What is the Big Difference Between You and Me Japan?

Howdy yall! You know, after going though the honeymoon, the frustration, the rage, the quake, and breakdown and the fuck it phase of living in Japan, what comes next? It hard to give Japan pure hell or totally love this island I call home. It is an odd situation to live in Japan on a long term basis.

 I have not returned to America in years. I often ask myself why. I have been unable to come up with an answer. I just keep staying here year after year hacking out a life for myself. I do not see, or consider, the end goal of living in Japan. I came here several years ago and I have just stayed. It appears more and more clear to me that Japan is becoming home. I have said it before but recently it has hit me harder than usual. I really have no plans to transplant to another country; not even the one I was born in.

Yet, no matter how long I live here it appears I will be viewed as odd or not totally fit to fit in Japanese society. I am viewed as something different which is not be to melted into society. It is fucked up and I often wonder what the hell is Japan`s big problem with the non-native born.

I often look at modern history(A.K.A post empire Japan) to explain this very unusual habit of many people in Japan to view me as forever the outsider. The people are Japan are really proud of their island nation. They have been though a lot to reach the point they are now. After the war, Japanese became a hardcore exploited people. Everyone lined up to ram their dick right in Japan`s asshole as deep as possible. The people of Japan had little choice but to bend over and take it. While I can understand that some of it has been well justified considering that Japan was once hell bent on taking over Asia and the world if they could have pulled it off, a lot of it was just good old capitalist opportunism. It takes one hell of a greedy vile bastard to strong arm a nation, which had two nuke bombs dropped it, to accept the building of nuclear power plants on it`s soil. America set up a very enlightened government structure and a constitution and handed it over to pretty much the same vile piles of shit who were in control of the country before. The US plants it military on Japanese soil in the form of military bases by bribing the political leaders and ever asking the actual people of Japan if they are okay with it. Then there is the massive amount of foreigners who come to this nation and act like total jackasses displaying a complete disregard for the entire culture and the people. With such realization of just some of the things the common person in Japan has put up with over the years, no wonder many of them keep foreigners at kicking distance.

But after dealing with this daily year after year, it gets to the point in which you want to scream at people saying `What is fuck is yalls god damn problem?! Do I have to start from square one with everyone of you every fucking time?! Get over the fact that I don`t look like you and I was not born here! Fuck!`

Trust me...I have had some epic rants on this issue before here on this blog.

My point here that there is a difference of culture between the native land I was born in and the place I now seemingly call home. Yet, there comes a point in which there needs to be an understanding that not every foreigner is someone to be mistrusted and assumed to be at high risk to exploit everyone and everything around them. It is time for this default setting to be changed in Japan.

Yes, it is true that there are a lot of fat ass, loud mouth, self-righteous fucks in the western world. Although, that does not mean people from the west should be put into a box and assumed to be that way until proven otherwise.

Westerners and Japanese are very different on several keys points but we all are human. It is time to realize the fact of our shared humanity and celebrate the differences while promoting the similarities.    

`You Will Never Be One of Us` A Japanese Native Finally Admits It. The Merger of Nationalism and Race in Japan.

Howdy! I have not touched on this topic in a while because there are bigger things going on here on the island. Yet I`ll be damned if someone does not say something which forces it back on topic. If you have lived in Japan long enough, you will notice something about native Japanese. Many, but not all, feel they are special simply because they are Japanese. They do not feel they are special because they have a unique personality, are highly educated, have gain a certain level of success in life or anything like that at all. They feel they are special because they were born Japanese and the rest of the world was not. This type of mindset can also be found in the United States; yet it is a little different. In the states this type of nationalism is not so connected to race and ethnic background as it is in Japan. You will find many Americans who feel that simply because they were born in the United States of America they are special and just a little better than people from other nations. 

Let me make it very clear that nationalism is not a bad thing. Nationalism, when it comes organically(often referred to as patriotism) from the people, is an attempt by the people to protect their own nation is ensure their own collective survival. Although, when nationalism is promoted by `the state` it often produces hatred and elitism among the population toward those who are not a citizen of said nation. As we all know, a nation fully ran and controlled by the people is hard to create and even harder to maintain. While Americans have gone to great lengths to smash racism from their nation and now struggle to take back their own government, many people in Japan refuse to deal with racism and have never really had full control over their government. Such differences is exactly why the opinion which the person in the video below expresses is common in Japan.







