…from the PC Police, mind you, regarding the most controversial post I have ever written in my 4 years of blogging (no kidding!). I got into big trouble today. From one who is in denial that Anti-Americanism even exists, told me today that I was stereotyping the Americanophobes or so to put it in his words,

You talk about nation-states as if they were singular entities with personalities and traits. ‘Japanese’ do this, ‘Americans’ are like this, all the ‘anti-Americans’ say this. You even talk about anti-Americanism as an object that does things

“But this is what Anti-Americanism is all about. It’s mindless bigotry. It doesn’t listen.”

Anti-Americanism is an it?

Perhaps you should think a bit more critically about your own black and white thinking before accusing others ‘out there’ of it.

This comment followed his initial comment to me which was this:

あんたアホちゃう？

In English this means, “Are you a dumbass”?

I laid out how I interpret Americanophobia over here. Admittedly, there is controversy and heavy mud slinging, hair-pulling, killing of first born children, and nail-biting debates over what the ambiguous term Anti-Americanism actually is. And depending on the person, Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia) is something different. The word is just as ambiguous and controversial as the term, “patriotism”. This is more the reason that I must go out of my way to define it (along with other often used terms in my blog including what is patriotism) how I experience it so as to avoid confusion. Nonetheless, despite all my efforts to LINK the “offensive” and “politically incorrect” word to my glossary at every mention of it, people are still confused. Either that or they’re too LAZY to click on my link to these words defined.

It is also interesting how this person finds the concept of Americanophobia to *not* be an noun or a mindset. I wonder if the terms bigotry, prejudice, xenophobia, or racism are also not an “it”. The last time I checked, the proper pronoun for a mindset is an “it” and for a person is a “him or her”. I sure hope that Mr. Nippon Blogger is not teaching English in Japan because this could be very dangerous. (I could understand typos, but pronoun usage???) Maybe he’s an American?

This knee-jerk commenter reminds me of how important I find the following quote that I highlighted in this post, “The Audacity to Respond”:

“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill

Because trust me, the Westboro Baptist Church gets all defensive when they are called out. So do white supremacists, anti-Semites, those who use the words nigger, spics, beaners, gooks, limeys, ginnies and the like. These people all go out of their way to silence dissent and create lame excuses for their crooked beliefs. Then there are some bigots who deny that bigotry even exits (especially if they’re guilty of it themselves). Then, some people are just pollyannas and like to think that hate doesn’t exist. Then some people defend hate and knock those who react to it. If you think about it, nobody likes their mission to be criticized.

Suffice it to say, this doorknob has a blog, and he defines as his…

Views and Commentary on Politics, Culture, and Environment in Japan

And in his carefully written and balanced blog, he stereotypes the Japanese. You can find one example here.

For those who don’t know samba, most of the outfits are quite skimpy and t-back bottoms are the norm. Also, for those who don’t know–Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan. Anyway, the whole thing was almost too much to take. Some of these lecherous folks had arrived at the wee hours of the morning to secure a good spot for their ass hunting. What surprised me most was that there were quite a few older women getting in on the action too (apparently they sell the photos to websites and magazines–yuck).

These perverts were totally unabashed in their quest for bum shots. Good god all mighty.

Hypocrisy at its finest, might I say? For those that don’t know the word, “chikan”, in Japanese, it is basically those men who grope and touch women where they shouldn’t be touching women. They are mostly found inside crowded trains in Japan. When I was living in Japan, I called them “touch men” as a joke. But for someone who calls me out as seeing the world with a “black and white” view, I found his post about Samba to be quite the ironic.

See, we Americans are already defined as being overly-simplistic in our views of the world, so I take much pleasure in pointing out where the Americanophobes are being overly-simplistic. It’s as simple as that.

But I did feel guilty because “Nippon Blogger” was correct on one of the points that he made. As I’ve mentioned in my disclaimer/comment policy and in my “about me” section, I claim to fight against stereotypes and bigotry expressed publicly, and here I am demeaning and harassing the Americanophobes as well as other groups. What a hypocrite I am!!

With that said, I owe an apology to several groups of people for my having offended the Americanophobic population and stereotyping them. Shame on me. I would also like to take this golden opportunity to also apologize to the Westboro Baptist Church, the KKK, the homophobics, the extreme right wingers, and Christian and Islamic fundamentalists whom I have also labels as “bad” in my blog. I’m really sorry. I’m sure you guys really do mean well.

For those unaware of the Westboro Baptist Church or Godhatesfags.com, here’s a brief introduction:

WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.

