LogFAQs > #969486424

agesboy posted...

i've got friends that live over there and while none of the guys have had major problems, the foreigner women really have been the target of sexual harassment, particularly by older guys

Thats more of an issue of sexism than racism or xenophobia, because women born and raised in Japan are also regularly the target of sexual harassment. Armed robbery isnt common here, but women getting their underwear thats left out to dry stolen is. But sadly, women have it worse in every country, some more so than others.

If my post didnt make it clear, I also live in Japan, and I have several non-Japanese women Im friends with. I think each of them have at least one experience of sexual harassment here, but its not as common out in the inaka, at least not where we live. I think a common form of sexual assault here is women getting covertly groped on sardine-packed trains, and that level of crowding is much more prevalent in the bigger cities, so thats a risk women should be aware of when traveling or moving to any of big cities here. It sucks women have a lot more to consider, particularly in regards to their safety, when traveling and moving abroad.

But I still stand by the statement that Japan is one of the safer countries for people to live in. For example, I lived in Sierra Leone for a year before moving to Japan, and the level of sexual harassment faced by non-Salonian women there was far, far greater than the level of sexual harassment non-Japanese women deal with in Japan. Sierra Leone is still an overall very friendly country and very welcoming to foreigners in general though (and I know several women from the States who have ended marrying Salonian men and making Sierra Leone their home) because, again, this is more a case of sexism than racism or xenophobia. But I will say Asian folk may face some unintended forms of bigotry in how they are addressed in Sierra Leone, but its usually more from a place of ignorance than malice.

I think people have this image of Japan hating foreigners in part due to how nationalistic the country tends to be, and I wont deny that nationalism tends to run strong here, but Ive had multiple experiences here where people want to engage with me specifically because Im a foreigner. Just two weeks ago I was at a train station and this old man randomly approaches me and says America??! and I said Yeah and he just sat down and started asking me questions and showing me these watercolor and pen pieces he had made of the seaside town he leaves in. Ive had an older woman want to adopt me and be my host mother. Ive had a middle aged man buy me multiple drinks in a bar after talking (and agreeing) about the war in Ukraine.

I dont agree with nationalism in general, but I feel like its a lot more understandable here when pensions are still common across most professions allowing people to have comfortable retirements, paid paternity/maternity leave is like a year long, jobs tend to subsidize 40-50% of your rent, and theres a general culture of respect and order that creates a country that tends to be clean and peaceful. Not defending it, but I can understand how seeing a foreigner who doesnt understand your societys rules and customs not following certain unsaid rules and getting annoyed by it. That annoyance evolves into bigotry when empathy and critical thinking arent being practiced (and I think both of those are becoming a lot more common here). I dont want to come across here like Im a gaijin Japanese nationalist myself or anything, theres honestly plenty about this country I find unappealing and unsettling after living here for over a year, but I dont think Japan really hates foreigners or that Krazy_Kirby, notable PotD conservative pundit, is the guy to be listening to or backing here.