As you watched in the video, he clearly says `You will never be Japanese.` His reasoning for this is not shocking for me due to the strong sense of tribalism in Japan which can be a pure bitch to deal with at times. Now, to give this person credit, he is trying to be polite. He does try to hide his own racism by mixing it with nationalism. He takes the position that because he was born in Japan(nationalism) and has Japanese blood(racism) that he is Japanese and someone who was not born in Japan and does not have Japanese blood can never be Japanese. Even if you master the language, pay taxes, maintain a job be a part of society and gain citizenship you can never be Japanese according to this person`s mindset. Of course, such a mindset is very silly when you consider the nature of human society. Human society has no choice but to change and evolve over time. For any human society to survive it must become more diverse and have fresh ideas injected into it. Japan is a society which is thousands of years old. It has been evolving for a long time into what we see today. Does anyone really think that Japan has survived this long without immigration? Koreans and Chinese have been immigrating to Japan for almost as long as there has been a Japan.  I know from my own experience that the average person in Japan feels a hard sting when ever you mention Korean or Chinese immigration. They hate to admit that Koreans and Chinese people have been influencing Japanese society for a very long time.  Bring up how they have treated Koreans and Chinese over the years and they feel the sting even deeper.

It seems to be that many people in Japan want to feel special simply because they have so-called Japanese blood and are born in Japan. Well, if they are so special then why has Japanese society depended on immigration so much over the years to inject fresh ideas into the society, increase the overall population, create a larger labor force and even provide for a larger military? It seems to be that this idea that native born Japanese are somehow special and unique started during the empire days of Japanese history. It was during the days of empire that Japanese society started to regard themselves as being better than other Asians and felt that it was their right to have dominance over them. Even today Japanese history refers to WW2 as `The War of Asian Liberation` as to somehow suggest that it was Japan which was protecting the `lower` Asians from the evil westerners. When in fact it was the Japanese empire which was exploiting other Asian cultures and using force to gain the advantages of mingling with other cultures.

In my opinion, post WW2 Japan only made the situation worse. For the first time, being exploited was on the other shoe for Japan; and it keeps going on even to this day. After being exploited by westerners powers for about 64 years the idea that Japanese are special are unique seems to be a way native born Japanese blind themselves to their own exploitation.  You know, `We are special so we get special treatment from America. We are not being exploited.` Many westerners come to Japan and exploit the hell out of this island. In order to deal with that it seens to me many Japanese say that, `We are special and unique which is why so many gaijin want to come and live here.` In reality, many westerners come to Japan because they can make a decent amount of money, behave with total disregard for what is happening around them, not have to get involved in any aspect of Japanese society and cherry pick the parts of Japan they like and create their own image of Japan to brag to their friends about. So, you can see how a lot of Japanese would create an elitist attitude about being native born in Japan even if it carries no real weight in the big picture. Their racism does them no favors but to give them piece of mind that they are `special.`

It would make far better sense, at least to me, to give up on nationalist racism and focus more on trying to find allies who understand their situation and frustration over what Japan has become. Maybe then they could start to break the chains which the post-war era and modern globalism agenda has placed on their society. Yet, to simply think that `We are Japanese and we are special` without the ass to cash the checks their mouths are writing, will put them in an even deeper hole than they already are.

Okay Gaijin. We Need to Talk About the Nuclear Issue and Your Need for Acceptence in Japanese Society.

Okay fellow gaijin....we need to talk. No! I mean really talk. In my last post, I shared a little bit of my take and experience of 'micro-aggression' or racism in Japan. Such social issues are very important and need to be talked about. Racism is ugly no matter what form it takes. Yet, it seems to me that a lot of gaijin are either blind, scared, brainwashed or simply don't give a fuck about the single most important issue facing Japan today. Did you know that nuclear power, and energy policy, is damn near tearing Japan apart? There is a massive battle going on over this issue and it seems very clear to me that most gaijin are choosing to put their head in the sand about this. Y'all are refusing to talk about it, notice it or even admit that it is actually happening. Many of you say you want to be apart of Japanese society and treated as an equal. You say you are being kept on the outer rim of Japanese society. I understand that...really I do. Yet, are you trying to be apart of Japanese society? We talk a lot about "accept me! accept me!" What are you doing to be accepted?

