Wwanderer
Kids, don't try this at home!
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2010
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Fwiiw, my take on the phenomenon (avoidance of gaijin on trains) is quite similar to meiji's. It certainly doesn't bother me personally; my skin is A LOT thicker than that. If I give it even a moments thought, I usually feel slightly amused.
I also don't see it as racism but rather as an attempt to avoid unexpected situations/interactions. Japanese culture puts a lot of emphasis on behaving properly in any given situation, and from a Japanese perspective, a gaijin is reasonably likely to do something so unexpected and outside the norm that you (the J person) will not have any idea how to respond properly, because there simply is no social template or script for the situation.
And to be very clear, I did not bring up the empty-seat-next-to-the-gaijin thing in order to accuse the Japanese of racism or anything else. My point is merely that someone who isn't willing to sit next to you on the train, whatever their reason, is surely even less likely to be willing to date you!
-Ww
I also don't see it as racism but rather as an attempt to avoid unexpected situations/interactions. Japanese culture puts a lot of emphasis on behaving properly in any given situation, and from a Japanese perspective, a gaijin is reasonably likely to do something so unexpected and outside the norm that you (the J person) will not have any idea how to respond properly, because there simply is no social template or script for the situation.
And to be very clear, I did not bring up the empty-seat-next-to-the-gaijin thing in order to accuse the Japanese of racism or anything else. My point is merely that someone who isn't willing to sit next to you on the train, whatever their reason, is surely even less likely to be willing to date you!
-Ww