Plucky 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Well, it's happened again. A friend of mine was coming over to my house tonight and got in a pretty bad car crash. I live on a highway with a speed limit of 50 kmh. Most people do around 70 to 100 through this straight stretch. The rural intersection he was going through is notoriously bad. Two blind corners, the mirrors are so dirty you can't see anything in them.... I see a bad wreck a month at this place. I could type out a huge diatribe here, but I'm just going to give the skinny. Both drivers were probably at fault. The Japanese guy didn't have his lights on, was going way too fast and my friend, in hindsight, may could have been more cautious (I don't know how though). I purposely avoid this intersection and take a different route because of what I have seen there. It's a back route that most people don't know about through the rice fields. Anyway, the Japanese cops and ambulance and fire dept showed up for this. Being an American, my friend had to call the base security forces and have them come out as a witness. They have no jurisdiction off base though, so everything is left up to the discretion of the Japanese base interpreter and the japanese cops. This story has to do with the interpreter. I don't know if anyone remembers, but we got in a wreck last year and got totally snowballed by a Japanese guy and the Japanese police. Same interpreter then, same one tonight. My friend was shaken pretty badly and this guy feasts on this. He asked him the same questions, over and over, just looking for something. Even though I didn't witness this, I stepped in and told him and the police about the intersection and pointed out the dangers. We all sat and watched cars zip by at over 80 kmh under a 50 kmh sign. I asked the guy 4 times if it was breaking the law speading in Japan and could only get a straight answer when I looked pissed and stood up to him. The guy is relentless and now I have witnessed it twice and heard probably over 20 stories on how the 'round-eyes' get blamed for something that may not be theirs to blame. Frankly, I'm tired of it and the racism that persists here. I'm now glad I'm getting the hell out of this country. I'll end it on that for now. bad situation and I hope the other guy is okay. He was hauled off but got up on his own power. My friend has a nasty bruise and cut from where the impact hit him. Unfortunately, I had to see it Best to both. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Yes, I remember that story last year and I am sorry to hear that you have witnessed another similar incident, confirming that last year's incident was not an exaggeration on your part. That sure taints my rosy impression of Japan. I guess there will always be ass-holes and bigots everywhere. We probably have more than our fair share here in HK. Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 If there's anything I've learned in my stay in Misawa, it is that the Japanese are a xenophobic society. Up here in the sticks, the old people still rule. Cops, mayors, governors, interpreters (??) - it doesn't matter. The thing that matters is that they will do what they can to blame the gaijin for anything bad that happens. There was a story, maybe a year and a half ago, about some people skating and desecrating a cemetary up here. It was immediately blamed on Americans, but turned out it was some local kids. Quick to blame, relucant to accept, will not admit. Pretty much sums up what I've seen here on the general scale of things. Don't get me wrong - I've met some great, great people here and have enjoyed it. When things go big time wrong though (ala car wreck), it doesn't matter. The gaijin is always to blame. I live with 7,000 or so other Americans up here, maybe 25% go off base on a regular basis. I can understand the contempt that people may have for us, but do they ever look at the positives? After seeing how we can be treated here, such as being forbidden from certain bars or eating establishments, being treated like dirt in times of crisis, it makes me want to dish out the same shit to them. How would a Japanese tourist in Seattle react if we forbid them from a bar because they were not local? How would they feel if they were excluded because of who they were? This country is messed up. Yes, I'm angry right now, but it truely is how I feel. Shit, you've seen some of the lift configurations at some of the resorts? Now, that shit's messed up. No common sense here, no common sense anywhere. This country is never going to be big time until it gets its act together. They want to be western? They better start working on it. They want to be traditional? Well, they have a lot of work to do. This country is a farce and always will be. It doesn't matter how economically succesful they are either - they will always be copying someone. That's a historic fact. ***I just reread this and realize how harsh it is, but I'm going to stand by it. I'm not a fan of violence, so I guess I'll just take it out on the keyboard and in words.... Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 I've had problems when looking for houses because of being a foreigner. It's worst when they won't tell you its because you 'will cook smelly food' or 'will ruin the tatami', and end up wasting a lot of time trying to meet their requirements when they will just say 'No' at the end. My Japanese wife finds this generally more distressing than I do. Having completed a hotel booking on the phone only to be told 'Actually we're full' when she says our name gets her pretty mad too. Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 Ocean, I feel for ya and I've heard about similar situations with some of my friends down in the Tokyo area. It sucks all around. In this case, we were confronted as flat out liars. I don't take to that shit lightly and had to be held back by the MP. I figured, no guns, no karate, I outweigh them by 80 lbs, I win. Luckily I had a friend there to talk some sense in to me. I'm sick of seeing this, but it's a no win situation. I realize that now that I've cooled down. I just hope Ripper gets through it okay. His truck is fuggin' totalled. Oh yeah, dude had two packs of cigs on the dashboard and an in car tv. doubt that takes away from the driving experience. Who the hell watches TV while they drive??? Oh, yeah, the Japanese do... Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I have never actually had a problem looking for somewhere to live myself - is this a common experience? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 In my case it has only been a small fraction of the places we've looked at, and the estate agents seem intensely embarrassed when they have to pass on the bigotry of their clients. But it happened the last 2 times we've looked for houses. Last time, the whole of a housing estate which was built by one of the major national building companies, was 'closed' to foreigners, even though the estate itself is struggling to attract enough people. Well, if they want to shoot themselves in the foot... Link to post Share on other sites
