gaijin

"I’ve lived in Japan for a long time. When I first came here, I liked living here. Now, I don’t. I haven’t changed. Japan hasn’t really changed, either. Something else, however, has.”

Besides making the freeways here actually "free" -- a policy that's received surprisingly little support once people realized the horrific traffic jams that would likely ensue -- Prime Minister Hatoyama's government appears to be moving ahead with a plan to give foreigners in Japan with permanent residence status the right to vote in local elections.

A bill proposed by a key member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to grant permanent foreign residents the right to vote in local elections has split the party.

Another great blog and addition to the JAPUNDIT blogroll is InvisibleGaijin (Anomalies in the Flow of Life), which is the source of the very popular "59 Ways to Tell if You're a Gaijin, Not a Gaijokujin" post on JAPUNDIT recently.

The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice. In this autobiographical novel, a Japanese boy of thirteen, Kiyoi, decides to apprentice himself to a master cartoonist in Tokyo named Noro Shimpei. The story is set in post-war Japan when life was difficult, especially for aspiring artists.

The tendency of Japanese druggies, when arrested, to quickly finger an anonymous untraceable foreigner, and the effects on Japan's foreign residents of the media's delight in reporting it.

..where unemployed and homeless Japanese geeks move into cubicles in an internet café, paying about $500 a month for the privilege, including, I suppose, all the internet you can use...
the manager says "they are lonely people and they don't seem to want friends or company."

“We ask those foreigners in relationships with local Japanese to please refrain from hand-holding, kissing and hugging,” said government spokesman Eichi Niida. “For the sake of public health, please refrain from displaying affection; instead, please bury your feelings deep inside.

Arudou Debito's recent JT article on the proposed "bugging" of GAIJIN causes debate.

Over the weekend I went up to Karuizawa, the charming town in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture that serves as a popular getaway for Tokyoites (and appears in quite a few anime series).

A post over at Ninja Tofu got me thinking… The questions were as follows: How did it go for you when you first visited, all expectations met? dissapointed? exceeded expectations? What was your feelings stepping of the airport on your first visit?

Suddenly Al turned to me and said, “There’s only one thing the people here are more afraid of than a yakuza: a foreigner!” We grabbed our towels and mashed ourselves into the tub, practically on top of the mobster. “Howdy,” I said. The hardened criminal’s jaw dropped in horror. He was gone in seconds.

You know who you are.....

The word for "foreigner" in Japanese is gaijin, written with kanji meaning outside + person, making it essentially equal to the word "outsider." All countries have foreigners, of course, but Japan's status as one of the most homogeneous countries in the world has a special meaning for Westerners living here, forcing most of us to "be at peace with sticking out in a crowd."

This is (as usual) pure selfish indulgence..I dont suppose everyone gets the opportunities this guy has had but then sometimes its about making your own..remora