If it weren’t for the righteous and all-things-moral “Nippon Blogger”, I would have never realized the simple-minded racist I really am.

I am most grateful for him to have taken his time to give me a heads up on my current status of morality or lack of.

But wait a minute! Anti-Americanism hasn’t been officially defined, you say? Or has it? I perused the internet to see what some of the online dictionaries had to say about it (despite over hundreds of articles and thousands of books I have listed to show that Anti-Americanism is *NOT* about being critical of US policies). At least that is, once again, the way I (and most people) see it. Here’s what I have found so far that is actually defined in an online dictionary.

From free-dictionary.com

My blog is about the sheeple who blindly attack the American people. I don’t know what is so very hard to understand about this.

Most of you whom are familiar with my blog have seen my “politically incorrect” definition of the word, “Anti-Americanism”. There is a video underneath my definition that explains it much better. I will paste it here for those that skipped over it.

And finally, you can read my full response to the real dumbass here.

Once again, please accept my heartfelt apology for lumping the Americanophobes in with the Americanophobes.

People ask me this from time to time as I had lived in Japan for 6.5 years. I wrote on a message board on Facebook explaining why, but I’m going to do so here as well.

Let me first just say that Japan, like any other country in the world, has its flaws. But I don’t want to discuss those here. While I was living over there, I noticed the flaws, but the good always made up for the bad. And this is why Japan is my all time favorite country in the world.

Here are the reasons I am in love with Japan (in no particular order):

—> Japanese people don’t bring politics (they are generally not political people) into the mix when meeting foreigners and welcome them with an open heart. So long as you’re good to them, they will embrace you. So feel free as a bird in Japan as an American as you’ll never be asked, “Why did you vote for Bush?” and the like. Also in Japan, there is no need to wear T-Shirts saying that you’re not American or even submit to wearing that damned maple leaf on your backpack. Japanese people are generally politically apathetic and too busy with their own lives to worry about all of America’s problems. They are also a nation of genuine pride. With that said, there is no “short man syndrome” to be found – if so, it is rare – at least from my personal experience there.

—> The Japanese are anything BUT Americanophobic. As a matter of fact, I received reverse discrimination in Japan. I am sure it helped a lot that I spoke their language. But even if you’re not 100% fluent, they treat Americans very well, generally. You’d think they’d be harsh considering the bad feelings that have regarding WWII, but that harshness is ironically only found in Western countries.

—> My Japanese friend told me this and it’s so very true: “A Japanese friend is a friend for LIFE.”

—> I love the scenery in Japan whether it be Tokyo or the country side. It’s absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and refreshing. The air feels thinner and nicer over there too!

—> I love Japanese food to death!

Some of my favorites are Ozoni, Eel over rice, Japanese style Curry Rice, Sushi and Sashimi dipped in soy sauce with Wasabi, Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Eggs), Oden, Japanese meat is superior to any other country because they treat their cows better (i.e. Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Matsuzaka Gyu, Kobe Gyu, Korean Barbeque, etc), Kaiseki Ryori (Japanese gourmet), all things Japanese New Year’s food, and last but not least, Japanese veggies are the tastiest in the world. Or how about, Japanese food in general is the tastiest? There are not many Japanese foods that I don’t like, actually.

—> I’m obsessed with the Japanese language and it’s characters (yes, I know Kanji was borrowed from China, but there also exists Hiragana and Katagana).

—> I love Japanese public baths and spas. When I was living in Japan, I was at the public bath house at least 3x a month, and I miss that immensely! It’s also ridiculously cheap to go to a spa over there!

—> Karaoke is AWESOME in Japan, (yes, I know it was invented by Koreans) and I MISS TO DEATH IZAKAYAS (a kinda restaurant-bar-like scene that is very unique where the main purpose is to party, drink, and hang out) and drinking hot sake and UMESYU (a plum sour) with all my friends. We used to always go out to an Izakaya first (getting some food and alcohol in us) and then head off to Karaoke, and sometimes we were out until 5am. On one occasion we were out until 9am. Oh, the good old days…. (The photo on the left is simply my welcome party as I had started my first job there in a language school).

—> The Japanese people are VERY helpful if you get lost and ask a stranger for directions.

—> “Okyakusama ha Kamisama” is an expression over there which means “The Customer is God”. I like this. We have close to *zero* customer service in the US. People attending to customers are RUDE, lazy and apathetic. But that’s because management sucks over here. Rude and lazy people aren’t fired – generally speaking. People who really care about taking their time and helping customers are becoming an endangered species in the US. In Japan, you will be axed if you act like an idiot to a customer! We tolerate poor customer service in the US because the customer wants off the phone as soon as possible and cares less about customer service as opposed to their time being wasted. In Japan, it’s the reverse: Good quality service, but you need to wait and be patient as not everything will be fixed or done that fast.

