Monday, August 6, 2012

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My trip to Hamamatsu with a bit of self-racism!

Good to see you here again!

It's been a few couple of days since I last posted, but I'm back again!

On the weekend I took a trip to Hamamatsu for a small drinking event and it was a very enriching experience! Hamamatsu is a medium-sized city located near the coast, between Shizuoka and Nagoya. I'm currently living in a place near Shizuoka called Yaizu, so it took me just over an hour and (1110 yen) to get to Hamamatsu by train. While I was living in Amagasaki and commuting around the Osaka area, I would say that the vast (VAST) majority of people were "native" Japanese. As such, I was usually the only foreign-looking person within my line of sight (Yes, I can see myself!). As a knock-on effect, I would usually get given the stares (I would say more curious stares rather than evil ones) but I eventually got used to it and it happened less and less as people saw me more often around town.





Before going to Hamamatsu, I had heard about a number of factories (Yamaha, Suzuki) that employ a large amount of Brazilian-Japanese (in some cases pretty much just Brazilian) workers. As a result of this, there has been, to some extent, intercultural breeding (for lack of a better phrase). There are a lot of foreign looking people in Hamamatsu but somehow it didn't make me feel at ease.

You might be interested to Know that Tulio (a popular soccer player) is of Brazilian descent!


 It might sound strange, but I tend to attribute Japanese people with safety and trust, knowing that they won't burgle my house even if I forget to lock the door. However, I tend to attribute non-Japanese people (including everybody so as not to unintentionally appear racist) with crime! I know it sounds like a horrible thing to say, but living in Japan has brought to my attention how dangerous and riddled with crime the UK actually is!

So, walking around Hamamatsu city, I no longer felt safe enough to carry my wallet in my back pocket (basically in plain view) as I would usually. I felt slightly uneasy and I wanted to go back to my bubble of all Japanese people. At that moment, it struck me: I wonder how the Japanese people in Amagasaki and Osaka felt when they saw me? If that's how I view my fellow "gaijin", how scared must the Japanese be of me?

This author wants you to under the feelings of foreigners in Japan.. haha!


Well, having said that, I'm only about 15cm tall and weigh less than a ton of feathers (get it?) so my scariness doesn't stretch very far. It was certainly an eye-opener and it made me consider the way I think about other people and other races. I think living in Japan has made me racist towards anyone other than Japanese people as I feel like they are the only ones whom I can trust.

Hopefully, when I return to the UK I will regain my trust in Britain. It probably doesn't help that I got my (locked) bike stolen after 3 days in Birmingham but still had my bike after leaving it unlocked in Amagasaki for 2 days. In any case, I will be back in the UK within 2 months, so we shall see how I cope with the reverse culture-shock.

That's all for now but I will update you with some details about my internship again very soon!

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