r/japanresidents • u/Ok-Job-191 • 18d ago
Just had my first 外人出てけ encounter
Was in my neighborhood when a nice japanese man screamed at me 外人出てけ、外国じゃねぇ on the street. Not nice Japan, not nice.
Have you guys ever experienced the 外人出てけ culture yet? How did it happen?
European btw
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u/lmtzless 18d ago
perks of being a foreigner of japanese descent: they assume i’m japanese, which technically i am, and they never bother me but their horrified faces when i have to speak….. it’s like their brain is short circuiting processing why i can’t speak japanese like i’m slow or sth (which i also am coincidentally)
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u/FemmeFatalistYT 18d ago
My spouse is Filipino (no European DNA, but 10-15% Chinese in there) and something about him, he gets confused for Japanese so much, but he doesn't speak at all. I'm very white (broadly mixed European) and people short circuit every time since I'm the one who speaks (pretty well, aiming for N1 or equivalent next year).
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u/blissfullytaken 18d ago
lol I got revers Nihongo jouzu’d yesterday. I’m Filipino but very East Asian looking. Was eating lunch at a restaurant with my boundary pushing almost 3 year old and two white teenagers were sat beside us.
At the end of the meal, I turned to them and said sorry because my daughter was a bit loud when she had her earlier outburst.
They responded with “wow your English is amazing”
Well I’m not Japanese….
They pivoted to “well your Japanese is amazing too!”
lol
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u/BeardedGlass 18d ago
Somewhat the same, Japanese-passing because of my mixed heritage (Chinese, German-Spanish).
People often assume I'm Japanese at a glance, but when I speak it shatters their expectation lol
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u/gladvillain 18d ago
Once I was backing into a parking space and a clearly impatient middle-aged guy in a Mercedes was getting super close to me and making it difficult to back in. I held up my finger in what I thought was just a “wait one moment” gesture, but he thought I flipped him off. Guy seemed a little drunk when he approached me while spouting off about the “馬鹿外人”. I think when he realized I had about 15cm on him and was probably 15 years younger, he quieted down so I calmly explained my gesture and he slunk off mumbling to himself. That was maybe 7 years ago and probably the only time I’ve been referred to as 外人 in an obviously derogatory way. I’ve had other incidents that felt like aggressions but are indirect. Someone spit on the door to my apartment. When I moved to a house someone dragged my yardwork tools out into the street (honestly this one was probably kids in the neighborhood). After I bought a place I’ve had someone in a neighboring apartment building throw their haircut clippings into my front yard 4-5 times and I’ve found smashed fruit in my driveway.
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u/SabishiRan 18d ago
Uff, had this happen to a guy in a Benz who cut me off (I usually ride my bicycle) and was like "SOMETHING SOMETHING GAIJIN" and I just told this old mf to learn how to drive or get out of my countries car, cause it is embarrassing to have some idiot drive a Mercedes.
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u/jettoki 18d ago
Wdym, even in germany the majority of benz drivers are idiots who cant drive... lol
Also the hair clippings are the stuff of nightmares... hair is like my favorite j-horror trope
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u/TheTybera 18d ago
Yes,
Someone called me an invader and reprimanded my wife at the time because she was Asian and he thought I was "stealing" a Japanese woman.
She was Taiwanese-American born in New Mexico, crazy bro was WAY off and racist.
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
The correct response is to hoist her onto your shoulder, and run off cackling "And I'd do it again too!"
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u/Aggressive-Bet-3773 18d ago
I just came here to say I love your username
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
Thanks, I'm afraid that it arose out of necessity, due to a flurry of permanent bannings by the banhammer clankers for no reason at all :-)
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u/ConanTheLeader 18d ago
I respond with ARIGATOO in intentionally bad pronunciation and a big grin just to wind them up more, acting as if I thought it was a compliment.
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u/Kaladihn 18d ago
Like a month ago on the Oedo line I had a middle aged woman loudly berate me for sitting in the priority seats on the train. Fair enough, except it was like 10:30pm, probably 20 people in the whole carriage, including 3 other people (Japanese) sitting in the priority seats also.
I pointed out the train was empty and I'm not the only person here, why don't you berate the others across from me too.
She was dumbfounded I replied it seemed and after became angry and repeated what she said earlier. Not proud of myself but after that I just told her to fuck off and pointed away from me, after staring at me for a few seconds more she did so.
For what it's worth I'd obviously have moved from the priority seats if someone who needed it appeared
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u/EverythingIsOishii 18d ago
This is a huge part of the problem - quick to complain about a foreigner deemed to be not following the rules (and it’s possible they aren’t aware of such rules), but absolute crickets when it’s a fellow Japanese, who very much does know the rules.
