The Foreigners

At the science museum in Odaiba, Tokyo

It's been too long since I've written in here. Sorry about that.

Today, I'd like to write about the types of foreigners who come to live in Japan for a few months or more. I have found that, during my time of being here, they kind of break down neatly into a few categories.

(Note: Of course these types don't categorize absolutely everyone. Some people are also a mash-up of these types.)


The Players: These are foreigners who come to Japan on a sort of mental vacation from their lives back home. They think they can do whatever they want in Japan with little consequence because Japanese people don't outright express their displeasure, allowing these foreigners to trash things, not pay taxes, annoy their neighbors, and generally make the lives of anyone near them miserable. They then skip merrily back to their country as if they've just spent a nice, long vacation in Vegas.
            Their impact: It is because of these types of foreigners that many Japanese people distrust and outright hate foreigners. Japanese people have come to equate foreigners with horrible people thanks to these foreigners. Thanks to these foreigners, the rest of us have to suffer. A lot.



The Explorers: These are foreigners who come to Japan because it happens to be located far away from home, and it's in Asia, the area of the globe that houses so many other exotic locations. These are foreigners who come here to eat the raw squid just to say they did; the foreigners who like to brag about the knife fight they were in while traveling around a nearby Asian country, and the foreigners who disapprove of Japan for being "too tame."
          Their impact: Thanks to these foreigners, some Japanese people have come to believe that not all foreigner people are bad; some will actually eat their food. I happen to love talking to these types of foreigners because they usually have some interesting stories to share.



The Geeks: These are the most prevalent type of foreigners in Japan. These are the foreigners who watched a ton of anime in their home country, fell under the impression that Japan is just like what it is in the anime they watched or comic books they read, and come here full of dreams of a utopia here on Earth. They wander a section of Tokyo called Akihabara in awe. The problem is that they then realize that even in Japan, geeks are part of the fringe society that isn't well thought of, and they feel as alienated as they did back home. They usually go home disappointed and disillusioned.
          Their impact: They can be annoying when they first land in Japan. These are usually the geeks who devoted years of their lives to studying the most useless parts of the Japanese language, and they love to show off their Japanese skills at every moment possible to anyone who is nearby to listen. It has all the feel of your relatives forcing you to sit through home movies.



The Soul-Searchers: These are foreigners who come to live in Japan because they feel lost at home, and they hope that a change of scenery will help them find their way again. They're the ones who tend to fall into Buddhism or Shintoism while they're here.
           Their impact: These are my favorite type of foreigners living in Japan, because they tend to be open-minded and tolerant of the differences in culture. They seem the most reflective of the types, and the most agreeable to hang out with. If you want to go try something crazy, these people will go with you.



The Opportunists: These are the foreigners who see job opportunities in Japan and decide that, with the economy being terrible at home, they could stand a few years abroad to save up some money, then take that money back home with them.
          Their impact: These are the foreigners who really, really didn't think things through when they came here, and they tend to suffer the most for it. It is no small thing to leave everything you know and go live in a place that happens to believe their way of life is correct and yours is not, and money doesn't provide enough of an incentive to stay here and continue suffering the culture shock that crashes down on you like a building collapsing. Right before they go home, these foreigners openly express their hatred of Japan and all things Japanese to any foreigner within earshot, effectively spreading their little rain cloud around to anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby.



The Roots-Searchers: These are foreigners who have at least some trace of Japanese heritage in them, and they came to Japan to learn more about that.
          Their impact: I also love hanging out with these people because they tend to be kind, tolerant and open-minded about Japanese culture along with being as shocked as the other foreigners by aspects of the culture. Sometimes they hold a superior attitude to other foreigners, but many times they seem frustrated by either being too accepted by Japanese people or not accepted enough, depending on just how much Japanese blood runs in them and how good their Japanese is.



The Randomists: These are foreigners who came to live in Japan on a whim. Maybe they just happened to study Japanese in college because it was the only class open; maybe they just pointed on a map with their eyes closed, and their finger fell on Japan. They seem unimpressed by just about everything.
            Their impact: They can be fun to be around, but any awe you may find about something will probably fall flat on them. If they didn't care enough to think through living in Japan in great detail, then they won't be bothered to think about much of anything too deeply.