Comments by "Gordon Graham" (@gordonbgraham) on "Does Racism exist in Japan ?" video.

  1. You should have asked them if they have ever been racist when speaking of "the Japanese".
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  2. Sounds like you harbour racism against white people
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  3. I've been married to a Japanese woman for 25 years and have had the opposite experience to yours. I've found the Japanese to be kind, welcoming and friendly for the most part with very few people like what you've described.
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  4. "kei-go"...It's formal language used to address superiors or in formal situations
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  5. I moved to Japan 30 years ago because I was told flat out at my interview for the education program at York University in Toronto that "we're not currently accepting applications from white males". I don't watch cartoons and I had no idea about "pop" culture in Japan. I just wanted to pursue my modest goal of becoming a teacher. Most of the foreigners I've met who reside in Japan have come here for similar reasons...to get a job and live a modest but sustainable life.
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  6.  @Rogueonepigeon  I answered an ad in a Toronto newspaper for teaching English in Japan. I only planned to come for two years. I loved it so much I stayed. I'd never given Japan a single thought in my life prior to answering that ad. I just happened to see that particular ad on that particular day. I applied to 15 other universities. I graduated summa cum laude with 2 academic awards to my name. I was turned down by all of the education programs I'd applied to. They were up front about their affirmative action measures. I was told flat out in my interview. I majored in linguistics. I'd coached youth ice hockey. I still do. I had met all the criteria. The only criterion I didn't meet was race. They were specific about that. I got my teaching degree in Japan...15 years after I'd arrived. It took me that long to become proficient enough in both reading and writing to enter the program. I had to submit a hand-written 2000 word essay on 2nd language acquisition and its corresponding pedagogy in Japanese as a prerequisite to satisfy the language requirement. I've worked at the same high school for more than 30 years, half of which I was an ALT making less than half as much as I do now as a full time salaried teacher. I have a month off in the summer, three weeks in winter and two weeks in spring. I run a youth ice hockey program and I have 5 healthy happy kids from elementary school through to university. I just bought a home on a 1/4 acre lot, 50 minutes from the centre of Tokyo for the equivalent of $150,000 USD. The same home would have cost me at least 10 times that in my hometown, Toronto! The weather is much better, the streets are safer, the schools are better, the health care system is better, the infrastructure is better. I can surf in the morning and drive an hour and a half and ski in the afternoon. The women are friendly and beautiful. The food is great. What's not to like? Like I said...I planned to come for 2 years. That was in 1988. What I’ve noticed is the otaku culture is relatively fringe in Japan. There are more Japanese into fishing than Cosplay or anime. You just don’t see those people online because they’re not exhibitionists nor seeking attention from a Western audience. I think most of the foreigners in Japan into such things are tourists. None of the foreigners I know, know anything about anime other than the cartoons their kids watch. I could tell you about Chibi Maruko Chan, Sazaesan or Totoro, but that’s about it, and that’s only because my kids watched those cartoons like kids watch the Flintstones or Bugs Bunny in North America. I think that’s the more common experience among Japanese.
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  7. Are you racist against "fair skinned" people?
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  8. He's uploaded videos specifically about "being Black in Japan" etc. Have a look through the archives
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  9. Also worth mentioning is the racism of foreigners who live in Japan towards the Japanese...of which there is plenty.
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