(cache) News on Japan – There’s always a seat next to a gaijin/alien

9/8/2010

There’s always a seat next to a gaijin/alien

The Tokyo Metro outdid themselves with their “train manner” (sic) poster for September (official site).

avoid aliens gaijin on the tokyo metro train seats

In the crush of Tokyo’s crowded trains that run at 150-250% of standing room capacity, oddly somehow there’s always an empty seat next to a gaijin/alien. While having that extra space is pleasant, the implication of The Empty Seat can be grating as my fellow blogger, “Loco” explains…

…. just relax and ignore it, I’ve told myself
umpteen hundred times since my arrival here
and today was no different. It was just too
blatant! The empty seat beside me, on the
crowded train, exclaimed what the people and
the culture would find unseemly to say
verbally: : we don’t trust you, we don’t like
you and we don’t want you here.…more…

Find many more examples of the gaijin seat phenomenon in the Comments section…

Posted by Taro in General, Society | 35 Comments »

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35 Responses to “There’s always a seat next to a gaijin/alien”

loco Says:
September 8th, 2010 at 6:23 pm

Thanks for the plug Taro (-; Hilarious ad!
loco

Taro Says:
September 8th, 2010 at 7:16 pm

loco wrote:
… (-; Hilarious ad!

Hey, who needs to write jokes about Japan when we have the Japanese PR machine doing all the work for us?

Brenden Says:
September 8th, 2010 at 8:41 pm

Amazing… so.. err.. photoshopping a PSA which doesn’t even show what you are purporting to complain about? (IE, the foreigner isn’t even sitting down, so there isn’t really a seat empty next to him).

Perhaps there is a tendency for seats to be left open more frequently next to foreigners, but it is also true that many people once standing will stay standing… I’ve been in many situations where someone has sat beside me while seats next to other (Japanese) passengers remained vacant (and standees remained).

Taro Says:
September 8th, 2010 at 11:16 pm

Brenden wrote:
I’ve been in many situations where someone has sat beside me while seats next to other (Japanese) passengers remained vacant (and standees remained)

Y.M.M.V.
In this case, I’m a pale alien and the quote is from an Afro-American. At this stage (25+ years in Japan), I am bemused by it but other foreigner are not so much. Most gaijin notice the always-the-last-empty-seat phenomenon, but I’m glad you haven’t.

Refer to:
. . . . Gaijin Perimeter | outpostnine.com

circusacts Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 6:49 am

This is very cool. What an awesome train feature.

Basjohn Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 9:48 am

Ah……….

Right……

Well, I for one am quite proud to have inevitably been a part of an artificial (but all the more-likely accurate from all that I’ve heard from FG over the last couple of years) PSA campaign.

Chris_D Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 10:23 am

I’ve found that I’m actually higher on the totem pole in terms of not being shunned than quite a few other types. For example, people will often sit next to me instead of:
- old men, especially if they look smelly or unshaven.
- teenagers
- someone talking on their mobile phone, or using a device that seems intimidating, like a laptop or PSP.
- someone who’s eating or drinking (although that’s sometimes me!).
- someone with big headphones, even if the sound isn’t audible.

Taro Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

Basjohn wrote:
…I for one am quite proud to have inevitably been a part of an artificial (but all the more-likely accurate…) PSA campaign.

Thanx Basjohn!

Sorry I had to appropriate and remix your pencil-neck geek cartoon to approximate my more pointy cleanhead, blue-eyed likeness.

svbrown1 Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

i’ve only lived in japan a year, but i commute any where from 30 minutes to 3 hours by train a day and i’ve never had this happen to me… and i’m never really the last possible seat chosen by anyone.

is this empty seat thing a phenomenon that happens only to male gaijin??

Taro Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

svbrown1 wrote:
i’ve only lived in japan a year, but i commute any where from 30 minutes to 3 hours by train a day and i’ve never had this happen to me…

Sheesh, like I said, Y.M.M.V.
For Loco and I this happens almost every day (which for me is 25+ years of commuting here in Tokyo).

Comment via Japundit.com –Gaijin talks about racism in Japan
I’m also a foreigner in Japan and some of what this guy says is spot on. The “gaijin seat” on the train is very true. I’ll be on the train and quite often the only seat left will be next to me, and people will still pass it up (I even try to sit on the edge next to the doors to leave only one seat next to me). I sigh inside but I don’t make a big deal out of it.

YouTube Video:

“…every foreigner here knows the ‘GAIJIN SEAT’ on the train, which is the seat right next to you, is the last one to get taken…”

Yokoso Nagoya! » Gaijin cooties
…All foreigners have gaijin cooties, which makes them undesirable to stand or sit next to on a train. Apparently the big, hairy, sweaty foreigners are dangerous…

Click for full-size illustrations and droll commentary.

