I have a question for those who have lived in Japan for 5 years + and been a part of the workforce there (whether Japanese company or foreign company doesnt matter).
Do you find that currently with all the political party issues and the changes that may or may not occur soon, that Japanese people are becoming more wary of foreigners and that our presence is becoming even more of a liability?
For background reference, I have lived in Japan for over 5 years as a half European half Middle Eastern man (23 years old). I speak Japanese (maybe around N3), but ive noticed that no matter what I do, Japanese people will see me as inferior and not a real part of society. Example 1: when I speak proper Japanese and they refuse to reply back in Japanese, automatically answering me in really broken English (makes no sense to me).
Or when I’m consistently asked why I moved here (but my gut feeling is telling me they’re acrually trying to find out WHY I decided to come here in a negative sense more than a positive one). In a way, trying to show that anyone who isnt Japanese DOESNT belong.
Of course, with all this said, I completely understand abd DONT necessarily blame Japanese people for thinking this way, as they’ve been a homogenous society for thousands of years, and any country that is homogenous always has much more cultural harmony, lower crime rates, higher overall happiness, etc. Foreigners, as much as we love to give benefit of the doubt, fail to assimilate properly and become a liability to themselves and society around them,
This brings me back to my original question, what is your experience as a long term living foreigner in Japanese (most importantly if you also speak Japanese) and do you mind being seen as a less equal individual or do you understand it ?
by Least-Market-408