Right now, the people of Japan are fighting for, not only the future of Japan, but the future of the world. What are you doing to help the people in their fight? Are you blogging about what is really going on? Are you making videos covering this massive fight against nuclear power? Have you been to a anti-nuclear protest? Are you standing up for the same people who you demand accept you?

Call me a crazy hillbilly all you want, but I have been doing all of the above things I ask if you have done. I want to be apart of Japanese society as well and I actively involve myself in the society. Yet, what I see a lot of gaijin doing is demanding that Japanese accept them, bitch about other gaijin, refuse to get involved in Japanese society and still behave as if they deserve to be treated as an equal. You will be treated as an equal when you show you deserve it. You have to get involved in what is really doing on. The Japanese people need you now more than ever. Can't all of you see that? What the fuck is wrong with my fellow gaijin? Who is really selling who out? Who is really the racist?

Of course, there will always be a part of Japanese society which hates us. It does not matter what we say to those people; they will find an excuse to hate us. Yes! We should point out and expose such people. Yet, there is something much bigger going on in Japan than your fucking bitching and complaining about how "the Japanese treat me like shit because I am a gaijin." There is a time and place for that. Yeah, I have already shared with all of you my take on experiencing racism in Japan. Now, if you want to be a part of Japanese society, you are going to have to stand by the people and fight with them. The nuclear issue in Japan is not just a Japanese problem, but a human problem which effect us all.

You want to be a part of Japanese society, then fucking act like it and fight for these people who need your love and support now more than ever!

Link to my Youtube channel
 https://www.youtube.com/user/freedomwv

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Microaggression In Japan: Jealous and Spiteful Japanese Reactionaries

It is only a problem when we do it; right?

Howdy Y'all! It happened again it seems. Life, and other things, pulled me away from this blog. Yet, everyone's favorite gaijin hillbilly is back again. I have more things I want to talk about with y'all again. More things to share and more ideas to express. Make sure to read this and this before going forward to understand what I am about to bring up.

I hope you are ready because...here...we...go.


Anyone with a clue, and sadly there are not many, realize there is a major double standard here in Japan when it comes to us gaijin and Japanese folk. Just take a look at the pic to your left. I am sure that while Japanese men can be horny wolves who chase anything with a pussy, when gaijin men do the exact same thing we are the bad guys.  I have seen so many J-dudes treat women like shit yet these same men get pissed off when a gaijin man even raises his voice to a women in public. Truth be known, a lot of J-dudes don't help their lady friend out so much. Of course, I have talked to a hell of a lot of J-dudes during my time in Japan so far. When the topic of 'helping yo lady' comes up there are common responses such as, 'I don't cook, that is women's work, I don't know how to clean my own clothes, that is for women to do, It is better that women never give their opinion, Men make money, women serve men etc...' Yet, you dare let one of us gaijin mutter any negative opinion toward Japanese women and suddenly we are the lowest form of shit in the universe. I do not hold any of the attitudes or opinions about the opposite sex mentioned in the above sentences, but that does not matter to the average Japanese. It seems that because I am gaijin, I must clearly be a rapist and a women beater no matter what the truth may be. After many years of dealing with this double standard, it seems clear to me that the Japanese mindset is such that they can be dirty slime balls as much as they want but gaijin are expected to be the highest form of human perfection. It seems the agenda is to make it so hard to adjust to life in Japan that we will give up and 'go home.'

Although, the method to attempt to force us to 'give up and go home' is a complex one indeed. This is were microaggression comes into play.

I look at microaggression in Japan the same way as a dog and a bowel of food. Y'all ever see a dog guard his bowel of food when he is not really hungry? Y'all know, the little bastard does not want the food but he will be dammed if anyone touches it. Microaggression in Japan is very similar to a dog who wants to keep everyone away from a bowl of food he does not want in the first place. Gaijin are expected to be perfect because, in my mind, they want us to be what they are unable to be. They want to hold us up to a standard which most humans simply cannot live up to everyday. Even if you are somehow able to live up to even a fraction of that fantasy standard, be damned if we turn right around and expect them to live up to the same standard. That is when the mircoaggression starts.

