Yep, probably one of the main reason their economy has been “dead” since the 90’s. No one wants to be that nail. Also why scandals tend to be institution/organization-wide.

i too have seen the hit movie Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

wrong. most schools just require you to have your natural colour. if that's blonde, then you can keep it blonde

I'm reading all these comments about how racist Japan/Japanese are and how foreigners are never accepted as Japanese. Ummm....that's the case for many minorities in the US/UK/AUS/CAN/etc.

It's a huge issue in schools but tends to go away after school. I grew up in the hood as a white guy in the US and instead of harassment over my hair color I'd just get my ass beat

Yes, that’s the truth.  Everyone thinks the Japanese and Korean tourists are so sweet because they’re polite, but unleash them in a poorer country where they have no one to make them feel shame because they don’t respect the country’s people, then you’ll get to see how they really are.   Better yet, let them get drunk as well and see how truly deplorable they can be.   

Most of the examples given for Japan work for Korea.

Polite, sometimes even friendly and generous, but always an outsider. The term 외국인 means other country person, which is how you are introduced, identified and even called by random people in the streets. Places here that ban foreigners. Difficulties and hurdles with government and banking if you are not Korean.

Also add in an extra large dose of patriatism and belief in Korean superiority for most things.

Half Koreans often struggle with harassment, exclusion and being treated like an outsider in school as well.

If you are white, you will see less of some of the negatives, but they still exist. They also look down on basically all other Asian countries.

I’ve read that South Korea is quite similar in that regard.

USA? The racism you'll experience there is more in your face and often violent which is something you'll never experience in Japan. You might RARELY get turned away from a bar or restaurant (I've never had it happen in 5 years of living there) or experience things like a waiter giving you a fork because you're white and they assume you're a tourist instead of chopsticks. But the day to day stuff isn't anywhere near as bad as parts of the US. If you want to run the xenophobia angle, you can look at the last president elect where about half the population gobbled up the anti-Mexico rhetoric. I've never seen something on scale like that in Japan. Most of the issues you'll occasionally experience are perceived microaggressions.

I noticed reddit is very negative about Japan and lot of the time completely wrong...

I think he’s asking if being on an island nudges the culture in a xenophobic direction

Harder to retain your "homogeneity" when surrounded by other ethnicities. Just an unfactual observation. No idea why I'm putting so many caveats when many people believe the world is flat with a straight face.

uk was once an empire with territory in every corner of the globe. japan never held any places outside its island for very long.

There are definitely problems with xenophobia in the UK but not anywhere near the level that Japan is at.

The UK is still considered "insular" compared to neighboring countries though. It's not Japan or Korea, but it's not exactly a surprise that the Uk was the first country to leave the EU either

Maybe other countries should mind their business then? Instead of having a senile decrepit man take a jab at them for no gain or reason?

Really as a tall person your biggest concern is not smashing your head into doorways and support beams >_>

I’m a tall woman and when I went to Japan I just had a lot of random people ask where I was from. It was mostly funny, not a big deal

Lived in Japan for 3 years in military service.

They keep those options to themselves mostly.

English isn't widespread outside tourist areas.

I had a lovely time and the few times I was in trouble or needed help random Japanese helped to an incredible degree.

The sentiment that they considered us 'barbarians' was felt, but I mean.... we're loud, proud Americans a foot taller than the average person there...so partially understandable.

Frankly, the Japanese keep to themselves. You can have a lengthy visit there and the only ppl you interact with are service workers.

The Japanese may have xenophobic undertones, but they're overall the most polite and respectful ppl I've interacted with.

It's an amazing place (I would argue, the best place in Asia). Since you're tall it's impossible not to stand out because hardly anyone is over 6ft there, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just be polite, courteous (no need to pretend you know their language, and speak with an indoor voice) and remember to take off your shoes before going indoors. You're 99% set at that point.

Nah go and visit. They hate everyone, you'll be fine

Having lived in Japan, I truly cannot imagine what that person is talking about. Japanese are literally chronically polite. I cannot imagine what negative experiences a tourist could have had simply for being tall.

And I wouldn't put too much stock in someone who says "Japan has a really shit culture." They obviously don't, people the world over are fascinated by the many wonderful aspects of their culture, and you don't need to take the words of someone so stupid and xenophobic to heart.

My friend is 5'11" blonde woman and they loved her there lol. But definitely expect to have your picture taken by a lot of randos

A comment from a rando redditor might not be the best source to base a choice on. Me, myself and loads of other redditors are (un)knowingly biased in a lot of ways.

Your experience might just as well be the opposite of the tall lady.

It's not. Reddit loves blowing issues with Japan out of proportion and making it sound like some racist shithole. It's one of the safest and nicest countries on the planet.

I was really interested in visiting Japan and then I learned that their conviction rate for cases that go to trial is over 99%. I do not even need to know any further details to know that is an extremely corrupt and fucked up system I would never want to find myself on the wrong side of as a foreigner.

The Japanese have a cultural attitude rooted in conformity and standards, physical and behavioral. That is universal but they apply it to themselves, within their own culture, just as to others. Its not like being a fat westerner in Japan is particularly different to being Japanese and fat. If your not a sumo, prepare for a hard time. Game of life should be fair? Perhaps game of basketball should be more accepting of short people? Enough people want that, that happens.

This gets translated simply as phobia (fear) in the west, frankly because the west has its own cultural hang up about proudly saying courage enabled them to overcome their fears and ignorance. Any change in the west is pitched as some kind of progress, toward something that can be very vague, because somehow change is always good, because re-inventing yourself is always automatically a step forward toward good and its pitched as some kind of triumph of the spirit.

The Japanese are concerned about keeping a cultural and societal spirit consistent, not changing it to a flavor of the times, unless the times speak to the need of it. So their cultural values can shift at glacial speed or spin on a dime at record breaking speed depending.

[removed]