tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post2725709577595871896..comments2023-09-11T18:31:33.242+09:00Comments on The Ghost Letters: The Reality of the Situation Is...Jon Doehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04479476856726492224noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post-35071370468824233332009-08-09T09:04:11.492+09:002009-08-09T09:04:11.492+09:00People don't want to hear about real life in J...People don't want to hear about real life in Japan. If you post about anything bad, ultimately you will be tagged as a sour "hater" and the apologists and Japanophiles will start attacking you. My first blog included a lot of what I would call balanced information about life here - not focusing on the bad or good, but just talking about Japan and the Japanese in a well-rounded way, and I got called a whiner about anything negative. <br /><br />I think many foreign people who live here develop psychologically perverse coping mechanisms to deal with the bigotry around them. One is that they turn on other foreigners and learn to empathize with the Japanese who treat foreigners with prejudice. They do this because it allows them to live here but not feel that the prejudice applies to them, but rather to other bad foreigners who the bigoted opinions can more appropriately be applied to. If they don't take on this type of thinking, they'll be angry all of the time at the way they are regarded.<br /><br />Most of the long-term foreign residents turn on other foreigners and the short term ones are too preoccupied with all of the trivial things. The short term people see Japan like an amusement park full of attractions to be written about and show pictures of. There are few who are neither apologists nor newbies who blog because the environment out there for them is decidedly hostile.<br /><br />If you're interested, my first blog (which I long stopped posting to and am not attempting to drive traffic to) is here:<br /><br />http://myso-calledjapaneselife.blogspot.com/<br /><br />I don't know if I talked about the things you're referring to, but I certainly did not focus on the positive only.Orchid64https://www.blogger.com/profile/07132543155589881288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post-48133368463585279502009-08-09T00:41:16.895+09:002009-08-09T00:41:16.895+09:00I take it as it comes and refuse to give into shit...I take it as it comes and refuse to give into shit that is way out of line. Yet, there are still times when I have to bite the bullet.Jon Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04479476856726492224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post-5591982098234494932009-08-08T00:17:47.000+09:002009-08-08T00:17:47.000+09:00A lot of people asked me if I want to move to Japa...A lot of people asked me if I want to move to Japan. I don't... I already knew some of the things you wrote about, but that's just part of the reason.<br /><br />Anyway, yes, I love Tokyo! But as a tourist...Muza-chanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397251511678040458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post-50578900854371368612009-08-07T18:41:26.768+09:002009-08-07T18:41:26.768+09:00You know my take, I think.
For me, when I hit the...You know <i>my</i> take, I think.<br /><br />For me, when I hit the town, I try not let myself get caught up in the hustle and bustle. I like to take it at my own pace, walking with my head held high and completely aware of everything around me, not with my head buried in my cell phone texting away, or playing DS, or fucking reading a novel as so many here do. <br /><br />Yes, it is a twisted place, and it's for the taking, for anyone who has the balls to grab it.billywesthttp://sevententotokyo.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3877328304025412508.post-86701423059906997002009-08-07T18:07:42.438+09:002009-08-07T18:07:42.438+09:00Hell yeah. I agree dude. Good post! I think that y...Hell yeah. I agree dude. Good post! I think that you have nailed it on the head. Everyone, myself included, avoids the hard-core, real-life shit in lieu of the starry-eyed, colonialist view.<br /><br />From a personal perspective, I hope that one day soon I will get over it and start throwing out some articles of all the fucked up shit that I have experienced in that great land.reesanhttp://www.loneleeplanet.comnoreply@blogger.com