It goes like this: "We Japanese hate ourselves and our nation. We know we are fucked up and treat you gaijin like shit. Yet, we like being fucked up because it gives us an excuse to blame you for not being as fucked up as us. So, we will guard our bowel of food with the up most aggression, not because we actually like the food, but because as long as we are fucked up and expect you to be perfect you can never get one over on us. We really don't want to live this way but it is better for everyone involved. After all, you are a gaijin, and as we all know, you have a natural advantage over us as being able to move in and out of our society as you please. Fuck you gaijin! Fuck you because due to your sense of liberty and equality people like you and don't like us. So, we must force you to be perfect and pure. As long as we can force you to try to be perfect and pure, we can fuck you over and get away with it. Your forced perfection makes it easier for us to fuck you over as we see fit. If you are actually able to live up to the standard we place on you...well this is Japan so we will turn around and expect you to be just as fucked up as us. As soon as you live up to one standard, we will change the rules and expect you to suddenly live up to a totally new standard which we will create out of thin air. Don't like it? You can always go back to the dirty liberal nation from which you came."

That is the core of microaggression in Japan.


I know, it may be hard to believe me. Fair enough. Due to the cute fucking image of Japan that westerns suck up like scarface on a coke binge, the reality of living in Japan...I mean really living in Japan, is often covered up by images of Shibuya hoes, High school Harajuku shallowness and old beat up temples. That is only the surface of Japan and not the real deal. So, what is it like to deal with mircoaggression? Please allow me to explain.

It usually starts with a look. They look at you with this kind of asshole smile usually followed by some under the belt shot at you verbally. I have pretty much heard it all,"Why do you speak English in Japan?, You don't really use chopsticks correctly; you know?, English is a noisy language, When are you going back to your country?,  Gaijin stink! Take a bath!, Japanese are peaceful people so we don't understand why gaijin are so violent?, You gaijin have too many opinions, Why don't you just do it our way?, Japan is a safe country unlike America were people kill each other for fun, We are farmers and you are hunters so you are violent and we are not, Gaijin all look the same, Why is your noise pointed?, Japanese girls only like you because you have a big dick, and my all time favorite: We lost the war so we have to give you fucking Gaijin visa to come and teach English and fuck stupid Japanese girls." All of these things have actually been said to my face here in Japan.

The above quotes are a perfect example of microaggression in Japan. They seem to have a hard time with holding us up to a fantasy standard, which if we actually live up to, pisses them off beyond belief. It makes me think that a lot of Japanese really do think, deep in their hearts, that gaijin are everything they love and hate about humanity. They hate themselves so in turn they want another group to blame and hate so they will feel better about being uptight assholes who are on a mission to sink their nation to the bottom of the ocean. They cannot admit that they really like us and our way of thinking. If they fully admit they like us then they must also look at themselves and how fucked up they have allowed their society to become. It is simply too much for the average Japanese to do so they often choose to be a nasty little cunt with an ego the size of Mt. Fuji. It makes them feel good to take a shot at a Gaijin.

...And that is microaggression in Japan. If you live here and cannot understand this daily bullshit then you are truly brain dead or brainwashed by the Japanese corp. machine.


And might I add...

There are still many really cool people here in Japan. I have seen things here which also inspire me and uplift me. Not everyone here fits the picture I have just painted. It is just that this post is a picture of a combination of several years living and working in Japan daily. There is a problem with racism and xenophobia in Japan. Still, Japan offers many things besides harsh realities of a semi-isolated society who have a distrust of foreigners.   

I'm a Bad Man: Japan! Don't Fight Drunk Hill Billies on the Train

Howdy Yall! It goes without saying that getting into a fight on any train in Tokyo is a very bad idea. Don't get me wrong, if you gotta fight...you gotta fight. Yet, if you can avoid it, it is best to not fight on the train. There are so many things that could go tragically wrong during a train fight. Hell, getting arrested should be the least of your concerns. Remember, most trains in Tokyo are crowded pretty much at all hours they are running. Only early as hell in the morning, i.e. the first trains, and around 2:00 pm they can be a little lean. Although, the chances that you are going to get into a fight on the first morning train, or just after mid-day, is slim to none. If some shit is going to go down, it is going to happen during the morning commute, the afternoon commute or when everyone is getting shit faced at night. When the train is crowed, a massive amount of bad business can go down. For starters, if you throw a punch and miss, you just might end up socking a women dead in the face. That is not going to end well for you. Secondly, your little fist fight could inspire others to join in the fun. A train car is not a bar. A wild wild west cluster fuck brawl only works in a bar or on the street. Inside of a packed train car, filled to the brim with pissed off over worked Japanese, will end up with a lot people seriously injured or maybe even killed. So yeah, a train fight has many unseen dangers.

