Whats with all the Iranians?

[Papa-Lazarou]

Not in any way a racist thread, but how come there are so many Iranians in Japan?
I know why there are large Brazilian, Nigerian and Korean communities but why Iran?
Are they people who fled the Islamic Revolution or somthing?


Just curious

[Charles]

I understand the presence of Brazillians and Koreans, but I can't figure out why there are so many Nigerians. How about explaining that to me?

I don't know about the Iranians in Japan, but I recall back in the 1970s there was a sudden influx of Iranians in my university in the US. Anyone who could had the money to get out of Iran was studying abroad, and apparently if your country wanted oil, you took them. This was well in advance of the fall of the Shah, but I guess they knew what was coming.

[jim katta]

how come there are so many Iranians in Japan

I can't figure out why there are so many Nigerians

I have repeatedly asked this question and almost all the time people act like I'm racist just for asking. I'm with Charles, the other groups make sense, but Nigerians and Iranians, I just don't get how they popped up in japan (a relatively remote, non-immigrant friendly place) in such great numbers. There "has" to be some government-to-government program that's fueling this, that we don't know about.

Anybody have any info?

[jim katta]

p.s. speaking or the dreaded racism topic, to Papa-Lazarou, I'm guessing your avatar is some sort of voodoo make-up, but as a black person, seeing a white guy in black face like that only brings to mind "Mammie! I'm talkin' to ya Mammie!"

[Samurai_Jerk]

p.s. speaking or the dreaded racism topic, to Papa-Lazarou, I'm guessing your avatar is some sort of voodoo make-up, but as a black person, seeing a white guy in black face like that only brings to mind "Mammie! I'm talkin' to ya Mammie!"

Are you sure that dude's white?

Most of the Iranian guys (not to mention a lot of S and SE Asians) went during the bubble years because Japan needed cheap labor and couldn't find Japanese people willing to do it. Some went on tourist visas, others on fake passports. Then they never left. Even though the bubble has burst, the networks they had for getting there were still set up so some people still trickle in.

I don't know about Nigerians specifically, but a lot of Africans go to Japan as students on Japanese government sholarships. Japan has great all-expenses-paid scholarships for foreign students, and aparently some developing nations' citizens are more likely to get them than others.

[altar]

For what it's worth, when I was in Japan in 92 I was already surprized by the number of Iranians. I was told at the time that they were appreciated because they were a qualified labor force already well trained for working on factory machinery. The problem with other Asian workers being that they had to spend time training them before they could be cost effective.

[FG Lurker]

For what it's worth, when I was in Japan in 92 I was already surprized by the number of Iranians. I was told at the time that they were appreciated because they were a qualified labor force already well trained for working on factory machinery. The problem with other Asian workers being that they had to spend time training them before they could be cost effective.

Yes, there were tons of Iranians around when I arrived in '93 too. They were the guys selling "recharged" phone cards if memory serves.

There are also a lot of Israelis here -- a lot of the guys selling silver jewelry and fake Rolexes on those stands are from Israel.

[kotatsuneko]

Papa's avatar comes from the League of Gentleman series, an amalgamation of years of scary childrens stories villians made flesh in an adult black comedy. the comedy/horror tradeoff is part of the characters appeal/revulsion amongst viewers. well thats something like the creators explained it, a bit too fucked up for me to watch that show, i`ll stick with the mighty boosh [mr ben on acid] thanks =^..^=

[altar]

yeah, Israelis everywhere selling cheap jewelry and Simpsons t-shirts. Weird

[bunchoffuckinggoofs]

[quote="FG Lurker"]Yes, there were tons of Iranians around when I arrived in '93 too. They were the guys selling "recharged" phone cards if memory serves. ]

Iranians: Those were good times. Cheap calls wherever in the world.

Israelis: A Japan kibbutz (sp.?) by chance?

[Papa-Lazarou]

p.s. speaking or the dreaded racism topic, to Papa-Lazarou, I'm guessing your avatar is some sort of voodoo make-up, but as a black person, seeing a white guy in black face like that only brings to mind "Mammie! I'm talkin' to ya Mammie!"

It is from a TV show, if it is offensive to anyone, its it offensive to Gypsy's.

But they dont have any media outlets, so they are fair game it seems


I was told Nigerians are in Japan for the same reason they are in Thailand, Hong Kong etc

Cheap labour with a history of overses travel from the colonial days

[jim katta]

as you could see from my wink, I was really taking it like that per se. just thought I'd mention it. btw, can take a sec and tell us who the character is and what the show is? just curious.


anyway, back to the iranian/nigerian issue. I guess I wouldn't care so much, but I've just met a few in tokyo who were selling drugs who were pretty aggressive to me and my friends even though we were mind our business. the most I can say on that note for nigerians is that I don't like the constant pullings to come into a club. but so far, none of them looked like they were going to stab me if I didn't come in. can't say the same for the iranian encounters I've had. on the other hand, the israelis I've met have been really cool dudes and very helpful at times.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Some of the Israelis are the biggest fucks. They use their military training to work as goons for the yaks. Maybe it pays better than selling crappy jewelry and fake watches. Anyway, most of them are on tourist visas making money for a few months so they can keep backpacking around the world. Aparently it's the thing to do after finishing military service and before entering the real world.

Oi vay shamir, some of those Israeli girls are hot!

[FG Lurker]

Yes, there were tons of Iranians around when I arrived in '93 too. They were the guys selling "recharged" phone cards if memory serves. ]
Iranians: Those were good times. Cheap calls wherever in the world.

They were cheap for the time, that's for sure. I think current systems like Skype are even cheaper though...without the various legal "issues" either.