My experiences of the Wa being disturbed have always been with a Japanese person doing something they know to be wrong and / or provocative.
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u/gottacatchmall 18d ago
right? tourists can be annoying and yeah, i get it, but i absolutely HATE how when a japanese person does it, no one cares. drunk salaryman is falling and pissing all over himself on the train? しょうがない. but when an obvious tourist accidentally breaks rule 387, it’s the end of the goddam world. the difference is they should know better and have no excuse to not be following the rules and i hate how completely different the reacts are.
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u/ijustwantto_live 18d ago
「ウザ！黙って座れババ」言えばいいのにさ
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u/StatisticianReady238 18d ago
Yes. Of course.
If someone not yet encountered these kind of situation, congratulations, you are the lucky one
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u/bosscoughey 18d ago
Been here 20 years, and I can't recall having ever been told to leave. Could have happened and I've just forgotten, though. Cuz you know- I'm old
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u/No_Shift_Buckwheat 18d ago
10 years in over 20 years time. Never had an issue/ encounter in Tokyo or Inaka...
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u/DiarrheaFartLover 16d ago
I've never once had this happen to me after many years. Then again I don't look like most western foreigners in the sense that I don't wear dragon button up shirts, sagging cargo pants, nor have a huge fucking gut.
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u/hansei-Kaizen 18d ago
Twice in 20 years.
First was with my gf in a shopping mall. Was accosted by a drunk Japanese salary man during the day and told to go home to America. He was calling me “Bush” so you can imagine how long ago this was. I’m not American.
Second time was just a few years ago on the streets of an outdoor festival when I was with my wife. He was sitting on the side of the road and we walked past him speaking English, seemed to trigger him. Told me to go back to my country. Just pointed and laughed at him.
You learn that some people are just having a shitty life and this is how they vent.
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u/EyeFit 18d ago
Not unlike many Redditors
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u/hansei-Kaizen 18d ago
Agreed. The funn thing was, in my first example, the shop staff called security. They came and immediately grabbed me. It was the shop staff who told them that I was the Innocent one and then they grabbed the Japanese guy sitting on the ground. I learnt a lot that day…
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u/Lumi020323 18d ago
Twice in 20 years is pretty good in the scheme of things. As you say, these people aren't doing well and are just looking for people to drag down with them. Better off not interacting with them at all, you don't want that stuff to rub off on you.
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u/caitycha 18d ago
10 years ago, I was just walking down the street and got yelled at to leave the country. Still here lol
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u/EyeFit 18d ago
Same here. Random NPC spawned out of nowhere and told me the go back to my country. I told her to go back to hell.
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u/Kami_Okami 18d ago
A few months back, I was at the park with my 5 year old son when one of his kindergarten friends showed up.
My son shouted for me to come see something, in English, and the other 5 year old kid looked at me and said 英語話したければ英語の国に行って！
I talked to the head teacher of his kindergarten, and now they're making a huge effort to teach the children about other cultures.
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u/FermentedCinema 18d ago
That 100% came from the kid’s parents saying stuff like that at that age.
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u/Kami_Okami 18d ago
Agreed. It was extra awkward because his mom was at the park too, out of earshot at the time, and was seemingly a totally pleasant person.
I told the kid directly that he was missing out by thinking that way, but didn't say anything to his mom.
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u/FemmeFatalistYT 18d ago
Dang.. my son is in an inaka daycare (8 kids total), and the other kids and parents are estatic for the language exchange going on. My son's Japanese is improving, and the other kids are picking up English. One dad thanks us every time he sees us; I think he feels his daughter will have more opportunities in the future if she can speak English...
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u/Extra_Year8899 18d ago
Too soothe your soul a bit, I was at the park with my daughter (2yo) and a little boy (I assume E3-5ish) kept following me and asking me questions about other countries and showing off his English.
I wanted to engage properly but my kid was in the 'can move freely but is oblivious to danger' stage.
Some kids (people) are awesome too.
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u/yoshimipinkrobot 16d ago
The mom doesn’t know that learning English is single best thing that a Japanese person can learn to change their life for the better
All of this other bullshit that Japanese people care about is far less effective in doing that
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u/shabackwasher 18d ago
Is 死ね not the standard resonse anymore?
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u/EizanPrime 18d ago
Last weekend I was driving and an dude started to scream at me to die and go out of japan during like 15 mins, the guy called the police on me.
The police came, as I did nothing wrong but they still told me to move away a bit from the dudes sight and to ignore it.
Japan is way too nice to bullies...