Yet, there are still times when avoiding a train fight is easier said than done.

I have had three little 'conversations' on the train. I am not talking about the southern gentlemen polite kind of conversations either. For some reason there is lack of folks willing to dish out a ass kicking in Tokyo. This sad fact explains exactly why there is an over flow of loud mouth assholes who just don't know when to stop while they are ahead. Don't get me wrong, Tokyo is a hell of a town! Yet, with all the nice things Tokyo has to offer, it also brings with it a lot of spoiled fuckers who are so damn self absorbed they actually believe their shit smells like roses. Well, they believe their shit smells like roses, until of course, they meet me.

I am willing to put up with a lot of shit just to get from point A to point B in order to do something I actually like, which is teaching English, and to make some money so I can put food on the table.  The daily crap that goes down on the trains in Tokyo is enough to drive someone over the edge and straight into a murderous rampage. Don't worry yall, I have never killed anyone in Tokyo. Yet, when my buttons are pushed, in that extra special way that only a dickless spoiled Tokyo salary man can do, I will stand by ground.

Now, the first time I had any problems on the train was actually pretty early on in this whole 'living in Japan forever' business. I had finished work early that day and decided to take my gal out for a few drinks in Ikebukuro. We got on the damn Joban line. That train is known for having a lot of crazy fuckers on it daily. Still, I never expect for any crazy asshole to come floating my way.

As we all know, shit gets stupid when we least expect it.

So, I was chatting up my gal when suddenly crazy asshole decided to pay me a visit. Out of no where I heard someone say, 'Motherfucker shut your fucking mouth!' I turned around to see who the fuck was saying such uncalled for comments. Some guy, at least twice my size, was giving me the devil stare while calling me out. To be honest, I was shocked. What the hell did I do to deserve such a verbal attack? So...I ask as much: 'Dammit buddy. Are you okay?' The following exchange went down as such.

Crazy asshole: 'I will be okay when you shut the fuck up!'
Tokyo Ghost: 'Now look here...I don't know you and besides I was not even talking to you'
Crazy asshole: 'You just shut the fuck up before I fuck you up...white boy'
Tokyo Ghost: 'I think your mouth is writing checks your ass cannot cash, buddy'

He gets right in my face and goes for the stare down. I actually had to look up at him to engage in the stare down(yeah, he was bigger and taller than me). I think every Japanese on the train was scared shitless of what was unfolding. He wanted to fight me so bad he could taste it. All I could say was, 'If you wanna brawl on this damn train I will, but know that we will both go to jail for this stupid shit.' I guess he came to his senses because at the next station he got off the train and said, 'I will be watching you' Whatever the fuck that meant.

The second time crazy asshole found me on the train was one time when I was way too drunk to even be on the train. It was summer in Tokyo. Yall know what summers in Tokyo are like, right? It was a hot summer night and I wanted to have a few beers on the street with some drinking buddies. So, of course I got hammered like a jackass. I actually had to have my buddies help me to the station. I must have been a pretty sad sight. Yet, an evening of drunken gaijin hijinks was not over for me.

I was somehow able to get on the damn train just fine. The only problem was there were no empty seats. A drunkard needs a seat while on the train. Standing up on the train will only piss the drunkard off and cause him to lose whatever since of civility he had left.

And sure as shit someone had to fuck with me.

