Americans in Japan

Can you imagine what it will be like for americans abroad if the usa bombs iran? worse than now I'm sure.

Will americans get ripped on by swedes and germans and british and aussies and indonesians and brazilians while in tokyo?

I just want to make new friends and learn about japanese culture. It will be quite a buzzkill to get hassled everyday just for being an american. maybe i deserve it though. maybe i should have to put up with alot some abuse since the rest of the world has to deal with american idiocy as well.

do people realize that americans who actually have passports and are curious about the world and travel around in japan are the good ones, the ones who vote democratic and care bout the earth and human rights etc. ?

man, i hope so.

People who rip you based on your homecountries politics that has nothing to do with the inidividual are closed minded, I personaly met other foreign friends while living in Tokyo and hardly talked about American politics, and I never talked about UK or Aussie politics in return.

do people realize that americans who actually have passports and are curious about the world and travel around in japan are the good ones, the ones who vote democratic and care bout the earth and human rights etc. ?

Unfortunately this is not entirely true and I'm sorry to say I've seen a few idiots with passports traveling around that give the rest of us travelers a bad name.

I'm glad that rumor is false, even though I'd understand if they hated us.

My dream is to live in Japan and become a manga-ka. I'm trying my hardest to learn Japanese (I'm still not that good), and I'm trying hard to get into a good college for an art degree. I'm also learning more literature for story ideas for the future.

I hope the Japanese will be comfortable with an American manga-ka. I won't make my manga way-foreign though. I'll be as close to the Japanese culture as possible!

Sorry this isn't exactly an answer to your post but it is related. How are Americans/Caucasians treated in Korea? Your question got me wondering. Also would Koreans be able to pronounce my name? Jae (Pronounced Jay or Zhay depending on the American accent.) Thanks.

So whats your question, how are Americans treated or how Caucasians are treated? Thats two different questions.

In any case, I just like Japan it can depend, I never been to Korea and so I'm no defacto expert, but I sat next to an English teacher who was teaching in Korea on a flight back to the US once, from talking to him the problems seem to just be about the same. Just like everywhere else in the world you have people who like you and people who don't like you. This isn't the Korea forum, its the Japan guide forum, I haven't really studied the Korean langauge, but again I would say yes they could probably pronounce Jay/Jae.

Will I get the same treatment as a Canadian?

I know, they will probably assume I am American, but what if they knew I was Canadian?

Interesting Topic,as European man,but most important,as human been who lives in this country since 5 years i can say this, Japanese don't like probably American politics,so as in other many country in the world,but for sure they/we don't dislike American people!
people and national government way of thinking are often very different,but we are the common people,we aren't THE American Government or THE European Union,or Japan,yes i love Europe and i am proud from where i come from,but at the same time it is nice to know people from different cultures and thinking.
so in my opinion,you should not be ashamed to be American,and as other people posted before,there is some racism everywhere in the world!
just ingore this stupidity,act calm,politely,as all my good American friends in Japan,and you will be respected and treated very well by the Japanese people.
i wish you all the best and good luck!

Nate and what treatment would that be?
In any country there are people who like and just don't like foreigners. Doesn't matter if you're Canadian, US, or Martian.

All depends on who you run into.

I've been living in Japan for a year or so, half in Nagoya, half in the countryside. I've never been treated rudely or even given a bad look (to my knowledge). Just, like people have been saying, act appropriately. Look at how most Japanese people are acting, you know, ''when in Rome''. Being a foreigner, yeah you'll have some forgiveness, but its really not that difficult not to look like an american idiot. Most Japanese people are kind to foreigners, but compared to when i lived in China, Japanese are quite shy in general, especially among strangers. in my experience, as long as you don't openly support america's foreign policy, no one will blame you for it. good luck out here! And i recommend anywhere but Tokyo. Its like New York, theres kind of a license to treat others like crap.

I was just browsing on the computer at school and i put down Americans in Japan,(im an american)its really cool that people in Japan are respectful as long as we chow them the proper respect. I really want to be an exchange student for a year and go to Japan. But considering the way my mom is i highly doubt it. Umm, if your going to e-mail me its going to be really hard for me to understand the kangi so if you don't mind (if it's not to much a bother)can you please type in English if not, Spanish then.

Actually, if I could add to that - how are British/Scottish people received over in Japan? Also, is it the same as any other foreigner from any country? I have heard about some negativity about Americans in Tokyo, is this the same for people from the UK?