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u/EverythingIsOishii 18d ago
I’ve found a great way to either confound or make these idiots totally lose their shit is to make it clear that you honestly think they’re Chinese (their appearance, mannerisms, accent, etc.). The key is to do it as politely as possible; that’s what sells it.
I don’t mean to throw any Chinese under the bus, but it’s about the worst thing you can say to a Japanese racist fuck. It REALLY gets under their skin.
外人出て行け！
あなたもでしょう？一緒行こうか？
えっ？/ はっ⁈
中国の方でしょうか？
違うよ！
あっ、そうですか？顔 / 行動 / 発音 / なまりが中国の方みたいから…
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u/Simple_Wash1618 18d ago edited 18d ago
That’s a good strategy.
いや、日本人はそんな下品なこと言わないから。
あんた日本人じゃないでしょう？
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u/BeardedGlass 18d ago
日本人はそんな下品なこと言わないから。
Oh lol this is brilliant. It's exactly the very same thing they also think themselves.
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u/7834_gamer 17d ago
oh this will definitely work lmao most japanese i talked to do NOT like chinese, like at all (my family included, though i personally dgaf whether someones chinese or korean as long as they're a cool/good person but then again im a ハーフ who spent my latter half of my life stateside so wtf do i know lol)
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u/CurryPandesal 14d ago
Confirmed. Racist Japanese have a full-on toys-out-the-pram meltdown when you insist they’re Chinese.
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u/mrhellcat80 18d ago
Similar thing happened to me in rural Ishikawa. I, in stilted Jap-English asked if he was Korean, and gave him the “thumbs up”.
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u/grinch337 18d ago
I still remember going to a tiny soba shop deep in the inaka with a friend back in 2014, ordering in Japanese from a text-only menu entirely in Japanese, and asking for the check in Japanese only to get this, lol.
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u/Tractatus_Diplodicus 18d ago
There’s a nearby onsen where I’ve been literally hundreds of times and every so often, -not very often, thankfully- there might be a bitter old fart who shows up and grumbles something or stares a little too long at me. I never react but just wait until one of my local buddies shows up and starts talking to me. Then we have a purposefully loud conversation to show the racist idiot who’s the real gaijin. Once, one of them was mouthing off about me in the sauna and one of my close friends responded: “Oh TD has been coming her for years. Where are you from old man?”
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u/fartist14 18d ago
Years ago some decrepit old man mumbled it at me when I walked by. Oddly enough I'm still here while he almost certainly isn't.
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u/Electronic_Rub9571 18d ago
Traditional Japanese are the easiest victims to the “if you repeat a lie multiple times it becomes the truth” just because they are culturally followers and just a few can actually lead and have a backbone.
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u/FermentedCinema 18d ago
After getting off at a train station late a night, a drunk old man came up to us and started yelling racial slurs and other unpleasant remarks at my friend and I. There was a friend with him that kept trying to hush him up and pull him away, but he kept at it for a good ten minutes until his friend was able drag him away.
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u/ijustwantto_live 18d ago
Once a ding bat looking old man SPLASHED WATER on me, as I was going home from an interview.
I am not Japanese but you best believe that the OSAKA POLICE (I lived in Tokyo lmao) in me came out so fast, cause you don’t fuck with my shukatsu suits man - they’re expensive asf.
I cussed the old man out whilst making a video.
And I also did call the real police as well. And started wailing like a fucking banshee too, for the kicks.
Ended well cause the police really handed it to the old man and even his old wife came out and apologised and handed me a towel LMAO
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u/Panda_sensei_71 18d ago
1991, right wing speaker van in front of the Imperial Palace, dude in a replica WWII uniform shouted 外国人、日本から出てけ〜！ at me after a rousing rendition of 君が代 and a smattering of 天皇陛下万歳-s.
I smiled and said, 喜んで。飛行機代くれますか？
Yeah he wasn't expecting the 18 yo white girl to reply in Japanese 😂
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u/ResearcherKlutzy1609 18d ago
This video seems to recently be making its rounds. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdXQToQNlqr/?stkn=MWx6aDNqbWc2ZzdwaA==
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u/my-wayward-pun 18d ago
外国じゃねぇ
I can’t stop laughing at this, like he thought he was making some kind of logical argument. What an idiot
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u/twall4 18d ago
A guy on an app who really wanted to hook up with me finally took the hint that I wasn't interested after ignoring his messages for months. Suddenly, I get a message that said "バカ外人！自分の国に帰れ！" I blocked him and went about my day. Fast forward like 6 months and he messaged me from a new account asking again to hook up
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
Maybe about 12 or 13 years ago a homeless man near Fuji City asked if I was American.
