Asian Gaijin

[godppgo]

With many people on this forum being of western origin (namely Caucasian), I am interested to know how asian gaijin are viewed by Japanese.

How do Japanese react when they find out you're an asian gaijin? Is being an asian gaijin in Japan different from being an "white" gaijin? Or do Japanese treat all gaijin the same way without regard to skin color? Anybody with interesting stories to share?

[MeAndroo]

Well, I'm an asian gaijin of western origin, but I can tell you it IS different. The liklihood of random people coming up to you and speaking English is reduced. You blend in better. People may speak to you at a regular pace assuming you know the language. I've had station people, random strangers, waiters, etc assume I know what's going on and speak to me as they would a native. It's a bit tough when you're still working on your Japanese, but a great way to face real world comprehension issues.

Once they KNOW you're a foreigner, though, I'd say the behavior falls in line with the stereotypical gaijin experience. You just don't have the immediate visual recognition.

I remember one time, I was with a white buddy of mine in a tiny yakitori place near Ueno. It was under a bridge, in a row of similar shops, the kind of place tourists don't typically see. We sat down, looked at the menu on the walls, and I realized I couldn't read ANYTHING. My buddy told me what he was getting (he being better at Japanese than me), but the cook only looked at me when asking for our orders. I had to direct his attention to my friend, because I couldn't even order for myself.

[Gaijinian]

You will not stick out, or feel out of place, as it is usually pretty had to distinguish between Japanese/Korean/Chinese/Taiwanese...

MeAndroo's story is not uncommon.

日本語がしゃべれますか。もし、発音は日本人みたいなのなら、相手の日本人には、『ガイジン』だという事が 隠せるかもしれませんね（秘密にしたいなら。なぜ秘密にしたいかわからないけど・・・理由ないじゃん！ｗ） 。