I find the Japanese to be a more patient people because their main concern is getting the job done right. In America, you are chastised for being a slow poke even though you rarely make errors and have an excellent rapport with the public. A good example of Japanese style slow but serious customer service would be the banks over there. However, slow service isn’t always the case. Sometimes you’ll get excellent and FAST customer service in Japan. But the Japanese are METICULOUS and would rather take their time instead of messing up. Japanese (fast food) Moss Burger comes to mind. If you don’t mind waiting 7-10 minutes for your meal, it is better than any other kind of fast food in Japan. The Japanese very rarely make mistakes and put forth an incredible amount of pride in their work. The same applies to the way Japanese treat their food. In the US, people like cheap and fast especially because of our crumbling family structure over here where mom and dad are overworked and too exhausted to think about real food. In Japan, the people prefer QUALITY and NATURAL INGREDIENTS as opposed to the triple processed crapola you can find in the states. Thank goodness for whole food stores and Japanese markets where I live.

American companies also save loads of money by getting the agent (customer service) off the phone as soon as possible thereby suppressing quality service. This makes overhead expenses decrease. It’s sad. It really is. That’s one of the reasons why people overseas and/or in third world countries are answering our calls. Americans really don’t care because they’re in a rush…….. I do care, but I believe I’m in the minority here. Companies are getting greedier and greedier, and it’s not like you can go to their competitor because they’re all the same with a very few exceptions i.e. Trader Joe’s!

—> Japan is a convenient country to live in. You can just walk right outside your house and buy a can of hot Royal Milk tea from the vending machine. Everything that you need is either walking or bike distance even if you’re living in the suburbs. I mean, where else can you buy batteries, stockings, or a can of beer from a vending machine?

—> I love Japanese TV, J-Pop, and dramas!!!!!!!!!!

—> Japanese Culture is alive, well, rich and strong. (This is why there is no “short man syndrome” over there.) I am moved to tears when I go to a Japanese festival. I love just about everything about their culture.

- I love Japanese trains. I didn’t even mind when I had to commute 2 hrs. each way to work everyday.

—> You can make pretty good money in Japan if you’re a foreigner – especially if you can teach English. I had two jobs and worked 6.5 days a week in my last year there, and I loved what I did too. My Japanese students were amazing people! Here is a collage that I made of my Japanese students and I at my first job there. You can enlarge it in Flickr.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s the basics for me. Feel free to check out the rest of my pictures from Japan here. I still have about 1,000 more to upload, but at least that is my work in progress. A shortened slide show view can be found here.

I think Japan sets a good example for the rest of the world to live by. While Japan doesn’t have any enforced discrimination laws at the time being, they (in my experience compared to other foreign countries) are the least discriminative and racist. Unfortunately, it’s not always the experience for other Asian groups such as Koreans and the Chinese, but still……..

Anyway, this is just MY personal experience. Yours may have been different, so please spare any knee-jerk incoherencies in my comment section.

Let me just start with the following: Anytime you’re feeling down about the US government, and need to be reminded about how happy you are (or could be) to be living in the US, just read the below:

I became even more happy to live in the United States after reading about the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 that occurred on August 12, 1985. Read this:

The Japanese government claims that because of the rain, unfavorable terrain, and lack of sunlight, rescue crews were unable to reach the crash site until the following morning, twelve hours after the crash. Most of the passengers’ remains were identified, and were enshrined at
the nearby village of Ueno.

There was some confusion about who would handle the rescue in the immediate aftermath of the crash. A U.S. Air Force helicopter was the first to the crash site, some 20 minutes after impact, and radioed Yokota Air Base to assemble rescue teams and offered to help guide Japanese forces to the site immediately. But Japanese government representatives ordered the U.S. crew to return to Yokota Air Base because the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) were going to handle the rescue. Although a JSDF helicopter spotted the wreck during the night, it said poor visibility prevented it from landing at the site. JSDF forces did not arrive until the following morning. It is not known whether any survivors of the crash died in this interval. The off-duty flight attendant who survived the crash recounted from her hospital bed that she recalled bright lights and the sound of helicopter rotors shortly after she awoke amid the wreckage, but that nothing further was seen or heard until the JSDF arrived the next day.