I called up my gal for a very special drunk dial. My plan was masterfully thought out. I called her up and started ranting on about fucking rabbits on the train. She thought it was damn funny, but some hardened fella standing across from me did not share in my humorous drunken madness.  I get a very hard tapping of a finger on my shoulder. When I turn around he shakes his finger at me and tries to take my phone. Drunk hill billy logic made quick order out of the situation: Man laid hands on me-man tried to steal from me-time to get some shit started! The Redneck came out of me so damn quick I am sure the guy damn near shit his pants. I totally lost my cool. I started shouting some mad crazy shit while I had him pinned up against the damn train door. I think it went something like this, 'Motherfucker! You laid hands on me! What the fuck...are you retarded? And you tried to rob me! Fuck you! You dirty little Jap bastard! I should kill your sneaky Jap bastard ass!' Before any of you give me shit for behaving in such a manner....I know that was really fucked up. I should have never said that shit to that guy nor should I have pinned him up against the train door. But....fuck him! He had it coming. It is always a bad idea to mess with a drunk hill billy on a train in a large metro area. Almost every human on the planet knows the above fact is very true except the Japanese it seems. Yet, don't worry because I honestly felt like a total prick the next day. That guy got the raw end of the deal simply because he was Japanese and did not understand how the outside world works at all. Did I feel bad about it? Yes. Should I have mercy in the future? I should but I will not. The only way to make Japan a stronger nation is to stop feeling sorry for them and always showing them mercy.

I should have learned my lesson after that little drunken explosion. Sadly, one more thrown down needed to take place before I realized it is highly advised to maintain your shit while on the train.

This one actually happened early last summer. My stress level had started to get out of hand during that time. None the less, it was still fun to thrown down a few cold ones with co-workers to blow off steam. This was also before it had finally sunk into my head to stop getting hammered drunk so much. I took one of my few trusted gaijin co-workers, along with two young gals who work in the company, out for a night of getting wasted. This was bad to start off with because I was the only one who did not have to work the next day. I should be better than to take my co-workers out and get them wasted all night knowing full well they have to work the next day. The hell with it! They are big boys and girls and know exactly what they are getting into. Anyway, it was a crazy drunken night and some things went down I would rather not repeat.

The really crazy part did not happen until day break.

I said farewell to my co-workers and hoped on the train. I was standing on the train half drunk, tired, wearing jackboots, boot cut jeans and a free Tibet T-shirt on. Yeah, I looked like a real class act. It was very clear that the best thing to do was leave me be. Yet, Japan would just not have it that way. Some fat ass middle aged salary man just had to be a prick at exactly the wrong time. The guy started snorting at me and saying 'drunk gaijin go home.' I was not in the mood to deal with that sort of thing at 6:30 am. I tried my best to brush him off but he started getting louder and louder. All I simply said was,'Nani?' His genius response,'You a drunkard. Go home.' We quickly started arguing about my legal status for living in Japan. It got heated pretty quick. I finally got tired of this racist B.S and told him to get up and do something or leave me the hell alone. And you know what? He actually got up and tried to do something about my gaijin ass living in his nation. Sadly, the damn guy had the fighting ability of a 16 year old J-girl. He started waving his arms around in an attempt to slap me. I started decking him in the face until he decided to sit the fuck down and chill out. After he sat back down, with blood coming from his mouth, he just kind of looked at each other with black heart stares. That little live action social warfare was something no one of that train expected to see before 7:00 am. Again, I scared the shit out of everyone on the train. The funny thing about the whole stunt was that he got off at the next station and everyone else acted like nothing happened. Japanese are always good for keeping a secret when you really need them to keep something on the down low.

After that last fucked up train action I swore to myself to not get into anymore shit on the train. Fighting on the train is not good and should always be considered unacceptable. Point blank: Don't do it! Just because I have done it does not mean everyone else should also do it. Although, it will forever be hard for me to shame anyone else for train fighting because my hill billy ass is guilty as sin.


There is only one positive thing about my days on the train fighting circuit: Japan has learned to never fight hill billies on the fucking crowded Tokyo trains.

Accepting Japan before Japan Accepts Me

Howdy Yall! Before coming to Japan I really did not know much of anything about this island nation. All I knew was that they make damn good TV's, cars, porn and have a thing for hyper fast pop music. Now that I have been in Japan for several years, I know a whole lot more about this semi-closed society. In fact, I know more than I ever wished to know about Japan. I could write about a lot of different things about Japanese culture. I could spend my time writing about some of the crap I used to write about; temples food and stuff like that. I cannot do that anymore. It is much better for me to be real with all of yall. Being real has made this blog much more interesting and true to my experience in Japan.

