Loco in Yokohama

It’s clear to me that Japan and it’s negative experiences HAS inspired you to write, maybe even given you the critical insight you need to do it. It has to me as well as anyone else who puts their voice on paper as a way to understand this place. I’m working on some racism pieces as well, (although anymore I don’t know what constitutes racism and what constitutes someone being an asshole, thanks Japan) but for now your blog is really pointing me in a good direction. Thanks as always!

I went back and read the “avoid foreigners at all costs” piece that you wrote, and am struck by how markedly different your experiences have been from mine. I have never found anyone who is so predatory or myopic in my experiences here. Part of that, I’m sure, is that I don’t go to “gaijin bars”, and part of it is that I’m female, foreign and married to a fellow American (so I’m completely out of the loop on the way in which people talk about dating or having sex with Japanese folks). And, I’m not an expat. They are a whole other kettle of fish.

I just think it’s important to know that not all foreigners are alike, and that there are other types beyond the ones you’ve encountered who live very different lifestyles and have more balanced priorities. Some of us just “live” and aren’t preoccupied with using cultural differences in order to reconcile some personal neuroses or deal with emotional needs we can’t have met back home. Yes, we complain sometimes, but so do the Japanese (often about the same things), and people complain back home as well because life isn’t perfect and we get frustrated and need catharsis.

The whole, “if you don’t like it, leave” (which is alluded to in the questions you answered but not directly stated), is offered by people who have a very shallow recognition of the complexity of real life and who are attempting to quash a discussion of something they find unpleasant. If we don’t talk about the bad experiences we have in Japan, then they don’t exist. I often feel that people react that way because they want to pretend the uncomfortable reality doesn’t exist and they can reconcile their cognitive dissonance by dismissing complaints as the responses of inveterate whiners. Sometimes we stay in a situation because it is hard, and we grow in unexpected ways from that hardship. Smooth sailing is not only boring, but stagnates emotional and intellectual growth.

Getting back to your former article, it seems to me that saying “avoid (sub-group) at all costs” is a form of prejudice and the result of stereotyping. Isn’t this little different from the type of mentality that the Japanese are perhaps applying to you? You recommend avoiding foreigners and they want to avoid them, too, because they have pre-judged them to be the type of people they don’t want to be around before they know them as individuals. Personally, I try not to reject anyone out of hand regardless of nationality or appearance, and at least try to know who they are first. I would reject the type of men you knew at that time as people I wouldn’t want to associate with. However, I wouldn’t assume that I should avoid all foreigners because some of them possess characters that I find unappealing.

Wow I’m flattered, excellent post, thank you I appreciate it.

I think your explanations just spring up more questions for me and I don’t expect you to answer all of them, unless you want to. I’ll try to stay semi brief.

No, I haven’t had racial bigotry thrown in my face, although as a result I’m trying to be deeply empathic with what you must be going through, which is what made the video connotation all the more confusing! Those men weren’t hating, they were playing a round of Call of Duty and all chillaxin. You know, banter about kill scores, it’s like Ender’s Game right? It’s clearly transformed them and the way they think about the value of a human life. And that kind of hate, is from a kilometer away in a helicopter, or over Xbox. It’s not in their face on a day to day level- they can’t even speak the language, they’re just following orders. So it’s interesting, the kinds of hate we can have, I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t let it transform you like it has these men.

Sure, there’s always going to be ignorances of the masses, this one just feels like a knife to the gut! It’s like a direct hit at the very core of your being, a suckerpunch to the face when you least expect, only you’ve trained yourself to flinch before it’s even happened. It’s like the epicenter of racism. Good lord, seriously? I guess I just couldn’t imagine dealing with it every. single. fucking. day. Like a big black cloud on your picnic all the time, even on your best day? Does Japan matter that much in the large scheme of things? What about changing bigotry in your home country, what is the motivation? Which at times puts you in a dark place, how do other foreigners deal with this kind of bullshit? It’s hard to fault your drive for wanting to make a change, but what an emotional rollercoaster. I guess I would go back and forth between drive and defeat, as that post seems to show.

How cool would it be to have some kind of minority coalition that blanketed all of Japan to do what you’re doing now? Is there something like that?

I read your article on gaijin, and noticed the places you were looking for other gaijin- in bars for the most part, in gaijin centric places, correct? Is that really the only place you can go and have a decent conversation that slowly devolves into complaints? Are you really only around people who care about surface level things? Are there really no proactive groups that get together to share their positive experiences and have deep conversations? Because deep conversations are so important. I imagine this blog is a kind of replacement for that,the desire to go under the surface of the day to day conversation where nothing important is really transmitted. But I guess it’s baffling to feel the need to completely cut yourself off like that, already in a country where you’re in a sense cut off, in a black and white all or nothing sort of way?

Hopefully I’ve addressed everything in a mish mash way, failure to do so is in no way trying to ignore what points you’ve brought up, thanks!

“These are people who spent hundreds of hours to decrypt a highly top secret video, only to be used in this fashion? I can’t help but feel this use is outrageous poor taste, almost laughable.”

The release of a Top Secret video was to what ends? Change in policy? No, the Gov will decend further down the rabbit hole and incidents like in the video which were obviously an error will continue to happen but your chances over ever knowing about them just became less likely.

