Hello there! Do you know that people from different countries are called "Gaijin" in Japanese? This basically means outsiders. To be honest, I feel this is so offensive. It's so strange to me that if one speaks fluent Japanese and lived here for extended periods, but still called as Gaijn. Or if mum/dad is from different country, the kid could be seen as Gaijin. This is just too cruel and offensive. I lived in England for a year and I learn not to discriminate by appearances from British people. For instance, in UK, suppose someone look like Indian. But you can't never call one as "Indian" or "British Indian". Because you wouldn't know if one has a citizenship or not based on the looking. When I was there, I was never called as "foreigner" or even "Japanese". People around me didn't differentiate me based on where I was from. I really appreciated that.
Most of Japanese people are not aware that "Gaijin" is extremely offensive. Because of the decreasing population, Japan needs work forces from other countries. So Japanese people should rather appreciate for those workers and not called them as outsiders. To me, I think if the person thinks he/she is a Japanese, we should call them Japanese whether he has a citizenship or not.
It's strange but when Japanese people say "Gaijin" it usually refers to westerners. I mean, Japanese people call Chinese, Korean and Filipino separately.
My role is to change Japanese people's attitude towards people from different countries. I have my blogs in Japanese and I post fb frequently to advocate that this country should be more opened to different cultures. I was born in Japan and grew up here. However, I'm the one who always had doubt about the way this country is. I hated this country at one point and I got out of this country once. Now, I know that some shits about Japan but I believe that I can change things. What I can do right now is to make lives easier by delivering Gym In Japan's website for expats and tourists. I work with a lot of gym companies and I persuade them to change some rules. Like "no photo" rule. The reason why you can't take photos at gyms in Japan is, who to take responsibilities is different from western countries. So in Japan, if someone was on photo accidentally, and the person got angry and sue, he/she would sue gym not the person who took the photo. Saying the way you manage members were bad and rules were not strict enough. I know one Gold's gym in Ginza allow people to take photos and videos by making a special area so that other members won't appear on photos/videos. I suggested this idea to other gym company and they said that they are willing to change if it works in this way. I used to just accept "This rule is shit but since it's this country, I need to follow". But if I can change, they I should change, right? I will continue working hard to make things better for expats and tourists in Japan.
phew it took me a long time to write today's blog!!
See you tomorrow.
Haruka
Gym In Japan: https://gyminjapan.net
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