Seat Lepers
By Nick Hall | seekjapan.jp
One of the few aspects of living in Japan that annoys me is a phenomenon I call the ‘leprosy effect’. The kind of situation this usually occurs in is one that I’m sure many of you can empathize with: I’m sitting down in a crowded train car next to the only free remaining seat, watching Japanese passengers spill in through the open doors while the train hums idle at the station.
One of the passengers spots the available seat and darts for it, but just as they’re about to sit down they notice me sitting in the adjacent space. Realizing I’m a foreigner, a look of surprise and sometimes even panic appears on their face. They suddenly decide not to sit down, instead remaining standing or going off to look for another seat as if I have some kind of contagious disease.
It doesn’t matter that I’m dressed respectably in a suit; my white skin, blue eyes and ‘big nose’ identify me as a ‘seat leper’ who nobody wants to sit next to. By now all too familiar with the ‘leprosy effect’ after several years in Japan, I just watch bemusedly as the same pattern of avoidance is repeated by a string of passengers every time the train stops at a station.
More…

And:
. . . . Gaijin Perimeter 2007 Jan. | outpostnine.com

greatteacherachan.com: Gaijin Buffer Zone
…“I am ALMIGHTY GAIJIN…When you go to the cinema in Japan, you always request your seat of choice as you purchase your ticket – despite the fact that I’d picked the back area, which was very crowded, I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the clerk had kindly left a two-seat Gaijin Buffer Zone around me so that no one would have to get too close…more...

As always in Japan, Y.M.M.V.

Achmed the Terrorist Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Just one or two empty seats next to gaijin?

Shit, I scream, “Allah akabar!” and the entire train car has empty seats.

Taro Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

Take the Gaijin Test
Japan Q&A | 2007/11/29
Are you still a foreigner in Japan? Do you agree with any of the following statements?
(long list of life in Japan quirks)

A non-Japanese sits down next to you on the train and you get up and move. You’re not prejudiced, but who knows what they might do?

Eric Holcomb commented:
OUCH!!! The seat on the train thing hurts. Every night on my way home, the seat beside me will _only_ be filled if the bus is PACKED!

Chris_D Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

Y.M.M.V indeed. Sad to hear that so many have had this experience. Like I suggested before, it hardly ever happens to me. In fact, I remember having this conversation with a friend of mine:

F: Those racist f###s never sit next to me on the train.
Me: Well, you are a pretty big guy (he’s close to 190 cm, and 120-130 kg of fat and muscle)
F: Yeah…
Me: And you have a goatee.
F: I guess…
Me: And those sunglasses you’re wearing now, I bet you wear those on the subway even at night.
F: True…
Me: I might not sit next to you either :-).

Jonathan Says:
September 9th, 2010 at 11:18 pm

Thanks for the link. You mean my experience isn’t unique? I try to laugh it off. And honestly, it doesn’t happen that much, but when it happens it is very noticeable.

Moogiechan Says:
September 10th, 2010 at 12:52 am

Demographics may indeed enter into it. I’m pale, female, middle aged and not too big, so maybe I look mostly harmless. I don’t recall this blatantly happening to me but I may have just been enjoying the extra room too much to notice at the time. But I never had anyone run away if I sat next to them.

The strongest reaction I had was surprise when I’d stand up and offer my seat to an elderly person or someone with a small child.

Claudia D. Says:
September 10th, 2010 at 8:34 am

Back home I’m rather typical college girl at 5′8″ 120lbs (172.7cm 54kg). People here in Japan ask if I play basketball and oddly if I am a model (both of which I am too short to do successfully in the States).

However, I had quite a few Japanese squeak and run away when I sat down next to them on the train unexpectedly. When this happens while my Japanese girlfriends are with me on the train, they always console and tease me saying, “That bozo (’kore yatsu’) must be embarrassed and got a stiffy.” :-)

Taro Says:
September 10th, 2010 at 9:47 am

Claudia D. wrote:
… I had quite a few Japanese squeak and run away…

You’re not the only woman running into this:
Ms. GreatTeacherachan reports the gaijin seat effect even in crowded Japanese movie venues imposed by the theater staff.

greatteacherachan.com: Gaijin Buffer Zone
…“I am ALMIGHTY GAIJIN…When you go to the cinema in Japan, you always request your seat of choice as you purchase your ticket – despite the fact that I’d picked the back area, which was very crowded, I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the clerk had kindly left a two-seat Gaijin Buffer Zone around me so that no one would have to get too close…more...

Taro Says:
September 10th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Let’s Train Bingo!