It is believed that a substantial number of people survived the initial crash, but succumbed to hypothermia before they could be rescued. The apparent lack of urgency and bungled response to responding to the crash have led to rumors in Japan that the Japanese government was hoping that there wouldn’t be any survivors of the crash, reportedly because the airplane was carrying some kind of secret cargo. But, there is very little evidence to support this theory over the more plausible theory that basic, bumbling bureaucracy slowed the Japanese government’s and military’s response.

As an FYI, this is (not the first) but the second time that I know of, where the Japanese Government sent Americans trying to aid in a disaster back to their posts.

A special report; Japan Reluctant to Accept Help From Abroad for Quake Victims

“The Japanese bureaucracy is very good when there’s time for nemawashi,” a senior Japanese official said. “But it’s weakness is that it works poorly in an emergency, when decisions are needed fast. We already knew that this problem existed, but it became much more obvious
after the earthquake.”

The Foreign Ministry emphasized the logistical difficulties of responding immediately to the offers. Terusuke Terada, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, noted that the central Government had to check with the local authorities and then arrange transportation to the disaster area as well as interpreters and accommodation.

“Our method took a bit too much time,” Mr. Terada acknowledged, adding that Japan is in fact very grateful for all the offers of foreign assistance.

The Government, to be sure, was lethargic in the earthquake’s aftermath about using domestic
resources as well as foreign ones. Its slowness in calling in army troops to dig people out was blamed by one Japanese magazine for one-third of the 5,243 deaths in the quake, and another magazine accused the Government of a “massacre.”

“This red tape was known by the Japanese people, but now people have come to see it more clearly,” said Yuriko Koike, an opposition legislator from the Kobe area. “It’s not just the bureaucrats, but also the regulations. They don’t want to make any exceptions, even in emergencies, because that would threaten their raison d’etre.” Red Tape Bureaucrats And Gift Horses

Foreign donors were often taken aback by the penchant of these bureaucrats for peering into the mouths of gift horses.

I find this to be repulsive. I was living in Japan at the time of the Kobe Earthquake and also remember that the US wanted to send aid in hosing down some of the fires. The Japanese government rejected that as well. The words “stubborn” and “arrogance” come to mind. I believe it to be a crime in the way the Japanese officials react to emergencies. The Prime Minister didn’t even hear about the quake until he turned his TV on!?

And yet another outrageous decision:

The Japanese subsidiary of Motorola rushed 150 cellular telephones to Kobe after the earthquake, when regular telephone service was disrupted. Motorola offered to lend the telephones free of charge and pay for all the calls, but the Kobe city authorities replied that the phones could not be given out unless they had Kobe City stickers on each of them.

Is the above not enough to describe the word, “despicable”? Read on.

Dr. Masanori Matsumoto, for instance, said — after being told of the issue — that he would not use Tylenol even if it were on hand in the refugee clinic where he works.

“I would use the medicines that I’m familiar with,” he said. “I think the Health and Welfare
Ministry is right to keep out foreign medicines with different dosages.”

So…. I guess we can safely deduce from this that Mr. Matsumoto would have found it more appropriate to allow the quake victims to die a slow death, instead? Again, if you ask me, this is criminal behavior and nothing that any country should be proud of.

I would like to conclude that if you’re going to be in a “National Emergency” situation, just don’t be in Japan at the time.

Outside that and the discrimination against foreigners that prevails, Japan is an amazing place to live.

What I really need to do is go through all the pictures that I took while I was living in Japan, scan them, and blog them. I haven’t gotten to that yet, and it will be several months before I do as it takes more time than I have on my hands right now.

However, a few years back, when I was feeling homesick for Japan, I came across this apartment page for foreigners. As some of you may know, most homes in Japan have Japanese style bathrooms where there’s a separate room just for the toilet and another room where you take a shower. The shower head is found – not over the bathtub – but over the floor that has a drain.

Here’s an example:

Shower:

See the little plastic chair? Many Japanese people enjoy taking parts of their shower sitting down. (I’m telling you – these people know how to relax!)

Bathtub:

Look how deep those things are! They are so deep, that you don’t need to lay down in them. You can sit up Indian style, drinking hot sake and the water will cover you up to your neck. I can’t begin to tell you how relaxing this is.

Traditionally, Japanese people will clean their bodies in the shower area first, and then slip into a nice hot bath with their Japanese Hot Spring Bath Salts which are (in my opinion) the best bath salts ever created next to the German Kneipp Herbal Bath Salts (They rock my socks and make me realize that Heaven does exist on earth).

Traditionally, the Japanese spend quite some time in the bathroom, but nowadays with the younger generation of Japanese, you’ll find a lot of them just taking a quick shower and getting out of there. Things are changing over there, but you’ll still find Ma and Pop, Grandma and Grandpa doing it the Japanese way!

