Japan and Racism: How real is it really?

Today i was again online, playing some Blade and Soul on the American server. Me and some Friends had a Blast doing some Dungeon Runs and whatever, the usual stuff you do, playing a Game. As it is always nice to meet new People online, you quickly get to talk and of course, me living in Japan becomes the top Topic 9 out of 10 times.

So again Today, ......just Today was a little different.

There was this one Guy explaining to me, how great living in Japan is supposed to be, cause all he knows are Anime and Manga and there you don't seem to have much much conflict, except the usual Giant Robot or Alien Invasion, going on, much less open Racism. At least not compared to the States, he wanted to make me believe.

Yeah the States have a Racism Problem, but that's a different Story, and even more so than what the average Mass Media tries to make you believe.

So what about Japan? Is there Racism in Japan?

I, as a Foreigner living here for over 9 Years now, have to say Yes.

But it is not as easy as that, Racism in Japan is one of a very different kind.

Sure you have the casual open Racism. Happened to me a few times throughout the Years here. You stand at a red traffic Sign, waiting to cross the Street and a Japanese Person comes up and tells you in very broken English: "Go Home, Go Home to America", even tho i am German, but how should they know.

But this is rare, happened to me so far in over 9 years 4 times, not very often i think.

Much more of a Problem is a different kind of Racism, the one you don't recognize as such. At least not till later in a conversation or even quite some time later, after you get to know more about the Japanese, the Language and Japanese Way.

Racism in Japan comes more from Ignorance and the Attempt to Silence Problems in the Hope these will go away with time.

For me as a German, it's not that bad, but for other ethnic groups it can and is worse.

I live in an Area of the City, that is a little bit more expensive, you will see a lot of Benz and BMW, the occasional Maserati and Lamborghini here.

Police stopped me in 7 Years living here 3 times so far, me walking, asking if i am drunk. In Japan there are no Laws against being Drunk on the Street walking, so what was it all about? I didn't walk down the road tumbling as I didn't drink any alcohol at that time anyway.

Why did they stop me?

The Enlightenment hit me fast, as the next question, after confirming my ID and where i am headed, was if they could Search Me for Drugs.

In Japan, they are allowed to search you on the Suspicion of something illegal going on.

So it seems a Blond Foreigner at Night in a better situated Neighborhood is exactly that. This further escalated into the older of the 2 Policemen , about 50 i would guess, doubting my ID, if i was really German or not truly Russian. After asking if i should better call my Lawyer, as this is first off against the Law, trying to imply i committed a Felony, without even a hint of anything suggesting that, the Situation escalated further. Now suddenly the older Policemen, so far only voicing his doubts about my ID, became very talkative. He had left the whole beforehand Conversation up to that point to the younger, about 30 i would guess, Policemen. He told me also to "go back to my Country, that Foreigners are just here to commit Crime and he had seen enough of it". So i then went on to ask him, if he knew, that what he just did was Discrimination and Racism against me personally and that i would call my Lawyer now and i wanted to know his Name,........, suddenly the ID Check was over and i was free to go, as both of them left and drove off.

So yeah, there is Racism in Japan, if you are a blond Foreigner walking in a better situated neighborhood at night, you might be a Russian Drug Dealer with a wrong ID, even if you are just trying to walk home.

I could now cite more and more examples, similar to the Police one, but these are not the real Problem.

The Real Problem is the Ignorance about such things happening and if you want to talk about it, you get cut off very harshly and most Japanese will try to either silence you or convince you, that YOU misunderstood the other Party.

A few days ago I had a Japanese Friend tell me, that there is no Racism in Japan, only "Kubetsu", which translates into a Distinction or Classification. He didn't even realize that this in itself was already being Racist.

As "Kubetsu" means the Classification on an equal base, for example the "Kubestu" between the Toilet for Men and Women. While "Sabetsu", which means Discrimination in Japanese, is the Classification in a vertical Layer, meaning creating a Distance between Top and Bottom, or Something/Someone better or worse than the other.

But that is the real Problem , just look at the ANA TV Commercial that was shelved

very quickly, because one of the Actors was Japanese with a blond plastic Wig and a huge plastic Nose, trying to appeal to Japanese, that ANA now does more international Flights. They took the Commercial off quickly, after quite a few People complained about the Racism in that. Nobody at the Marketing Company and ANA itself realized it as being Racist. They couldn't see, that if a white Person paints himself Black, imitating an the Stereotype African-American to sell KFC would not result in very Positive Feedback.

Or the older Japanese Gentleman i talked to, sitting next to me in a Bar. After hearing i am German, he tells me he likes Hitler and greets me again with his right Arm stretched out and shouting "Heil Hitler", as if i would be happy about that.

Stereotypes and Racism and Ignorance are a big part of Japanese Society, but not only to Foreigners, towards Women also and even towards certain Groups of Japanese. Everything and Everyone gets "classified" and put into boxes and judged on appearance, point of origin or other things that have no real meaning whatsoever concerning the Person and Personality.

And the worst Part about it, most People don't try to insult you, they actually intend to be polite with what they say and do, not realizing what they actually convey......this Ignorance is the real Problem, but here in Japan, you don't talk about Problems, Problems don't exist and if they do, ignoring them will make them go away. So Education would go a long way, but not anytime soon. First you have to admit, that there is a Problem, before you can attack it......and that is something very "Unjapanese" in it's own. Maybe in a few Years, with the continued changing of the Generations, and more and more Information available in our everyday life this will become less and less of an issue.

We can only wait and see.

#Japan #Racism #Stereotype #Ignorance