Thanks
Mark

The Japanese have nothing but good impressions of the British. The nationalities that often unfairly have negative associations for some Japanese people are Chinese, Koreans, Iranians and perhaps Nigerians- people of these nationalities have been arrested for various crimes in the past and now unfairly carry a bit of a stigma in some people's minds.

Any other nationality and it will depend totally on who you meet. There are some people, older men in particular, who don't like any foreigners, but it seems to be mostly guys who are on the receiving end of any hostility, and it's fairly rare.

Basically if you are Caucasian then most people will assume you are American until you tell them otherwise. This won't affect the way they treat you- Japanese are mostly polite and friendly unless you give them a reason not to be.

Just spent two days in Tokyo at the tail end of a trip to China. Not long, but enough time to make some general observations.

My wife and I speak precisely three words of Japanese between the two of us, and few Japanese understand much English. Nevertheless, everywhere we went people were friendly and helpful -- a few times I had to stop myself from bear-hugging people.

We had a long and complicated trip from the airport to the ryokan where we stayed, involving four train transfers on three separate lines. But as soon as we emerged from the platform and started puzzling over the map, someone would inevitably step in to help, and then actually walk us to where we needed to go. When we found our final stop we were unable to locate the ryokan and asked a gentleman on the street for directions. He walked four blocks with us to the door of the hotel.

There were a few times when we sat down on the subway and a person in an adjacent seat stood up and moved. But hey, I can live with that. In all of my direct encounters with Japanese people, they were friendly, helpful and curious.

This was my first time in Japan, and prior to this I had never had much interest in visiting. But based on my experiences there, I'm very eager to return.

So, I'm 17. I was homeschooled so I was able to graduate highschool when I was 16.
I've never had alot of ambition until recently. As such, I've never planned on going to college, despite my mother's constant nagging attempts for me to have a fulfilling life.
Now though, rather then going to college simply so I can have a good career, I just want to go so I can learn about Japan.

Someday I'd like to live there. So, I figure I'll have to learn about culture, customs, tradition, politics, language, and other such things like that.
So I figure the first step to learning all those things would be taking as many classes on Japan in college as I can get.

But, I figure as long as I AM going to college... I'll need to have a career in Japan too. So, I need to figure out what're good subjects to take there to get jobs in Japan? And how much does it matter what sort of classes I take? Usually when I ask anyone they say I should be a translator or a bi-lingual teacher.

Any thoughts on anything I've said would be good.

Also, more info on how Americans are treated there is good. I'm pretty sure I'm primarily German... but, anyway.

Thanks everyone for everything.

Japanese are like most people in any other country. They are well disposed towards the average Americans because of the USA culture (movies, music)even if their "American dream" is way different from the real thing (in a similar vein on our way from Kansai airport to Osaka a friend of mine, on her first trip to Japan, while not really expecting the last samourai and tales of a geisha, was shocked by the modernity of it all). I live in North America and drive regularly to the USA for a weekend and have only good things to say about the average Americans I meet. The other day in my home town a lady got on our transit service and asked how to go to..she then said that she was from the states and quickly added "but I didn't vote for HIM!" we all laughed and one person said "you look like a fine lady, we still would like you if you had" this pretty much sum up how most people outside the USA, including Japan, feels about the average American tourist.

I currently travel often to Japan for work and find that the people here not the type to just come up to you. I believe that this has to do with their shyness more than dislike, as they do not stress the growing popularity of the English language as it is typically in Europe. Just as many people are when they to try to communicate with anyone they can not understand. I also find in Japan it is not as important to be good at something as it is to try very hard, the effort one puts in is what really counts.

Hi, i'm japanese. If you go to japan, you gonna see foreign people most of place. You know some people work there, living, tour, millitary base.... But i hope you know a lot old people had experience world war 2. My grandparent do. Some old people really don't like foreign people. Not me, my husband is American. But you know some people don't like cuz we ain't same. Same in America.... Thing is a lot of japanese can't speak good English. Me too. They might try to avoid to have a contact with foreign people. But a lot people will say welcome to japan too. I think you don't have to worry about it.

Well I've never been to Japan but I have some Japanese friends and they are really nice to me. Still its unfair how many people see Americans. We really don't have a say so about what our government does and what the media portrays is all wrong! Sure there are a bunch of Americans who are jerks, but there is people like that everywhere. The average American just wants to get along with people.