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Dipso
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Posts: 194
Location: England
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 Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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| callmesim wrote: |
And the worst thing is, I think it breeds itself. Because now I'm starting to hate foreigners in this country because I see them as elitist, snobbish turds. Does anyone have any reason why this occurs? |
I have lived in both big cities and small towns in Japan and (in my experience, at least) foreigners do often acknowledge each other in smaller communities, but much less so in larger cities.
At one point I lived in a rather small inaka town where young Chinese women were employed seasonally in some kind of fish processing plant. When I saw these women in the street, they would always acknowledge me and me them, which I always liked - a sort of recognition that we were in the same boat. When I lived in this town, if ever I came across an English speaker we would invariably end up having a conversation. I remember once speaking to an American missionary for about an hour. We didn't talk about religion at all. I don't know - perhaps we both just needed to speak in fluent English!
Now I live in one of the biggest cities in Japan and am generally met by gaijin scowls. I did have a little moment today as I was waiting to cross a road though - me on one side, a young gaijin girl on the other. As we crossed we both did that embarrassed hesitant little smile thing, both no doubt hoping that our friendliness wouldn't be met with an icy superior glare.
I smile at lots of Japanese people as well, of course. It must be the gin. |
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Gypsy Rose Kim
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 151
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Wow! You all should come to Seoul if you are even considering that Tokyo is not an international city!!! All we have there are English teachers (mostly Canadian), US military, foreign wives of K-guys (mostly mail-order type), and the odd Iranian or African "guest worker".
I lived in Tokyo for years and the reason I loved it was because it was so international. There are tons of people from other countries of all ages and backgrounds working there in all industries.
I went through this thing where I couldn't stand Tokyo and thought it was suffocating and all the same. I left and spent a year in Australia, lots of time travelling around Europe, and then moved to Korea. Knowing what I know now, I would have to say that barring NY, London and LA, Tokyo is possibly the most international city on the planet.
I'm now on vacation again in Europe. If you think Japan is insular and homogeneous, just come here! You'll feel so FREE when you return to Japan. I always do. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:56 am Post subject: |
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I hadn't gotten that impression.
http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/PROFILE/overview03.htm
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Population of Tokyo
Population Summary
As of October 1, 2005, the population of Tokyo is estimated to be 12.544 million, or about 10% of Japan's total population, and it has the largest population among all the 47 prefectures.
At 2,187 square kilometers, the area of Tokyo is 0.6% of the total area of Japan, making it the third smallest of Japan's 47 prefectures. With a population density of 5,736 persons per square kilometer, Tokyo is the most densely populated prefecture in Japan.
The 23 special-ward area is home to 8.457 million persons, the Tama area 4.061million, and the Islands 26,000. Tokyo has 5.866 million households, with an average 2.14 persons per household. The registered number of foreign residents reached 360,000 as of October 1, 2005, some 1.4 times more than the total figure ten years earlier. |
This figure includes many Koreans born in Japan, many of who don't speak Korean, only Japanese.
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/tokyo_population.htm
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Tokyo Population By Nationality
Foreign residents: 353,826 (as of Jan. 1, 2005)
Top 5 Nationalities of Foreign Residents: Chinese (120,331), Korean (103,191), Philippine (31,505), American (18, 043), British (7,585) |
http://user.chollian.net/~jis0523/korea-seoul.htm
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| The number of foreign residents in Seoul as of the end of 1994 is 39,246 or 0.36 % of Seoul's total population. They include 15,032 Americans, 11,521 Chinese, and 4,603 Japanese. There are people of more than 90 different nationalities currently residing in Seoul, forming a small global village. |
I see what you mean, the foreign population in Seoul is definately smaller (than Tokyo), but that hardly makes Tokyo international, just more international than Seoul. |
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matador
Joined: 07 Mar 2003
Posts: 281
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| Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:37 am Post subject: |
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Gypsy Rose Kim mentioned:
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| I'm now on vacation again in Europe. If you think Japan is insular and homogeneous, just come here! You'll feel so FREE when you return to Japan. I always do. |
Where exactly are you in the EU that is so insular compared to Japan? And your other point about feeling so 'free' in Tokyo 
...how are you defining `free` in this case...?[/quote] |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:40 am Post subject: |
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I've only visited Tokyo a couple of times and it didn't appear to me to be a place I would call an "international city". It's the only place where I have been refused entry to a bar because I wasn't Japanese - it was just a regular bar! I also noticed that trains on the subway carried pictures of gaijin sprawled out on the seats squashing the Japanese passengers into a corner - too shy or reserved to complain. An English caption underneath read "Move up please!". Signs also showed cartoons of brown-haired passengers with bulky backpacks bumping into salarymen.
In contrast, I have found Osaka to be if not "international" certainly more welcoming to foreigners.
Of course, Tokyo's governor is hardly the biggest champion of "internationalization".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Ishihara |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:56 am Post subject: |
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| Dipso wrote: |
Now I live in one of the biggest cities in Japan and am generally met by gaijin scowls. |
Sounds like New York & London.
| Gypsy Rose Kim wrote: |
| Wow! You all should come to Seoul...All we have there are English teachers (mostly Canadian), US military, foreign wives of K-guys (mostly mail-order type), and the odd Iranian or African "guest worker". |
Sounds like Tokyo. |
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Sour Grape
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 241
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| Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:18 am Post subject: |
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| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
I've only visited Tokyo a couple of times and it didn't appear to me to be a place I would call an "international city". It's the only place where I have been refused entry to a bar because I wasn't Japanese - it was just a regular bar! I also noticed that trains on the subway carried pictures of gaijin sprawled out on the seats squashing the Japanese passengers into a corner - too shy or reserved to complain. An English caption underneath read "Move up please!". Signs also showed cartoons of brown-haired passengers with bulky backpacks bumping into salarymen.
In contrast, I have found Osaka to be if not "international" certainly more welcoming to foreigners.
Of course, Tokyo's governor is hardly the biggest champion of "internationalization".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Ishihara |
There was an eye-opening poster in the nearest bank to the house in which I used to live as well. It showed a blond foreigner at the ATM saying "Watashi wa wakarimasen" - transcribed in katakana, with a smiling person (presumably Japanese) leaning over to help him. A second blond haired man was picking her pocket. |
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