What you morons don’t seem to realize is that our gov’s ability to maneuver was hampered terribly. At the very least policy’s put forth by liberals and conservatives alike will be harder to accomplish. In the worst case some peeps might lose their lives or freedom for sharing that info. What will change? Not policy of course. The Gov’s reasoning for not sharing with the public that elected it has just gotten clearer in their minds. The rabbit is going deeper down the hole.
That sucks as an American as a Conservative and I take no solice in knowing people within gov who are left leaning are just as fucked. If I can’t trust you I can’t tell you things. The less you know is your damage in ways that are clear and not so much.

Saudi’s prodding us to attack Iran
(that sure as fuck doesn’t help that regions stability).

China implying N Korea will implode on itself.
(Paranoid N Korea now has another neighbor to be distrustful of..even more)

Pakistan refusing to allow the removal of Nuclear material
(when it had previously implied a willingness to do so)

The Helicopter videos release..I get but don’t personally agree with but I can see why others think differently. Releasing information clearly damaging to all Americans (our safety is connected to our ability to receive and give information in a secure manner has been damaged) . This continued release will not help the unemployment rate. It won’t help parents save money to put their children in college. Mind blowing realities such as (per MSN today) The U.S. bailing out foreign banks with BILLIONS of dollars while a dangerous city in America ,Camden N.J. is laying off 1/2 of it’s police force because of budget troubles.

We have a president who has 2 years of hell coming because the Republicans will play politics and block him apparently not realizing that America just wants to have some jobs, education and health care. Pelosi was part of the reason Americans gave Republicans another chance yet she refused to accept any blame.and give a fresh face a chance.

I’m a Republican but I am smart enough to admit that they (Rep/Dem) are all cut from the same cloth.
Whomever you support…their job just got harder and their plate fuller. Secretiveness and keeping the public in the dark has just become a National security issue and that means you will never again know as much as you do now and they can rightfully cite National security as the reason for doing so. Some pre-pubecent looking soldier putting secret files on a blank Lady Gaga CD does nothing for me that’s good and if your an American that wants your country to get better sooner than later than well….this is not good.

Back to who I quoted. “Poor taste”? That would be how I see the publicizing of the killings. If your loved one were a victim of violence would you want everyone to see a video of it. This coulda been resolved without such tactics. Even the threat of a release would have brought it. “Poor taste” is definitely a good term but I’d use it for reasons different from you.
****************************
I have been putting up with racist bullshit and have accumulated an impressive 13-2 record. My 2 losses were while being so drunk I could hardly walk so…I quit and now only fight straight. 5 wins in a row since going sober. If you wouldn’t play a sport drunk you shouldn’t fight when drunk since it’s an extreme sport. I handle my stresses in Japan with my fists and get good results. Is it the best way? Who the fuck is anyone to say what is the “best” way? It works for me. A lot of the ALT’s around here seem to avoid me for reasons of rumor or otherwise. If the rumor is about fighting than yes..it’s true if it’s about anything else than it’s a lie. If any of them ever had the balls to ask I would be more than happy to shed the light on the truth.

I’m way off topic Loco and I’m gonna put this on my Facebook with a link to you of course. GREAT writing as usual

“I mean, changing the minds of adults is almost a waste of time. they’re either open to new ideas or they aren’t.”

Hi, Loco san. I think here you are a bit too pessimistic.
There was an old Japanese women who says she was afraid of Black people.
I asked why. She said she’d never met black people but she saw black athletes at the Olympic game on TV. “They are different” said she. “The way they move, the way they jumpーーーthey are too different.” she said.
For some reason, I had an opportunity to have a dinner with a young black man, so I invited her.
We had a great talk in Japanese. He talked in Japanese. I am not sure if he understood everything she said but she talked and talked. She wanted to make him understand things Japanese.
Later after we parted him, I asked if she changed the way she looks blacks and foreigners. “he was really nice, he is okay” she said. Now that does not mean she’s changed her perception about black people in general, but she changed her mind about that black personーーーshe’s changed her mindーーーjust a little, yes, but a change is a change.
I wonder how you can be so sure that your talking and communicating with the Japanese adults are not changing their mind about you and blacks.

Hey kallisti!
Well, i think it takes a certain amount of disregard for Iraquis humanity to regard them so, and that disregard I believe is a product of hate. I don’t think those guys would do that with Americans, si my point. Yours sounds like they’d do it with any human. I think it was race or nationality specific. Springing from a hate due to the acts of some of the iraquis people on the ground against Americans. No?
And, my question to you wasn’t whether or not you’ve had racial bigotry thrown in your face. Maybe it wasn’t clear. I meant, have you ever felt hate in your own heart for another person or people? That would be something that would help you identify with what prompted me to use that video in the first place. Then you could understand those soldiers the way I understand them. They’re not some Otaku with real guns. They are hateful vengeful wrathful soldiers making a game out of it to retain their own humanity somehow. It’s much darker than you’re thinking…and much more human and common, too.
“a suckerpunch to the face when you least expect, only you’ve trained yourself to flinch before it’s even happened. .” You got a way with words! I like that! Not sure how to respond to that yet, though. I’ll sleep on it. i like people who make me think. What do I need to go out and make friends for when the kind of thoughtful people I’d be blessed to find are right here? You know what um saying? People like you are the answer to your (and @orchid64) question. You are foreigners living here and you are friends (or at least friendly which aint bad either)
I feel you on the changing bigotry back home. But, honestly, I feel like a citizen of the world as much as I feel myself to be an American. Japan just happens to be where i am now, so i’m living and writing in the now…If and when I return to the US, I’ll get back into it. I’ve learned a lot. Living here gives me a more objective view of my home world and I think this POV will behoove me in future endeavors should i return. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it til i come up with something better (-:
As for that article on Avoiding Gaijin, well…I don’t know. Those experiences I used supported my premise, but I’m not an all out Gaijin evader. Like i said in the post above, I have two close friends here, one chinese and one black. I also have another friend who was partially responsible for Loco being in this lovely country, and he’s one of my best friends from even before I came to japan. I think 3 real friends at any given time or place in your life is a bonanza! You know?
Sounds to me like you’re talking about what I would describe as associates. Yeahhhhh, I’m working on that. Just joined a couple of writer’s groups (as a result of attedning the writer’s conference this summer) and I plan to get more active with them starting next year (an early resolution) so I’m on it, don’t worry (assuming you were) But I gotta tell you, for me, nothing beats being alone with my keyboard (or novel or non-fiction book) and a lot of great words before me. It’s like magic for me. A panacea for the turmoil and torment.
It truly is a gift!
thanks for the shout (:

