/2/ - 日本 ~redux~

Recently I've started to actually learn Japanese and contemplate moving there once I mastered the language, already had knowledge in an area of specialty, and professional experience so that I could actually be a useful member of society there. It's clean, the trains are quiet and on time, there no, "urban youths", to tolerate if you catch my drift. I'm starting uni next fall, so that's a long ways off. This is sort of like a cross-roads in my life where any kind of future seems like a realistic possibility. However, as I did more research I became painfully aware of the elephant in the room: foreigners are not accepted and have no defined role in Japanese society. Let me preface this by stating 2 things. 1.This post is not intended to be political. 2.I'm not one of those morons who think Japan should be shamed into adopting Europe's retarded approach to letting in outsiders.

Before this point, I thought problems people who went there had could mostly be attributed to their lack of understanding the social etiquette. Of course some loud idiot would stand out and be rejected. I figured a person who did the work involved to fully understand the language and the ins and outs of social interaction would be just fine, but that't not what I found. There's a lot to unravel, so i'll start with the biggest thing that struck me, housing discrimination. The way I see it, I don't care how hard it is to get in. I don't care if they don't let anybody in at all. They could make people pass Kanken 1, however, doesn't a person who does get in, who does meet the requirements, deserve the ability to get something as basic as housing? Shouldn't something as essential as that be guaranteed? If they just want some South Korean temp laborers, fine, but what I see is a sort of half-assed acceptance. Would other countries really be so pissed if they didn't let in anybody? Is it just to appease the, "international community"? There's probably similar stuff involving health care or other such things, but I don't know much about that and you get the idea.

From what I've read, the way you're perceived as a foreigner is very binary. Either people will be hostile towards you, or more likely they'll treat you like some kind of attraction. There's no third option. Doesn't matter how long you've been there, or how well-adjusted you try to be, there's no third option(recognition). I suppose physical attraction plays a role in which of the two categories you get placed in(ugly idiot, exotic beauty). It seems contradictory that a society so focused on social intricacies, doesn't seem to understand this. Does the concept of condescension exist there? People make the argument that being doted on and given attention is a nice thing, but when I see people say that I think about the people who actually try to live there. I started thinking that this might less of an issue in non-urban places, as naturally a tourist is less likely to go to the countryside, so a foreigner there is probably a permanent resident, right? Except I also imagine you would get more of a negative reaction in less populated places. They're less used to bologna skins and don't feel the same societal obligation to, "make a good impression". If i'm wrong about that, please tell me.