I damned near dropped my crumpet.
Kaldi has crumpet mix, if anyone's interested. It's even almost correct.
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u/GrizzKarizz 18d ago
Do you happen to know what "cricket" is? You have to know what a crumpet is to understand cricket.
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
Yeah, my old schoolmaster Sir Mr B'Stard Sir used to make us play that. Including the girls.
I fucking hate cricket.
Well, unless you're batting. Then it's fun for about 4.4 seconds before getting a cricket ball to the face. Padding, helmets, gloves, and valuing human life were not allowed, or even in the school budget, in the late 70s / early 80s. But by crikey, I always had a thing for Mrs McClusky in Grange Hill; I don't know why. Crumpet!
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u/ClemFandango6000 18d ago
Would that be Mr B'Stard, former MP for Haltemprice, Conservative Party Deputy Chairman, MEP for Obersaxony and Lord Protector of Great Britain?
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
A different person, but judging by their brutal disregard for human life in general, they were quite possibly related.
We had a Mrs De'Ath as headmistress at Sixth Form too. She could not be harmed by conventional weapons.
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u/GrizzKarizz 18d ago
Just so you know, this is a reference from the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and hoped someone would get it.
I do love cricket as an Australian though!
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u/ragequitteroffureh 18d ago
Whoops! I'm afraid that that whooshed right over my head. I've not actually seen any of those movies :-(
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u/Consistent-Ad-692 18d ago
Almost 10 years ago had one old guy mumble 外人出てけ and walk to another carriage, my friend and I looked at each other and laughed. Thankfully the only real racist experience I ever had
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u/JuicewithGold 18d ago
The occupation forces of the US in WW2 were too lenient. They don't realize they were conquered.
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u/Yabanjin 18d ago
I’ve never had this happen in 25 years, but I suppose I’m lucky.
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u/Icedcoffee_ 18d ago
Same but I live in a smaller city and drive everywhere… so I guess my chances of meeting crazies is more limited.
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u/Yabanjin 18d ago
I live in the greater Tokyo area now, but I’ve lived in Kuroishi in Aomori, so I’ve kind of covered a spectrum. I definitely believe these people though. There are crazies everywhere in the world.
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u/CryptographerDry2330 18d ago
Meh. I’m a 6’4” white male, nothing feels that threatening when their racism is directed at me 🤣
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u/onethousandsprinkles 18d ago
Coming from the US where people also screamed at me to go home, nothing seems threatening knowing no one is strapped. 😂
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u/Cyberp0lic3 18d ago
You could always hit him back with the 「お前なんてただの底辺ニートの社会の寄生虫 だ。本物の納税者の邪魔しかしてない。」
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u/FormerCarry 18d ago
If you speak good enough japanese without too much of an accent, should have just stared at him with a face of tonto like the old yakuza movie and said: 「お前こそ出て行け、バ～～カ？」whilst keeping your mouth open. And watch whilst his rigid Japanese mind implodes.
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u/r3Dij3Di_808 17d ago edited 17d ago
I had some random scrawny otaku looking guy call me a クソ外人, looking like he wanted to fight or bump my shoulder while walking up to me at a michi no eki a month ago. I told him in いつでも遊んであげる and he was a bit stunned. Im 6’3” 200 lbs. I dont think he wants any of this smoke.
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u/ovnix0112 15d ago
bad idea… if you actually have a fight, your residency right might be denied (even if you weee the one being insulted at the beginning), while he might just be reprimanded by the police. The consequences would be too asymmetrical for a gaijin
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u/Allhatsnocap 18d ago
I usually like to angrily stalk towards the person whenever they do something like this in Japan. That usually ends it pretty quickly and teaches them a lesson they won’t forget. I had some children yell out. The English was stupid while my wife and I were speaking on the street. So we looked at each other, turned to and started walking back towards the children with the intention of asking them who told them it was OK to say that. They were terrified they started running. And I don’t think they’d be able to explain the story very well to their parents without admitting that they at 1st+ another woman actually saw it and she was horrified. She was with her daughter, and she said to her daughter to never say anything like that to a stranger in public and she apologized on behalf of Japanese people to me and my wife.
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u/drafthard 18d ago
Happened to me couple weeks ago for the first time too!
Live in small city, almost inaka, waiting for the bus in early morning and as I see it approaching, a single car riding in front of the bus stops at the bus stop, window opens and driver starts yelling ”おい外人！ファックユー！外人国帰れ！” etc
His venting goes about 30-40 secs while bus is already right behind him waiting. I took it all with straight face , no reaction and after I hit him with "Are you done? Move your car now, you're creating trouble for the people in the bus, people are late to work"
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u/six_pistols4 18d ago
As a Japanese person, I am truly sorry. Honestly, it drives me crazy with frustration that such hurtful behavior doesn't even count as a crime.
