there might be some (to use your word) japanese who accept that they live among naturalised japanese citizens and/or residents who are not ethnically japanese, but you will never find a japanese person who will call a 'round eye' a japanese. hell, they won't even call koreans (or chinese, or any other asian race that is born and/or raised here) japanese. even my half danish, half japanese friend gets called 'half danish guy' instead of japanese, and he looks and sounds much more japanese than danish! while you might have a piece of paper that says you are a citizen or resident, that doesn't alter your ethnic make up. myself am a russian, who lives part of the year in kenya. i have pieces of paper that say i am a bonefide permanent resident of kenya. my cousin is as black as night. i speak fluent swahili and a few of the tribal dialects. but my blonde hair and blue eyes is NEVER going to be accepted as an african. on a less extreme measure, my friend immigrated to england. she's also russian and now has english citizenship. she looks and sounds like she could have been in england her whole life, yet if you listen close enough, you can hear the slight accent, which will automatically make someone say 'oh, you're russian'. we are who we are. if you can't accept that you're always going to be a foreigner outside of your homeland, then just give up and go home.
this benjamin character may have a good understanding of japanese culture (although his running around protesting things certainly goes against the japanese culture of keeping quiet), and he may have a permanent residence card, but the fact is, he is white, he is not japanese. end of. how often do you hear of japanese people taking a one man stand against the yakuza? or any other cause, for that matter. you don't. you'll get a few of them banding together for some kind of fashionable cause, or the political vans you see driving around, those aren't one man (or one woman if you want to be PC here) shows either.
as for japan being liberal? liberal about what exactly? freedom of career choices? your social class already determines what school and job you're going to spend 40 years in. acceptance of those who go a different route and become car mechanics? ask anyone what they think of manual labourers. how about public affection? how open minded and liberal are they in that one? how about physical appearance? how liberal are they in that one? how many hostesses/hookers/av stars run home to tell their liberal parents what they've chosen as a job? wanna be a punk rocker? sure, if you confine yourself to amemura or harajuku only and wear the socially accepted apparel from the right shops. japanese about as liberal as they are unique...just like the girls who go out and colour their hair the same mousey brown to look 'different', just like everyone else.
don't get me wrong, i love japan for all it's great culture and twisted morals and fantastic organisation. but i don't for even a second think that i'll ever be considered 'one of them' and i'm reminded of it daily in every way possible. even at the conveni just now, with my bento, she asked if i wanted ohashi and when i answered in japanese that i did, she still put a fork into the bag.
obviously you're one of those FGs that avert their eyes when they see another foreigner in hope that they don't notice you because you're so 'japanese'.
い wrote:I simply said `Japan is one of the most liberal countries` I did not say anything about it being a prime or ideal place to practice rational dialogue or anything along those lines. However it is most definitely one of the safest even with the large Yakuza influence. If you think I am nuts for believing Japan is one of the most liberal counties in the world, please enlighten me in telling me some which are the most liberal.
That is a very sad way of thinking and you sound very bitter. I think some Japanese people will look at us and think `Hey, look at that GAIJIN` but you can’t say that all Japanese people feel the same way.
Firstly if you are a permanent resident, you are no longer a foreigner as a matter of fact. Also if you renounce your previous nationality and obtain a Japanese passport you are a Japanese citizen by law, and you are able to vote and also get involved in government activities, maybe even run for mayor.
I do agree with what you are saying to a certain extent. I think some Japanese people are prejudice and would judge you by the way you look, but that has no affect on your nationality. It’s just the way some people might think.
Nowadays there is a lot more acceptance especially in the rural parts of Japan and the vast majority of people. I have spoken to a lot of Japanese people and obviously they can see by my facial features that I am not Japanese, but treat me as they would any other Japanese person. I am not sure what bad experiences you might had had but not everybody is as judgmental as you might think.