Hey orchid! thanks for the shout as always!
Yeah, I agree with you. it is stereotyping and I kinda addressed this in the reply above to Kallisti. Sorry. Please check out.
Yeah, you know how I feel about those people who tell me i should split because things are tough. I’d spend the rest of my life splitting, wouldn’t I? lol

Thanks Kei! Can’t wait to read what you come up with! I’m sure it’s gonna be great!

Chris, you’re killing me man! Don’t Brawl Drunk. Needs to be on a bumper sticker.
Now, why didn’t I know you were an conservative? Man, you give conservatives a good name! (:

Sora-san, maybe you’re misunderstanding the meaning of “open to new ideas” I’m afraid of cockraoches. If a friend of mine who isn’t afraid of cockoraoches tells me that cockroaches are actually our friends and says he can show me how not to be afriad of them, I’d willingly allow that because I don’t want to be afraid of cockroaches, or anything for that matter. That is an open mind. If I told him you can take those cockroaches and shove them up your ass, then that would be an example of closed minded. You feel me now? In other words, that old women was open to new ideas. Bless her heart!

Loco san. thanks for the reply.

“In other words, that old women was open to new ideas. Bless her heart! ”

If that is the case, isn’t it closer to the truth that some people are more open to new idea and more prone to change their mind than others.( I’ve never seen absolutely open minded people nor absolutely closed minded people )

And probably what you were trying to say was that kids are more open to new idea and more prone to change their minds than adults. Am I right so far?

And sure in that sense, whether it is a waste of time depends upon how closed mind you are dealing with.

But you never know how closed people are until you try to change people.Am I right here? Correct me if I am in the wrong. Supposing that I am not in the wrong, it will take us back to Kallisti ‘s original question.” Is there a drive to fight it out, to try and change the minds of those around you?”

The old woman had a relatively closed mind. I invited her to talk with a black man. It worked. she has changed her mind. Her mind was not as closed as I thought.

You said ” changing the minds of adults is almost a waste of time. With regard to the problems you are facing, I am curious, specifically what have you done to try to change their minds to reach the conclusion.

Let me ask another question:
One guys holds c
One guy holds that changing the minds of adults is a waste time.
Another guy holds that changing the minds of adults is almost a waste time.
Still another guy holds that changing the minds of adults is rarely a waste of time.
Yet another guy holds that changing the minds of adults is not a waste of time.

Another guy holds that changing the minds of adults is not a waste of time.

Let me put it another way Sora-san
“In general” sorry I aint feeling the goddamn love from your people so the incentive to even inquire as to whether or not their minds are open is not there. I’d sooner crack one of them in the fucking jaw. I know you think your people just need a little tug, a little love from a brother, a little urging, a little session with me where i show them that i don’t bite, and I aint after their fucking wallets, and you think this is something I should do to improve relations between us…and if I felt sorry for them I might be inclined to, but I don’t feel sorry for them…it’s their choice and their loss. And whoever, that old lady or any other Japanese person, or person of any ethnicity or race out there for that matter, staring and cowering, flinching and fleeing and all that other shit, with their demeaning, degrading, pathetically closed minded thoughts about me and my entire fucking race waiting for me to show and prove to them otherwise, they can suck out my ass with a crazy straw.
I guess my mind s closing, aint it…the terrorist are winning. this bitch looked in my face on the train yesterday, and told me in English “I hate blacks” I looked at her squarely and said “FINALLY” She didn’t get it! But, you do, don’t you?
sorry Sora, you caught me at a time when I really aint trying to hear that i aint trying hard enough to change Japanese minds about my people. Fuck you! I think I’ve demonstrated my good will a-plenty by even refraining from putting my foot in some asses, but beyond that I respect people who respect me. You got to give some to get some. That’s the Loco code. Maybe Japanese think that I have to prove my humanity to them before I can be respected, but again my answer is whoever thinks that way can blow me! Approach me with love and your sure to get it in return. Come at me with some disrespectful shit and dependent on my mood you might get a dose of your own medicine.
Waste of time was the wrong way to put it. A humiliating waste of MY fucking time is what I should have said. In conclusion, the Japanese people who know me generally love me. the ones who don’t generally fear me. That’s how it is. I aint about to take the whole fucking Yokohama out to dinner and a chat. That’s ridiculous…

Loco san

You are sort of in an angry mode. And yet you are trying to find reason why you were in that mode.
” I kept asking myself why I was feeling especially sensitive to the same shit I see every day. I mean, nothing extraordinarily offensive happened that day. It was just typical every day Japanese bullshit”
I laud you for the honest attitude. So let me be honest with you, sir.

