Top ten Gaijins

[TennoChinko]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to sublight again.

One cool guy is former Megadeath lead guitarist Marty Friedman

Also that half-black enka singer Jero is only 28 according to his bio; he could easily be a nobody in 5 years however.... such is the fate of tarento. No one hears much about Kent Gilbert, Kent Dericott, Mr. Wiki (the Sri Lankan), Chuck Wilson (the gay bodybuilder/fitness advocate) ... let alone 2000 sensation Bob Sapp.. these days.

Although she's not a "real gaijin", Agnes Chan seems to shown a certain degree of staying power and with her fashion businesses in Japan .. success.

[CrankyBastard]

In my opinion the top spot goes to our mentor William Adams, not so much for being granted the title of "hatamoto" to Tokugawa Yeyasu but more for coming down with the first case of YBF...........Although married in England, Adams took a Japanese wife, possibly called Oyuki, with whom he had two children. Adams also had a consort in Nagasaki with whom he had another child born after his death, as during the latter part of his life Adams became estranged from his Japanese wife.

[Behan]

In my opinion the top spot goes to our mentor William Adams, not so much for being granted the title of "hatamoto" to Tokugawa Yeyasu but more for coming down with the first case of YBF...........Although married in England, Adams took a Japanese wife, possibly called Oyuki, with whom he had two children. Adams also had a consort in Nagasaki with whom he had another child born after his death, as during the latter part of his life Adams became estranged from his Japanese wife.

A god among FGs!:p

[Mulboyne]

You are going to have to decide a few questions before you even start thinking about a list.

(1) Are you limited to people alive today?
Probably a good idea. It does sometimes seem, though, as if I hear about someone's accomplishments only when they have died.

(2) Are they living in Japan?
I think they should at least have lived in Japan or else you'd end up with a listed dominated by people like the Beatles.

(3) Who counts as a foreigner?
Personally, I wouldn't include special permanent residents but others might. However, I would include people who have taken a Japanese passport (unless they had been an SPR) but exclude people with foreign nationality who were originally Japanese citizens.

(4) Do they have to be able to speak Japanese?
No. However, having heard some of the scorn heaped on foreigners who don't learn the language, I suspect others might disagree.

(5) What defines successful?
You could consider the rich, the famous, and the admirable, where the latter wouldn't be limited to those with a high public profile.

If you had perfect information, a rich list would be easy. It would probably include financiers, sports and media stars, businessmen and entrepreneurs. You might want to exclude people who started off wealthy, perhaps through inheritance or marriage, and didn't significantly add to their wealth. In the end, though, we don't have that information so we'd mainly be swapping anecdotes

Famous is more subjective, even without considering whether someone is famous mainly with foreigners rather than Japanese. Also, fame can be fleeting so you'd have to think whether to give preference to someone with longevity over another who burst onto the scene and disappeared.

Whether you think someone is admirable tends to say more about you than it does about them. If they are not also rich and famous then they might have some accomplishments to their name, whether officially recognized or not. These might include artists, educators, public officials, community leaders, doctors, charity workers and the like.

I'm as much of a sucker for news about the rich and famous as the next gossip-hound. I know a few personally, and some are even decent people. Without sounding too much like a self-help book, though, I find myself admiring people who have just got on with it and carved out a decent life for themselves. Restaurant and bar owners feature far too much in my life but I've got a lot of time for foreigners who have set up shop and done well. Not many are filthy rich but they've usually found a place for themselves in the local community.

To make you feel even more queasy, I admire quite a number of the people I've met through FG. Some have overcome private or professional obstacles, raised families or just managed to retain their sanity when it would have been easier to crack up. Hopefully, we all know a few foreigners like that because life in Japan can be harder if you don't.

[IkemenTommy]

You guys are taking this list way too seriously. It's just a f*ckin list that some D-bag Engrish teacher (in Korea??) came up probably while drunk on Jinro.

I mean.. our favorite forum member Jack could easily be on this list as far as I am concerned.

Here is another good candidate.

[chrisssteeven]

Any term used to classify people can be used as a pejorative, even benign terms like "Freshman" or "left-handed". "Gaijin" is just another example. When used in a condescending or exclusionary manner, it becomes a pejorative.

Example: You're just a gaijin, so I don't expect you to understand (insert traditional Japanese practice here).

[Greji]

You guys are taking this list way too seriously. It's just a f*ckin list that some D-bag Engrish teacher (in Korea??) came up probably while drunk on Jinro.

Not only that, there wasn't a goat herder mentioned. The guy was obviously high on kimuchi when he made the list....

[IkemenTommy]

How did we leave this guy out? I completely forgot.
He must be living the high-life just about now.

[TennoChinko]

How did we leave this guy out? I completely forgot.
He must be living the high-life just about now.

I was unfamiliar with his delusional references to "The Law of Attraction". Looking it up on wiki, it looks like I missed out on some relatively recent New Age bullshit that's been going around back home. (Also, I don't watch Oprah!)

[Taro Toporific]

... such is the fate of tarento. No one hears much about Kent Gilbert, Kent Dericott, Mr. Wiki (the Sri Lankan), Chuck Wilson (the gay bodybuilder/fitness advocate) ... let alone 2000 sensation Bob Sapp.. these days.

My Japanese trainer/PT just asked me if I knew Chuck Wilson. Back in the Bubble Dayz, I did go to Chuck's gym in Roppongi but I told my trainer that maybe he was dead. Nooooo, I was so wrong.

Chuck Wilson is looking incredibly fit for age 73 and still in the gym business. He was even in a TV movie "Futatsu no Sokoku" (2109) along with fucked OG like Kent Gilbert, George Williams, and Thane Camus.