Goemon 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Be careful or you might get reported to the Immigration Bureau for being a "nuisance to the community"... Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I've never had any housing problems -although scousers don't have the rep over here it's all biitoruzu Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I feel for the Tohoku foreigners... One of the weirdest experiences i've had in Japan involved a drive to a hot spring in Hachimantai. The locals there literally followed me at a safe distance. Given the blizzard raging at the time, the whole thing was quite surreal. On the way back down the mountain, I passed a family stranded in a ditch. I got out, took out a tow rope, and approached them to help. The family cowered as the father bravely stood his ground, informing me in not uncertain terms to leave! All the more surreal as here in Osaka i've encountered little more than positive discrimination. Only once had problems with renting an apartment, and that was only because the landlord was from Tokyo (i've rented to gaigin before and they're nothing but trouble...) Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: Well, if they want to shoot themselves in the foot... I don't know how bad it is, but simply from an entrepreneur's point of view, they might not think of it as "shooting themselves in the foot". They my be under the impression that if they sell to a gaijin, this might affect their future sales. If this is really the case, the problem seems pretty serious. In Hong Kong, we have a similar situation which I find particularly obnoxious. It is not directed at all gaijins. They seem to be quite happy to do business with Caucasians. Instead it seems directed specifically at Indians and Pakistanis. Totally uncivilized behaviour! Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 OOCH! All those senarios sound terrible! They actually ban you from certain restaurants??!! You guys are really putting me off japan! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 miteyak, that story reminds me of the opposite situation my family once encountered in France. We were happily eating lunch off the bonnet of our wine-stained Ford escort in the square of a French village when suddenly a window above us banged opened and a large French woman started screaming and gesticulating. "You cannot eat like gypsies in the square! You must come in and eat with me in civilization!" My father rose to the occasion with his lousy French and declined the invitation with gallant sounding expressions. Also, a similar situation where I asked a Japanese bloke with a van like yours to help me out of a ditch. He wasn't going to help until his 12 or so year old son said "Oh come on dad, don't be such a w*nker, it's not like we don't have a tow rope or anything". So they helped me out. Markie, I see your point - but they're still shooting themselves in the foot. It's not as if foreigners are going to disappear in the future. Au contraire. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I think this place is just like post-war Britain, when tons of non-caucasians came into the country from india, pakistan, the caribbean etc and all the whiteys hated it. 'We' reacted in a similar way to how the Japanese are now, except we added violence and verbal abuse. In that respect the Japanese are not as bad as the brits in those times. Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I know both of Japanese and US military polices are soooo harsh on American soldiers in the US military based city even if it is a car accident. Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 ...and there is more than a fair bit of racism still in the UK - it's not as if it has gone away never to be seen again. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 While there is still racism in Britain, a lot of effort has been made to eliminate institutional racism, to outlaw racism, and to provide mechanisms for redress when it occurs. There's also a lot of high-level lip service paid to multiculturalism (prossibly too much even). That's not the case in Japan. And if Japan is going to have the tax base required for caring for its old people in the future, its going to be needing influxes of foreigners at levels similar to post-war Britain... Link to post Share on other sites
Bowler 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 wonderful, someone else who noticed the post-war britain feel here. that sums up this country very well. what happened in the stories mentioned above is truly shitty. however, i think that they arent especially the norm. i think that its a great country, full of promise, and while i do encounter racism its how you deal with it that matters. ive experienced way more positives than negatives here from the japanese. in fact, most of the trouble ive seen here has been due to other foreigners (violence, fights, disrespect, racism towards the japanese!!!) its all just a misunderstanding, not just from the japanese but also from us. may we all continue to be good ambassadors! just for the record, ive never bought/tried to rent a house here and i dont drive in japan. also, i live in the city and maybe life here is different. peace Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Also the discrimination in Japan also extends to their own women. I often point this out to Japanese women. For example, in nagano-ken there are only 3 principles who are female, out of around 200 high schools. Also, a woman cannot ascend to the Emperors throne. Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Discrimination is pervasive in all areas of Japanese life, In fact, many foreigners who are discriminated against may well find it's not their race, but their perceived level in society. I once got a parking ticket and went to the cop shop to pay. The guy was quite curt with me until I showed him my meishi bearing a respectable company and position(nothing too special, mind), and all of a sudden he treated me with respect. And try the suited 'n booted V's T and jeans!!! What colors the credit card? which bank? The list is endless. Foreigners are an unknown entity in a well structured class based society. Often they are judged by Japanese standards, and their casual nature just doesn't add up to much on the heirarchical scale... Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Yeah, that's right. Part of the tomfoolery with one potential landlord revolved around which company the idiot thought I belonged to. If I had still worked for the company I had just left, I could have lived in the house. However, as a more highly-paid subcontractor of the same company, I couldn't live in that house. The estate agent contributed to the problem by fudging the issue. Which university did you go to miteyak? I find that Oxford has better name recognition than Cambridge... Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Ahhhh, well... I find a nice tie and an obsequiously large dose of false modesty leaves them thinking the best... (which reminds me, I must get to work on my avatar) Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Yeah that works too. I once got hired because the bucho thought I was 'otonashii'. muwahahahahaha! Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 Calm down dude and get working on that vid Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 .....and remember the tie must be serious. No Homer Simpson heads on there now... Link to post Share on other sites
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