As for the experiences you are facing, I am not really sure how it is.
I can imagine people often stare at you because you stand out among the population , but sorry, honestly I am not sure if and how they cower, flinch, and fleet with their demeaning, degrading closed mind. It is hard to imagine an woman telling you on the train “I hate blacks” in your face:it is rare that people speak to the stranger on the train, and it is hard to imagine an women tell “I hate blacks” in English to the person whom she is supposedly afraid of. If true, she is a real nut.

“Waste of time was the wrong way to put it. A humiliating waste of MY fucking time is what I should have said. ”

Okay, you were talking about the people who you think cower, flinch and fleet at the sight of you and you were saying it is a humiliating waste of your time to change their minds. I agree.

“the Japanese people who know me generally love me. the ones who don’t generally fear me. That’s how it is.”

I think so.

” I aint about to take the whole fucking Yokohama out to dinner and a chat. That’s ridiculous…”

Right. But do the whole fucking yokohama population cower, flinch, and fleet at the sight of you?

Loco san, have you talked about your problems with your Japanese friends?
Have you asked what they think of it? Have you worked with them?

I understand to some extent what it is like to be a minority.
The Japanese are minority in the the rest of the world.
A Japanese person speaking and writing in English is a minority in an English speaking blog sphere.
Perhaps some Japanese people notice degrading comments about the Japan and the Japanese in English, even on your blog whether you think it is degrading or not.
I share the experience in which I thought I might have been cowered, and flinched .—Do I feel good ? hell no. but “nuke’em all” feelings? hardly. Do I think gaijin has no sense of equality?ーーーare you kidding?

There was a guy who used to comment on my blog: he hates whites, perhaps he had a really bad experiences with some white people.he likes picking up the bad examples white people do to the Japanese and insinuates white folks are like that. Perhaps, In his experience and perception, the majority of white folks were like that though there were some exceptions. . I said to him, “there are such white people just as there are such black people and the Japanese people, but let’s not just generalize, . I don’t know he changed his mind through talking with me. but I just keep talking that way whenever I meet such a person Sometimes it works.

If you want to talk to the Japanese people and raise awareness, don’t hesitate, My blog is open for you.
I’ll do what I can do for you.

(And sorry, just ignore “Let me ask another question:
One guys holds c…..” in the previous comment. I just wrote it just in the process of writing the comment.)

I can honestly say I’ve never felt hate in my heart for another person or people, ire maybe, irritation, great dislike, but hate is indeed a strong word. Are you really telling me that it’s required in order to understand? Do you realize this argument is considered a classical logical fallacy, an appeal to emotion? Just to back myself and prove I’m not bullshitting here, Wikipedia can tell it better than me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion. Know your logical fallacies! It’ll always get you closer to the reality of the situation.

So having said that, I can’t say I buy that, I guess I feel when it comes to having a real honest discussion that emotions are to remain in the backseat so a clear rational thought process can take place so as not to muddle truth (or as close as we can to get it) from perceptions, unless these perceptions are declared. I also don’t see those soldiers in an emotional light, I see them shooting at whatever is on the other side of their gun, following orders. Why? This video does a better job of explaining than I do, take it away Julian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmv-_U8V-W8

These teenage boys who’ve never even really had a taste of the real world yet, just wanting to see some action, that adrenaline rush of actually killing someone, like the video says it’s just another day in the office, the idea that hate is behind it feels a bit like a fantasy idea of what it’s actually like, because I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say at that point they were completely desensitized, in other words they felt nothing at all, they were dehumanized. I’m sure this wasn’t the first action they’d ever seen. This is why PTSD is always an immense problem when soldiers from war come back home, they are incapable of adapting to civilian life, the same kind of people they just got done killing, because they are like an empty shell. A small note is how sad it is how they are treated once they do get home, currently as far as I know there are not available any solid programs for rehabilitation back into civilian life, that may have changed. I could say I speak from actually knowing ex soldiers, but that would be an appeal to authority.

Not to mention raping women without consequences, even their own female counterparts whose fate lies in whether or not they were carrying a weapon on their way to the urinal at night, what consequences or cares do these men actually face? What does that tell me that I don’t already know? When there is no tribunal back home to make them face these crimes against humanity? When they’re told to turn a blind eye to torture that’s all too prevalent around them in jail facilities?

Have you seen the map on theguardian.uk of all the civilians who’ve been killed and the precise locations taken from those leaks? It’s disgusting, -civillians-, not insurgents, sometimes a few, sometimes a lot, always unnecessarily. Not only was American information leaked, but that too of the British military. What’s interesting is in the way both handled the newfound information. Britain immediately called for further investigations. Can you guess what the US did? Condemned the actions of Wikileaks for bringing to light the horrible atrocities of this war, false claims, deflections like the jeopardization of ground troops when no such information was given. Is the truth that dangerous?

Very excellent post, A++, would read again.

