Poll: Ever been to Japan?

[Toriver]

I live there, so yeah, I've been.

Its not all anime and pocky.

Its racism and awkwardness.

They hate foreigners, their culture is based around being awkward in front of other people, and deep down inside most of them is a lunatic waiting to come out.

I've lived here for over a year now and I've seen the sights. Tokyo is cool. Climbing Mt. Fuji was nice. The Cherry Blosom festival at Hirosaki castle was pretty. But thats really the problem. The country is beautiful, but because i'm a foreigner (5'10" 230lbs of military) I stand out, people notice me, and immediately tag on the stupid problem causing asshole stereotype.

My year here has been interesting, but once I leave I probably won't come back.

Yeah, it is definitely more than anime and Pocky, and honestly I would love to have all the weeaboos come out here to visit and see how quickly they would be shunned by everyone around them until they woke up to that truth. The entire country is not Akihabara, and Tokyo could essentially be its own country and culture. The same can be said for Okinawa, probably even more so than Tokyo, given its unique history that for the great portion of history was completely different from the rest of Japan; it was its own kingdom, the Ryukyu kingdom, until the 19th century, and completely independent from Japan until the 1600s.

Though in regards to the racism, I would disagree. Pretty much every Japanese person I've ever met, while they may or may not actually harbor racism in their minds, has been quite outwardly friendly if you make the effort to talk to them, and they are happy to show you cool and interesting things about their country. You pretty much have to have done something to make them act "racist" towards you. Most of the racism complaints I hear are from military folks, and TBH, they don't often do their best to show that they're interested in the country at all, and I often hear racist remarks about the Japanese from them as well. Further, many Japanese may like the USA and Americans in general just fine, but just don't like our military (I would actually figure this to be the majority view), primarily due to the whole US bases on their land issue. And over time, they've gotten pretty good at telling who is and is not military before even talking to someone. So they could be just showing some apprehension or hostility towards the US military, rather than any real racism against white people. Others, who may not be able to tell all that well, may just assume any foreigner they see is US military, and just may be unfriendly to any foreigner for that reason.

But for anyone, if you take the time and make the effort to show even a little interest in the country and its culture outside of games, anime, and manga, for even a little bit, you can make a big difference in their own perception of foreign people and culture, and help improve our image here even more. Most Japanese are not really racist, it's just that they literally don't understand or are just nervous about possibly having to speak a foreign language. Making mistakes in public, for any reason, is frowned upon here, so they get really nervous about possibly making any sort of error in their English and embarrassing themselves in front of you and any other people who may be around. And most Japanese people I know of are at least somewhat introverted, so you have to be the one to speak up and make the effort to make friends. They won't often reach out to you and try to get to know you, but it's not because they don't like you or don't want to be friends. It's just a cultural difference that you have to get used to if you come here looking to make friends.

On another note, if anyone has any more questions about living here in Japan but outside of Tokyo, feel free to PM me and I will do my best to answer.

 

[Chemical Alia]

No, and it ranks pretty low on the list of places I'm interested in visiting. Not that appealing to my interests.

 

[The Lunatic]

Nope. No intention to.

Can't help but think people who "Make it their goal" are kinda... Well... Let's say "Typical".

 

[Erana]

Yeah, but not for the reasons you're thinking.

I'm an Asian Studies minor, and Japan is one of the most accessible East Asian countries. It didn't have tons of cultural revolutions and social fallouts that resulted in the theft or destruction of cultural treasures and artifcacts like much of the region, so there's a lot to see. With all the other cultural influences...
Well, my professor always said that if you want to see well-preserved ancient Chinese architecture, go to Japan.
Its safe, has a good relationship to America, and is about the size of New England, so you can get a great feel for what the country has to offer without traveling all that far.

Blah, blah, its a great place for someone with an academic interest in East Asia, blah. The geekiest thing I did was go with some other students to a gashapon store, while hitting an arcade on the way. I have a widdle gundam and a pokemon center GBA that I got for 400 yen. :3

 

[jadias]

Nope and I don't want to. It would be very low on my list of places to visit. Way too crowded, way too technologically dependent and nothing about the culture intrigues me.

You realise there's a lot more to it than Tokyo, right? Try the Japan Alps if you want to get away from it all. Heck, go to Hokkaido! There is some AMAZING countryside in Japan, if you care to look for it (and I don't mean climbing Fuji in tourist season).

Have a look here - this is what I'll be doing this winter and this is in Japan!
http://i-cjw.com/

No flashing neon signs, no crowded subway trains, no Pocky. Just beautiful wilderness (and awesome climbing!).

I'm planning a winter ascent of Fuji, too - quite different from sticking to the tourist path in the summer!