Please refer to this website for the complete viewing.

The above set up can be found in most homes in Japan. Not the same tiling or colors, but that’s the basic gist of it. However, Japanese apartments are quite different. Japanese apartments are made to be small, so there’s no room for the traditional huge bathroom (or shower room). Instead, you’ll find apartment bathrooms to be westernized (for the most part). The toilet, shower, and bathtub will all be together in one very small room. It was never too small for me, though. And here again, the bathtub is STILL deep. Let’s take a look!

And a close up view of the sink and shower:

(Pictures courtesy of Yamasa.Org.)

The shower I had was exactly the same except that the tub was on the right instead of the left. And in the picture above, you’ll see the deep tub.

Now, in Japanese homes, traditionally, Mom will clean the tub out every morning. She will fill it up in the afternoon or evening with Japanese bath salts and then she’ll put a lid over the tub to keep the water hot. When Dad comes home from work, he’ll use the water. Following that the children will use the same water and then Mom will go last. Please correct me if I have the order wrong. What I’m 100% sure about is that Dad always goes first!

You’re probably thinking “yuk”… “How could they all use the same water?” “Groooooossssss!”. Unless Poppy comes home drunk and his bowels leek in the tub, there’s nothing gross about this at all. Remember what I mentioned above. There’s a strict tradition in Japan where you MUST shower yourself completely clean before entering the bathtub. MUST. So, given that all the family members are clean when they are getting into the bathtub, it’s a safe bet that you’ll climb out of the tub just as clean.

Japanese do not bathe in the bathtub. That is taboo. And if you think about it, it’s not practical. You get into the tub, lather with soap, rinse off your soap in the same tub your dirt has fallen off in and jump out. The Japanese think Americans are dirty for that. And well… we are. You just simply cannot call Americans “clean” after bathing in a tub. Talk about gross…

There are some un-internationalized and culturally retarded Americans who believe that non-Americans are not clean people. This is a fallacy. I’ve never in my life lived with and known a more hygienically-anal and meticulously clean bunch of people than the Japanese. I’ve heard that German people are similar – if not worse. But this is a good thing unless it’s taken to a neurotic level.

The same rules for bathing are enforced (if not – even more strictly) at Japanese public baths otherwise known as “Sentos”.

You can find a nice close up here if you click the image below:

Picture from John Kyoto or.jp

Here’s a close up of the shower area taken from Japanvisitor.com.

You can choose to either sit on a mat or a plastic chair. Old, old traditional Japanese men and women would use the buckets that you see above to get their bodies wet and to wash the soap off them. But the shower function is available for those who find it easier. I don’t think you have to be a genius to guess which method I preferred to bathe myself.

If those old ladies in the public bath house see you even thinking of getting into the bath without showering first, you’re dead. Particularily, they watch the foreigners. You think Americans are germaphobes until you’ve lived in Japan. It’s all clean. It’s all safe. I promise.

More information on Sentos can be found here.

A sento (銭湯, せんとう) is a Japanese communal bath house. Typically these bath houses are quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, a line of showers along one wall and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in along the other. Since the 1980s these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese bathe at home, and some Japanese are concerned that without the skinship of mutual nakedness, children will not be properly socialized. An special form of the sento is an onsen, which is a sento using water from a natural hot spring.

And more comprehensive information can be found here.

Most Americans are sexually repressed and are afraid of not only their own nude body, but those of others as well (hence the existing rioting over breast-feeding in public). For this reason, you won’t find too many Americans hanging out in public baths or Hot Springs. Some Europeans and those from other countries (you know, the heathen-liberal – non-born again Christian types) will, without thinking twice, subscribe to this Japanese tradition and love every minute of it.

In case you’re like me and want to visit another country (or live there), go to Japan and enjoy taking a bath.

Have you ever wondered how those Japanese people use their toilets? It was quite a big mystery to me when I went lived in Japan at first! Let me just tell you this. I had been using those damn things bass ackwards for several months until I figured out the trick! —>Please click this link to view the tutorial on how to use a Japanese toilet<—

Next….

The Japanese are quite fussy over cleanliness. Let’s have a glance at their pretty toilets:

At Shinjuku Station

This is a pay toilet. It costs 100 yen (about 1$).
I think it is too expensive to use it.
But it smells good. It is very clean and very large.
It is larger than the bathroom at my home.

Shimbashi Station(Yurikamome line)

It is rare for a toilet to be this clean in a Tokyo station. There is no smell,no dirt and a lot of toilet paper.There are both Japanese style toilets and Western style toilets.
Yurikamome line is not always crowded and the restrooms there are clean too.