The thing is, Sora-san, is I don’t see what you’re suggesting as changing their minds about black people or about me. i see it as trying to change their minds about having common decency and extending it to human beings the way they would like it extended to them, the same decency they’d extend to one another. Don’t you think it’s a shame that I should have to explain and implore people to show common decency to others?
Japanese Kids haven’t learned yet (most of them anyway) that it is the Japanese way to refrain from showing foreigners common decency until they show that they are worthy of it…by what? speaking Japanese and showing a willingness to sit down with them and have a meal? (Is that what it takes to prove to the typical partially closed minded Japanese person (or any such person) to turn their thinking around?) Thus I reserve my energy in that regard for the kids. they are the future after all.
As for the adults, the experience of seeing the person they previously felt to be undeserving of decency and deserving of fear or disgust or hate or contempt is all they need to become decent human beings…is that the notion you’re trying to sell me? Ok. Well, in 8 years i have changed the minds of a number of Japanese adults about me personally, and unfortunately they’ll probably apply that thinking to anybody who looks like me. If they’re lucky, one day one of those people who look like me will wrong them or do something upsetting to their mindset. Because then they can have an epiphany and say “My God! All black people are not alike…How silly I was to think that all black people were good because Loco is a nice guy.Or all black people were bad because of some news story or movie. Goodness gracious…they’re human beings just like us!” Then they’ll evolve from their current state into dare i say a more enlightened state. But, it won’t be because I made an extra effort to push that process along. Sorry. Too humiliating a task for me. I will continue to be myself and all that entails, changing the hearts and minds of the people I encounter by virtue of being myself. . Anything beyond that, in this day and age, seems to me to be mendokusai! But I’ve told you this before.

Loco　san
thanks for the reply.

”The thing is, Sora-san, is I don’t see what you’re suggesting as changing their minds about black people or about me”

The thing is that I don’t see who you are complaining of . The ones who you thought cowered, flinched, fleeted at the sight of you, or the entire Japanese population or the entire population of the world who have bias toward people like you?

“Japanese Kids haven’t learned yet (most of them anyway) that it is the Japanese way to refrain from showing foreigners common decency until they show that they are worthy of it”

American Kids haven’t learned yet (most of them anyway) that it is the American way to refrain from showing black, Latino, Asians common decency until they show that they are worthy of itーーーAm I right?

“.by what? speaking Japanese and showing a willingness to sit down with them and have a meal? (Is that what it takes to prove to the typical partially closed minded Japanese person (or any such person) to turn their thinking around?) ”

That is one way if you meet someone who is afraid of, say black people, like the old Japanese woman above　who you said was “open mind”.

“Thus I reserve my energy in that regard for the kids. they are the future after all.”

Of course you don’t have to tell the one who cowers, flinches, fleet at the sight of you , “shall we have a dinner and talk together? That’s ridiculous.

“Ok. Well, in 8 years i have changed the minds of a number of Japanese adults about me personally,”

That’s great.

”
If they’re lucky, one day one of those people who look like me will wrong them or do something upsetting to their mindset. Because then they can have an epiphany and say “My God! All black people are not alike…How silly I was to think that all black people were good because Loco is a nice guy.Or all black people were bad because of some news story or movie. Goodness gracious…they’re human beings just like us!”

Right, and for the most part, that’s roughly the way we are.
And you seem to be at the stage that most of the Japanese are like just as some Japanese are at the stage that most of gaijin/kokujin are like that.

” I will continue to be myself and all that entails, changing the hearts and minds of the people I encounter by virtue of being myself. ”

That’s perfectly fine.

But the majority-of-the Japanese-is-like-that-attitude will get you nowhere just as the- majority-of- Gaijin- are- ike- that attitude will get me nowhere.

There are some idiots who keep talking bullshit about Japan and the Japanese, even on your blog.
Every time I read blogs in English about Japan and the Japanese, “oh shit they are talking gajin bullshit. Every time I watch gajin, say,evading the eye contact with me on the train or on the streets, “oh shit, Gajin cowered, flinched again though I smiled at him. “I was told by gaijin she hates Japs in English in my face “That’s depressing, it shouldn’t be so easy to hate gaijn. But after all It was just typical every day Gaijin bullshit”

That will get me nowhere.

That is why I post here and am talking with you. And thanks Loco san for not cowering, flinching, nor fleeting at my comment and being open and nice to me.

You complain of the Japanese, that is perfectly all right.
And people sometimes need to let steam off.

But keep in mind telling in public the majority of people of a certain group,the Japanese or the whites or the blacks are like that with a negative connotation is likely to have a backlash.

And if you are not just complaining but also if you want to make difference in public, keep in mind that talking in English will make little difference.
You’ve been in Japan for 8 years. That is long enough to learn Japanese.
The majority of Japanese are not aware of your problems with the Japanese people just as the majority of English speaking people are not aware of my problems with them.
I say, please talk and write in Japanese if you want to make difference in Japan.
Of course, if you want to write still another travelogue on indigenous people from western perspective, that is another story.

