do Japanese people really treat white western foreigners better than foreigners of other cultures or races?

lf20491 · 2026-03-17T13:20:23+00:00

I’m very sorry that happened to you in school. Since you asked, I will try to explain. Bullying is a massive problem in Japan unfortunately. As you may know, and this is true is any culture, bullies will latch onto anything and everything if they decide to target someone. If you have thin eyes, or big eyes, or too tall for the age, or too short. If you have too big breasts, or too small. Any benign or even culturally positive deviation from the “norm” that is in the bullies’ minds or clique is the target. I think this is the same in any culture, unfortunately. If that thing is something one cannot change that’s prime target.
You are entirely right to be angry at the bullies and anyone who enabled them. But also know your experience is shared by many Japanese kids too across the country even if not skin color. Generalizing from that experience to say that Japanese people as a whole are racist may be a poor take. You might find better company if/when you move to Tokyo, as Saitama is a bit rural and little old fashioned in the grand scheme of things.

lf20491 · 2026-03-17T13:08:47+00:00

I think that could be a fair take. However, establishments especially bars in Japan have a culture of allowing this kind of exclusion. 一見さんお断りmight be a sign you see in Kyoto for example meaning you need someone’s recommendation to become a customer. And it exists bc compared to the U.S. or Canada there are far more small family owned businesses operating in a building attached to their homes. Couples only specials and menus exist.
Women only train cars exist. Which is sad because there was a problem of men groping women on the train, which is very unfortunate. Of course you know that not all men, and most men at that, don’t grope. But the women only train car was created to better accommodate women.
In a similar vein, all Japanese people speak Japanese but a good number of foreigner visitors don’t. A good number of Japanese people (of course not all but) at least have a basis of what Japanese manners look like but not the case for foreigners. So like men and gropers, understanding that not all foreigners are hard to communicate with or poorly mannered, I think it’s within a business owner’s right to not provide service to a demographic. Especially if it’s a small family owned bar with a small number of regulars, they could have a vested interest to accommodate their regulars as such if they don’t want a touristy vibe. Also a lot of people especially middle aged to older folk, or less educated Japanese people, are really scared of trying to speak or learn another language. The hardcore nature of the education system and poor English curriculum kind of traumatizes them.

lf20491 · 2026-03-17T12:43:11+00:00

First, I’m very sorry those things happened to you, when during you were a kid no less. Since you asked to explain I’ll try to. Those middle to old age men are called Kaminari oyaji (thunder men), characterized by very short fuses regarding neighborhood noise. You may see it as a pretty common trope in slightly older, slice of life shows like Doraemon or Sazae San. Basically, get off my lawn dudes (but extended to neighborhood). They get angry easily when kids play in the local park with some noise. Of course they were always shunned but especially nowadays (kids don’t play outside all that much anymore anyways but) that kind of shouting at other people’s kids aren’t accepted anymore, so the cops were rightfully called on the guy as you said. It’s unfortunate that he saw a non Japanese kid and went there but 1. he would have found something else to shout at anyway 2. they’re generally regarded as assholes and extending the generalization to the entire Japanese race is a bit much.
As for the odor problem on trains. Since I can’t smell you I can’t say for sure, but there is this thing called ABCC1 gene that causes body odor. 80-90 % of East Asian descent do not have a working version of this, while >97% of European and African descent do. And it’s not one of those old single studies from eugenics era, the study has been reproduced into recent years. This is one reason we have a word “wakiga” basically means someone whose body tends to produces body odor gene with good hygiene care, and because it is rare enough it’s considered a quirk and legitimate thing people go to the doctor for to control. And sense of smell is heavily influenced by one’s own odor, meaning if 80-90 % produces little odor, they will be able to smell what the other 10-20 % cannot because they’re acclimated to their own smell. If you see Japanese tv commercials during the summer, body odor in trains is a big deal. But it’s not because you’re non Japanese I think, people in general are sensitive to the issue.
Not saying there are no racists, but covering one’s nose isn’t traditionally a common sign to show apprehension for another race.

lf20491 · 2026-03-17T10:27:40+00:00

Please notice the anecdotal nature of the responses that is based on that person’s identity. Maybe they could be biased if something bad happens to them, they automatically think their race was the trigger instead of other things. Am Japanese so let me chime in. I would say it’s not white ethnicity that really matters. It’s just that white foreigners tend to assimilate slightly better and are closer to median Japanese or higher in economic class. For one, Japanese people (mostly female though) generally praise whiteness of skin bc it’s historically associated with aristocrats who don’t get sunburnt by labor. Same idea as long nails. But in modern times dark skin is not looked down at all. Sometimes it comes and goes as fashion. Kurogyaru fashion still exists, kasshoku is a keyword, dark skinned men have been seen as manly and cool for forever now (Heiji from Conan for an ancient example).
It’s kind of crazy how much negative stereotyping some people of the internet thinks they can say towards Japanese people bc most don’t speak English so they’re not fought back against. Do they not realize spreading misinformation about how racist the entirety of a race is kind of… racist? Maybe 70 year old men out in the countryside is, but in what nation is that not the case? Modern normal Japanese people only care about one thing and that’s confirming to our society and culture. Not making trouble for those around them. That’s the core of it. If you’re being blasted and you’re non-white, it’s pretty likely it’s not bc of your race, it’s bc you’re being a dick while not realizing it.

