Japanese attitude towards Irish?

Japan doesn't really have too many immigrants afaik. Japanese society is very homogenous and while I wouldn't exactly describe them as racist they don't seem the kind of society that readily warms to foreigners. That's not to say they're unfriendly e.t.c., just slow to trust foreigners.

I've never actually been to Japan but that's just the impression I get from stories i've heard about the country and its people.

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Japan doesn't really have too many immigrants afaik. Japanese society is very homogenous and while I wouldn't exactly describe them as racist they don't seem the kind of society that readily warms to foreigners.

I've never actually been to Japan but that's just the impression I get from stories i've heard about the country and its people.

I've been and met a number of people who work/worked there. They are in the main very polite people but you're correct in they don't always like foreigners. Being called a gaijin will most probably happen.

Ah, you'll stick out about as much as any other Gaijin.

But, nah, there are dicks wherever you go in the world. most people are cool.
I got more wierd looks in Guangzhou than in Tokyo.

pierrot wrote: »

Some might have heard of Robbie Keane or Enya, but that's about it...

I've met quite a few of Japanese from my travels and they seem like a really nice nationality. Very polite and engaging.
One thing I've learned is they LOVE Westlife, so be prepared for that!

There's no bleeding escaping those f**kers!

Fmurr34 wrote: »

Are the Irish viewed as a minority or given any hassle by people in Japan?
I'd like to move their when I finish college and was wondering what their attitude towards us is like. I myself don't look down on them or any other race for that matter.

EDIT: I will be trying to move to Tokyo with a degree in pharmacy, if that makes any differance.

The degree in Pharmacy will only get you a language teaching job if you are moving there on speck unless you have been hired or head hunted from a company in Japan for a job in pharmaceuticals

As a minority ... There are 1000 Irish living in Japan. There are about the same number ...1000 Japanese living in Ireland.

In Japan you are just a white Gaijin and will be treated like one . You will always be the outsider no matter how well you speak the language.

Still, a nice country and a nice people.

Be careful on your return .... re-entry to Irish culture is a major shock so try avoid coming home.

Absolutely fine - you are white and so will be classed as American from a distance regardless. Japanese knowledge of Ireland is quite basic. Once they know you are Irish they will ask you about Guinness, Bono and Enya, just play along

There are St. Patricks Days parades in most of the major cities - if you are here in March go along to one. In 2007 they lit up Tokyo Tower all green to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ireland Japan diplomatic relations, that was a sincere gesture of the importance of Ireland to Japan.

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I am in Japan right now.

Some observations...

I am in a busy Starbucks and there are three empty tables next to me. Japanese people walk towards the tables but when they see me they quickly change direction.

I am on a packed bus and the seat next to me is free. No one will sit there.

I get on the subway and sit down. The man sitting next to me immediately gets up and moves away.

I have tried to go into some bars and have been told "Japanese only".

I look normal (dress well, clean cut, etc.) and have good hygiene.

So although Japanese people are super polite and generally quite friendly when you speak to them, there is definitely some sort of fear of foreigners going on.

But I find this stuff sort of interesting rather than offensive. It's a great country and it's very civilised.

That crap pissed me off for a while... now I just find it funny! 'Gaijins' seem to have an awfully bad reputation with a lot of Japanese people. Thankfully I think this is changing a huge amount nowadays.

Out of interest Mr. L, what city were you in? I've found more country cities are way more welcoming of foreigners than say Tokyo.

OP one word of warning. If like a friend of mine who worked there for a few years, your overweight then they will actually point and laugh at you in public.

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I am in Japan right now.

Some observations...

I am in a busy Starbucks and there are three empty tables next to me. Japanese people walk towards the tables but when they see me they quickly change direction.

I am on a packed bus and the seat next to me is free. No one will sit there.

I get on the subway and sit down. The man sitting next to me immediately gets up and moves away.

I have tried to go into some bars and have been told "Japanese only".

I look normal (dress well, clean cut, etc.) and have good hygiene.

So although Japanese people are super polite and generally quite friendly when you speak to them, there is definitely some sort of fear of foreigners going on.

But I find this stuff sort of interesting rather than offensive. It's a great country and it's very civilised.

This is a bit too much ... some of the above does happen, especially in Tokyo, but not quite to those extremes. In Tokyo, people are far more weary of foreign people and tend to give a wide berth in quieter places. People here like to be left alone. I have seen many a hapless dude try to talk to girls in Cafes / on trains.

Being refused entry into a Bar - thats probably a local 'snack' bar / places in which you need to be introduced by someone known to the Owner of the establishment. Never had this happen to me personally in all the years have lived here. Perhaps you should go to an Izakaiya rather than to smaller bars.

Ride the Yamanote / Keihin everyday and not had people give a dam who is there, they are too busy engrossed in their gadgets.

When being a foreigner here works for you (e.g. getting good attention from the girls) you dont hear any complaints... just sayin'

shindig-jp wrote: »

Be careful on your return .... re-entry to Irish culture is a major shock so try avoid coming home.

This !!!! You arrive back in Dublin Airport, to be joined with all other internal flight arrivals, and the noise of people hits you again !

I've lived in Tokyo for almost two years now and I've met about four Irish people in total, one of whom being the husband of a Japanese woman I knew from Ireland. We're a minority of the minority. Many Japanese don't even know where Ireland is, and to echo Nakey's comment above, there was one time when I explained to an elderly Japanese woman that I was from Ireland only to be shot a look of concern and asked "oh dear, is your family OK? I heard about the big volcano eruption!"

"Mr. Loverman", if you saw the way some foreigners (OK, Americans) behave towards Japanese in the situations you described, you might understand why some keep their distance.

Monkeyto wrote: »

I've yet to hear anyone use the G word, though if they do, it should be the polite version "Gaikokujin", and not Gaijin

'Gaikokujin' is more of a silly PC term than a 'polite' version of gaijin IMO. When a Japanese person uses the term 'gaijin', 90% of the time they simply mean 'foreigner' rather than any negative connotation.

Having been referred to as a 'gaijin-san' a number of times, I'd challenge someone who thinks that the term is pejorative to explain why the honourific '-san' suffix was applied.

I'd echo most of the above.

The Japanese don't have any attitude towards the Irish - most of them don't have any idea where we're from. In my Eikawa days, I used to put 500yen on the table in 100yen coins and ask people to guess where I was from. After America, England, Australia, most of them used to just run out of ideas. The smarter ones would avoid guessing the big 3 and go for Canada and New Zealand, and after that, people would guess France, Denmark, Russia, wherever except Ireland. Only once did I have to give away more than 100yen.

I've had something which could be described as racist happen only once - I went to look at a flat, and decided to take it, so I went to the real estate agent and filled in the forms, only to get a call later explaining that the landlord/owner didn't want me as they weren't comfortable with somebody who couldn't speak good Japanese.

Otherwise, I've been treated with respect everywhere, and even met a few people with an interest in Ireland. I was in Matsumoto and met a guy in a bar who was obsessed with the music of Sharon Shannon, and just a couple of days ago I visited a doctor who wanted to know whether oilskin woolen coats were still made in Donegal (Sadly, I wasn't able to help him).

One of the things which happens here is that Japanese people are so non-confrontational that foreigners feel they can get away with some ignorant behaviour, whereas in a lot of other countries, they'd get their heads kicked in pretty quickly.