Gaijin In Japan、外人、外国人、日本にいるの外人、Eddie Venz, Eddy Venz, Dan Venz, Edward Venz, Japan Foreigners and the Unspoken Contract

A "First of its kind" book about being a Gaijin in Japan!
Finally! Someone tells it like it is!
The most in depth book about foreigners living in Japan ever written!
Take off your "Rose Tinted" glasses before you start reading this book!

Gaijin In Japan

Chapter 6
Placating Strategies

There are many strategies that foreigners used in placating. Showing commitment, the "good-will" gesture, blending in, geographical spread and size, avoiding incidents, normalizing, acting passively, identity manipulation and additional tactics. I describe and give examples of each in this chapter.

Showing Commitment

This projection is a dedicated display of the functional role foreigners are expected to play within the host society. Foreigners are assigned a role because this role is the justification for which they have been granted entry into the new society. Thus, early foreign sojourners were granted entry as missionaries and educators. Later foreign migrants were granted entry as business migrants. Many Korean foreigners were granted entry as war refugees or on the grounds of family reunification based on refugee status. Their role was to assimilate and to succeed by adherence to Japanese ethic values - essentially to be non-Japanese, Japanese people. Korean's ability to fulfill these roles were how they were assessed as worthy citizens. One Korean put it this way;

"The thinking [was] to tolerate, endure and slowly prove yourself and in time you will be accepted."

Chinese in Japan chose to assimilate as a group and after world war II a large Chinese population converged in Yokohama, in what is now known as Chinatown in Japan. Although the Chinese immigrants have also been successful in assimilating into the host population, one distinct difference which was clear between Korean and Chinese immigrants is that while the Korean population chose to mask and deny their ethnic identity the Chinese wore their ethnic origin as a badge of honor and therefore did not give up their culture as did the Korean immigrants. This can be confirmed by the number of Korean immigrant's descendants inability to speak the Korean language. The difference in Korean and Chinese immersion techniques is made distinctively clear in this Chinese immigrant's comments;

"My father taught me the Japanese way. I went to Japanese school and learned the Japanese language and culture, but at home it was like we were living in China. We celebrated the Chinese new year and other festivals. My mother and father let me know that although I was living in Japan, I should never forget where I came from, and who I really was. My father would have killed me if I asked him to change our name to a Japanese name."

Local Korean's and Chinese played their role so well that they came to be seen as a "model minority". They excelled in education and moved into middle class professions, with no government aid. The problem has always been that to fulfill the role too well is to exceed the parameters of the unspoken contract, while to fail at the role yielded the same result. Korean's and Chinese were caught in contradictory circumstances. Recently, Korean immigrants have been criticized for not fulfilling their role of boosting the national economy and have even been accused of aiding North Korea financially by using income from Pachinko parlors.

The above examples are of "Asian" foreigners who not only have the distinct advantage of having a similar physical appearance of the host population [Japanese], but also have the advantage of either coming to Japan as children or being born in Japan.

More recent non-Asian foreign immigrants show their commitment in different ways than these earlier foreign immigrants. As the need to immerse into the Japanese culture and language decreased over the years, foreigners began to see their dedication to learning the Japanese language and culture, as well as following the Japanese rules of etiquette as a show of commitment. Many members of the Japanese population, however, do not see this as a show of commitment, but rather something that all foreigners living in Japan should be required to do. In other words, what recent foreigners see as a dedicated show of commitment, the majority of the Japanese population do not see as a show of dedication, as the following opinions expressed by members of the Japanese population establish.

A. Ogawa: "I appreciate foreigners who have taken the time to learn our [the Japanese] language, but I do not understand the way they [foreigners] act like they have accomplished something just short of a miracle. I mean, all they have done is learn something that all immigrants in other countries are expected to learn...the language of the host country."

