Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.
and other random rants for a blog
...being a minority in a big city gives a person a lot of reasons to rant and complain, but before I start let me explain that this has nothing to do with Tokyo being in Japan, this is simply a rant about being a "neon sign" (that shouts: not japanese!) and what it feels like sometimes, it has nothing to do with my current place really, instead it has to do with being a foreign minority... a situation others deal with almost anywhere you go, so here is my perspectives of being a neon sign, followed by an after thought.
I was walking back to the train station, from work, the night had already draped over the day, and I was a bit tired. As I walked past a drunk man, he said (In drunken Japanese of course) "So whhhere areee YO-uu comin' from?" I just laughed and said "Your drunk." and kept going. Near the station, a woman working for a host club said (with a accent that was clearly foreign herself, maybe filipino, but it wasnt a chinese accent [the biggest minority in Japan i belive, does anyone know?] because I can hear that clearly now because of all the chinese people I have met that are learning japanese...) "Goodevening, please take this." I looked up and she let out a shocked gasp, backed away, and said to her pimp (who was watching the three women pass out flyers) "He's not Japanese." It was one of those neon-sign moments. Yes, I know I am not Japanese. And now my after thought, before it even seems like an afterthought... both of these experiences are explainable, the drunk... well, he was drunk and curious, no hard feelings. The hostess was maybe told by her pimp (do you call the boss of a hostess a pimp? or a trainer? or boss? whats the right word?) to only give the flyers to japanese businessmen, so no hard feelings there either... I just think life as a neon sign is interesting.
Another rant before I disapear. A few days ago, on a whim, I decided to go to Nagoya today, to have lunch with Yamamoto. On the way there I forgot the name of the shinkansen station that was closest to Nagoya, so I went to the closest ticket window and asked. He said he wasnt JapanRail, which was true, so he couldnt tell me. I asked him if he could just tell me his personal opinion, and he said his opinion was I should ask JR... I asked again and he said he didnt know, I asked if anyone there knew because I am stubborn and didnt know why someone couldnt just tell me... his boss came over and said that even if they did know they wouldnt tell me because they werent JR, which I thought was silly, a perfect example of big city politics... anyway, I went over to the JR booth but no one was there, and so I waited... a JR guy came out of the backroom, I stopped him, asked my simple question, and then he continued to exit the JR booth... as I watched he went over and entered the booth I went to first, and he either took a turn at the ticket desk or atleast was hanging out with those not-JR people... if they can hang out together why cant they answer questions about each others train lines? It was strange... but yeah, thats life in a big city, what do you expect?
Oh, and that was funny, going all the way to Nagoya for lunch (an hour and a half on superfast shinkansen train). Yes, I know I am crazy, but sometimes you have to do crazy things to keep balanced, or anyway, thats what I think.
SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI
22:17:00 | permalink | comments (13)
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Dansen - I have an idea of how you feel physically standing out. I have often felt the same way here in New Mexico... people keep asking me if I'm Irish and saying how pail I am :p It's weird for me.
Steph
Thank you for the postcard Dansen, I love you
Diego
I guess what I meant is how do you feel, I know you went into it a little, mainly through your description of the events...does it effect you every day? Do you feel like people treat you much differently all the time or just on these particular occasions? You see I will be a neon sign with out much Japanese at my disposal, I will learn and I will love to do so but just bracing for impact so to speak. I have tried like hell to start a few convesations up out of the blue with some Japanese students out here but my Japanese isn't good enough and they stare at my like I am attempting to murder them. Makes me feel like an arse and quite stupid as well. If I must feel like that everyday in Japan I want to be fore warned. I am going to Japan regaurdless, it is an adventure I would not soon pass up and I want to experience the neon sign phenomanon, I guess I am just mining you for information. So on that note and with out any real clarity of what I was trying to say, I better get back to work.
trench
I've had some experience in being a minority, and still am. I think that in Japan, the discrimination is out in the open, very direct and obvious, sometimes not even bothering to hide it. In American, it's very subtle, under the radar, and hidden. Sometimes I don't know which is better.
Diego
Difficult to put into words what I mean. I can't get onto JAN JAN anymore, I keep recieving an "Internal Server Error". Any way. Hope to see you soon. July. I will be in Montana after June 14th so my internet access will be limited.
trench
trench... experiences? did you miss my second paragraph?? :p its all about two experiences I had!! and Tanya (one of my ex-coworkers) gives a great experience of being gaijin in tokyo (in these comments, scroll down) if you want further, you'll have to wait for another post in the future! woo! :) ^.^;
Dansen
I guess am an fishing for information, experience and anecdote. I too will soon be a neon sign so I am a bit rabid over information or your take on it.
trench
First off, Aaron... Korean-Japanese arent what I meant, they are an important part of Japanese society, and could be considered a minority, but I ment Foreign Born nationals, being born in Japan qualifies you as Japanese in my book... and of us foreign borners, I think Chinese are the most? I'm not sure. Tanya, I have also had situations of being with Asian-American friends and (i speak enough japanese) have met the situation you explained, its one of those things, no hard feelings for anyone, I guess its just the way things are sometimes... Trench.. what didnt I relate? You expand and I expand... and Ted, what are you talking about? Oh, the train thing? Yeah, I understand that, it just seemed like he could help me... but i guess I was annoying. Aaron, you have brown eyes? I thought hazel.. no? anywaysers, yeah, i had a little student telling all about "foreigners" and what they expect which isnt really fair... because thats why I like to point out there is a wild rainbow of cool foreigners here! woo! anyway, peace, thanks for all the beautiful comments, any more are welcome too.. peace! ^-^
Dansen
I had some kids the other day telling the teacher about how I have blue eyes because I'm a foreigner, and the teacher was like, "What? He doesn't have blue eyes!" and just kept talking about my blue eyes, so the teacher said, "look at his eyes, they're brown, just like yours!". It was interesting.
But usually, I don't feel any more like a neon sign here than anywhere else. I think that it's actually more quite and peaceful. I can't understand most of what people are saying unless they are talking directly to me, and I can't read most of the advertisements, so the people talking just turns into white noise, and the advertisements, even though the are so much more prevalent than in America, turn into a mass of colors. I had a hard time dealing with all the noise and everything the first time I returned to the states after a year in Japan.
Aaron
I have been a minority MANY times in my life. I just seem to fit into waht ever situation I am in though. I understand about the guy not wanting to answer your question. They prob get upset about all teh people who come up and ask them about stuff that they are not reesponsible for. It seems like a simple thing that they could just give you the answer and it really is no big deal to others, but if you work at the place and constantly get asked a question about somewhere else it would prob begin to gratee on you
Ted
Elaborate. How do you feel being neon? You related your expereinces but not fully what it made you feel. I am curious.
Trench
Well, Dansen I had the opposite problem. I felt like a fake, a phoney, a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. When I wen out with foreigners that know more Japanese than me and said "Nihongo wa amari hanase masen" they completely ignored the foreigner next to me and kept talking to me in Japanese. I don't mind so much but usually the person next to me gets really pissed off.
Then in voice they used say stuff like, "We are glad to have you we feel more comfortable because you are like us". Then I used to question why and they would say stuff like the first time they meet foreigners they're really nervous and are surprised and shocked by their blue eyes and blond hair and they can't believe that there's an actual foreigner in the room like they see in movies. Then it's strange for me because I used to have to try and tell them they should really look beyond that yet I could sort of understand that it is a strange thing for them.
Tanya
The biggest minority in Japan is Korean.
He's a pimp.
You're crazy.
It not really hot today, but it was soooooooo humid.
Aaron