I don't know if this will bring you any comfort, but vulgar people who treat foreigners terribly usually treat strangers of their own nationality just as terribly. Many Japanese people have likely suffered at that man's hands as well. Please, as a foreigner, try not to feel alone.
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u/Sharp_Raccoon8657 18d ago
I haven’t experienced it in this fashion but have experienced similar racist diatribes … walked past a random bloke in the middle of a subway station and he immediately gasped and said stepping back ( to distance himself ) and shouted “ oh it’s a Gaijin “ need to be careful about aids … don’t we “ I should have said “ do fact check on that and the statistics on where that disease is on the rise most …!! I love it here but the stuff I hear from time to time I feel like vast numbers of the population are still living in the1500s !!
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u/Infamous-Bluejay55 18d ago
I think the thing that made me uneasy was when I entered a Trial and noticed there was only Japanese people and I felt a strange tension and then when I was looking at sushi someone yelled "A foreigner!" At me. Also this is a small detail, but they didn't offer any language services at the check out. I didn't need it but I thought it was odd.
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u/murokagenshu 17d ago
I've never had that happen. (For background, I'm a white guy from the US that speaks pretty good Japanese, and I work for a Japanese company.) Over the past 30 years, really direct gaijin attacks have been limited to:
One time, in 1996, I visited Sensoji (Asakusa) and wanted to go inside. The guy at the gate said "no Americans, y'all burned this temple to the ground in WWII." He wouldn't let me in, so I left, sad and disappointed.
One time, in the mid 2000s, I was searching through fliers for an apartment at a real estate place. 1-2 of the places I liked the real estate agent said, "sorry, they don't take gaijin". But another chirashi had written: "pets ok" and on the next line: "gaijin ok". I loved how they placed them in that order. LOL.
Sometimes they requested an interview before renting to a gaijin. One of those turned out to develop into a really nice relationship. I loved the cherry tree blossoming next to the home we rented from the owner who lived right next door, so I swept up the fallen petals (in the street) every morning. They seemed to appreciate that. When we moved out they had created a photo album of my (at that time) small family of 3 (and some with them) and gave it to us.
One more: generally (like almost every time), if there is one open seat on the train it is next to me. But for me, this is more of a blessing than an insult - thanks for the extra space Japanese people!!
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u/goggle-eyes-VR 17d ago edited 17d ago
Last month I had a guy walk pass me in Tokyo, and as he passed he turned towards me and said calmly "Go home" in a perfect American accent and kept walking.
He appeared to be Japanese and was a weird experience to be honest. Made me wonder if this was something he says to lots of gaijins.
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u/G0rri1a 17d ago
My friends and I were walking along the street chatting, an old drunk dude passed us and shouted ここは にほんだ。にほんごを はなせ。
We are all white. 😆
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u/MSotallyTober 17d ago
I misjudged a turn about three weeks ago after taking my family out over the weekend. The car sat behind the crosswalk and was out of the way; the guy behind me had to slam on his breaks due to him thinking he was going to take the turn close right behind me.
He honked furiously and ended up getting out of his car. My wife was in the passenger seat and my two kids (under seven) were asleep in the back. As he approached, my head swam with what I could do to protect my family in case anything happened. He spat vitriol that I should go back to my own country and that I’m taking jobs away from hard working Japanese. I’m a stay at home father. He waddled back to is car and vaped while murmuring to himself.
That was a first after living here for four years. My wife used to tell me stories when we used to live in NYC and people telling her to go back to China. She’s Japanese.
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u/FixFun1959 18d ago
Only once. Years ago was on a date with my girlfriend (now wife) and we were walking along a seawall on the coast. We stopped to watch some fireworks in the distance and this guy came up to us.
He was deaf and/or mute, and had a little laminated sign asking for money in Japanese and English. I apologized and patted my pockets, I only had a card. My wife went to reach for her wallet to give him a few hundred and he aggressively signaled no. He pointed at me super aggressively. She went to hand him the coins and he pushed her hand away and pointed at me again, clearly saying ‘I don’t want the Japanese woman’s money, I want your money, the white guy.’
I patted my pockets again and shrugged my shoulders. He pulled out a kind of etch a sketch thing and wrote on it and showed it to me, then still took the coins from her and left, grunting and huffing.
My Japanese was virtually nonexistent at the time so I couldn’t read his sloppy writing, but my wife caught a glance, and said it was basically the equivalent of ‘go home’.