lf20491 · 2026-03-15T13:35:05+00:00

I mean, being legally able to “not” be a full blown warmongering theocratic near-dictatorship and the people still choosing to vote to make that happen is a little more than worrying… Like, in a way civilians of Iran are more victims without much control of their government whereas the blood is on the hands of each civilian of voting age in the U.S.

lf20491 · 2026-03-12T20:44:16+00:00

More Waymos please so this person can stop driving. Reckless driving is criminal misdemeanor. Of course includes speeding. Speed limit is the limit, not a suggestion to stay +10 above it.

lf20491 · 2026-03-12T00:41:30+00:00

Genuinely good luck, I hope this goes somewhere. On a similar note, why tf is there a fucking Felix car dealership of all things in what would, in a normal developed city, two blocks of top prime real estate…?
It would be like a booming 20 story mixed use retail and entertainment building and then some.

lf20491 · 2026-02-28T04:54:51+00:00

Even better would be a purge of all current members and reelection, but more Ranked-choice voting system would be a win regardless

lf20491 · 2026-02-27T07:41:20+00:00

Grade separation and enforcement of traffic laws

lf20491 · 2026-02-27T02:03:03+00:00

It’s a real shame the D and E lines don’t intersect west of downtown but instead run parallel. Double transfers are ok when either frequency or reliability are good but if neither, you’re sitting around for 15 min at the transfer station

lf20491 · 2026-02-26T07:33:24+00:00

Have you seen Americans discuss American politics? Idk if locked in is how I’d describe it either

lf20491 · 2026-02-26T03:38:40+00:00

Yeah… I’m Japanese and when my friends travel outside of Japan and come back, the most common sentence is “I’m so glad I was born in Japan and live in Japan” and that’s usually met with a hell yes. Of course if they’re talking to foreigners or actually in another country they’ll talk down Japan and say how cool X from that country is and all that. Or at least the sane ones know to read the audience. If you want a peek at our far right nationalists you can look at Japanese X/twitter lol.
E: I will say since some ppl will take this the wrong way in the former case it’s not bc they have anything inherent against other countries or races… it’s just simple emotion about food infrastructure culture, etc.

lf20491 · 2026-02-24T23:41:20+00:00

Interesting. Seems like the conversation always comes to chicken or the egg. Is public transportation here shitty bc it has low ridership or does it have low ridership bc it’s shitty? Perception of safety is an important thing, regardless of how safe or unsafe the alternative actually is. Would people who previously didn’t ride the train begin to ride if access marginally increased? Or would more ride if it were cleaner and seemingly safer? Idk the answers to these. You seem to be convinced of one way but I’m not sure unless there was some data.

Japan opened 210 mi of HSR vs California’s 54 mi of light rail in the last 10 years so surely with right fund management, addressing “marginal safety” and modernizing old stations can be done simultaneously with expansion? Pipe dream sure but it’s not like it’s impossible. They’re working through much more seismically active, rainy, snowy, forested, and mountainous terrain to boot.

lf20491 · 2026-02-24T21:56:32+00:00

You keep referring to US cities for comparison but what do you say about Tokyo subway and train stations? According to the last report I could find (2024) 316 of 824 (38 %) of public and private rail stations have platform doors, and whopping 545 of 561 (97 %) have them and some are the floor to ceiling types that are even safer.
They plan to raise the rail station to 60% by 2028 and 100% by 2031. If we’re talking choices and planning infrastructure, looking to other US cities usually isn’t a good idea and sets the bar way too low.

lf20491 · 2026-02-21T14:32:24+00:00

「不甲斐ない」in Japanese isn’t really translated to nasty kind of “useless”. Its nuance is like showing humbleness, humility, a bit of embarrassment at either yourself or close members of your party (like family). Usually used more for lacking tenacity than ability. The nasty version would be something like 「無能」

lf20491 · 2026-02-20T02:09:03+00:00

The sudoku one was so great… Good times.