With that said, one of the hardest things I have never had to do is accept Japan as it is in it's current form. As anyone who has lived here for a few years can tell you, Japanese don't accept outsiders very easily. Of course, they have gotten much more accepting since the end of WW2 but they still struggle with the realities of a growing multi-ethnic society. To say that a lot of Japanese are filled with Xenophobic fear is an understatement.  Many Japanese go far beyond any Xenophobic or racist tendencies. Sadly, there are many J-folk who will go to great lengths to marginalize you simply because you are not Japanese. So many people have attempted to explain, or make reason, of Japan's unique form of exclusion. My take on it is just as unique as Japan itself.

It seems clear to me that Japanese are trained from a very young age to exclude people from their daily life. They don't just do it to gaijin; they even do it to each other. Yeah, I have met my fair share of outgoing, half crazy, fun loving Japanese. Yet, on the other hand I have met even more Japanese who would prefer to jump in front of a fucking JR train at rush hour then deal with others head on. One of the great failures of Japanese culture is to develop proper social skills to be able to at least handle social situations on their own terms as an individual. Some of them have been able to learn social skills in order to at least handle themselves as an individual. Although, this is not normal and you should not expect it at all. So, the big challenge is how to accept an ethnic group which is unable to even accept themselves. Well, for an outgoing southern guy from American who says crazy shit when he drinks too much accepting Japanese culture has very funny results.

I use humor daily in order to accept Japan before Japan accepts me. I have leaned to laugh at the out of hand things a lot of Japanese do to marginalize damn near everyone around them. Most of the insane things a lot of them do to avoid standing on their own as an individual deserves a poke from me from time to time. I just cannot help myself at times yall. If I don't rattle their cage at the right moment, I will seriously loose my shit. Let me give you a few funny examples of how I have learned to accept Japan.

The salary man who burns a whole though my head on the train.

This guy is epic. He clearly has something to say to me. It might be because he wants to make a new friend or he wants to get some shit started. I don't know why he is staring me down but it is not okay to stare at someone like that without saying something. He must be thinking he can get away with it because he is surrounded by other Japanese. Usually I just let it go because I don't want any trouble on the damn train. Yet, from time to time I decide to play a little game. I call it the 'motherfucker do I look funny to you game.' What I do is start making funny faces at the guy. The same kind of funny faces that little kids make at each other. Throws the guy off his game every time.  The funny part comes when he starts looking around trying to make eye contact with another Japanese so he can get them to look at me. His goal is to get them to look at me so he can create the image that I am a crazy gaijin and he did nothing wrong. I win this game every time because if he does get another Japanese to stare at me I make funny faces at them too.

Howdy! Let's be friends you racist bastard

From time to time I get a wild one of my hands. He has the support of a given group because he has gotten control over the group's thinking. I am just trying to be an open friendly American. He don't like that because he fears losing control over the group; as if I give a fuck about who controls what. So, he starts talking shit about English teachers and how fucked up and useless gaijin are to Japan. I know he is full of fear simply because I am not Japanese and he wants to maintain his ego trip. I say the same thing almost every time, 'You are a fucking racist buddy. I will go back to my native nation and tell everyone what a gang of fucked up backward racist Japanese people are.' That fucks with his head big time. The group usually laughs their ass off at him because the one thing that crushes most Japanese is to be laughed at by the group over something a gaijin said about them. Usually the guy gets a look on his face like he wants to kill me; but of course he doesn't do shit but turn his back on me and pretend I am a ghost(which partly explains the title of this blog).


Let's get to the point already!

Okay. I must admit this one is a bit brutal. I only reserve it as a last resort. One of my Japanese brothers and sisters deems it fit to attack me because they feel it will further their agenda. My non-Japanese status makes me look like an easy target. So, with the support of a group of course, they attempt to lay into me. Sadly, because they are so full of fear they are unable to attack me directly they speak in such a round about way that they are unable to really go after me. So, I simply ask the most direct question I can think of at the moment. Man, it really throws them for a loop. After that they usually back off a bit and start to deal with me on a more human level. I don't like doing that to them but sometimes I simply have to in order to snap them out of their trip.


