Originally posted by: Palek
Originally posted by: Carbonyl
Originally posted by: hans007
if i couldnt live here, i'd move to canada, and then the Uk, folllowed by japan
But you're not Japanese. If them being openly racist does'nt bother you It's a very clean country.
Have you ever actually lived in Japan? Just asking because you are making a pretty blatant blanket statement there. Sure, Japanese are racist, but not much more so than Americans OR Germans OR Hungarians. I mean, I know there is some pretty outrageous stuff going on here (like 2nd or 3rd generation Koreans still being considered aliens), but hey, it really only has been 50 years since the world war. Considering how long Japanese people live (Japan is among the top five countries for average life expectancy), it is not surprising to see that some of the old hatred still lives on. If I were to talk about racism, I would bring up my very own country as an example before pointing fingers at someone else's. 5 per cent of our population is made up of Gypsies, who have to face discrimination in every area of their lives. Or take Germany, for example, where foreign-looking people are often (well, often enough to make the news) targets of physical abuse. OR how about the good ol' States where not so long ago black people were considered inferior in many parts of the country, and even now there is so much tension between people of different colour that you can get beat up/killed for looking at someone funny?
I know that the States has come a long way since the days of slavery, but consider how young the country is and how rapidly it has evolved from a colony to superpower. A young culture welcomes change, it thrives on it, whereas Japan, a country of thousands of years of history and tradition, will move along at a much slower pace. This might sound a little rough, cruel even, but the older generations have to die out here before radical changes can be made. Yes, old people most likely still despise Koreans and some of them (I actually met one or two) probably consider all foreigners criminals, but these will be the same people whose neighbours might have been flying kamikaze airplanes to a glorious death. You know just as well as I do that after a certain age it is pretty hard to change one's way of thinking. If you talk to young Japanese people, you will be hard-pressed to find any hint of racial bias, and even if you do, I still think that you cannot blame them for being affected by the hatred of their ancestors. Give this country some time and they will shake off all the remains of the old nationalist empire. Changes happen slowly here, but they do happen eventually.
Living in Japan certainly has its disadvantages, and yes, it is tough to be a foreigner here, not many people end up settling down in Japan for good, but for some it is worth it. And you never know, you could be one of them.
Anyways, sorry about that little rant. I feel a little overprotective when I hear people bashing Japan. I like this place, and I like these people. (Oh, yeah, in case you have not figured it out yet, I live in Japan.)
Facebook
Twitter