Comments by "Gordon Graham" (@gordonbgraham) on "What's it like Living in Japan with Tattoos?" video.

Tattoos are not an issue with travelers in Japan. Try going on an interview for a job with visible tattoos and you'll find that an old lady keeping her distance from you is the least of your worries.
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@vifcoz I've lived in Japan since 1988. The only incidence of Japanese using violence against foreign men that comes to mind is when a man from Ghana was forcibly being deported and was killed while being restrained violently. The only other incident that comes to mind is when a foreign woman died in detention due to being denied medical attention. There are no random attacks of violence against foreigners like there are against Asians in America.
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@ggpromise596 The point being you'd have to cover up your tattoos or you wouldn't get a job. Even if you were to cover them up, if your employer knew you had a tattoo you'd not get that job. There is another comment on this video from a Vietnamese guy who has lived in Japan who said people have been denied factory jobs and were sent back from trainee programs due to having tattoos. Of, course if no one knew you had a tattoo my statement would be irrelevant, which is why I noted "visible" tattoos. That Brazilian woman confirmed that to be so. Also, many of those people interviewed had tattoos on their necks that a collar just couldn't hide.
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Japan doesn't need people from foreign countries. All forecasts point to AI and mass-automation making 50% of current jobs obsolete within the next 25 years. Japan addresses any current work shortages with 3~5 year visas. As that labour becomes less and less necessary, so will foreigners in Japan.
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I always considered tattoos to be for pirates, Yakuza or bikers...not a guy who owns a bike, but guys in bike gangs like Satan's Choice. Everyone else is a wannabe
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Of the foreign population 85% is Asian. Of the entire population 2.2% is foreign.
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@BungleTheGooner OK...so things haven't changed that much then. If you were to go for a job interview and had visible tattoos you would not be hired by a Japanese company. And if you were to wear short-sleeved shirts displaying your tattoos in a Japanese company your contract would most likely not be renewed. If you were to meet your girlfriend's family with short-sleeves, her parents would most likely not be pleased. Certainly, there would be exceptions but exceptions don't reflect the majority of what the Japanese think about tattoos.
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@Elecjester I can’t vote. I have no voting rights as a foreigner
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@ImGonnaFudgeThatFish Boring is subjective. I've lived in Japan since 1988 and have found it to be absolutely brilliant! I originally planned on coming here for two years, but it so outshone my experience of living in Canada that I stayed. In more than 30 years, I still find it fantastic and never feel the least bit bored. Yes, I like the hivemind. I grew up playing sports. I like the team mentality. It suits me to a T. The I, me, mine mindset prevalent in the West is tiresome and boring.
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Yes, listen to those interviewed who live in Japan. They've said that that is the case.
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@xAmayaxx I’m sure there are clubs and shops that cater to more underground tastes where there’d be no issue. Osaka might be a better option than Tokyo
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Stagnation has not been all bad. For example, Japan has an estimated 3,500 homeless. A big reason for so few homeless is affordable housing. You can rent a one room studio apartment in Tokyo for as little as ¥30,000 ($250) a month. I recently purchased a 3 bedroom 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 native Toronto, Canada. Another good thing about stagnation is it weeds out superfluous or redundant businesses. Only the strong survive. As for the population, birthrates fluctuate. Trends don't equate to a downward direction to zero. Japan's birthrate was 1.25 in 2005. It's currently 1.34. Trends fluctuate for a myriad of reasons. All forecasts point to AI and mass-automation rendering 50% of current jobs obsolete within the next 25 years. A reduction in population is prudent at this time in Japan's history. If nothing else the Japanese are resilient and because of that and the cohesion in their homogeneous society they will overcome any and all economic difficulties that will be a result of the demographic shift until that shift correct courses...as it has in the past.
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Harajuku? Are you a 13 year old girl?
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What did you do for work? Did you cover up your tattoos when working?
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@Elecjester I can see how well that's worked in North America and Europe with rioting in the streets with people who are at odds with each other culturally, socially and politically.
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@BungleTheGooner I've lived in Japan since 1988 and have been under the impression that it is like just as the Brazilian girl in the interview confirmed...that it's difficult to get a job with visible tattoos. Sometimes it's hard to tell when you work inside your own bubble, as I have, which is why I asked what sector you work in. I'm aware that young people are more open-minded, but they were more open-minded in the 80s too. There was rebellion against the establishment on college campuses throughout Japan in the 1960s. I think people who are expecting change when the older generation dies out are in for disappointment. Like the first guy who is a tattoo artist said...I don't expect change, and I don't really want things to change.
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I bet your Japanese is 100 times worse than his English
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Did you get your license from a Japanese University?
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@rheblue Then you're not a "licensed" teacher. A teaching license from abroad is non-transferrable. You may have full-time teaching duties, but your status is not "full-time licensed teacher". MEXT has strict rules about such things. A teaching licensed issued by a Japanese university is a requisite. That's the law
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@rheblue That's not true. There are no exceptions. I've been here (in Japan) since 1988. I obtained my teaching license from Rikkyo Univeristy. It took me a full 15 years to become literate enough to have entered the program. All courses are in Japanese, including hand-written assignments. A 2000 word hand-written essay on 2nd language acquisition and its corresponding pedagogy was a prerequisite to satisfy the language requirement for the program. Trust me, I tried every avenue to avoid having to have done that. Now, you might have an "instructors' " visa, I did, too. That's not a teaching license. A teaching license can only be obtained through a teachers' licensing program at a Japanese university. You're what is classified as a "shokutaku". That is you're have full-time duties and are at a higher pay scale than ALTs, but you're not a licensed teacher. Not in Japan, anyway. In Japan, classification matters. It matters in terms of remuneration and it matters in terms of what you are and are not permitted to do. You are not permitted to be a home-room teacher, for example. As a "shokutaku" you can be a sub-home room teacher, but not a home room teacher. Also, as a "shokutaku" your salary is capped at around ￥350,000 per month. Full-time teachers make twice that, at least. You also are not awarded a severance package upon retirement, as is standard for full-time licensed teachers. Severance packages are around $150,000 USD on average. As you can see, classification matters.
