Comments | solarplexis: A real eye opener (-

solarplexis

A real eye opener (-_-)

Jun 02, 2009 12:10

*start rant*

As if getting a working Visa didn't end up stressing me out enough, I took some time to re-visit an old site I first came upon a few years ago:

http://www.debito.org/

but most importantly, this section of his site:

http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html

I've spent the last three days spending hours reading the articles on that page and ( Read more... )

Comments 25

koutetsuhime June 2 2009, 21:59:25 UTC

I've heard about that stuff before, nice to finally see a source for it. I'll have to read it later when I'm more awake ( ... )

solarplexis June 3 2009, 12:36:29 UTC

Thank you (^ ^) Hearing that makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing. I'm glad that the people you know there haven't really had trouble with the racism. If I still go, Tokyo would definitely be be the only place I'd consider.
I'm now switching plans to move there to visiting for maybe a month to test waters.

koutetsuhime June 3 2009, 12:47:14 UTC

Yeah, I think the only racism-type problems I've heard about are simply bad attitudes from certain people and sometimes other band-girls. But eh, you run into that even over here, so screw them lol

Good luck!

(And a sidenote: I'm glad to see someone going into the whole 'i wanna move to Japan' rationally, instead of running over there and getting the shock of their life that it's not happy happy kawaii land desu. That's probably where some portion of the horror stories come from lol Just don't be a loud/roudy dumbass and I think you'll be perfectly fine ^^ )

solarplexis June 3 2009, 12:55:23 UTC

Yeah, that's probably exactly what I needed so I wouldn't be taken by surprise there.
Good thing I'm a pretty quite person already (except at concerts).

claydecat June 3 2009, 00:02:41 UTC

I wouldn't worry about it too much... I've known a few (American) people who have lived in Japan for extended periods of time and never really experienced any sort of racial discrimination and while I was in Japan in January, everyone for the most part that I came in contact with was very, very polite and kind ( ... )

solarplexis June 3 2009, 12:52:16 UTC

Thank you for your comments ^ ^. I'm getting more reassured hearing people with positive experiences over there.

Yeah, America definitely doesn't have a pretty past, but what got me is that it's not illegal to do that in Japan. But I'll try and keep an open mind and find some more positive stories from foreigners there.
Seeing all those events all in one place overwhelmed me. But visiting first is sounding better and better than my original plan of just straight moving there. I don't know what I was thinking.

Hi~ pixieballistic June 3 2009, 06:22:13 UTC

Okay, first I want to say SORRY for the random comment, but I randomly came across your lj and I read your entry and I felt I HAD to say something. >.Okay, for starters, I'm African-American, and I lived in Japan for a year, Tokyo to be exact. And like another commenter said, I think if you stick to the bigger cities, you'll surely be okay. I was treated fine. Most of the people treated me just as they'd treat another foreigner. I don't know about being treated nicer than Caucasians...lol. I've heard that too, but I didn't really experience it that way at all. The only thing is, most of them believed that I didn't know a word of Japanese though I was speaking to them in Japanese AND I got stared at quite a bit, but then again, that is the experience of most foreigners. Honestly, I think you shouldn't give up. I think you should try living there for a few months because just going for a week or so vacation isn't going to be enough. Try to stay for the entire time of your tourist visa because that will give you more of an idea of what ( ... )

Re: Hi~ solarplexis June 3 2009, 13:33:24 UTC

I don't mind random comments. I leave them myself sometimes ( ... )

Re: Hi~ pixieballistic June 4 2009, 03:03:52 UTC

oooh yeah I've read through some of the gaijinsmash.net site...haha. Matter of fact I shamelessly gaijinsmashed whenever I could. =( Bad gaijin. It may be mostly the guys...because men are usually thought of as more threatening than women, maybe ( ... )

Re: Hi~ solarplexis June 4 2009, 14:34:51 UTC

"Very Japanesee-y aaa", that was funny. That's because, as my friend put it, "In Japan you're an exotic animal".

Did the guys seem interested in (or even open) to having a relationship with black girls (minus the hip hop guys)? I haven't heard many people talk about the Japanese guy, African American girl couples because they're so rare. It's kind of been in the back of my mind the thought of marrying a Japanese man.

You can add me (^ ^) Having more friends to talk to is always a good thing :)

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