Welcome to Japan

Friendly taxi drivers

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:29:56 +0200

If you’re planning on staying out after the last train expecting to get a taxi home alone, then I suggest you get used to views like this - many (most) taxi drivers in Tokyo don’t like picking up foreigners late at night, and if you try to flag them down, will often slow down, get a good look at you (i.e. see that you’re foreign), and then drive off without stopping - my record so far is 6 consecutive rebuffs in one night. Going to a taxi rank helps (especially in ex-pat districts like Roppongi), but even then you’ll often just get ignored by the driver. I’ve never had any problems during the day, so it can’t be anything to do with i.e. the driver assuming you won’t be able to speak Japanese. The only explanation I can think if is that they think you’re probably going to rob / attack them. [I should point out that the above picture wasn’t one of these incidents - I’m not fast enough with a camera - it’s just to make a point]

Safest country in the world

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:29:50 +0200

It’s a common misconception about Japan that the crime rate is low. Certainly the rate of reported crime is low, but I’m beginning to suspect that the actual crime rate is much, much higher. I’ve now been assaulted twice (both times, I’m pretty sure, for committing the heinous crime of being visibly foreign in a public place), and in both cases 20-30 passers-by did nothing to help. More worryingly, the first incident, where a taxi driver decided to attack me for taking too long to cross the road (location pictured above the day after), happened in full view of some police officers - again, they did nothing to help. In light of this, it’s perhaps not surprising that I didn’t bother to report the crime to the police, and therefore it will never contribute to the crime statistics. Assuming I’m not the only ex-pat to have these problems, it’s likely that the rate of actual crimes committed by Japanese people on foreigners is quite high, certainly much higher than the statistics would suggest, since they will mostly go unreported. Many ex-pats say they feel safe here - as did I, for my first 2 years - but as these incidents demonstrate, there’s an infinite difference between feeling safe and actually being safe. Put it this way - I no longer leave my flat without a knife in my pocket, something I’ve never even considered doing anywhere else in the world, so that’s how safe I feel.

No foreigners...

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:29:47 +0200

To be fair, signs such as this have reduced in frequency even during my time here (this one, taken from Shinkjuku, probably only survives because it is ambiguous with language). However, I have anecdotal evidence from friends that a number of night clubs and bars will turn away foreigners at the door. As with all of the examples given on this page, language isn’t the problem - being visibly foreign is. No wonder Japan has such a shockingly low immigration rate despite being one of the richest countries in the world; if you’re visibly foreign here, you will always be an outsider.

We’re all criminals Part I

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:29:44 +0200

To give an example of the absurd, but widely held view, that foreigners are much more likely to be criminals than Japanese people, this picture shows a bar in Ueno where I once had the misfortune to walk past, just behind 3 Japanese people, one of whom (perhaps motivated by beer) decided to knock over the flag outside. When the bar staff came out and saw the 3 drunken Japanese people and myself, the lone foreigner, guess who they chased after? Yep, the sobre foreigner every time. Even after I tried to explain what had happened (admittedly at that time by Japanese wasn’t very good, but easily enough), they didn’t believe me - indeed, when I pointed to the group that had knocked the flag over, they didn’t even turn to look. In this case the crime was fairly trivial. What I’m worried about is what if the crime is more serious next time (and there will be a next time, unless I leave soon) - with prejudiced citizens and police like this, what are our chances of a fair trial?

We’re all criminals Part II

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:29:41 +0200

Most signs in Tokyo are Japanese only, occasionally Japanese first and English second, but as you can see from this picture (taken from Ueno), when it comes to crime prevention, it’s much more common to have warnings against causing crime in English first. Indeed, it’s not unheard of to see signs warning civilians about criminal activity (in Japanese only) not far from signs warning you against performing criminal acts (in English only). “Welcome to Japan” indeed ...