Hamamatsu cho Station(JR yamate line)

This toilet is simple and clean. I think this toilet is a little known hot spot.
It is rare for a toilet to be this clean on the Yamate Line.

Ikebukuro (Pachinko Parlor)

This is toilet in a Pachinko shop.(Pachinko is like a mixture of pin ball and slot machines)
This toilet is like a toilet in a hotel and with “Washlet”. Washlet is
the machine that automatically wash your “you know whats” after doing your business.

I can’t tell you how rare it is to find a clean toilet at a train station in or around Tokyo.

Now, let’s take a peek at what these toilets REALLY look like. (Well, most of the time.)

Tabata Station(JR yamate line)

This toilet is down the stairs to a platform in a lawless zone.
There was poopie outside of this bowl and the worst smell. Help me!
After taking this picture I felt nauseated.

Shinjuku Station(Subway Marunouchi line)

This toilet is famous. Because the Aum put sarin here.
Door of toilet is broken and cannot close. Floor of toilet is very wet. This toilet is not only dirty but poisonous. It is hard to smell whether it’s shit or sarin.

(By the way, I had to edit some of the English in these descriptions as I believe the original author was a Japanese.)

But, are you kidding me??? This is nothing compared to what I had seen in the ladies room!!! Nothing! The men’s little toilets are a Martha Stewart collection compared to the ladies toilets. In fact, if there were pictures of the ladies toilets in Japan on a website, I sure wouldn’t be able to post them here! I’d have to submit them to either Rotten Dot Com or to Funky Fresh Freddie’s blog.

But I’m not surprised. I’ve spoken to men. Ladies public restrooms are BY FAR THE MOST NOTORIOUS FOR BEING THE MOST DISGUSTING ON THE PLANET. Why? The homes of most women are very neat no matter what country you live in. They are pressured by society to keep their homes a certain way, so when they DO use a public toilet, they let all their hatred out by way of being inconsiderate to the next person that may be using the toilet after them. They can only keep their “Martha Stewart” facade up so long. Public restrooms are their only outlet to say “Fuck it. I’m doing what ‘I’ want!”.

As for me, I’m a slob. So, when I use public bathrooms, I’m very neat and tidy and carefully consider the feelings of the person coming after me. I think more people should be slobs at home!

Oh, and don’t think the Japanese don’t write messages and graffiti all over restroom walls like we do. They sure do. Click here to see their beautiful artwork in the public potties.

hat tip: Shabooty’s Madness

The last time I was in Japan, the craze for long haired women still existed. But if you know anything about Japan, you know that the Japanese follow the trends in Europe and America – especially America. Because of this, we can see more Japanese women with short hair. In a way, short hair in Japan is used to show a rebellious state of mind against older traditions. It also shows a woman’s strength in the workplace. Women are fighting for equality in Japan just as we women were in the U.S. several years back.

But this has nothing to do with this picture, really. In fact, that thing looks more like something I wash the floor with. I don’t know. It’s just not my cup of tea. Interesting – nonetheless.

I found these in Sassy Girl’s Blog and thought this was hilarious!

A group of nudists eat together at a monthly ‘Clothing Optional Dinner’ at a New York City restaurant, Feb. 17, 2005. About 30 people arrived for the buffet dinner — no hot soup on the menu — most of them middle-aged, several married couples, some singles, the youngest perhaps in their 30s. Diners must bring something to sit on — a towel or, for discerning women, an elegant silk scarf.

Could you ever do such a thing? I don’t mind relaxing in a Japanese Hot Spring or public bath with other women , but co-ed wining and dining? I don’t thinks that’s for me.

And then there’s Nude Karaoke!

(Berlin-AP, Oct. 30, 2003 6:30 PM) _ What started as a joke about nude karaoke has become a lawsuit.

Bristol Station Cafe owner Marty Saint Pierre says he was just kidding when he advertised such an event in front of his bar. Then he got volunteers. Lots of them.

The planned event struck a sour note with the establishment’s neighbors, who called Town Hall to complain. Soon, Saint Pierre got a visit from town authorities, who said he could face fines or arrest if he operated the naked musical performance without a permit.

The dispute is now the subject of a lawsuit challenging a town ordinance on sexually oriented businesses. Berlin does not outlaw such businesses, but they are required to have permits and meet certain zoning requirements.

Without a permit, a sexually oriented business can face a fine of up to $100 and an arrest on misdemeanor charges. The lawsuit contends the penalties are harsher than towns are allowed to enforce under state law.

