The Japanese government’s “Gaijin-Hara” (harassment of foreigners) is accelerating- “The media keeps a close eye on all kinds of harassment, from maternity harassment to “noodle harassment” for slurping noodles. But not only do they ignore “foreigner harassment,” they even encourage it”
by jjrs
46 comments
They’ve never cared about discrimination against foreigners. Why would they start now?
Gaijin harassment….so essentially racism
TBH the nastiest looks i’ve got in Japan weren’t from the Japanese, but caucasian men.
Even this evening I was walking back home from the gym with my girlfriend, and this caucasian dude gave me the gnarliest most evil stare i’ve ever seen.
So the article says that requiring basic Japanese knowledge to get an engineering visa is the same thing as literal genocide?
You know, it’s good to be against idiotic parties like Sanseito, but screaming like a little baby at every move the government does and calling everything “genocide” will just make everyone think you’re an entitled little kid and will validate the discourse of extremist parties even more. Japan doesn’t need the same phenomenon that happened in the west.
First they came for the Koreans and I did not speak-because I was not Korean.
Then they came for the Chinese and I did not speak out-because I was not Chinese.
Then they came for all gaijin-and I am having trouble.
“Gaijin-hara”
No, that’s racism, 差別.
This headline is reddit-hara
Can someone explain noodle harassment? So many people slurp here so…
Lol more like gaijin-ijime
For japanese gov. They do not care. If foreigners are not happy then they can leave japan and g9 back to their countries. The jp gov will not give a s*** this is just a fact. Like or not this is just how jp gov will do now and in the future
It’s so disgusting to see other countries and my own country following this trend. It’s uncalled for and just a very bad look, do better both our countries.
I’m curious what is going on with the noodle slurping. I just spent lunch trying to reconcile how Japanese culture prioritises silence on trains but tolerates people slurping their noodles loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear (and loudly clearing their sinuses). I didn’t consider it might have something to do with me (a foreigner) being present.
Keep going Japan, at this rate your island should be empty by about 2100…
Remember when Biden called them xenophobic and how defensive everyone both on tv and online was? It’s cause he was right lol
Research into what the Yamato did to the Ainu and Ryukyuan people during the Meiji era, you’ll understand that this is nothing knew for them
The term gaijin hara is in itself pretty whacked. God I hope this doesn’t pick up as the official term, I’d be so appalled
Lmao ok then populate your own country oh wait….
I’m confused. Are we talking about foreigners harassing Japanese people for slurping noodles, or harassing foreigners for slurping? Because when I was there almost everyone slurped, including the locals.
Places like Toyko and Osaka are making billions from tourists, I guess they still like their money?
i”ve always been fascinated by Japan and wanted to visit. For the record I come from a socialist leaning country with anti-racism policies which I agree with. But I can’t understand so many people are trying to make a life in a country where they are so unwanted. Foreigners cling to Japan like a toxic relationship and think they can change it somehow by complaining.
No matter how cool japan’s high points are… I wouldn’t waste my time where people see me as some kind of invasive disruptive creature. I’ll probably never visit because it would make me super uncomfortable knowing the people I walk past wish I would blow up and disappear.
I’m sure the Japanese couldn’t care less if I never visit and would prefer that I didn’t.
Live and work where people like you and are excited to know you and open their hearts and homes to you. Japan doesn’t want us.
It’s funny how racism hits so much harder when experienced directly as opposed to dishing it out. People of color or different religion have been treated this way for centuries in our oh so civilized western countries but sure, let’s feel discriminated in Japan. And for the record, other than the occasional case of not wanting to talk or help, my experience of xenophobia inJapan has been very very limited and I’ve been coming here for 45 years, and lived here for long periods of time as well.
There is also smell harassment.
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Openly racist country does openly racist things. Shocker.
I don’t understand why some people insist on going to Japan specially when you see the economy is shaking and the locals don’t want any foreigner there, and I wonder this genuinely out of curiosity, if they don’t want you, the economy is awful and there’s almost zero incentives to migrate what’s the point? Maybe there are some folks with family and a life there who moved a few years ago before all this anti foreigner wave got worse, but besides those cases I don’t really understand. I would say just let them go down in their economical crisis and that’s it, btw sorry for the poor english (I’m from South America and just wanted to post these thoughts) greetings.
