Differences

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--- japan [2025/12/30 07:37] – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation 2a03:2880:f800:4c::
+++ japan [2026/01/20 01:36] (current) – [Anti-foreigner sentiment] particles
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   * [[osaka_expo_notes|Expo 2025 notes]] -- Now that EXPO 2025 is over, this is less useful and more of an archival item.
   * [[comike_guide|Summer Comic Market guide]]
+  * [[shrine_guide|Shinto shrine guide from Fushimi Inari Shrine]]
 ===== Advice for visitors to Japan =====
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   * [[pet bottle recycling|The specific recycling bin I use to store PET bottles ready for recycling before group collection day]] is, imho, a must-buy if you get a lot of PET bottles.
   * [[mobile_networks_foreign_residents|Mobile networks for foreign residents of Japan]] focuses specifically on which mobile carrier to get and/or my experiences.
+===== Anti-foreigner sentiment =====
+It is an extremely common issue to hear, particularly lately, about how Japan has a rise in anti-foreigner sentiment. I think it is important to view it in the perspective of Japanese people, and I refer you to the following videos on this topic:
+  * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNHR9lnGS3A|Golden Rule of Japanese Society]]
+  * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULKPS8gNk7A|On the Rise of Anti-Foreigner Sentiment in Japan]]
+  * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WpkQTtHUyg|On Overtourism in Japan and the Country's New Leaders]]
+**Q: If I visit Japan, will I be looked down upon for being a foreigner?**
+**A: No.** But to give you a more nuanced answer, the there are two very important elements to this:
+  - Read the air. In English, it would be better said as "read the room". In a society where politeness is paramount and not being a nuisance is regarded as a valuable trait, you should endeavor to not be a nuisance. There are many ways to not be a nuisance, and probably my single best piece of advice is to pay attention to your surroundings and copy people. If you board a train and everyone is being quiet, it is not your job to disturb the peace. Line up in lines. Be cognizant of what's going on around you and you will be fine.
+  - If you don't speak Japanese, learn at least basic phrases or be extremely humble. Don't force English into people's daily lives unless they speak it or they offer it to you. Assume Japanese. Ask if they speak English. "Ano, sumimasen, ego wakarimasuka?"
+If you didn't watch the above videos, the overwhelming negative sentiment that people have is not towards foreign tourists who don't break the rules, it's people who have no observational awareness or people who knowingly break the rules. Just because you can get drunk on the train platform at 2pm doesn't mean you should. Yeah, NewDays will sell you a beer, but no, it's not socially acceptable to drink it on the train unless it's 23:30 and you're not making a scene.
+The vast majority of Japanese people only care about disruptive people. There are exceptions as there are in any society. Some people are racist. But this is true in all countries.
+==== There's no law against it ====
+Many societal norms in Japan exist but have no laws against breaking them. You shouldn't eat and drink convenience store food while walking. But Japanese people will always say there is no law against it, while also observing that you're walking and eating and that's not really ideal.
+This extends to everything, including to foreigners who apply for statuses of residence and other forms of treatment from the government. "The letter of the law" in Japan is not the law. Some cultures believe that the law is written such that loopholes intentionally exist. In Japan, they may or may not intentionally exist. If they do exist, knowing whether or not they are intentional or not requires reading the air.
+Lately, a lot of anti-foreigner sentiment comes from this disconnect. Many parts of Japanese law are circuitous or seemingly impossible, but these are meant to be wrangled by lawyers who know not just the law, but the intent behind the law. But at the same time, when people can read the law and technically understand it, they can apply for things and change things without reading the air. So the system functions as designed, but produces an incorrect result in-practice.
+That is, fundamentally, why immigration and other forms of laws related to it have changed. Social insurance was always required, but now evidence is required that it's actually being paid. Business managers must now actually prove their businesses have merit.
+The fact of the matter is that Japanese law has always had loopholes, but they were rarely exploited. Now, they are. This has led to a rise in scrutiny of these laws to fix loopholes and ensure that there aren't any gaps in the legislation.
+Again, the intent was always that one of Japan's hundreds of thousands of administrative scriveners or lawyers would parse the law, and that these people would be ethical. Now, amateurs read the law and also apply. LLMs help this. The result? Now stricter laws are required. Foreigners who previously exploited loopholes are admonished, unsurprisingly.
+"You should have known the rules" even when those rules even when the rules were never written down.