This topic has come up every so often on message boards, blogs and elsewhere. It is the issue of possible racial discrimination in Japan.
The topic has come up again at GaijinPot. The writer is a foreign national who lives and works in Japan and his conclusions may be a bit of a surprise.
Part of his article goes as follows:
Over the years I’ve heard numerous stories and read numerous blogs from various foreigners living in Japan claiming unjust, discriminatory and downright prejudicial treatment in some of their interactions with the Japanese. I have been lucky in that I have never really experienced direct discrimination here to any substantial level. Of course you get the weird looks from older residents sometimes. Children will sometimes stare and point at you, but it never really bothered me.
However, recent events and subsequent reports in the media have troubled me. For the first time since I came to Japan all those years ago, I find myself asking the troubling question: Is Japan a racist country?The only time I have seen anything that could be considered racial discrimination in Japan was while I was taking a stroll around the nightclub and bar areas of Sendai. There, I saw a few businesses with "Japanese Only" signs. I have never seen these before (or since) in Tokyo, but I have heard they do exist.
Personally, I have not faced any kind of discrimination while in Japan. My actual experiences were exactly the opposite. It was almost like being treated as a celebrity.
To read the article, go here.
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