04/04/2024
The Japanese have a love/hate relationship with gaijin, foreigners; the Japanese have always been fascinated with the “other” and the culture of the other. They also want to remain uniquely Japanese. This is partly because Japan’s origin mythology does not take into account those who are not Japanese, nor are the others explained in that mythology. This is called closed-universe origin mythology. Contrast this with other societies where origin mythologies such as Christianity, where the world was created and then populated by numerous peoples. This is an open-universe origin mythology. The origin mythology of the West and Christendom accounts for both particular Westerners, other different kinds of Westerners, and outsiders.
Because the Japanese don’t see the outsider in their origin mythologies, it creates an outlook on the other that at times can be both hostile and welcoming. In Japan, the guest is always treated respectfully, but is always viewed as an outsider and subject to discipline if the outsider misbehaves, or even by mere presence is seen as a threat to the social order.
The hostility inherent in Japanese society to the gaijin is balanced by the Japanese feeling of inferiority because of their cultural dependence on outsiders: specifically, almost everything we see in Japan has a cultural origin in China and Korea. The Japanese are loath to admit this at times and at other times specifically cite foreign sources as authoritative for Japanese behavior and social organization. We see this in an adaptation that the Japanese make their own, such as their national dress, the robes of the yukata, kimono, and hakama. Few know that the quintessential Japanese clothing so known throughout the world is, in fact, directly descendent from the traditional and court clothing of T’ang Dynasty China.
More importantly, the most important religious duty of the Emperor of Japan, the ceremonial cultivation of the Imperial rice fields, is an imitation of the same religious ceremony conducted by the Chinese Emperor. The official ideology of the Tokugawa Shogunate was at the same time officially adopted Neo-Confucianism for the political organization of Japan and a policy of radical isolation from not just the West, but also from Korea and China.
Of course, what may be commonly thought of as Japanese, though coming from elsewhere, has been made Japanese. Ramen, Chinese noodles, tempura, Portuguese deep frying, etc. For a people so unified racially, linguistically, and culturally, the Japanese are quite open to adopting from the outside and then making it Japanese.
However, recent events have come to test the Japanese openness to outsiders. Once known for their toleration of foreigners on the principle that any foibles of a visitor are just those of a gaijin who does not know any better, the Japanese are becoming concerned that there is an invasion of barbarians.
Therefore, as the English began to hate, so too is the Samurai beginning to hate; sometimes because of boorish behavior, sometimes because of black and other criminals of color.
Visitors to the geisha district of Gion — one of Kyoto’s most popular sightseeing spots — will be banned from entering its picturesque alleyways as authorities in Japan attempt to tackle a dramatic rise in tourism.
Residents of Japan’s ancient capital have struggled to reconcile the financial boost from a return to pre-pandemic visitor numbers with overcrowding and incidents of bad behaviour among tourists.
Kyoto Bans Tourists From Parts Of Geisha District Amid Reports Of Bad Behaviour, by Betsy Reed, The Guardian, March 8, 2024
This is certainly a reasonable reaction by the Japanese to rude behavior by tourists. And it seems to be a world-wide phenomenon, with tourists behaving badly all over the world: the results of the dumbing-down of behavior, especially after COVID [Swiss Tourist Filmed Carving Her Initials In Rome’s Colosseum, by David Mouriquand, Euronews, July 17, 2023].
But it is not just rude tourists, but invaders that are causing problems, and reaction, in Japan. Blacks are, of course, at the center of the problem, with Mountain Turks and Indians not far behind.
A North African migrant from Burkina Faso has been arrested in Fussa, Tokyo for stabbing a Japanese teenager to steal his wallet. pic.twitter.com/8xyRs1lZDQ
— 🇯🇵 Colonel Otaku Gatekeeper 🇯🇵 (@politicalawake) April 4, 2024
Indians settles a tribal feud in Japan📍 pic.twitter.com/6nllhuaN2W
— Tyrone (@DrTyroneK) April 2, 2024
The Japanese are getting fed up with the crime coming from blacks and Mountain Turks, the Kurds, who particularly are causing the samurai to hate.
Kurdish people living in the Saitama Prefecture cities of Kawaguchi and Warabi in eastern Japan have been subjected to hate speech that began to escalate in 2023, it has emerged.
The abuse has included such phrases as “Get out,” “Cheers for the massacre,” and “Fake refugees.” Places with which Kurds are associated have also been hit with emails and phone calls demanding their exclusion from Japan. In February, a demonstration that included anti-foreign slogans was also held. One expert says that in just under a year, Kurdish people seem to have become fresh targets of hate speech.
‘I Became Afraid To Go Out’: Hate Speech Escalates Against Kurds In East Japan, Mainichi, March 31, 2024
Of course, the Kurdish rioting and crime, so shocking to the normally tranquil Japan, was glossed over.
Many foreigners live in Kawaguchi and Warabi. Kawaguchi, in particular, has a foreign population of around 40,000, the most of any municipality in the prefecture. Kurds started to arrive in around the late 1990s and, according to a support organization, Kurdish residents in the prefecture now number over 2,000, most of them from Turkey.
People have complained to authorities about local Kurds before, including over noise and obeying rules about taking out the garbage. It was from around the spring to summer of 2023 that hate directed at Kurds came out in force.
At the time, there had been protests by foreign residents about a revision to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that would allow Japan to deport foreigners after their third application for refugee status, and increased media exposure drew attention to Kurds, many of whom were seeking recognition as refugees.
And what happened in the West with Third World immigration is happening in Japan: the gaijin are isolating themselves, not learning Japanese, won’t behave, and drain the local taxpayers with demands for translators and assistance.
However, Kobayashi says not many of the resident foreigners reach out to build new connections with the Japanese. In numerous cases, the workers’ bosses at the business park are also foreign-born, so dialogue takes place in their native language. Viewing Japanese as unnecessary at work, many are not bothering to learn it. At the municipal offices and other situations, some parents rely on their children as interpreters, having picked up Japanese at school.
As a result, a great number reportedly live with only their foreign peers, forging their own communities more so than deepening ties with locals.
Aikawa has avoided treating foreign residents as special. Kobayashi said, “If we give too much special support to foreigners, people will question, ‘what about the original residents?’ We do provide basic support, but from that point on we interact with them as ‘fellow residents.’”
Garbage Woes, But No Major Discord As East Japan Town’s Foreign Population Exceeds 8%, Mainichi, January 30, 2024
Of course, only eight percent sounds almost idyllic to someone from California. But to the Japanese this must be a hellscape.
The solution is action this day, something the Japanese are starting to do, and for good reason: Their nation is at stake.
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