Whoa! I thought Europeans were less uptight than that?! Maybe because it’s Germany? I really don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care where people go and what people do in the nude. That’s their prerogative! A nude body (even if overweight) never terrified me.

The below is me at Karaoke with my clothes on. The man on the left is my former Japanese boyfriend. (Because of stalkers, I have my face covered).

Heck, people think I’m strange for having bathed nude in public in Japan. The first time, it was very hard for me because I can be very self-conscious about my body in front of everyone but my husband. However, after having gotten used to it, I started to appreciate my body. I was no longer embarrassed, and didn’t care what anyone thought about it. There were two things that bothered me, however. A couple times in a public bath (because I was a foreigner in Japan), a woman touched my breasts and said, “WOWWWW!”. She continued, “it’s no wonder you have stiff shoulders!” Heh.

And there was one woman who constantly stared at me. I can handle people “looking” at me, but I got very irritated when one would stare blankly for minutes. Gawd!  You see, the Japanese DO have manners, but they don’t apply to foreigners.

Other than that, my seven year experience bathing publicly was a positive experience, and one that I will never forget. In fact, that’s one of the many things I miss terribly about being in that country. You haven’t felt relaxation until you’ve bathed traditionally in Japan (even if not in public).

So, take ‘em off and relax a bit, eh? I could name a couple people who need to simma.

Is this the new Japanese fashion trend?

Going to the grocery store in undies?

Click on any of the pictures below to see the complete portfolio of this new fashion trend scare.

Click the banner below to visit the main weblog where these pictures came from. Interestingly enough, according to SIMON WORLD (The East Meets Westerner Site), the below MasaMania.com was voted second place in the Japan Blog Awards!

Please watch the below video.

Racism is bad business

The Community Page has commented at length on socially-sanctioned exclusionary practices in Japan. However, it has rarely touched upon their quantifiable, longer-term effects. Exclusionism is bad for business. Why? Because non-Japanese residents are not the only ones affected by “no-foreigner” policies. So are visiting representatives of international corporations. This makes for unfavorable overseas impressions, not only of northern Japan (famous for its decade displaying “JAPANESE ONLY” signs), but also of the entire country.

The author of this article, Arudou Debito, explains further, that the extent of this over the past couple of years has reached 12 cities in Japan.

And this was just all over some Germans, Italians, and British men getting a little rowdy in the bars during the World Cup 2002 which had caused the police to appear on the scene. It is believed that the Japanese had wanted to keep foreigners out of shops, restaurants, bars, doctors offices, salons, and the like the whole time and that the World Cup 2002 just gave them the perfect excuse for them to pull this off.

“In Nagoya this year, I was invited to the Suzuka Formula One auto races as a guest of a Western company supporting this event for a long time,” Jackson recalled. “Walking down the street in Nagoya’s nightlife district with senior reps of this company, people on the street passing out flyers to their bars pulled their hands back when they saw us. We even got refused rides in taxis. That’s pretty stupid. What kind of an image is that supposed to create?”Jackson said this company is considering changing its support to the Shanghai Formula One because of this and other ill-feelings incurred.

“And Nagoya is going to be hosting the 2005 Aichi World’s Fair? You’re joking. Just more people to come to Japan and leave with a sour taste,” he said.

Amazing, isn’t it? A WORLD’S FAIR??? A Homogeneous World’s Fair? Oh no, wait a minute. Foreigners can come, but they can’t stay in a hotel, can’t use the public baths, can’t get into any of the shops or attractions, (God forbid they get sick) they can’t get in a hospital anywhere, and can’t use public transportation except for the trains.

Furthermore, it’s not only visitors or residents who feel the alienation. Japan spends millions annually bringing people over on Ministry of Education Scholarships, and through organizations like The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).Just how long does the Japanese government think it can get away with no redresses for discrimination, including a law against racial discrimination? Can it merely coast along on half-measures while prejudicial policies spread nationwide?

As lawsuits rack up involving refusals at a jewelry store, bathhouses, a real estate broker, a bar, and now an optician, the problem is getting worse.

Oh my. I had no idea the problem was getting this bad. I lived in Japan for 6.5 years, and I never once saw anything like this. I am appalled by the recent change, and stunned that this has reached all the way to Tokyo — of all places. Tokyo, the most metropolitan, modernized, and one of the largest cities in the world is beginning to follow suit in slamming the doors on the faces of foreigners. I am so glad I am not there to witness this. I don’t know what I would do. Racism and discrimination is so very sad, and “sad” is an understatement. It actually makes me sick to my stomach to hear what is going on over there.

