Does anyone here have any experience of Japan?
Watching a movie yesterday afternoon, The Last Samurai, got to talking subsequently with spousal unit re Japan. Thought about it and realised that Japan never seems to contribute to foreign aid, never takes immigrants, never seems to take asylum seekers and the rest of the world doesn’t emit a peep of comment let alone tell them to share the load?
Why not? considering all the ‘earole’ Australia gets over the boat people. Nothing to stop the Indonesians turning left up the China Sea is there? But they don’t. All pictures of Japan appear to be homogenous native population, no blacks, browns, spotted or striped etc. The odd white appears to be tolerated if they live in their style. Is that fair comment?
Any offers of elucidation?
Boadicea's Chariot 
An interesting point, Christina. Considering all the foreign aid Japan got after Fukushima, it would be a bit much to think they never offer any.
Japan ranks fifth globally in countries that give the most in foreign aid with 10,494 millions US dollars as of 2012 according to the OECD. The Japanese simply have far too much class to remind the world at every moment how generous they are.
Presently 670,000 from Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), 530,000 Koreans and smaller numbers of Britons, South Africans, Australians, Canadians, Nigerians, Iranians, Indians etcetera reside in Japan. Japan has very, very strict immigration standards. Ethnic Japanese living abroad have the easiest time gaining admission to Japan as Japan makes is simple for those of the same ethnicity to go to Japan. They also take very, very few asylum seekers seeing them as people who have very little to contribute to Japanese society, little potential of social competence much less integration and a great potential for turning into parasites on an already strained social system.
My experience in Japan and with the Japanese is that they are a closed society and those who are not Wajin, the dominant ethnicity in Japan (98pc of the total population) and born/raised in Japan will find it very difficult to take anything but marginal positions in society. Japanese society functions in groups both socially and work-related. These groups are usually formed relatively early on and once established are nearly impossible to enter. Individual friendships are easy enough to form, however. Before opening their borders they observed what happened in Europe, Australia and North America and did not care for the results.
Interesting Christopher: who are the first four in order please. And is that related to country size?
Pseu: no, that list simply lists countries be the size of the contribution. The top four in that regard are:
1. The USA — 30, 460 million
2. The UK — 13, 660 million
3. Germany — 13, 440 million
4. France — 12,000 million
The top five by size of economy are:
1. Luxembourg — 1pc of GDP.
2. Sweden — .99pc of GDP
3. Norway — .93pc of GDP
4. Denmark — .84pc of GDP
5. the Netherlands — .71pc of GDP.
In this list the UK ranks as sixth with .56pc of GDP. The USA ranks 19th with .19pc and Japan 20th with .17pc. These statistics only consider what governments choose to spend our money on. Personal donations are a different matter. In that case, the USA ranks far higher in the second list and the Japanese are also well-known for their generosity to those in need — especially after natural disasters. Americans might frequently be obnoxious and overbearing but they are even more often extremely generous. The Japanese have a lot of sympathy for those dealing with natural disasters as very few Japanese have not in some way been affected by them.
I should add that Westerners are tolerated in Japan but not expected to live in the Japanese way save for following certain basic social niceties. So long as we behave ourselves we will be tolerated and left to our own devices. Job opportunities are also extremely limited for us in Japan. We can without too much difficulty find jobs as assistant foreign language teachers or at low-level work such as as kitchens, cafés, “massage parlours” or strip clubs. Foreign companies operating in Japan will often bring in staff from abroad but that is really the best opportunity for decent employment in the country for non-Japanese.
In Japan as in other parts of East and South-East Asia skin tone is tied with class and in some cases with old religious beliefs. The lighter the skin the more desirable a person is seen to be. That skin-lightening creams are very popular in the region has nothing to do with Western cultural influence, despite what some idiot PC lunatics in Western universities might think, but with very old cultural practices. Because of our pale skin people of European, especially northern European, extraction are not looked upon too harshly. South Asians are looked upon as dirty and uncivilised and dark-skinned Africans are often seen as scary and demonic in appearance as demons traditionally had dark skin. In South Korea I recall being on a train with a West African man. I was standing at the back of the car, he was sitting at the front. As more Koreans entered the car his end was nearly empty but my end was quite full. In Macau I never had any difficulties at restaurants or stores. A former classmate, the granddaughter of Cantonese immigrants to the USA, mentioned her disgust at her black travelling companions either being thrown out of or treated with unconcealed contempt at restaurants and stores. In any event, while travelling with friends and acquaintances in East Asia I try to not travel alone with women to avoid stares and hostility. So long as a local man is with us no one is concerned.
Very interesting Christopher, thank you.
Quite remarkable about the foreign aid donations.
Considering that the Japanese attitude to skin tones and other races is so counter prevailing against every other attitude of the West and would be met with shrieks of ‘racism’ and breaches of human rights etc etc
How do they get away with it in the international arena? One would have thought the UN would have made a public issue of it all and insisted they took their ‘fair share’ of refugees, trouble makers, deviant sexuals etc etc. This is what I really can’t understand why every other so called ‘civilised’ country just gives them a bye without a murmur!