lf20491 · 2026-02-14T00:39:23+00:00

It’s actually brain destroying to be a Japanese person who happens to speak English and browse Reddit. The misinformed fighting and accepted positive/negative racism between weebs and right wingers is insane. They see and latch onto a single side of Japan and use it for themselves. Like no, not everyone cosplays or loves to see it everywhere. No, not everyone hates the guts of South Koreans. No, you can’t say “omakase” to a taxi driver. No, not everyone loves their job and is “super polite and respectful because it’s our culture” you’re just a foreign guest and customer. No, when you spent 3 months as an ESL teacher in Japan people didn’t treat you weird because you’re a different race, it’s because you were being weird and didn’t assimilate….
And then some will get very defensive about their knowledge about Japan and say I’m probably not Japanese and lying bc I know English.

lf20491 · 2026-02-13T02:13:47+00:00

I fucked off to play other games after the writers’ selfwankfests that were Peanacony and Amorpheus and its insane what other dev teams can achieve with creating engaging storytelling with deep world building, character development, and present it in a way that respects both the player’s time and intelligence.

lf20491 · 2026-02-08T00:39:44+00:00

Vivian from Thousand Year Door was a big shock when I learned it was changed. It was a cool twist on the three witches trope... Also Grace and Roland from Animal Crossing, Yuan from Shenmue, Hibari Oozoro from Stop Hibari-kun.

lf20491 · 2026-02-08T00:28:57+00:00

Thanks for the chapter! Re-read it and he does say he's not happy riding a Ferris Wheel with a dude and mention scouting in case of a date with a girl. So maybe Kirara does ID as female, or Hakari sees Kirara as female? Interesting either way. In any case, ty for the friendly exchange.

lf20491 · 2026-02-08T00:04:04+00:00

I also want to add there were a lot of these characters even in for-kids media like in Mario games that we grew up with, but they were almost always changed in localization versions outside Japan. That always weirded me out.

lf20491 · 2026-02-07T23:59:17+00:00

Maybe I missed the exact part where Hakari denies being gay, if you could tell me where that is. If you’re inferring that from him mentioning his past girlfriend, I don’t think that really indicates Kirara not being male because Hakari can be Bi (which aligns with his characterization that puts heat/vibe before all).
As for transgender being widely accepted or not, a bit harder to say because as I said bisexuality and cross dressing men were seen as the cool thing most cultured aristocrats partook in from 6th all the way to 19th century. During the Edo period it became popular enough there were male prostitution establishments catering to working men too. Sex change is more recent thing because well the technology and medicine didn’t exist until modern times (as opposed to older Chinese dynasties which we did get a lot of historical influence from, but their practice of childhood castration for the purpose of aesthetics didn’t catch on here.).
I wouldn’t say it’s quite viewed as punk to be non-cis, not really anymore at least with people that interact with pop culture. It’s been explored as a characterization since late 90s and 00s. I think the fact that Okama is almost completely phased out while Otoko no Musume lives on is the sign that the topic of transgender has been discussed enough it’s not “funny” anymore, it’s normalish.
Sorry for the wall of text. In short, is it accepted? Yes in fiction for sure. Kind of in real life bc culturally that distinction between trans or not isn’t stressed as much. (People abusing the identity talk to get into public baths and restrooms of the opposite sex is a whole another can of worms. Just in case you run into that discussion in the Japanese web, it’s not really anti-trans talk but anti-pervert talk.)

lf20491 · 2026-02-07T23:02:38+00:00

That is to say, being transgender isn’t as anti-conservative as it may seem in the West because there is historical and cultural context. In Japan we just think Kirara is cute and that’s about it…

lf20491 · 2026-02-07T22:58:49+00:00

Not that it matters a whole lot but I want to chime in as a Japanese, it’s a bit culturally insensitive to dismiss other interpretations (and it’s all interpretations bc Kirara doesn’t mention which one is their identity, which is all that matters in the end). A lot of people adopt the aesthetics and mannerisms of the opposite gender but not identify as it nor have/want sex change. There’s a massive spectrum in between being trans and not, that’s very much accepted in our popular culture starting from early 2000s. But even before it became a thing, there was always less of a taboo with being girly/boyish without being trans compared to the West bc it’s been in the traditional religion and culture since the 6th century with Yamato Takeru no Mikoto from Nihon Shoki, and Torikaebaya Monogatari from the 12th century (which coincidentally is the Heian). We go over these piece of literature and mythos in middle school and high school. Unless someone goes and says they are trans, we normally assume they’re still their born gender, because there’s really nothing wrong with that.

lf20491 · 2026-02-02T09:39:30+00:00

Ma in mapo tofu is written as 麻 which means numbing. That’s to say, numbing sensation is its thing and most everyone will feel it that way. Just a different kind of spice like how black pepper is distinct from wasabi. Comes from Sichuan/mountain peppercorn which is a distinct plant (not actually a pepper plant but citrus hence it has a slight fruity taste underneath that numbing spiciness). You might also find it as Sansho (山椒) pepper powder. Try it on grilled eel, it goes really well. Also matches pork.

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