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@rheblue I meant for it to be elucidating for anyone who may come across your comment and assume that a teaching license from abroad is transferrable. It's not. To obtain a teaching license in Japan, one must do so by completing a teachers' licensing program at a Japanese university. There is no other way. You may be able to secure a "special instructor's license" but that's not a teacher's license. They differ in classification. I just want to make people aware of that. If you have a "special instructor's license" you will be able to conduct classes without a Japanese teacher present in the classroom. You will have a full-time schedule. You will receive bi-annual bonuses etc. However, you will not be classified as a "full-time" teacher. Classification matters in Japan, it matters in terms of remuneration (Full-time teachers make twice as much as "shokutaku", those who hold a "special instructor's" license, for example.). Admittedly, I feel a bit triggered when I hear or read someone claim to be a full-time licensed teacher, because of the effort and time it took me to have become one. I know exactly what the criteria are and how arduous and time consuming it is to obtain a teacher's license in Japan. I enjoin anyone coming across this thread to contact MEXT, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, to verify what the credentials are to become a full-time licensed teacher in Japan. I hope this conversation is elucidating and provides you with some details that may be of some use to you. Cheers!
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Here's the issue with your thinking. Japan is a well ordered cohesive society. One of the main reasons there is social cohesion, order and relatively little crime in Japan is people follow rules. Outsiders may find many of those rules or customs to be petty or unnecessary, but the Japanese have such rules for reasons of their own. Society is a construct and Japanese society is constructed to suit the Japanese, not outsiders. To them even those little, seemingly insignificant rules or customs should be followed (this is in answer to your "should" part), otherwise the order and cohesiveness that Japan is known for would gradually break down little by little. The butterfly wing effect
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@fourthpanda I also live in Japan and have so since 1988. We've raised 5 kids here who have all been through or are currently in the public school system. I know all about "mendokusai" rules. Nevertheless, those rules remain and they do so because the Japanese insist on them as a way of maintaining order in their society. Japan may not be "just Japanese" as you've pointed out, but for us foreigners it behooves us to follow their rules in order to assimilate and get along better with our neighbors, colleagues and the general public. it also does a disservice to other foreigners here if some don't follow the rules or customs as it serves to perpetuate the image that foreigners are arrogant, self-centered and disruptive. Regarding the economy, it's falling in all developed nations. That's a result of Globalization and developing countries getting a piece of the global market pie that Japan, America and Germany once dominated. Japan has always subsumed that from the outside which benefits her in terms of industry, business etc. The current global climate does not alter that. The Japanese still hold dearly their culture and social mores.
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@fourthpanda Honestly speaking, there's no end to foreigners here who mewl about how things are in Japan and how Japan "should do this or should do that". I've seen more than one father married to a Japanese woman saying how "backwards and xenophobic" the Japanese are in front of his own children creating an "us vs them" dichotomy in their psyches ignoring the fact that his kids are Japanese, but treating them as though they are something "other". I've known countless foreigners in the 30 years I've lived here who are functionally illiterate who mewl like a kitten sucking on a hind teat about how they can't advance in the workplace and put that down to "xenophobia" while not considering for a moment that they couldn't advance in the workplace in their native countries if they were illiterate. Go to any content online however innocuous, even something as innocent as kids' content and invariably you'll find foreigners bringing up Nanjing or South Korean comfort women...many of whom live in Japan, bitter about their failed lives, stuck between their ALT dead end McJobs and returning home with their tails between their legs to find nothing there besides being a barista at Starbucks or some entry level call centre type grind. They end up resenting the Japanese en masse for their own failings and spend their vitriol on trying to convince everyone how "backwards" and "bullying" the Japanese are.
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@fourthpanda Not at all. I made the effort to assimilate and advance in the workplace by getting my teaching license. It took me 15 years of diligent study to be able to enter a teacher licensing program at a Japanese university. A handwritten 2000 word essay in Japanese about 2nd language acquisition and its corresponding pedagogy was a requirement. I’m simply tired of the mewling of foreigners here who have placed the blame of their failures squarely at the feet of “the Japanese”, while absolving themselves of any responsibility.
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A few are, but most aren't
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Why are you on a video that features Japan content giving a rat's ass?
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Here's the issue with your thinking. Japan is a well ordered cohesive society. Things that inspire criticisms like "they are super closed minded and very petty" gradually break down that order little by little. The butterfly wing effect
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@jonoftheedawn The birthrate was lowest in 2005 at 1.25. It’s currently 1.34 a slight rise in 2 decades. Trends fluctuate. Canada's birthrate was 3.81 in 1960. It's currently 1.40. All forecasts point to 50% of current jobs being made obsolete by mass-automation and AI within the next 20 years. Taking on more people would just mean more unemployed to support and an even greater strain on the public coffers.
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