HI Kallisti…This is part of a rather long conversation Sora and I have been having for almost a year now so I guess it might seem a bit out of context to you. But I’ll sum it up. Sora sees in me a person capable of making a difference. A significant one.. He knows I am a product of a culture and people that fought for 400 years for equality, respect and human dignity from a people and a country who would deny these things based on ignorance and greed. He believes that the key to the success that African Americans are finally beginning to enjoy in The US is within me…that any people capable of enduring the bullshit that the US put us through can certainly help bring his people, who are not half as vicious as the Europeans, out of their pit of ignorance into the light if only I’d apply myself to that task. If i learned his language fluently and implored them directly to please look on people of color as humans, if i used my ingenuity to create campaigns to raise awareness of the issues confronted by foreigners living in japan, and how disregard of these issues, on both parties parts, has contributed to the current level of distrust and antagonism, if I’d just reach out to those souls who shun me, in a very MLK-esque self-sacrificial, turn the other cheek, love will save us all, I have a dream fashion that I could really make a significant difference here and have less energy or inclination to complain or utilize my meager talents to describe the sea of ignorance around me.
And I think he’s right…to an extent. Which would probably explain my anger.
I just don’t like the idea of humiliating myself for people who wouldn’t piss on me if I was on fire…and especially of him suggesting I should humiliate myself for the good of all.
But there is some truth in what he says. That’s why i dig him and his blog!
I’m just in a bad mood…failing at my task, and being told “I hate you” to your face on the train can have that effect.
I’ll get over it. It’ll get better.

(“I can honestly say I’ve never felt hate in my heart for another person or people,”)

Hate like Love is really a personal emotion felt slightly differently and therefore..basically an opinion of the individual. That said, I still think your a liar. My opinion of course.

(I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say at that point they were completely desensitized, in other words they felt nothing at all,)

Safe to say? Are you fucking serious? You don’t even know them. This might be a moment that defines them and turns them into a substance abuser that spends the rest of their life trying to escape their own personal Hell/Guilt.

(Not to mention raping women without consequences)
Yeah, sometimes the locals rape their women and then stone them to death after falsely accusing them of adultery. Discussing the plight of western women in the Middle east is borderline bizzare and you outta focus that anger on getting the rights of local women beyond that of the middle ages.

(It’s disgusting, -civillians-, not insurgents, sometimes a few, sometimes a lot, always unnecessarily.)

Always? really?

(What’s interesting is in the way both handled the newfound information. Britain immediately called for further investigations. Can you guess what the US did? )

Britain? The country where B.P. and the government helped secure the release of a terrorist bomber to secure oil rights? That 1 man killed over 280 men/women and children. By the way…what do you think “further investigations” actually means? seriously?

(Is the truth that dangerous?)
That obviously depends on where your “interests” lie.

(I guess I feel when it comes to having a real honest discussion that emotions are to remain in the backseat so a clear rational thought process can take place so as not to muddle truth )

Ooops…you failed!!
You need to try harder not to sound like a raging anti war anti American lunatic.

The men who killed innocent people felt nothing? “Safe to say”….right?

Raping women? I think this is where your brain shut down for sure if it didn’t when you implied it was safe to say how a people you never met felt about killing other humans mistakenly.
When you compared Britain and America’s response to Wikileaks I could see your own racism clouds your mind. They are both full of shit and scurrying to protect their national self interests and you trying to use the language used to differentiate the two is ridiculous. You don’t see that?

Saudi Arabia wanted America to bomb Iran. How does that revelation (among many damaging others) help the region? Now Iran will try and covertly support and overthrow of the Saudi royal family (if they weren’t already) and however you see that it is de-stabilizing.

Files are being deleted and papers are being shredded and you will never know as much as you do now though YOU don’t seem to know much and are unaware how little you will know in the future.

Government secrecy around the world will increase and national security will be the rightful excuse.

“The old woman had a relatively closed mind. I invited her to talk with a black man. It worked. she has changed her mind. Her mind was not as closed as I thought.”

The old woman who had made it through the Japanese education and life itself yet still described Blacks as being like another species? You really believe YOU helped change her HER racism? You think too highly of yourself and that Black friend who musta been looked at like an alien for a while.

You fixed her huh? Your crazy. Racism is not a cold or a Flu. You should bring your Black friend all around like a tour and fix Racism in Japan. Hell, if it worked for a woman with crippling paranoid ignorance based racism then it’s gotta work for everyone else…right?

“English will make little difference.
You’ve been in Japan for 8 years. That is long enough to learn Japanese. ”

The Japanese were just passed by China and became the second biggest economy. Japanese politics are so unstable that relations with America are strained. China is disrespecting your territory as is Russia. People in Nago still talk about the base problem even though Japanese on Japanese crime is 90% of all crime. The Japanese have no Military and refuse to change article 9 which woulda been smart to do 20 years ago as China grew. Now the lack of a Military gives Japan zero leverage with the U.S. regarding the bases. You fucked yourselves. Your Economy has been at 0% growth overall for an entire generation and despite the fact that English is the business language 83% of Japanese youth don’t want to have to study it. The birthrate is and has been down for years and the lack of domestic labor will require an import of foreign born labor. Companies have and are shipping factories oversees just to stay competitive with China. Japan is on a steady decline and it’s selling gov bonds to China because the elderly population is so huge that just the pension system alone cannot be supported by taxes paid by a dwindiling youth population. Japan is an export nation and it’s fucked partly because of it’s increadibly poor 2nd language skills. You think Loco should study and speak JAPANESE? Your crazy. Your country is defenseless and fucked.

Hi Chris B

“People in Nago still talk about the base problem even though Japanese on Japanese crime is 90% of all crime.”

→
If you are reading Japanese newspaper, it is easy to see the crime rates is just a tiny part of the reason they oppose to Futenma/hekono military base.

“The Japanese have no Military ”
→
The Japanese have self-defense force.(Jieitai)

”refuse to change article 9 ”
→
Some people are trying to change it. Are you aware of the conditions it can be changed?