 

[Nimcha]

But for anyone, if you take the time and make the effort to show even a little interest in the country and its culture outside of games, anime, and manga, for even a little bit, you can make a big difference in their own perception of foreign people and culture, and help improve our image here even more. Most Japanese are not really racist, it's just that they literally don't understand or are just nervous about possibly having to speak a foreign language. Making mistakes in public, for any reason, is frowned upon here, so they get really nervous about possibly making any sort of error in their English and embarrassing themselves in front of you and any other people who may be around. And most Japanese people I know of are at least somewhat introverted, so you have to be the one to speak up and make the effort to make friends. They won't often reach out to you and try to get to know you, but it's not because they don't like you or don't want to be friends. It's just a cultural difference that you have to get used to if you come here looking to make friends.

I agree with this! I think they're inherently a little xenophobic so you have to be the one to make the effort. But if you do, a lot of Japanese people are genuinely interested in what you have to say. I had a great conversation with a young girl who was fascinated by my red hair. Her English wasn't great but she seemed fascinated by the fact I came from the other side of the world.

 

[Lethos]

Stayed in Tokyo for 2 weeks last summer.
Lemme tell you this, Japanese girls love blue eyes and blonde hair.

 

[MakerOfRoads]

snip

You see, therein lies the problem.

I'm a nice guy, I go out of my way to be polite and not get in people's way, to do the right thing even though its an inconvenience to me, whatever. I do my best to, as the base commander says, "be a good ambassador to the US!".

But I'm met with the distain of my ancestors, people who have long since left the island, or the recent jackasses who have since been removed from the country and the military. Its not my fault people have waged war against them, wasn't my choice to be sent there, and there was nothing I could do to prevent the marines causing problems in Okinawa, people driving drunk here in Misawa getting into wrecks, I couldn't have stopped any of that if I wanted. But here I am, branded the same as those people. Which is fine, whatever, I understand the reasons behind it (even though we did send loads of relief after the earthquake, I myself personally volunteered over 50 hours of my time doing hard labor cleaning up nearby towns). What I really don't like about them is they are one of the few first world countries that don't have laws against discrimination. they are perfectly legal in putting up signs that say that gaijin aren't welcome. If I'm sitting in my car, keys out of the ignition and a Japanese National hits me with their car, it's my fault and my insurance will reflect that ("if I hadn't been there, it wouldn't have happened.").

Frankly, I'm kinda tired of it to be honest. Their culture seems nice, and for the most part it is. Nobody will be openly hostile towards you in public, and they won't tell you off in public either (at least not in a language you will understand). But underneath it all is the racism, the hostility, and in some cases, the anger. So, defend it, condemn it, it doesn't matter to me. I've witnessed genuinely innocent people being goaded into fighting JN's so they would get arrested, I've seen the bills and the court settlements of people who didn't even have the car started get blamed for car crashes. It's not fair, but the Japanese government doesn't give a shit, your American, all they want is your money, everything else about you can go.

You realise there's a lot more to it than Tokyo, right? Try the Japan Alps if you want to get away from it all. Heck, go to Hokkaido! There is some AMAZING countryside in Japan, if you care to look for it (and I don't mean climbing Fuji in tourist season).

Have a look here - this is what I'll be doing this winter and this is in Japan!
http://i-cjw.com/

No flashing neon signs, no crowded subway trains, no Pocky. Just beautiful wilderness (and awesome climbing!).

I'm planning a winter ascent of Fuji, too - quite different from sticking to the tourist path in the summer!

Your right, and wrong. The usual tourist traps (Tokyo, Shibuya, Sendai(before the quake), Sapporo, etc.) sure. But due to the military bases, there pretty much isn't a place that doesn't have some well beaten path. Mt. Fuji for example has loads of people, pretty much everyone I know here has climbed it (military guided tour services, gotta love em)

 

[CGAdam]

I live (t)here for now, city called Yokosuka. Yep, I'm one of the military personnel over here. And yes, they do hammer in the whole "Ambassador" thing pretty hard. Trouble is, we're not popular with the locals.

BUT that's a military thing and not the purpose of this post. It's a good place to visit, and a good place to live if you can. I do miss the states, though. Still, there's a lot to see and do. Hiking Fuji ranks as one of my favorite memories. And that little amusement park jes' off the mountain... phew, that tiny little place has two of the best roller coasters in the world.

It's cool.

 

[Trivun]

No, I haven't, though I would like to go, purely for the experience. I'm learning Japanese now as a matter of fact, starting by teaching myself the Kana through an iPod app (I have the first 30 hiragana memorised after neglecting my studies for a couple of months - not bad, methinks ;D). So I'd love to go at some point, though whether or not I could afford to is another matter entirely...

 

[Fragged_Templar]

Been to Japan and I loved it, I really wanna go back and stay longer next time

 

[SilentCom]

I've been to Japan for a few weeks to visit some family. I only spent a few days in Tokyo and the rest in the countryside. It was during the summer and there was a heat wave. With the higher humidity there it felt extremely hot. The electronics district was crazy, there were soo many people, a lot of whom were dressed up in cosplay. The countryside was completely different, there weren't too many people and it felt much more traditional and peaceful.