I have often wondered whether it is a case of western residual guilt about being the only country on earth to have been nuked. I have always rather admired their refusal to play on that compared with the Jew’s interminable holocaust industry.
Another noticeable absence, they, the Japanese, are never to be seen assisting with other’s ‘peace processes’! I wonder why not. Either don’t care or nothing in it for them? They obviously don’t give a damn what anyone else in the world thinks of them. Canada is always in there at any such with the alacrity of a rat up a drainpipe! (Professional busy bodies of the world, as long as it didn’t cost too much!)
Christopher, your remarks about skin tone and its importance in Japan reminded me of a Canadian friend whose son is married to an Indonesian lady. Their little daughter is taller than most of her class mates and of course has a paler skin. Much admired. But when my friend visits she is pestered by Indonesian ladies asking what skin whitener she uses and whether her mother started applying it to her when she was a baby. It’s odd there is no acceptance of the fact that pale skin and blonde hair are just a fact of life in northern countries.
Christina:
the Japanese are often accused of “racism” and are frequently chastised for not taking more asylum seekers/refugees but they generally give that criticism all the regard it’s due. That is, they simply smile and ignore it. Because it does not go anywhere the “international community” do not press the point. Whenever the Japanese are put under intense and sustained pressure they usually pass a token law with so many loop-holes, such stringent conditions and no enforcement mechanisms that it might as well not exist at all.
The Japanese do provide assistance for peace-keeping missions. However, their constitution precludes active involvement in foreign military expeditions. The Japanese have a very modern, disciplined and advanced military. They also follow a barely updated version of the Yoshida Doctrine. That is, the USA assumed defence responsibilities following the Second World War and the Japanese are content to spend the money they save on that by investing in their economy.
Ultimately, the Japanese learnt a very simple lesson long ago and they never forgot it: if they are to survive, they can rely on no one but themselves. They take care of each other and put the needs of society as a whole above their own. The Japanese also loathe people who make a scene and demand attention for everything they do. They generally cannot bear those who demand gratitude for every single show of support or kindness. That is why what they do is often ignored by the prancing peacocks of the West, those who demand that the entire world stop and pay attention to them — the USA worst of all.
Sheona: in 2012 I spent a night at a friend’s house in rural Hiroshima. His mother was bitterly disappointed when she saw my brown hair and brown eyes. She assumed that Germans all had blue eyes. Another older Japanese woman asked me if I dyed my hair because she was sure that all Germans had blond hair. People see the world through their own prejudices and pre-conceived notions. If something doesn’t make sense to them they either ignore it, panic or try to find some explanation — no matter how absurd — explain the seemingly inexplicable.
I have related before an experience with the revered father of my customer in Hokkaido. He invited me to tea – which turned out to be the traditional version! Nevertheless he used the opportunity to try to persuade me that my pricing policy was punitive and unfair. At the end of the ‘ceremony’ he observed politely that my American employer must be proud to have a man who represented them so profitably; he bowed slowly and left the room. His son, a doctoral graduate in English, assured me there were no hard feelings. His father would have respected no other conclusion.
Christina, on the question of the morality of Japan’s policy of racial isolation, It must be said that Japanese are allowed to emigrate – witness San Francisco; unlike North Koreans whose country is their prison.
I like and admire the Japanese. I have been to Tokyo twice, both times on business. I was treated with unbelievable courtesy and found my hosts, thoroughly charming and hospitable. The city was clean, efficient and pragmatic.
One incident struck me as being amusing. I had been visiting the British Embassy and had decided to walk back to my hotel. Along the way I got a bit lost and approached a traffic cop to ask for directions. As I got closer to him, holding a street map in hand, he began to move away. I could not work it out at first until I realised that he did not want to lose face by his being unable to help me. I spared his blushes and eventually made it back unaided. But it did strike me just how culturally different to us Westerners, the Japanese are.
The only downside is that I do not find Japanese women remotely attractive, or at least I have never yet met one where that was the case. I do think that physical attraction between ethnic groups goes a long way to reducing racial tensions.
Janus: San Francisco does not have nearly the Japanese population it used to. It might have largest remaining Japan Town in the mainland USA, but it is dominated by Koreans and Chinese with the Japanese merely a notable minority. Torrance, near Los Angeles, has a much more significant Japanese population now. Hawai’i, incidentally, continues to attract many Japanese immigrants who tend to have an easier time integrating into the heavily Japanese-influenced culture of the islands. Incidentally, Japanese seeking to emigrate are more likely to go to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand because Japanese companies are expanding their operations in South-East Asia and the Japanese are well-liked in those countries.
Thank you Christopher for #8, that gets to the nub of it. Strikes me that they have perfected the art of the teflon public coat!
The truth of the matter is that most societies at the end of the day only have themselves to rely on. It is a great shame that a lot more do not see it this way rather than the delusional global village syndrome.
I rather admire them for following their own ways and resisting the blandishments, emotional incontinence and PC blackmail of the West. I have to say that I get so very tired of the hand wringing, guilt induced, emotional voyeurism of the BBCfest and all who sail in her at the generally self inflicted misfortunes of third world countries. Seemingly not an indulgence of the Far East!
All very interesting. Thank you.