Comments on: Who’s Really Japanese?

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 01:58:18 +0000

Yeah, I get that all the time. And the corollary, “Did you go home over the holidays?” Naturally, I know what they mean, but I’m always like, Home? You mean Japan? That’s always good for a laugh. And then they’re like, No, really, did you go home?

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 01:53:54 +0000

This article was a great read, as was zoomingjapan’s comment. I am always asked “how long do you plan to stay in japan for?” – as if I couldn’t possibly be living here permanently. In fact, once I replied “until I decide to go home” to which the person thought, then replied “how do you buy groceries?” … haha they can’t even imagine how I survive here (with my minimal japanese skills – I’m still studying!)
Anyway, this is such an unexpected side effect to living in Japan! Never realised this was a thing until I got here…!

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 06:30:26 +0000

That was interesting. It’s the kind of thing you hear discussed a lot in forums like Gaijinpot, and among people who’ve lived here for a while. Racism exists the world over, apparently. It’s just manifest a bit differently in Japan.

By: Technical Viking

Technical Viking — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:07:32 +0000

There is a somewhat topical answer on Quora that I thought people here might find interesting: http://www.quora.com/Racism/Where-can-a-white-man-go-to-not-find-himself-privileged

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:55:04 +0000

That’s good, but whenever I hear “Ah, gaijin!” I like to look around and say in Japanese, “Gaijin? There’s gaijin here? Where?”

It makes a little different point.

By: Derp

Derp — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:35:46 +0000

Don’t get too worked up, some people just need to bitch.

By: Derp

Derp — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:34:56 +0000

errr 日本人* keep forgetting it goes both ways

By: Derp

Derp — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:33:11 +0000

You have no idea as to how many times I’ve done the ああ外人だ！ thing. It never really gets old, especially when its in the town that I’ve been going to pretty much every summer since I can remember.

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:23:51 +0000

It’s funny to see how worked up Japanese people get when confused with people of other nations, considering how frequently they assume that White = English speaker and probably American, to the consternation of many Europeans.

Japan certainly has a very different culture from the West, and it’s really amazing to compare the two. I hope you have the chance to travel here in the future.

By: nelieta

nelieta — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:53:29 +0000

Very interesting article! I remember once confusing a Japanese woman for being Chinese and she wasn`t impressed and I felt really embarrassed. I think the Japanese people have such an interesting culture. I would love to travel there one day! Thanks for sharing and you have a great blog!