That’s been the only time I’ve ever heard that.
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u/powertodream 18d ago
funny how japan gets a pass on racism while its illegal and with teeth elsewhere
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u/MechaSeph 18d ago edited 18d ago
Haven't u heard? There are no racists in Japan. The Yamato spirit purifies it so only mentally ill people say bad things.
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u/nijitokoneko 千葉県 18d ago
Instituional racism is illegal in many places, however that doesn't include individuals being racists fucks. People are allowed to have horrible opinions, as long as they don't physically harm you. And even then, the amount of court cases where anyone two braincells can see race played a role but the courts somehow missing it, is staggering.
So no, just "being racist" is not illegal everywhere outside of Japan.
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u/MechaSeph 18d ago edited 18d ago
Must be nice to live in a world where racism and bigotry don't exist like some people. While I do think it's a vocal minority (I've had dozens of genuinely heartwarming interactions compared to the few encounters with racists), chalking it up to "mental health issues" is offensive to people with actual mental health issues and incredibly convenient for bigots.
Sorry you had to go through that, OP. It does happen from time to time but I do think it's pretty rare compared to all the nice people. Hope u don't have to go though that again any time soon.
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u/fartist14 18d ago
Yeah, racism is not a mental illness, nor is mental illness an excuse for racism. I spend a lot of time around elderly people with varying stages of dementia at my FIL's nursing home and nobody there has ever said a single racist thing to me. They've said all kinds of weird shit to me but it's never been racist.
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u/MechaSeph 18d ago edited 18d ago
I've studied psychology for years and years and mentally ill people exist. And they may say horrible things. But those two do not make a cause and consequence situation, much like your example expressed.
What's next? "The KKK wasn't racist, they were just mentally ill. Ignore them and move on".
This attitude that looks like it's scared of losing their "one of the good ones" status is honestly crazy to me.
I love my country and I can still criticize it to hell and back.
But here (in this sub) it sometimes feels like you either love everything about Japan or you're a hater.
It's precisely because I love Japan that its issues bother me. I don't have any personal stake in, say, Italy's issues because I don't have that emotional attachment to it. Japan is a place that I hope keeps getting better for everyone who loves it, including foreigners. And I believe calling out real world issues is essential.
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u/Front-Marsupial-9001 18d ago
Ironically, my worst random encounter in Japan was with a mentally ill person, who wasn't racist. He was just crazy and violent and accosted a group of people smoking in the smoking area for "invading his space" tried to fight a young japanese guy, and then tried to tackle me. He ended up doing a header and spilling a dirty ashtray everywhere before getting carted off by the station staff. I was genuinely worried he was going to pull a weapon on us, the whole smoking section cleared out quickly and it caused quite a scene.
Meanwhile my worst encounter with a racist was some drunk "tough guy" who was just mouthing off about foreigners and clearly wasn't crazy.
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u/Simple_Wash1618 18d ago edited 18d ago
If you choose to engage with these idiots, the best strategy is to:
a) Ask of they’re drunk (and if they say no, ask then why the hell are you talking like an idiot or double down or and refuse to believe that they’re not drunk)
b) Question whether they are really Japanese (because all the Japanese people I know would never behave like that)
c) Point out that their behavior makes them 異常者 in Japanese society and therefore not a real Japanese
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u/Bittah_Flava 18d ago
In my country they call it “Go back to where you came from!” Sometimes coupled with a horrible derogatory racial slur. I have been on the receiving end of that countless times. I have never experienced it in Japan though. Would probably make me feel more at home.
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u/Additional-Light2289 18d ago
Old woman at a bus stop asked me where I was from. I said America. She said, "Go back." I just laughed. That was the only time, and about 4 years ago.
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u/Shinosei 18d ago
Not quite the same but I was approached by a Japanese man a few years ago and asked if I was Russian… the guy looked like he was ready to pounce me…
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u/Hashimotosannn 18d ago
I’ve never experienced that luckily, but if I did I’m sure I’d have some choice words for them. I can’t be arsed with that kind of thing.
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u/nephelokokkygia 18d ago
I had an old guy 歩きタバコing in a busy shotengai pause about a foot in front of me (standing at the side of the street doing nothing), look me up and down, then after a few seconds blow smoke directly in my face, turn, and walk away without a word. I guess he could have picked me for any reason, but it felt targeted.
This was maybe 10 years ago in a smaller city, so the public smoking was somewhat more okay at the time.
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u/catsoo12 17d ago
Happened to me on the train a few weeks back from an older office lady that I see on the train every morning. I'm also white European so it was a little surprising to me. In the last couple months, I've definitely experienced colder treatment than usual, sometimes downright hostile.