[FG Lurker]

Oi vay shamir, some of those Israeli girls are hot!

Ain't that the truth!!

[Blah Pete]

For some reason Japan and Iran had a visa free agreement until the mid 90's, or around then. The Iranians could scrape enough money together for a air ticket and head to Japan easily.
I don't know why Japan did this as not many Japanese would go to Iran.
The Iranians were working most of the san-K jobs until the bubble burst. There are still a lot of them in Saitama working in used car sales-auto refurbishing, scrap metal. Of course, the most visable are the street sales for the yak drug connections.

[altar]

maybe it was part of a broader deal at government level involving oil or something.

[GomiGirl]

I have *heard* and I cannot cite any evidence other than this hearsay, that after millitary service, the nigerians (and/or Iranians) are given a ticket to travel somewhere.

But I don't really see what the problem is if people are working just like the rest of us poor wage slaves. Whatever reason we found ourselves here we are all FG's and have to live under similar conditions of being non-japanese.

Recently I met a very interesting guy from "Persia" ie Iran* who performs traditional Persian music and dance. It was really interesting and not something that I would have been exposed to normally. A mini-mulitcultural experience if you will. It adds to the rich tapestry of life here. I didn't come to Japan to have to be "just like home".

*I have noticed that some people from Iran who want to distance themselves from the politics say they are from Persia rather than Iran. Or is this a discrete racial group like the Kurds in Iraq? Please somebody save me from my ignorance.

[Charles]

*I have noticed that some people from Iran who want to distance themselves from the politics say they are from Persia rather than Iran. Or is this a discrete racial group like the Kurds in Iraq? Please somebody save me from my ignorance.

Persia=Iran. The country was known as Persia until 1935 when it changed its name to Iran.

[GomiGirl]

*I have noticed that some people from Iran who want to distance themselves from the politics say they are from Persia rather than Iran. Or is this a discrete racial group like the Kurds in Iraq? Please somebody save me from my ignorance.

Persia=Iran. The country was known as Persia until 1935 when it changed its name to Iran.

Well yes I *know* that but why do some people say they are from Persia rather than Iran....

I went to a dentist in the UK who said the same thing.. I have heard it used a few times from people who seem to not what to be labeled Iranian.. I was wanting to know the politcal/cultural reason.

[Charles]

Well yes I *know* that but why do some people say they are from Persia rather than Iran....

I went to a dentist in the UK who said the same thing.. I have heard it used a few times from people who seem to not what to be labeled Iranian.. I was wanting to know the politcal/cultural reason.

It doesn't make much sense overall, it would be like you saying you're from New Holland. It might be some linguistic identity thing, but that doesn't seem to explain it either. Here's an interesting website I googled:

http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/articles/persian_language.php

It isn't that clear, but it seems to indicate that the main Iranian language is Farsi, which is described as "Iranian Persian." Go figure.

[ichigo partygirl]

with all the terrorist shit thats been going down maybe they just want to make the distinction between themselves and Arabs. Not like th average person would know the difference between an Iranian and an Arab anyhow

[guriguri247365]

The Iranians I have seen always seem to have blood shot eyes - maybe they should wear sunglasses or lay off the hookah

[Samurai_Jerk]

A lot of Iranias I met in Japan said they spoke "Persia-go" and that they were "Persia-jin." They told me they said it because most Japanese people seemed to have more of an idea of what Persia was than Iran.

[Papa-Lazarou]

A lot of Iranians are so against the Islamic revolution that they call themselves Persians to distance themselves from the more unpleasent aspects of life in Iran under the Ayatolah's. (Because the Shah was such a nice chap)

Thats what a taxi driver told me once, and i always believe Taxi drivers, always.(Even when they blame me for the Uk trying to steal Iran's oil in the 1920's)

[kotatsuneko]

as you could see from my wink, I was really taking it like that per se. just thought I'd mention it. btw, can take a sec and tell us who the character is and what the show is? just curious.

see my post on page 1 of the thread.

and buy some glasses

[dimwit]

Found a short story that *may* give some insight into the question.

"We arrived in Japan as tourists with a one-month visa, but we stayed over like everybody else. The next day we were all working,-- all eight of us. Construction work was hard, but the pay was great. I had lost my job back home in Iran, you know. I am a designer by profession. I used to design T-shirts and things like that. But computers took over, and I lost my job to machines. That is when I lost my moped, my house, and my wife. That's when I left for Japan.

"In those days Japan was easy to reach. They still respected Iranians. A few years earlier they didn't even ask for visas. Iranians were respected then. They thought we were rich Arabs spending money there. So Iranians crept into Japan in hundreds and then thousands. I mean Thousands and thousands.

"Construction work, graveyard work, all sorts of cleaning and fixing. Japanese, you know, are having more jobs than they can handle. They have just started to allow non-Japanese to work there. Not really allowing, but sort of closing their eyes, you know what I mean. There are a lot of Pakistanis there too. Their government in Pakistan looks for countries where cheap workers are needed, and they smuggle their own people there. Iranians find it on their own though.

http://www.iranian.com/RasoolNafisi/2002/September/Story/

[prolly]

does the anagram SPF mean anything to you?

Not in any way a racist thread, but how come there are so many Iranians in Japan?
I know why there are large Brazilian, Nigerian and Korean communities but why Iran?
Are they people who fled the Islamic Revolution or somthing?


Just curious

[kotatsuneko]

isnt that the suntan lotion thingy?

[6810]

There are so many Iranians for all the reasons stated.

But also, when the whole world (well, almost) cut all official ties with Iran (revolution etc), Japan was one of the few that kept it's diplomatic mission consistent (obviously to do with oil dependency).

That's about it really.