This ain’t surprising at all. I wonder when people will take their blinders off and realize how they really are. Glorifying horrific figures responsible for atrocities that definitely didn’t happen
Just curious how do Japanese people rationalize their entire traditional culture came from China, their entire modern culture came from the Europe and US. How can a nation that have its written language composed entirely of Chinese in origin and modern spoken language is filled with english loan words. Be so anti foreign??? Lol
In America, Asians live in Asian bubble communities where they go their whole lives without speaking to a white person. 🤷
Noodle harassment is fake news ig:
[https://justhungry.com/curious-case-nu-hara-noodle-harassment](https://justhungry.com/curious-case-nu-hara-noodle-harassment)
A single twitter user mentioned it and the media picked it up, not sure if it was a politically motivated thing because it was frame as if the tourists were the ones making complaints about this. But I cannot find a single case of where there was actually reported by someone as funny as it is
That‘s just the perfecf microcosmus of Japan as a whole. You have like over 100 different made up „hara“ cases like the noodle one, or bullshit like „tekuhara“, but real harassments that are deeply engrained into the culture like misogyny and racism are almost neve touched by the media and public discourse.
Just let sink in the fact that the word „immigrant“ doesn‘t even exist outside of a dictionary. The whole concept is either expressed through the term „foreigner“ (or even worse, by the incredibely racist term „gaijin“, which this publication also unfortunately uses), or „foreign worker“, even by the government.
There‘s no concept about seeing someone who‘s not Japanese as a permanent resident, human being with human rights, and tax payer.
Japanese Gov or some businesses only looking down on common foreigners working as teachers, restaurant workers, students etc… if foreigners are top executives from big corps, super rich individual or famous people. The japanese are going to bow to foreigners… just like they are bowing to trump. Just look at those expensive service appartments in Tokyo with 500,000JPY per month rent min. 90% rich foreigners. No racism. Cos money talks!
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It’s an excellent distraction from dealing with actual problems they face like the economy and their indigenous workforce aging.
Wording appropriately: xenophobia 排外主義 (Haigaishugi)
As a Japanese person, I feel deeply ashamed of this news.
Most Japanese people may don’t even know this truth because the major media stays silent nowadays, and also people choose to be indifferent.
I guess I (from NZ, asian looking, sometimes I can blend in, but as soon as grow my beard I look very gaijin) have been very lucky having lived here a couple of years I haven’t experienced any discrimination or at least none that I can recall.
However, I can list some of the discriminatory things my other foreigner friends here have complained about and how I dealt with it.
First, for renting an apartment, fresh off the plane I went to an english speaking realtor recommended by a friend.
The realtor had a bit of a used car salesman vibe saying things like “japanese people are racist so only I can find you a good apartment” and then proceeded to show me a bunch of dumps.
So I decided to chance it and just went to my nearest apamanshop and google translate my way through it. Turns out, the main reason for rejection is most places require a Japanese guarantor. But they require the same for Japanese people too, Japanese people just get their parents to do it, an option us foreigners don’t have.
But I stuck with it and went to see a ton of places and eventually found a nice place in the neighbourhood I was looking for that didn’t require a guarantor.
That has been my experience ever since. Yes, because of the Japanese guarantor requirement a lot of places won’t be available, but I have never failed to find a nice place where I wanted to live.
Second, getting a license converted. A British friend complained about how the police were racist and kept turning him away. I looked into it and apparently they require proof that you lived in the country where you acquired your license for a couple of months after you got your license.
This is also a requirement for Japanese people too, to discourage them from just going to another country where it’s cheaper to get a license and coming back and converting it.
A bit mendokusai, trying to find rent and electricity bill payment statements from years back but eventually I managed to find them and get them translated and notarized, got my license first try.
Third, credit card. Heard a lot of “they’re racist, they don’t give foreigners credit cards”. So I started off with a cash deposit credit card where you deposit 30,000 yen and can use the credit card up to 30,000 yen. Used that for 6 months, just paying off cell phone and water bills to build up a bit of credit history. Then I tried to apply for a real card online, unfortunately my name was too long and wouldn’t fit in the form. So I went to their physical location and applied via pen and paper, got the card then and there.
Fourth, “No foreigners, Japanese only” places. I reckon this is a very Kyoto or high tourist traffic area thing. I don’t really go to those places so never seen this. Although I can say hearing from my Japanese friends Kyoto people are just like that, they’re just as dicks to Japanese people who aren’t from Kyoto.