“Now the lack of a Military gives Japan zero leverage with the U.S. regarding the bases.”
→
It is a good idea to strengthen self-defense army.

“Your Economy has been at 0% growth overall for an entire generation and despite the fact that English is the business language 83% of Japanese youth don’t want to have to study it. The birthrate is and has been down for years and the lack of domestic labor will require an import of foreign born labor. Companies have and are shipping factories oversees just to stay competitive with China. Japan is on a steady decline and it’s selling gov bonds to China because the elderly population is so huge that just the pension system alone cannot be supported by taxes paid by a dwindiling youth population. Japan is an export nation and it’s fucked partly because of it’s increadibly poor 2nd language skills.”
→
Yes these are serious problems.

“You think Loco should study and speak JAPANESE? ”

→
Yes why not? he is living in Japan where the language of the local people is Japanese, no?
As I said, if he wants to write still another travelogue on indigenous people which has nothing to do with how the local people perceive, think and reasons, from western perspective, that is another story.

But if he wants to make difference in Japan where most of the local people speak Japanese, isn’t it reasonable for him to speak Japanese to make difference?

Sure it is desirable for more Japanese to speak English as a second language because that way they can make difference in the world where English is dominant, That does not mean they have to give up the local language nor does it mean someone can make difference in English in a place where Japanese is dominant .

I ‘m open to change my opinion if you give me more convincing argument.So feel free to criticize.

”You really believe YOU helped change her HER racism?”
→
a little bit.yes.

“You think too highly of yourself ”
→
Am I?

“You fixed her huh?”
→
Not entirely .

“Your crazy.”
→
Am I?

“You should bring your Black friend all around like a tour and fix Racism in Japan. ”
→
Have you brought your Black friend all around like a tour and fix Racism in the U.S.?
→
“if it worked for a woman with crippling paranoid ignorance based racism then it’s gotta work for everyone else…right?”
→
No, not necessarily.

Loco san,
Thank you for summing up. I’ve notice this comment just now. I’d like to add a few more points.
I am not too naive to think just just love will save us.
But I think that speaking up in Japanese will make difference in Japan.

I posted about the young people of mixed race in Japan today.
http://www.mixroots.jp/engdex.htm
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kentanakachan/e/94fed8124550d9ad777ad206f7e78ff5

I don’t think It is humiliating for these young people to speak up:it will help the Japanese understand their Nobody is forced to do it and they might be making just a small change but I think they are doing great jobs. I think they know we are not enemies each other and they speak to us because they trust us.

“I ‘m open to change my opinion if you give me more convincing argument”

You sound smart Sora. We have different opinions. I don’t wan’t to change yours. I think Loco is a language and culture chance that is rare and should be used. The foreign English speaking population of Japan =’s about 1-2% of Japan’s total population and understanding the language and culture is a benefit to the future of Japan’s participation in the global economy. It’s good in my opinion for Loco to continue his path and his way. That’s my opinion. Same value as your opinion but different.

You know, Sora-san, you come here and you sermonize about how I can help open eyes about japanese but you remain a classic example of the problem that I consider to be mendokusai. I have been blogging for over two years now, and on numerous occasions I’ve discussed my proficiency in your language. Though not fluent I am more than capable to hold conversations with Japanese people in nihongo and do so on a daily basis, ioncluding my co-workers, students, girlfriend, landlord, shops and businesses, etc…I think that you believe (like a lot of people believe) that most problems foreingers have in Japan stem from a lack of ability to communicate. So much that you’ve apparently have a mental block (or you simply don’t read my blog unless I say something that’s aligned with your preconceived notion or premise). And that I must say is very typical of the wall I run into on a daily basis (as I also detail in my blog on post you never comment on…like when I describe such things in my Reality Show. Only when I mention your favorite “R” word do you jump in and tell me I need to learn your language. It’s disheartening and the epitome of irony. I don’t write in Japanese on my blog because I can’t communicate as effectively in your language as I can in mine and my audience are not Japanese. I tried it once and it didn’t work out as I’d planned so I put that project temporarily on hold. I like what you’re up to, Sora-san. I think it’s admirable. And, unquestionably, you know your people and what will change their minds better than me. But, like you told Chris, you haven’t given me a convincing argument why I should belittle myself and condescend to your people. And that’s exactly what i would be doing if I found myself appealing to them by saying, “I know you’ve heard or read or seen some pretty awful things about people not of Japanese descent, but you can’t believe everything you’re told by Hollywood and the newspapers. Take me for example: I’ve dedicated the past 4 years of my life to educating your children, and doing a hell of a job at it! Ask them. They’ll tell you. So, please, cut me and people who share my racial designation, and toher races, some slack. Give us a chance to prove to you that we are not to be feared, or shunned, or ostracized or dehumanized. That we are people just like you with feelings and thoughts and body odor and bad breath and we love our children and want to live in a peaceful world safe from harm…We really do. We beg of you. And in the long run you’ll actually be benefitting yourselves as well. It’s a win-win scenario!”
Even thinking about the necessity of saying things like that to people is repulsive.
I prefer to let them come to that conclusion of their own volition. At least they’d retain some self-respect. I hate to talk down to people. I really do. I don’t see anybody as beneathe me and I find it repugnant to be told by a Japanese person that I should do it. Do you like to be condescended to? Do you like the idea of people thinking that the above is something Japanese need me told?
To me it’s like telling a child, “now now, play nice. Would you like someone to do that to you? Then don’t do that to other people. Change begins with you. Others will take your lead.”
You’re gonna really try and sell me the notion that your people need me to tell them what they already know? It’s gonna make a difference if I say what they already know? Or, are we talking about something they don’t already know?
Do you see what I’m saying?
Or are you gonna tell me, once again, to go get fluent in Japanese and then we can discuss it?