Train Bingo!
By Jefferey Tanenhaus and Geoff Ciotti | seekjapan.jp
….To help pass the time for frazzled commuters like you, we’ve designed a special bingo game. The board is without traditional numbers or vocabulary words, but the rules remain the same as to how grandma plays in the retirement home, or Japanese students play in English class. Be the first to spot any four featured squares in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row, and you’re the big winner. Simple as that.
So sharpen your pencil, grab a friend (or the nearest salaryman), rush onto the train (mind the doors), and let the games begin!
via Seek Japan :: Train Bingo!.

custom chrome rimjob Says:
September 11th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

im feeling it

Really-I-love-Japan Says:
September 12th, 2010 at 9:59 am

Here are some more fun takes on the gaijin seat issue.

How to create the “gaijin bubble”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVh8IhCS12w

How to deal with a Gaijin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QaO8t-Tejk

Taro Says:
September 12th, 2010 at 11:48 am

A “Kentanakachan”* in blog in Japanese (Google Translate) picked up this story offering the Japanese ~~rebuttal~~ viewpoint on the Gaijin Seat Exclusionary Zone ….

Key points of anonymous Japanese commenters, which kentanakachan gently derided* on the blog:

–Gaijin/foreigners are stinky, odd acting, and scary so of course we avoid them (admitting the Japanese do leave the seat vacant).

–Gaijin are much more racist (thus admitting Japanese are racist).

–Gaijin go home!

*Of course there is a famous “Ken Tanaka chan“
who is a fun comedian/performance-artist
who spoofs the Japanese so this could be
some sort of trolling, ha, ha.

More info via:
http://www.kentanakalovesyou.com/
http://kentanakalovesyou.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/helpmefindparents

*Updated: Thanks to the advice from Eido Inoue, I changed the incorrect focus of “blame” from kentanakachan to the anonymous Japanese commenters on kentanakachan’s blog.

Eido Inoue Says:
September 19th, 2010 at 12:11 am

@Taro: regarding the kentakanachan blog entry:

Where did you see those three points: (1. foreigners are stinky, 2. foreigners are more racist and 3. foreigners go home) on kentakanachan’s post regarding this entry?

Have those phrases/points been deleted? Because they sure aren’t there now. Or did you not understand the Japanese (or perhaps relied on too much machine translation; I think you lost the nuance regarding the point he was making regarding foreigners that don’t sit down next to foreigners)

P.S. I’ll give you a hint regarding your error: the points about body odor, going back home if you don’t like it, etc, are IN THE COMMENTS (by an anonymous) and not written by the blog author.

In particular, “kentakachan” rebutes and disagrees with the anonymous commenter, not this post.

Please be more careful who you assign/attribute blame to (as you call his entry a “rebuttal”) and analyze the Japanese more carefully.

Taro Says:
September 19th, 2010 at 1:02 am

Eido Inoue:
…I’ll give you a hint regarding your error: the points about body odor, going back home if you don’t like it, etc, are IN THE COMMENTS (by an anonymous) and not written by the blog author….

Yep, mea culpa.
Just as I figured “kentakachan” was having fun with the anonymous commenters, in his disarmingly gentle way of humor (which sadly is lost on me).

Day-Bee-Toe Says:
September 19th, 2010 at 7:54 pm

Hello.
I once commented on kentanakachan’s blog as Iruhito (入人) and I’ve just noticed that my comment has been quoted on this blog by someone.

But unfortunately, I have to say that my comment is quite severely mistranslated. Taro quoted my comment as
Gaijin/foreigners are stinky, odd acting, and scary so of course we avoid them (admitting the Japanese do leave the seat vacant).
which is definitely not what I meant.

What I wrote is that the seat to anyone who has some features tends to be avoided, and one of such features is that
who are sweaty, or who have strong odor
and that is often the case for white men because they often wear shirts without underwears, which most Japanese men do.

To sum up, I just pointed out that one reason that white men are avoided might be the cultural differences of fashion, not the ethnic or genetic one.

Taro Says:
September 19th, 2010 at 9:34 pm

Day-Bee-Toe wrote:
…to sum up, I just pointed out that one reason that white men are avoided might be the cultural differences of fashion, not the ethnic or genetic one.

Fair enough.
I can agree with that but…

The fact is EVERY single time I have been on the Tokyo train—without exception—for 26 fucking years the last seat to be taken on the car is next to me.

“Understandable” perhaps…racist, most definitely.

Day-Bee-Toe Says:
September 19th, 2010 at 11:40 pm

Well, I have no idea about your case and I neither agree or disagree about it, because I don’t know any of your experience. In addition, I am not sure if I have ever seen that a seat next to a foreigner is kept empty while all the other seats are occupied. As far as I experienced, when a seat next to a foreigner is kept empty, there are plenty of empty seats in the same carriage, and when the carriage is enough crowded, all the seats are occupied except for some “special” cases; I mean, in cases that the seat next to the empty one is occupied by an unpleasant, suspicious or extraordinary person (in many cases, a teenager or a middle aged man).