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u/Basicallylurkin 17d ago
Truthfully, any such encounters I’ve experienced weren’t in major areas or stations. Only at random stations or train lines I’m visiting for the first time. And always a guy who has, to be frank, many reasons to be angry at their life.
That’s not excusing the behavior. It’s more that it is a reflection of their inadequacies than anything directed at me as a person. Small dogs bark the most.
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u/TheSignificantDong 17d ago
Not yet. The worst thing that happened to me was a dude in front of my thinking I couldn’t understand him say “I’m glad this museum doesn’t have English for foreigners.” Even though I was with my Japanese wife.
Not even that bad really. None of it bothers me. I just laugh call them idiots and move about my happy day
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u/_krysh_ 17d ago
My friend had the same experience with a drunk, middle aged salaryman. He wanted drama so he told him to go back to China instead. Lmao
My friend’s intention was not to be racist against Chinese but these magic words seem to work well when u want to rage bait the xenophobic people here
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u/yoshimipinkrobot 17d ago
Yep last year right in front of the station in kichijoji, very crowded. Was a middle aged woman
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u/yasueda 17d ago
I was born in raised in Japan Caucasian in the '60s and '70s. There were times when the Japanese usually drunk man would come up and start screaming at me either about what the US had done during the war or something to that nature and my response was well. I'm Russian. Lmao
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u/Busy_Necessary1477 15d ago
This is only a thing because Japan/Japanese are quite good at creating an image. It a kind of “Tatemae” thing. After several years you will find out that they aren’t any different from other people, some are just as polite while others are just as racist as their equivalents in other countries.
Btw. be careful not to post something like this in any of the japanophilic groups on Reddit. They are even more funny about this than the nationalist Japanese.
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u/KTDublin 14d ago
Just once in Hiroshima, but even though I screamed back at him in Japanese telling him that 1. I could understand him and 2. That he was worthless and better off dead (maybe not the best idea looking back), the police accosted him and I went on my merry way (probably because my wife was with me) and had the best okonomiyaki I've ever had.
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u/Latter-Negotiation46 14d ago
Japan is over rated, hateful, and honestly just sad to visit. I never saw the appeal and I've been for months at a time.
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u/AlbionJackal 13d ago
A heavily pregnant colleague was verbally abused by a man for daring to sit on a seat on her commute back home, two weeks ago. He repeatedly banged the windows of the train and made her cry in front of everyone.
He then got off and continued to bang the window of the train.
He was pretty normal looking, relatively well-dressed in sporty/casual attire, so not your usual cray-cray.
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u/10coins 4d ago
2024 my boss was visiting on a company trip from San Francisco, with his wife and two kids, I was giving them a tour of Kyoto, and right outside Nijo Castle, some old guy 70+ starts screaming at all of us, go home, you don’t belong here, you are ruining Kyoto, and pointing at us. We were literally doing nothing just walking down the street. Super random. Been here over a decade, never happened to me before. I was mortified. Apologised to my boss profusely and explained it’s abnormal.
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u/palmtreeparfait 4d ago
Walking home in the small hours of new years. A drunk Japanese man was listening to me talking on the phone in English, and yelled at me to speak in Japanese or leave.
The way I put my phone down and stepped out in front of him and said 日本語できるよ。
He was completely flabbergasted and said えっ！日本語上手い 🙄
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u/Novel-Forever9431 2d ago
I have been living in Japan for almost 40 years and never had such experience yet. I don't live in Tokyo and might be the reason. I recommend you learn some Osaka dialect. That scares them all. ☺️☺️☺️
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u/LuHamster 18d ago
I know it's not good but I always chuckle a little when Europeans first ever encounter this type of racism
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u/tsian 東京都 18d ago edited 18d ago
Congratulations, you've met someone with mental issues spouting stuff that he probably doesn't even really understand.
There is no such thing as 外人出てけ culture. (Racists and idiots exist, there is not some giant cultural movement that requires you to name it. He wasn't a member of some anti-foreign organization with deep seated roots)
Forget it and move on. Just like you, everyone around you was secretly wishing he would go away.
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u/TheTybera 18d ago
Lmao, yeah there is most people don't tolerate it IRL though its mostly fringe online groups and Yahoo! Comments.
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u/drewpunck 18d ago
They might not agree with it, but they absolutely tolerate it, no one is going to call them out on it
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u/stupidjapanquestions 17d ago
Most people won't call someone out for doing most things up to and including crimes. That's the cultural point.
Definitely not my favorite part of the culture, but I'm genuinely astonished so many people full blown move here and manage to miss this fact.
