous nation ethnically, culturally, and linguistically (and yes, I know those are very broad terms, I’m talking relative to North American countries like the US and Canada).
If the 1600s-1700s had gone differently, and North America remained predominantly populated by Native peoples speaking Native languages, then yeah I’d say it’s totally within their rights to expect visitors to either learn the local language and attempt to integrate, or be left out of certain parts of society such as restaurants that want to cater exclusively to people who speak Algonquin or whatever.
Show up in Algiers and try saying “Sorry, I don’t speak Arabic. Do you have a French menu?”
I’m not an expert on Japanese culture, but I don’t think they have the “melting pot” cultural identity that America has had historically.
So it’s not xenophobia if you’ve been consistently xenophobic from the start.
Was it xenophobia for Algeria to reject French-speakers?
.world btw
It’s not their fault which Lemmy server they were born into
Yeah, team sports!
/s
“This is [Barcelona] and we speak [Catalan] here!”
Is this suddenly a different situation?
Jim Crow literacy tests have entered the chat
… How many countries have you ever visited to say that
Like, being able to speak the very basics I agree. Numbers, hello and goodbye, thank you, etc.
But “If you can read this, you may come in” is pretty advanced. Like, probably requiring weeks of daily study level advanced to be able to understand.
Solidly A2 (European system) with that grammar(English translation) so 3-6 months (1-2 terms of university course).
You’re right, in Barcelona they write “Tourists go home” in plain English in order to accommodate foreigners who aren’t fluent in Catalan!
Exactly
Ah, yes, everyone whould spend months to learn the language of every country they visit even though they might be there for only a few days.
How are you this dumb? I highly doubt you’ve ever been outside the country you were born in, and if you have you certainly didn’t follow your own thought here.
Christ Almighty dude, calm down. Yeah, maybe my comment was ignorant crap, but why jump straight to ad hominem? Do you think you’re actually going to change anyone’s opinion by calling them stupid straight off the bat?
