When the shoe is on the other foot...
On my first trip to Japan I was riding the suburban Yamanote Line train by myself. Noticed that although the train was quite crowded there were two empty seats...one on either side of me. And that I was gettin' the hairy eyeball from many passengers. Enlightening, that was.
( HairyTwatter certified eel and sodium salesman, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 14:33, 8 replies)

You probably smelt of milk.

( girlinthehole, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 14:35, closed)

^this

( Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 14:36, closed)

"getting the hairy eyeball"
I only vaguely know what you mean, but I like it a lot anyway
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 15:54, closed)

At least they were polite about their bigotry
Aerosol air freshener was invented by the Japanese to get rid of the smell left by gaijin in any room they had been in.

They didn't just shout and wave their arms about the smell, as many white Europeans have done throughout history when faced with the different apocrine gland secretions of different ethnicities.

but from what I've heard the Japanese, within their tight social manners, are about the most racist race on the planet. They hate everyone who isn't Japanese, and they even hate some of them too, but they'd generally lose face by admitting it to the objects of their contempt, which they couldn't contemplate. So they invent air freshener instead.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 16:33, closed)

The Japanese (at least many of the older ones)
Are incredibly xenophobic, still thinking of themselves as the master race and all the rest of us as barbarians. But I've received many acts of unselfish kindness, and so I'm just confused. During WW2, more residents of Okinawa were killed by other Japanese than by Allied forces. Because they look a little bit different.

But the younger Japanese people whom I met when I lived there (1985-87ish), both the educated ones with whom I worked, the blue collar guys I met in bars, and the college students (I lived just outside of Shibuya in Tokyo - university town) were almost universally interesting, interested and accepting. I had a blast. And the dickheads were about as commonplace as diskheads in any major city.

Once, though, I got lost somewhere near Takadanobaba, down towards the docks. Walking along, 6' tall and 200lbs of pale-skinned, blue-eyed goodness, I was welcomed by my own kid patrol who walked along with me shouting "gaijin, gaijin" so loudly that the local cop-in-a-box followed me to make sure I got off his patch without eating a child or spoiling the area.

Didn't bother me. I went home to a huge apartment and my Japanese honey. Score!
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:52, closed)

That's a load of bollshits
Air freshners was not invetated by teh Jaspenese. And gaijin don't have any particular odour.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Fri 2 Apr 2010, 10:07, closed)

When I was in Tokyo last month on the subway
A friend and I were made fun of (racially) by a pair of Akihabara kids in luminous tanktops, stripy tights bright green bobs.

Many Japanese assume as a foreigner you don't know what they are saying.
I asked them in Japanese what their problem was, they looked down, and got off at the next station.
(DaftenDirekt, Sat 3 Apr 2010, 19:30, closed)

it used to piss me off
nobody sitting next to me, but now I prefer it, everyone else is all cramped up and I have lots of legroom and space. The shop assistants having a total meltdown pisses me off though, especially if I'm in a hurry. One of my best mates in Japan is black, old women actually scream and run when they see him, mothers grab their kids and tell them he's dangerous. On the flip side though, I think that most Japanese are completly retarded.
(knackerz is skinning up, Mon 5 Apr 2010, 6:08, closed)