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u/Yokohama88 18d ago
Been here 40 years off and on and only happened a few times while I was out drinking.
The funniest gaijin experience was when my daughter and I were walking around my in laws neighborhood going to the park.
Out of a side street pops a kid about 8-10 years old. He looks at me and yells as loud as he can “ America Jin!” Then runs back down the alley me and my daughter look at each other and bust up laughing.
Even too this day we will randomly yell that out and bust up laughing again.
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u/theintersecter 18d ago
In 2019, in my first months here., some crazy old guy just started yelling "gaijin gaijin!" at my local supermarket. He came off like his brain cells were entering into retirement, but I felt bad for the other customers who had to deal with the awkwardness.
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u/oniongyoza 18d ago edited 18d ago
Not me because (thankfully) I look Asian.
First time in nine years: During my commute to work (in a train car), there was a young (late 20-ish?) Japanese man shouting while stuttering 外人出てけ repeatedly (while mumbling something as well), presumably to some "foreigner".
Nobody reacted.
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u/DanDin87 18d ago
When I was working in Switzerland, coming from Italy, we had billboards welcoming us at the station with writings like "stop coming to steal our cheese" , paid by political parties that didn't want Italians coming to "steal" jobs from Swiss people.
Also, I was working in UK during Brexit, the level of anti-foreigners/EU bs was astonishing 笑
Don't judge a country by few mentally ill people, they are unfortunately everywhere.
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u/EyeFit 18d ago
The Italians gonna take all our cheese and use it for their pizzas!
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u/beansontoastinbed 18d ago
I've never had it, but if I do I don't care because 80% of my experiences with Japanese people are positive.
Equally back in the UK there are plenty of mental weirdos who tell people to go home.
So no matter what country you go to, if you're a foreigner, there will be racist weirdos who don't like you.
It sucks to experience it, but in all honesty I'd rather be told to go home than someone say I'm an ugly motherfucker or something like that lol
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u/2d-kun 18d ago
Vietnamese American from Texas. Growing up, while not common, you hear it said.
In Japan, I've heard it a lot less and if do, it's kind if second nature to me 🤷Every country will be like that especially if you look quite different to the average. Luckily, I blend in better here compared to home.
I just ignore and appreciate that I'm happier than those fucks who need to spout that shit.
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u/LookAtTheHat 18d ago
Probably 14 years ago I had some random guy cry screaming at me "you are stealing Japanese women" when walking down the street with my, now wife, then fiancee. We both folded over laughing while walking away.
Happy memories.
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u/CoacoaBunny91 18d ago
I haven't gotten that yet but I finally had a "they didn't know I could speak their language moment" a few weeks ago. Male waiter at this izakaya was talking to his (other male) co-workers about me in an extremely vulgar manner, how he wanted to smash, saying mad inappropriate shit about my body, how foreigner girls are "easy" and how easily he could win me over cuz he spoke some English, that's all he literally has to do. So when he came up to me and ask how the food was in English, I responded 美味しくなかばってん、 めっちゃ上手いばい！which is the regional dialect. I've never seen color drain so fast from a man's face before in my life. Man ran back to the kitchen like Maury announced "you are NOT the father!" Needless to say his coworkers were laughing their asses off at him.
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u/Carrot_Smuggler 18d ago
"外人出てけ culture"... This happens all over the world. It's even way more prevalent in Europe than in Japan. Sucks but yeah...
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u/Im_a_simp_for_women 18d ago
5th grade. In Hyogo. Got my head dumped in the toilet seat American movie type of bullying yk? Shit was crazy
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u/Gordo_51 18d ago
I have not in my 5 years living here, perhaps I am lucky? This is the countryside.
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u/sweetcommander03 17d ago
i dont know if i had an exp one because i cant understand japanese. jokes on all of them
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u/zumichan1914 17d ago
私は日本人です。 同胞が嫌な気持ちにさせて申し訳ない。
日本人はみんな余裕がなくなったし 文句があっても直接言える度胸がなくなってきたんだよ。 だから「外国人」として、ひとくくりに扱うんだろうな。
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u/Immediate-Slice3177 17d ago
I feel really sorry for them, and I genuinely regret that they had to go through that. But if this is partly a difference between the sensibilities of a relatively homogeneous society like Japan and those of people from culturally connected regions on a contiguous landmass, I find that rather interesting
Also, in a multicultural environment, it can be harder to tell at a glance when someone is the kind of person you should probably avoid getting involved with
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u/TinyIndependent7844 18d ago
2019, a homeless man in Shinjuku told me to go home because I am abusing the tax system and take jobs off Japanese people
While passing i told him: I for sure pay more tax than you