Mr loco fighting fire with fire is not a good strategy
it won’t work {in the long run}

……..so yes, you are gonna half to take one for the time…….
it’s not pretty and it’s not an alluring option, but it maybe your only choice if
you want to see lasting results, specially for those who will ride in on your wake….

Loco san

Thanks for the reply.

” you come here and you sermonize about how I can help open eyes about japanese”
→
I am not sure if I was sermonizing.
Do you feel someone is sermonizing when s/he is asking questions and/or suggesting ?

“.I think that you believe (like a lot of people believe) that most problems foreingers have in Japan stem from a lack of ability to communicate. ”

→
Actually lots of foreigners speak Japanese. I know that Zainichi Korean speaks perfect Japanese, and Chinese international students speak Japanese very well. I know some bloggers who writes both in English and in Japanese. And the mixed race young people above speak Japanese well: they might not have Japanese citizenship, and yet they have problems. That apparently shows that there are problems the foreigners have which do not stem from their language ability.
On the other hand, there are also lots of problems foreigners face because they can’t communicate in Japanese.

” But, like you told Chris, you haven’t given me a convincing argument why I should belittle myself and condescend to your people.”
→
I just don’t understand why you think it is humiliating for people like the young mixed race people above and some other minorities to raise awareness, to tell people their experiences, to try to change the situation in the language of the local people.

“Take me for example: I’ve dedicated the past 4 years of my life to educating your children, and doing a hell of a job at it! Ask them. They’ll tell you. ”

→
Nonetheless, these space monkeys show no respect to me, insult me, incite violence by the way the behave: one guy on the train behaved as if saying “You won’t be picking my pocket today! ” so I hit this guy very hard, who might “had been pick-pocketed previously on a crowded train, or had had a very bad experience with some guy who looked like me in the past, or simply he was preparing to disembark and would be using his prepaid rail pass card , but they didn’t fight back. “( What’s up, Loco? Question #4) I’ll give you other examples these space monkeys did to me…..

Imagine a Muslim telling their people in their language to their people in your country. Imagine also he has never talked to his problems in English and has never worked with the local people about his problems.
If he started talking about his problem in English, would he be belittling himself and condescending to your people? Is that the way you see him?

Is his English—not proficient as it may be—not more effective than his native language where few local people understand his language.

Asked if he might want to talk about his problems in English and work with the local people, his answer is “my audience is my people, not Americans it is repulsive to be told that I should do so” Is he open minded or closed minded?

Is it unreasonable to interpret him as the one of American haters who just rants for the sake of ranting to share the anger with people who have similar perceptions , or someone who who whines to get sympathy from his people, or someone who just want to write a travelogue ,from the perspective of his own culture only, on indigenous people which has nothing to do with how the local people feel, think, why they feel, think and act the way they do, treating the local people as “they” and “them”? It seems to me that at least his words and reaction is not inconsistent with the interpretations.

”
You’re gonna really try and sell me the notion that your people need me to tell them what they already know? It’s gonna make a difference if I say what they already know? Or, are we talking about something they don’t already know? ”

→
You don’t need to do anything new, don’t have to be open to new idea if you like the way you are doing now. I have no right nor intention to demand you should do this or that.
I told you before we could meet to see what was really going on around you, but you didn’t respond to that, so I left it at that. Nobody can nor should force somebody to do what s/he does not like.

And yes, people sometimes need to be told what they know already to relate it with what’s happening to other people that they don’t already know.

Just as not many American people don’t know the lives of the minority, not many Japanese people don’t know the lives of the minority.
Some Japanese people would be at a loss for words to hear that some Americans people are talking as if the U.S. was better in this respect when hates crimes and hate speech are reported almost everyday and mixed race couples and/or their house are reported to be attacked verbally and physically , as if they treated gaijkokuin in the U.S well but the Japanese space monkeys don’t know how to treat gaikokujin in Japan, jus as some American people are annoyed and frustrated at the indifference to the humiliating experiences the foreigners living in Japan are having.

Unfortunately we are that ignorant.
Fortunately we learn through interactions and communications.
As a side that is one reason why I appreciate you for a having dialog with me.

“Or are you gonna tell me, once again, to go get fluent in Japanese and then we can discuss it?”

To the first question, yes if you want to make difference in Japan and integrate into Japanese society. As a side, almost all host countries of immigrants are encouraging to learn the local language and to be fluent in it and isn’t that what Chris B is saying to the Japanese people, if you want to make difference in a world where English is dominant, learn English, be proficient?

To the second question, we are already discussing it in English. (I thank you for being nice to me and being tolerant of my non-proficient English . )
But if you don’t want to end it as a just ranting—as I said before, nothing is wrong with ranting and people sometimes need to let steam off——if your anger and hatred are to such an extent you can’t resist a physical confrontation , I say, discussing it with the Japanese people in Japanese would be much better, reasonable and effective than if you didn’t.

sora-san, see new post!