To tell the truth, the reason I noted above is not the only one that I mentioned on kentanakachan’s blog. I mentioned some other possibilities for the empty seats, and they are the “special” ones I wrote above.

The one I guess the likeliest among them is the size of body. Many Caucasians and Africans are much taller than an average Japanese guy, for whom the seats in trains are designed. As a result, if a very tall man have a seat, the place next to his is naturally too small. The same goes to fat people, who are somehow much more common in the West than in Japan.

Please not that I’m not saying that the phenomenon you have experienced are not racist. I am simply mentioning that seats next to someone can be avoided for many rational, not racial, reasons.

空 Says:
September 20th, 2010 at 12:36 am

Taroさん

the fact is EVERY single time I have been on the Tokyo train—without exception—for 26 fucking years the last seat to be taken on the car is next to me.

ぼくは、Taroさんよりかなり長く東京にいますけどね、外国人の席のとなりがことさら空いていた、というのは見たことがないですよ。

だから興味があるんです。

ツイッターの写真はTaroさんですか？スキンヘッドってのは、日本人でも外国人でもご承知のように避けられる理由になりますよ。

もう一つ面白い例がありましてね。

たしか、3yencomだったんじゃないかと思うんですがね、昔ブロガーの写真を掲載していたブログがあった。その人を偶然、中央線で見かけたことがあった。ほんのちょっと小太りでね。その方、日本人の若い女の子とたどたどしい日本語でしゃべりながら、隣同士にすわっていましたよ。

以前、この件について、議論したことがあるんですよ。

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/f4855f66e71b3e47eb352c13c230379e

そしたらね、JapannewbieのHarveyさんが、やはり、そうしたことはある、っていうんですよ。

だから、ありえない話ではないと思うんですが、日本語で問題提起してもらわないと言っていることが理解できない日本人も多いと思うんですよ。

例えば、カメラでももって電車に乗ってみて、その様子を公開して、日本人にうったえたらどうでしょうか？

パンクの格好もしていない、浮浪者にも、やくざにもみえないし、行儀も悪くないけど、外国人だと、こうして隣の席が避けられる、これはどうしたことか、と、日本語で、問題提起していただくとありがたいんですがね。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbb_P6Fgq4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAIkbb_qbUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxUnpCNyvA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrvl5fFwGng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBLUxuTFSTQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxZsznUbn7U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3WQRD481SU

外国人の方が、こんなの公開するよりよほど有意義だとおもうんですよ。

KontaOsobiste Says:
September 22nd, 2010 at 5:45 pm

Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner (to swing at racist japanese on the train)?

Day-Bee-Toe Says:
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:32 pm

@KontaOsobiste
Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner (to swing at racist japanese on the train)?

Such an golf club is located in the Sea Shepherd Reich ruled by Paul Watson, I presume.

Day-Bee-Toe Says:
September 22nd, 2010 at 11:33 pm

Or maybe in North Korea.

googleAnmeldung Says:
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 am

Hey, do you have some proof?!

空 Says:
September 23rd, 2010 at 8:06 pm

KontaOsobiste Says:
September 22nd, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner (to swing at racist japanese on the train)?

そうやって、安易に特定の日本人を人種差別認定して、暴力を匂わせるのはやめていただけませんか？

あなた因み日本語できますか？

love-watching-salarymen Says:
September 24th, 2010 at 10:55 am

However, if gaijin plan to undergo a pubic hair waxing on the train, they must be aware there are a number of risks they should be aware of before attempting it.

Unlike Japanese salarymen who love to mine their noses to the second finger knuckle for golden boogers while commuting on the train, performing such gaijin hair removal treatment should be done with care not to freak out the locals.

Booger mining in Tokyo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73709979@N00/2298774146/

KontaOsobiste Says:
September 24th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

空 wrote:
そうやって、安易に特定の日本人を人種差別認定して、暴力を匂わせるのはやめていただけませんか？
——

空 -san politely chided me about stereotyping (which is just another facet of racism) in my facetious question about the best golf club to swing at racist japanese on the train.

The problem is that the Japanese IDEAL is Groupthink and stereotyping is ingrained in the Japanese Borg-like culture.

空 Says:
September 25th, 2010 at 1:35 am

“my facetious question

冗談だよ、というのはていのいいいいわけですね。

「あなたは席を避けました」
「冗談で、避けたの」
で通用させていいのかしら？

”The problem is that the Japanese IDEAL is Groupthink and stereotyping is ingrained in the Japanese Borg-like culture.”

まず、ご主張そのものの意味・真偽が不明である。
また、ここの議論とどう関係するかも不明です。

因みに、日本語ができないわりに、日本文化論はお好きなようですね。