White Privilege in Tokyo

As a straight cisgender White male from the USA, the only way I could fit better into the foreigner stereotype often seen on Japanese TV would be to have blue eyes and blond hair and be called John. Spoiler: yes, White privilege is also a thing in Japan, but it takes on a whole other set of nuances to White privilege in America. People are amazed at your chopstick skills, your ability to pronounce the word “hello” in Japanese, and of course your fluent English (goodness, you speak your native language so well!). Yes, you are still often referred to as gaijin, like every foreigner outside of Japan (except for Chinese, Koreans, and assorted other Asians), but if you’re lucky, you may be referred to in the third person as gaijin-san.

I’m aware that people of color, in particular the Indian and African diaspora, may have many stories of their own to tell about their experiences being non-White and non-Asian (not East or Southeast Asian) in Asia. A recent video from Asian Boss covered this a bit, although this is for China and not Japan. I’m also aware that Southeast Asians may also experience prejudice. I spoke to a few people of African-American and Southeast Asian heritage who spent time in Japan for anecdotes, but this will only scratch the surface, as I did not do a major investigation into the topic. The few Indian people I spoke to happened not to encounter any memorable incidents, but again, the small sample size means this is insignificant. The idea here is more to spark discussion than to be a thorough treatise on the matter. Please feel free to add comments of your own experiences, or link to posts which delve further into this.

African American

Being Black in the USA, even in California, the usual poster child for racial equality, is often a dangerous and difficult experience. In Japan, this takes on a few other forms.

The most well-known group of African descent in Tokyo are the Nigerians. Migration from Nigeria began in the mid-1980s, and after the Japanese economic bubble burst in the late 80s, many shifted to working in the red light district of Tokyo. After the crackdowns on organized crime in the early 2000s, Nigerians became more prevalent in these areas, expanding to other tourist areas like Harajuku’s famous Takeshita Street.

The vast majority of my personal experience with people of African descent in Tokyo has been specifically when passing through these areas, and their sometimes aggressive tactics to huddle people into shops does not leave the best of impressions. I became aware of my own developed racism in one particular incident. I was walking near Kabukicho, the red light district of Tokyo, with a female Japanese friend. A Black man approached us who happened to be holding a paper, and both my friend and I reacted by instinctively saying “sorry, not interested.” He then revealed himself as an American who was lost and trying to find his way to Golden Gai, a famous drinking area near Kabukicho. We felt so bad that we walked him all the way there to try to make up for it, but the damage was done.

In talking with a Black friend, this topic came up and he confirmed that indeed, one of the biggest things that happens to him is that people assume he’s a Nigerian working in the red light district, and people will act accordingly.

Walking around in Japan at night when you know it’s super safe. When I see a girl I wonder / worry if she’s afraid.

Like I wonder if they are actually afraid [because] the person is black. Even though it’s Japan. Maybe it’s just in my mind. But I know in America they definitely are.

East Asian Diaspora

Asian Americans, Asian Canadians, Asian Australians, and East Asians who grew up in other non-Asian countries, share some experiences when in Japan. Here are a few.

• English Lessons

Outside of most major train stations, people are handing out flyers for every business imaginable, including English classes. As a White person, they never offer me these, but a friend of Chinese descent is regularly offered them, which he finds ironic given he knows better English than the person handing out the flyer.

• Expecting Japanese

If you look like you might be Japanese, then you’ll be spoken to in Japanese from the start, and if you happen to be less than fluent or can’t speak at all, there will be some slight awkwardness. As a White person who happens to speak everyday Japanese, I just get by more or less like a local would, only rarely encountering a person who wants to practice their English with me no matter what. Here’s a good rundown of some archetypes of Japanese interactions a White person might encounter.

Southeast Asian

On top of the usual things that East Asians will encounter, Southeast Asians tend to have it harder. Ali Wong’s comedy routine about so-called “fancy Asians” vs. “jungle Asians” sparked a good amount of debate, but sadly this kind of contrast between East Asia and Southeast Asia is a factor in Japan as well. As many countries in Southeast Asia are seen as developing countries, as opposed to countries in East Asia seen more as developed countries, there’s a tendency for Southeast Asians to get somewhat poorer treatment. This compounds itself because some Southeast Asians look like they could speak Japanese, but after exchanging words and when it becomes apparent that they don’t meet this expectation, and that they’re obviously Southeast Asian, the level of service sometimes drops. As a White person in Japan, it’s likely that you have fewer Southeast Asian friends than friends from other places, so not only do you not tend to be aware of this, it doesn’t affect you at all.

Privilege is usually seen to be a set of systematic advantages, or equivalently, a lack of certain disadvantages, that other groups do not have. By its very nature, the privileged are not aware of most forms of privilege, which is part of how the system is perpetuated. As a White person in Japan it’s pretty easy to go about your business not thinking too deeply about this and finding Tokyo to be the best place ever, but when you don’t have that privilege, your experience can be quite different. I don’t have these discussions with people that much about Japan, so thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me about this and help to expand my awareness. I hope it serves as something to think about for others as well.