Comments by "Jordan, inside-outsider in Japan" (@Jordan-inJapan) on "What do Japanese Think of Foreigners in Japan?" video.

  1. As a long-time foreign resident living in Japan, I found this quite interesting. Coming from a multicultural nation (Canada) it is tempting fault Japanese society for a lack of tolerance to difference. But while this is generally true, and it can be an annoyance and even barrier full participation in Japanese society, I think this reality is actually harder on Japanese people living in Japan. I think that being ‘foreign’ actually gives me more freedom because people don’t expect me to always conform to social or cultural expectations…and many of my Japanese friends tell me they’re a bit jealous of this! The negative side of this is that Japanese people do tend to be nervous about interacting with foreign people here because they can’t predict how they will act, or whether they will properly follow social rules, etc. But to be honest, I find myself thinking the same way after being here so long. A certain amount of social homogeneity can be comforting!
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  2.  @Greenforrest7342  hey, cut me some slack! 😅 I said it was ‘tempting’ to make that comparison. I didn’t say I judged Japan negatively for it. My intended implication was that Japan, not in fact being a multicultural country, should not be compared to a country like Canada. Sorry if that was unclear. I’ve lived in Japan for more than 20 years, and have in fact chosen to live here OVER Canada in spite of the ‘stifling culture of conformity’. 😉 (intended to show sarcasm). Of course, have to accept Japan for what it is. And you know what? It’s a great place to live. For me at least. 🍻
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  3.  @strife2746  This is probably too complicated of a topic to get into in a video comment page. Well, I really know what you mean, but I believe that the reasons for the strong social cohesion here don’t only come from the traditional culture, shared ethnicity etc, from a variety of reasons. One is a strong and mostly-uniform public education system up to grade 9 (15 years old.) Basically every child in this country had shares this experience, which not only includes a common academic curriculum but also ethical and cultural-values indoctrination, club activities, and several school trips that take then to different areas of the country, together with their classmates. In this way everyone adult individual in Japan has a shared experience they can relate to. And it really goes a long way towards making this a true ‘nation’, rather than a collection of selfish individual, like in Canada & America. There are other points, but I’ll stop now. 😅
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  4.  @ChristianDogLover  Ah, I was wondering if this would come up. (It’s one of those uncomfortable topics that doesn’t usually get talked about.) But unfortunately, yeah…There is absolutely differential treatment depending of where you’re from, with certain ‘types of foreigners’ having a much easier time than others. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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  5.  @maegalroammis6020  so don’t live here, problem solved! 🍻
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