M. Suzuki: "I think the problem with foreigners is that so many of them choose not to learn the Japanese language that when a foreigner actually does take the time to study the Japanese language he [the foreigner] is regarded in awe by the Japanese around him. This kind of makes the foreigner get big headed...like he is really special because he [the foreigner] speaks Japanese. This is Japan. Shouldn’t he [the foreigner] speak Japanese? When I was in America, no one spoke Japanese to me. I was expected to speak English. It is kind of hypocritical of foreigners to expect us [Japanese] to learn their language when we go to their country, but not want to learn our [the Japanese] language when they come to Japan or think they are special because they have studied Japanese.

The stereotype that most foreigners feel the way Mr. Suzuki suggests is reinforced by foreigners he has met in other countries as well as non-immersed and short-term foreigners in Japan. It is, however, the immersed foreigners living in Japan who are forced to live with the stereotype that these non-immersed foreigners have created. The statement that foreigners are hypocritical is aimed at immersed as well as non-immersed foreigners, yet it would also seem reasonable to suggest that immersed foreigners are not hypocritical since they have indeed gained knowledge in the Japanese language and culture. Mr. Suzuki even goes so far as to imply that the foreigners ability in the Japanese language does not change his feelings towards the foreigner. He still sees it as "my country" [Japan] and "their country" [the foreigner's home country]. The immersed foreigner, however, sees his [home country] as where he came from and Japan as his newly adopted country.

The Good-will Gesture

One means foreigners have devised to counter criticisms and placate the host population is the good-will gesture. These tend to occur when tolerance is low and a minority perceives a show of good will is necessary to placate the host population. The American Businessman who donates his time to coach a Japanese baseball team is one gesture in good example.

Unfortunately, such a gesture may benefit the team but can easily be interpreted as confirming of racial stereotypes that foreigners were athletic beyond Japanese abilities and posed a threat of takeover. As such, good-will gestures tend to be perceived as superficial; they lack credibility because they do not get to the heart of what the host population perceives as vitally important. That is, that its minority populations adhere to unspoken rules. For foreigners in Japan, this comes in the form of the specific unspoken contract discussed earlier. Thus, good-will gestures are seldom effective as a placating strategy, though they may be used by those less savvy in the arts of placating. Here are some other examples of the good will gesture as given by informants;

Chris: "I had been living in Japan for about 4 years and had pretty much immersed myself. I knew enough Japanese to get by on my own, but I was still no expert. I was coming home on the train at about 10:00 at night. It was pretty crowded. I noticed a young girl crying beside me and when I looked behind her I saw this old man with his hand up the girl's skirt, fondling her. I looked around, but everyone else acted as if nothing was happening. I shouted to the pervert to stop and at the next stop I forced the guy off the train. Everyone, including the girl, looked at me as if I had committed a crime. I guess the fact that I had made the pervert noticed to everyone on the train had embarrassed the girl more than the old guy groping her. I felt stupid. I never said a word to a pervert on the train after that. I figured if the girl wanted him to stop groping her, she could tell him."

David: "I saw two young men going at it [fighting] near Shibuya station. One guy was really taking a beating. After watching for a while, I decided that the weaker guy had pretty much taken enough and it was obvious the other guy had no intention of letting up, so I stepped in to break up the fight. It was then that not only the two guys fighting, but also a few of the on lookers tore into me. The more I apologized, the angrier and more aggressive they became. In the end, I had to run away from the buggers. I made up my mind that night never to get involved in a Japanese quarrel again."

Dan: " I once had a student, about 15 or so, who was very poor. He showed up in dirty, smelly clothes and obviously had family problems, but he was the best student in my class and very intelligent. I bet him that he could not get the best score in English on an upcoming exam. The bet was for a Sony Play-station. Well he scored the best in the entire prefecture so I bought him a brand new Play-station. About a week later I get called into the office and I get reprimanded for making his family feel bad. I was told if I ever do anything like that again, I will be fired. I haven’t."