 

[iDoom46]

I've been there, and I've had pretty much the same experience as what other people have been saying; annoying language barriers and rampant xenophobia.

Sure, there were some scenic places and some neat technology (The bullet train was pretty cool, you don't even feel like you're moving, but the world flies by at 200mph.)
But at the same time, a lot of the culture has been lost due to that rapid westernization. Its damn near impossible to find a shrine or something, because they practically hide the damn things and all the signs leading to them are only in Japanese.
Generally speaking, everyone there is far too reserved. Its super crowded in the cities, so the lunchtime and dinnertime rushes make it near impossible to find a good place to eat.
I was even kicked out of both a restaurant and a 1 yen arcade for being a foreigner.

It was fun, but I doubt I'd go back, there are far more beautiful, interesting, and welcoming places in the world I'd rather visit first.

Now,Thailand, on the other hand, is a WONDERFUL place to go! The only reason I ever spent a week in Japan was on an "extended layover" on my way to Thailand, because that's where my adopted sister is from.
Its just as crowded, and far poorer, in Bangkok, but everybody greets you with a smile there. They are the nicest people I've ever met in my life.

 

[SillyBear]

Nope and I don't want to. It would be very low on my list of places to visit. Way too crowded, way too technologically dependent and nothing about the culture intrigues me.

You realise there's a lot more to it than Tokyo, right? Try the Japan Alps if you want to get away from it all. Heck, go to Hokkaido! There is some AMAZING countryside in Japan, if you care to look for it (and I don't mean climbing Fuji in tourist season).

Have a look here - this is what I'll be doing this winter and this is in Japan!
http://i-cjw.com/

No flashing neon signs, no crowded subway trains, no Pocky. Just beautiful wilderness (and awesome climbing!).

I'm planning a winter ascent of Fuji, too - quite different from sticking to the tourist path in the summer!

I can see AMAZING country side in bundles of countries. Japan does not interest me at all. The people, the culture, the country, none of it is of any interest to me at all. I am allowed to think this, you do realise?

And you can spin the population thing anyway you want, but even outside of the major cities Japan still has an incredibly high population density and to actually find an area of Japan that is interesting to see and isn't swarming with people at some stage wouldn't be worth the hassle of going there. And actually finding these places without knowing any Japanese would be hell.

 

[Zaverexus]

Nope, never been. Have heard about it from plenty of people though.

 

[Giest4life]

No, and it's pretty low on my list of places to visit, too. I don't really like Nintendo, never played any JRPG's and never owned any Play Station product except the PSP. I hate sushi (all sea-food, really) and I hate crowded places.

 

[kaveradeo]

I'm there now. For the second time.

No, and I never will. Because they're racist. And they hate white people. And their culture is really annoying.

I hope that's sarcasm.
It is right?
I'm not good at detecting it.

sarcasm does not travel over internet at all.
OT It seems like a nice place to go.

 

[jadias]

Your right, and wrong. The usual tourist traps (Tokyo, Shibuya, Sendai(before the quake), Sapporo, etc.) sure. But due to the military bases, there pretty much isn't a place that doesn't have some well beaten path. Mt. Fuji for example has loads of people, pretty much everyone I know here has climbed it (military guided tour services, gotta love em)

Oh there are plenty of places without a beaten track, trust me! You just have to go and find them, and even that's not that hard.

As for Fuji, do your guided services really climb it in winter (i.e. January)? It's a pretty intense climb requiring crampons, axe(s) and possibly rope depending on conditions (and the skills to use them!), not to mention very cold bivvying (a friend attempted it last year and had to bail after spending a night in a snow cave at about -35 Celcius). A far cry from the obnoxious summer queues!

I can see AMAZING country side in bundles of countries. Japan does not interest me at all. The people, the culture, the country, none of it is of any interest to me at all. I am allowed to think this, you do realise?

And you can spin the population thing anyway you want, but even outside of the major cities Japan still has an incredibly high population density and to actually find an area of Japan that is interesting to see and isn't swarming with people at some stage wouldn't be worth the hassle of going there. And actually finding these places without knowing any Japanese would be hell.

Wow, touchy. I was just trying to say that to lump all of Japan in as being 'overcrowded' is a far cry from reality, and if you ever decided to give it a second look you wouldn't be disappointed. I'm not one for cities at all - I'd much rather be hiking or climbing - and I managed to spend 3 months traveling around without feeling like it was dragging at all.

And it's really not hard to get around or to find places to go. I went with no plan whatsoever and no Japanese language ability and I never had any problems at all. The people are so helpful it's never an issue. Take a Lonely Planet book and some internet research as a VERY rough guide, be prepared to go off the beaten trail and have adventures of your own and you will always find places to go and things to do that are as far from the crowds as you can get.