The only time I haven’t been allowed into a place was when I tried to enter an expensive Kyabakura. But I just waited for my boss to arrive and was let in. Apparently he was a regular there and after he vouched for me they said I would have no problem if I wanted to visit thereafter.
Fifth, opening an MUFG bank account. A big complaint I heard from a couple of friends was that MUFG don’t allow foreigners to open accounts. I went there after living here for 6 months (thereby getting past the non tax resident hurdle) and managed to open my account with my, at the time potato, N4 level of Japanese.
If you’ve opened up a bank account with JP post bank, then MUFG basically just asks the same questions in Japanese.
Work wise, I came here for Japanese language school at first then transitioned into work. I think being able to understand Japanese really helps me out for most of the issues people run into. Only time I got chewed out at work here was when a senpai told me it’s bad form to show up only 5 minutes before work. Apparently all the other newbies were showing up 30 minutes before to “get ready”. Personally thought it was unnecessary and bullshit, but because all the others were doing it too I guess I didn’t really mind.
I can’t recall anything else. Never been called slurs. Never been bumped into (rugby background, so I’m pretty sturdy so that helps). People sit next to me on the train. Not a girl, so thank god never had to deal with being stalked or worrying about my undies being stolen.
Having grown up playing Japanese RPGs, it’s funny how similar living here is to that. In JRPGs you usually need to do some sort of side quest or fetch quest before you can progress the main quest. Here, to do anything you need to make sure you’ve done the fetch quest before and got the little item or prerequisite that they require.
A bit of a ramble but I have to say the point of this isn’t to discount or demean the experiences others have had. I just think my way of seeing things, coming from a pretty laid back NZ background has allowed me to frame things in a positive way which has really helped me out.
The author of this article, RÉGIS ARNAUD, unfortunately is driving anti-Japan sentiment by purposely misunderstanding and misinterpreting the language requirement changes.
Maybe he isn’t a good journalist or he might be trying to spread “hate” and propaganda. Either way, the article does not serve foreigners living in Japan well with the misinformation. And many opinions in this thread tells me that he is succeeding in driving resentments. Very unfortunate.
I might be misinterpreting what was written in the article but is the suggestion of upcoming widespread requirements for all foreign workers needing N2 Japanese really true? What is the source for that? I am aware of certain changes where it will be true (Business manager visa?) but possibly not to the general extent the article seems to suggest.
It’s becoming more political because of right wing garbage. Japan’s new prime minster pathetically gargled Trumps balls trying to appease to him.
Right wing conservatives always need an enemy and foreigners are always an easy scapegoat to blame for all your problems.
I always heard that yakuza doesnt mess with foreigners because it would be a bad look. Is that still true?
I was literally harassed out of my apartment by a crazy Japanese man. Even the police said it was not safe to stay there because they didn’t know if he was the type to just threaten or actually do something. I was walking on egg shells for over 6 months. My girlfriend tried staying with me one night and became so terrified she called the police and they escorted us away and had to sleep in a karaoke room until the first train to go back to her place.
Horrible horrible horrible horrible
This is just regulating the import of slaves by slave traders. These abominable globalists cry racism to criticise anything that goes against their interests, but what they are doing is nothing more than neo-colonialism.
The so-called “slaves” pay a commission to fraudulent brokers in their home country to work in Japan, and later make a fuss claiming they have been persecuted. This is precisely the same scenario as when Koreans claim they were forced into labour and prostitution during the colonial era.
>参政党は外国人受け入れの「総量規制」を掲げて外国人をモノ扱いしている。
How dare you even say such things? It’s you slavery merchants who are treating people like objects (モノ扱い). You lot just want to force people into slave labour for a pittance, don’t you? If you can’t even do fair trade, don’t use workers!
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It’s just saltines because foreigners just enjoy Japan and usually make way more money
I would like to share a story with a newspaper that would potentially write about it. It is very discriminatory and at a world renowned company as well.
This is highly concerning for me. I planned to visit next year with my partner and began (again) learning the language out of respect for the locals but… this feels really off. I had imagined the rhetoric was anti-chinese but it seems from reading here it is generally all gaikokujin
This is exactly the kind of rhetoric the right wants. When you breed a culture of hate, this happens.
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