So yeah, I have learned to use humor to accept Japan before Japan accepts me. One day I am sure Japan will be okay with me and we will not have to have these odd funny run ins with each other. Hell, Japan has already given me permanent residence. It is only a matter of time before Japan learns to love me just the way I am.

Tako Gaijin WTF!

Howdy yall! I know, it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy doing other things. My life moves pretty fast at times. So fast in fact that it can be hard sometimes to sit down and write it all down. Fuck it! The Ghost has returned to writing. Actually, I have still being doing something creative. I have been making Youtube videos recently. It is easy to do and has been a hell of a lot of fun for me. I find the creative process of making videos to be damn interesting. Yall can check it out by clicking here.

So, the title of this post relates to some vile shit which has been going on in my hood for a while. Starting around spring of this year one of my neighbors decided he wanted to be a racist bastard. Over the past months I have been subject to his almost daily verbal insults and general bullshit. I have tried my best to not go ape shit crazy on this mother fucker. Last night I finally had enough.

I was coming from Paul`s bar, Vega wine bar, and sure enough that racist fuck across the street started with his shit. He puked out some hate from his mouth and I simple went off. Maybe it was the wine which inspired me but something snapped from within my being. I started shouting every profane word I knew in English and Japanese. I was damn close to breaking down that assholes door and kicking the shit out of him. Lucky for me I have a good support group of loving and caring people in my life. My buddy Akio was hanging at my house and he came outside to chill me the fuck out. My gal stuck her head out the window with a look of shock and fear on her face. Yeah, the situation was pretty fucked up.

Pretty quickly a whole gang of cops were crawling around in the hood. It has been a long time since that many pig cops had been in the hood at one time. I think the total number of cops was 12. Yeah, 12 fucking cops just to handle one pissed off foreigner! Crazy shit goes down in my hood all the time and they never send out 12 cops. I guess hearing angry English around midnight gets their attention more than normal.

The cops had Akio and me at the far end of the street while another gang of cops had my gal and that racist asshole on the street in front my house. Akio was more angry than me. He was giving those cops pure shit in Japanese. He went on a epic rant about how fucked up and lazy the local police patrol is. We must have dealt with those cops for over an hour. After all the shit talk the local patrol refuse to anything but tell me to `watch myself.` That was not going to be good enough for us at all.

We spend the rest of the night wondering around the hood getting drunk. We needed to purge ourselves of the negative energy before we took things to the next level. We yes...we took things to the next level.

After we slept off our massive hang over, we all decided to attempt to get justice though official channels. I really hate dealing with officials of any part of the system. I would prefer to just write off and avoid the system as much as I can. Although, dealing with street punks and dealing with racist neighbors are two totally different things. Considering that I not a citizen, and this is not something I can deal with on my own, off to the police station I went.

When the three of us(gal, Akio and me) arrived at Kita-Ayase police station no one wanted to deal with us. The police reacted to our request to file a complaint as if we were crazy. They all looked like a gang of deer in head lights. I am sure that it is not often that someone rolls up into the station demanding to file a complaint. It took a bit to show them that we were serious. They sent us to the third floor and we waited for about 20 minutes while the cops decided what they were going to do. Akio started knocking on doors until someone met with us. He disturbed three meetings and one shake down in order to get the cops attention. Akio really knows how to fuck with police. He might even be more anti-authority than me. Anyway...

Finally this older cop leads us into a room. He looked to be a detective of some sort. He was bald, wore a suit and had a slight twitch in his left eye. As soon as he sat down with us we started laying into him. We came at him with rapid fire questions and demands for over an hour and a half. He struggled to keep up with us. He did a lot of head nodding and note taking. After a while is actually started talking about what he was going to do. To my surprise, he claimed that he was going to visit my neighbor in the morning and tell him to chill the fuck out.

I have no idea how this will work out. In fact, I feel just a little sorry for that asshole across the street. I don`t want to see anymore have a hard time, even if they give me one daily. The bastard is still human after all. The thing is this shit needs to end. It puts unneeded stress on me. The natural stress of living in a big city is enough to deal with already; I don`t need this stupid shit from a small minded person. I am sure my neighbors are now officially scare shit less of me. That sucks but there are worse things in life then having your neighbors not like you. Besides, life is too short to worry about people who have made no effort to know me. I just want all of this crap to be over.

*If you want to watch my youtube video about this just click here.