Granted, I always knew they had no laws over there regarding discrimination. I had always known that, even in Tokyo, foreigners were denied housing in certain apartment complexes. That was a norm that all foreigners had gotten used to over there. If there’s a brawl between a drunken foreign guy and a drunken Japanese guy outside a bar and the police arrive, it’s normal for the police to side with the Japanese guy. We don’t raise our eyebrows over this stuff. It’s Japan. And naturally, we’re there because we want to be there. However, now (gaijin) or non-Japanese people are given the the x-sign with the arms if seen approaching a shop or any place of business in some areas. The hatred spreading is almost surreal.

Look at this:

HAIR SALON KITAMURA (barbershop)

(Wakkanai Minato 1 chome 1-19, Ph 0162-24-5045)

Roy had also been excluded from this place at the door and despite speaking Japanese. I decided to try my luck. The place was open and the proprietor was halfway through a head of hair. He left to come to the door, where he made an X-gesture with his hands. I spoke in Japanese, “Do you refuse foreigners?” (gaikokujin, okotowari desu ka). He paused, surprised that I spoke in Nihongo, and left his X-ed hands up. I repeated the question, and he said “That’s right.” (sou desu), indicating that he understood me. He went back to his head of hair and I stepped outside, thinking it best not to inquire further.

Says I:”What in heaven’s name would make him want to refuse foreigners? Onsens claim a hygiene problem. Regular stores claim a pilfering problem. But what here? People aren’t getting naked and sharing a bath, and the only thing to pilfer would be shampoo and scissors. What goes?” It goes further.” Reported by By ARUDOU DEBITO

And yet another lame excuse for discrimination….

“HIKOKUSAIKA”(“anti-internationalization”):NON-JAPANESE NOW OFFICIALLY SEEN AS PART OF JAPAN’S SOCIAL ILLS AND CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN THE EVENT OF A DISASTER

WIRE:04/09/2000 03:44:00 ET Japan Troops Told ‘Foreigners’ Likely to Loot, Riot

“TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese troops were told on Sunday to target foreigners to prevent looting and rioting in the event of a major earthquake, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said in an address to Ground Self-Defense Force troops that foreigners were likely to riot and commit crimes because of the breakdown in order.

“Atrocious crimes have been committed again and again by sangokujin and other foreigners”, he was quoted as saying.

“We can expect them to riot in the event of a disastrous earthquake.”

The Japanese slang term “sangokujin” means “people from Third World countries” and was used in post World War Two Japan as an insult for residents from the former Japanese colonies of Korea and Taiwan.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials could not be reached immediately for comment due to the weekend holiday.

A fervent nationalist, Ishihara has angered China by doubting its accounts of Japanese wartime atrocities and referring to it by the derogatory term “Shina.”

After the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, which killed about 100,000 people, unfounded rumors about riots among Tokyo’s Korean residents led to Japanese mobs attacking and killing several hundred Koreans, many of whom were brought to Japan as slave labor.

Thus Japan is starting to feel the tugs of a pluralist, multicultural society. Some degree of social hesitancy is natural. One of our jobs in this society will be helping make the transition smoother–by urging a more representative legal infrastructure and a more tolerant social policy approach. We do this in hopes that the future will herald a better place for everyone–citizen, immigrant, or visitor–to live. More to come.”

Dave Aldwinckle
Sapporo

Oh, okay. Now, I see where the racism is stemming from — the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake. How many years ago was this? The hate continues….

In another article in The Japan Times written again by Arudou Debito, an African American man accompanied by his wife and his African American friend were told by an eyeglass shop owner, “Move to the other side of the street! Don’t touch my store window!”

To read further regarding “information for people concerned with social issues who want to help make life better for everyone in Japan”, I highly recommend Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwincle’s ACTIVISTS’ PAGE

You’d be surprised how much this man has accomplished so far. Also be sure to read up on PHOTOS OF PLACES IN JAPAN WHICH EXCLUDE OR RESTRICT NON-JAPANESE CUSTOMERS

You will get a lot more information here. It’s very interesting. You will also see the improvements that Mr. Debito has made with his lawsuits as well. Mr. Debito, by the way, is American. You can find his autobiography here! His real name is David Christopher Aldwinckle.

There are still foreigners all over the place in Japan – especially in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Now, as racism isn’t happening everywhere in Japan, if it happens in a couple of public places, it’s already happened too much. For all those who love Japan, (including myself), let’s all hope that the hatred stops over there sometime soon, and that Mr. Debito progresses even more than he already has. I have a feeling that he will.