Posted By Rhymenoceros on 12-11-2010 8:52 AM
Question for Thaiguy:

Have you lived anywhere away from Yokosuka? 

I live in a different part of Japan for a few years & I can tell you for certain that there is quite a bit of racism in Japan.

Actually, I'm in Iwakuni, not Yokosuka.  I visited Yokosuka recently, and I was based there twice on active duty, the most recent being '95-97. During my recent visit, I got a cold dash of that anti-US feeling that I don't see anywhere else in Japan. It was enough to remind me how glad I am to be based in Iwakuni.

Down here, the gaijin population is quite small, perhaps 5000 in the entire prefecture.  I see zero evidence of discrimination in the local population, not at all like what you see around Yoko.

I do believe -- as you said -- there is deep-rooted racism among Japanese. They inherently believe they are superior to other races.  Just like Americans do. But I rarely see it put into action, and away from the major military bases I have NEVER seen it.  Japanese in general are polite, curious and engaging -- even while secretly harboring their feelings of superiority. 

There is a lot to be said for Japanese culture & traditions. In many respects, I do find their ways superior to the American attitude of entitlement and "me first."  We could have a lot to learn from the Japanese if we just paid attention.

Posted By JTucker381 on 12-11-2010 11:50 AM

Posted By ThaiGuy on 10-29-2010 4:39 PM
So... is it possible to correlate one with the other? Is the instance of "discourteous" Japanese proportional to the rude Americans they see wandering around their town? If this was your hometown, and there was some ethnic/national group walking around every night for the last 20 years causing trouble & unrest, is it possible you might start to get resentful & blame the entire ethnic group? I'm just sayin...

This is 100% accurate.

I hate Americans that cry racism at every corner. I envy the Japanese for allowing businesses the right to refuse service to anyone. If 30% of their American customers cause conflict, it only makes sense to avoid the conflict completely. While we're used to the government forcing policies against us, in this case the Japanese have more freedom. The only place I've experienced the No Gaijin policies were areas that had a lot of Americans.... it's as if the behavior of Americans drove these policies. Much like every place that has discrimination it's always partially driven by the group that is being discriminated against.

Outside of hating the idiot Americans that act like savages and children, I can't think of many other things. Lower property taxes, cheaper houses (if you know how to buy), lower crime, better behaved children (I just wanna murder the Mississippi native children).

Oh, and I really can't stand that OHA is not set up like BAH and the BS housing standards that the office has. Why don't they verify housing conditions in any states?  Also the inspectors coming out seem like a huge opportunity for corruption.

I hate the Navy sends so many guys to Japan that don't want to go, yet rotates others home for sake of diversifying their career.

Also why are so many people with severe behavioral problems sent to Japan? It doesn't make sense to send a person to Japan when they have a history of assault, yet it's done. Why isn't there a screening done (similar to FBI profiling) via reviewing the past cases of people that failed in Japan and their similar traits and not sending similar people to Japan? For example, if a review showed that 80%  of the servicemember crimes were from single E-3 and below with ASVAB scores of less than 40 then don't send those people to Japan.

I hate the commands are shy to punish people that create so many problems on a ship until the problems finally spill over off the ship. If they were pro-active half the sailor crime would stop.

OK, so then you would agree that American businesses should be allowed to discriminate & not allow foreigners to enter their establishments, or rent apartments from them etc?

Posted By Rhymenoceros on 12-11-2010 2:20 PM
OK, so then you would agree that American businesses should be allowed to discriminate & not allow foreigners to enter their establishments, or rent apartments from them etc?

If you don't agree with that, then you are being hypocritical. If you do, then some people would would call YOU racist (So, pick your poison). 

Also, I have been here for over ten years & received LESS discrimination in areas with high concentrations of foreigners. 

I do agree that the Navy & Marines need to do better overseas screenings, including serious psychological profiling etc. You don't hear of many Army, or Air Force personnel getting into as much trouble as the Sailors.

I think part of it, at least with the Air Force, is that their recruiting standards are higher than the Navy's.

Here's a little secret....
I'm not your standard coward that runs in fear when someone says "you're a racist". Most people that say that are so damned ignorant their opinion is worth as much as used toilet paper.

Yes, I think all privately owned business should be allowed to discriminate for whatever reason they choose. My only request would be that it is clearly marked so you don't have to walk inside to find out. There was a time in America where the government should have meddled, but that time has passed.

All the bitching, whining, complaining, finger pointing and negativity done anonymously on this site.

Posted By tulipsonly on 12-11-2010 3:50 PM
All the bitching, whining, complaining, finger pointing and negativity done anonymously on this site.

Well, maybe that's just an irritant.

I wouldn't be anonymous except there are idiots that call commands and complain whenthey hear a view they disagree.

In 5 years I'll retire and get to enjoy having free speech again, and I'll never post anonymously after that.

It's an eye opener that most of the comments were about Americans....

I really think I should correct myself. I think it's just all the generalized negativity period. I really don't care about it being anonymous. I just wish people could see something that needed to be addressed, make a positive step somehow and not generalize.   I see my mistake and understand the need for anonymity. I stand corrected. I edited this post from it's original version as to not start a firestorm.

Posted By tulipsonly on 12-11-2010 9:51 PM
I really think I should correct myself. I think it's just all the generalized negativity period. I really don't care about it being anonymous. I just wish people could see something that needed to be addressed, make a positive step somehow and not generalize.   I see my mistake and understand the need for anonymity. I stand corrected. I edited this post from it's original version as to not start a firestorm.

No worries about the mistake.

But as far as taking steps, it can't be done most of the time. For example, the young group of males that is excessively loud. When you say to them "Can you guys should tone it done a little?" in return you can get extra yelling, screaming or threats and comments such as "You don't know me!".  If they do quiet, within 10 minues they are loud again. I can give you an example of 4 guys on a ship in Japan that were UA several times a week, some investigated for theft, 3 broke liberty curfews on deployment and none could be given EMI, let alone booted as they all should have been. Every day you could correct the same people, but they just continue with the wrong behavior because they don't care about anyone but themselves. It's what a lot of the junior sailors are being taught and there's no unteaching this since it is Navy policy.

But I don't think there are really that many negative things said about Japan. Most posts on this site are generally positive and the complaints are kind of trivial most the time.

@ Randy. I see your point about Navy policy. As I'm not a service member I have no insight into those kinds of issues. I was referring only to those things that are relevant to a civilian.

I had approached servicemember misbehaving in public in Japan and tried to correct them. A lot of those guys are valueless pieces of garbage, and trying to correct them can seriously worsen the problem. Since my plan is to return and stay in Japan I generally try to avoid conflict with those people and hope that one day the Japanese government comes down hard on the US military and mandates that visa's will be required to leave the base.

That I can't take my bicycle on the train.

Posted By Zama Guy on 12-12-2010 7:59 AM
That I can't take my bicycle on the train.

You need a "rinko bukhuro".  It's a bag that will fit your bike when the wheels have been removed.  Most trains will let you take them on except maybe during busy times.

Well said.
I had a similar experience while in Okinawa with the Marines.
Coming back to Japan as a civilian has been a really positive experience.  It has in fact, drastically changed my perspective on many many things.