The above examples demonstrate that while certain reactions are acceptable [or even expected] in a foreigner's own country, the actions of a foreigner in Japan are strictly scrutinized. The foreigner's actions above would have been within the norm for a member of the host population [Japanese] or even expected, however, since the actions came from members of the powerless minority [foreigners] they are seen as a threat from the foreigner to step out of his role as a member of the powerless minority. It could be best summarized in the words of this foreigner;

Dan: "After living in Japan for a number of years I had a stunning realization. The realization that I had the same status in Japan as a young child. I was tolerated, but was not expected to know much about Japan, like a child. I was expected to listen to everyone [Japanese] as if their idea's and opinions were always correct, without talking back, like a child. I could observe my surroundings but rarely could I become a participant in anything important, like a child. When, on occasion, I could not fight the urge to verbalize my own opinions, I was treated like a child throwing a temper tantrum. It is difficult to be a mature adult and have to go through everyday life being treated and judged as a young child, but that is the way it is for us foreigners in Japan. We are not taken seriously. Our opinions are seen as unimportant."

Experiences such as the examples above weaken the foreigner's willingness to assist members of the host population [Japanese] from other members of the host population during a confrontation as well as in times of emergency (such as the Kobe earthquake) and in turn strengthen negative stereotypes in regards to foreigners by the host population.

Sometimes foreigners use forgiveness as a goodwill gesture. By "forgiveness", foreigners attempt to communicate to members of the Japanese population that they understand their place and lack of power and are willing to accept rude or disrespectful behavior from members of the Japanese population. In cases where foreigners use the tactic of "forgiving" they ignore or "play down" the aggressive disrespectful behavior aimed at them [the foreigner] from the member of the Japanese population in the belief that by doing so, it will earn them respect from other members of the Japanese population.

Robert: I feel like when a Japanese person is rude to me, and there are other Japanese watching, I get the upper hand by responding politely to everything rude the Japanese person says to me. In some way, I feel like I am beating him [the Japanese] at his own game [of being Japanese]. I actually giggle to myself afterwards.

This tactic, is seldom successful because although the foreigner is aware that he [the foreigner] is forgiving the member of the Japanese population, the member of the Japanese population is not aware of the goodwill gesture being made by the foreigner. The one benefit derived from this tactic is the ability of the foreigner to diffuse a potential confrontation with members of the Japanese population.

Blending In

More effective as a placating strategy is the art of blending in. Although past foreigners were assigned a role that required them to be successful in order to be accepted, the threshold tolerance system meant success was always relative to visibility. The more successful foreigners became, the more invisible they needed to be to counteract the effects of being seen as a threat and thus narrowing the threshold tolerance level. In other words, too much success and thus visibility posed the risk of tipping the balance in the opposite direction. In recognition of this, immersed foreigners have devised tactics that enhance the invisibility of themselves and pose an image of being non-threatening.

"Blending in" groups several types of strategies that when performed well make foreigners all but concealed to the host population. There are five general types, 1) geographical spread and size of the foreign population, 2) avoiding incidents, 3) normalizing, 4) acting passively, and 5) identity manipulation. The degree of ethnic-host interaction increases with each general type. Likewise, as the interaction increases, so the skill level of the ethnic actor must also increase. I also identify a separate category of purely inadvertent strategies that serve the purpose of blending. I present this last as "additional tactics".

(a) Geographical Spread and Size These strategies are as much inadvertent as they are deliberate. Through immigration restrictions and the uniformalization of the basic income structure of the foreigner, a situation has emerged where there is an absence of foreign culture, even in the enclaves of international districts. This situation is unique to Japan. Most other comparable nations have clearly defined ethnic neighborhoods. It seems the stigma of being a foreigner in Japan is so strong that many immersed foreigners will go out of their way to make sure that they live in a building or neighborhood in which they are the sole foreigner. Here is how one foreigner put it;

Marie: "Of course, when I first came to Japan I lived in a "Gaijin House" (a term used for a hostel that is used primarily by foreigners). Then I got a good job, saved some money and moved into an apartment with no foreigners. It was hard to get, because the landlord did not want to rent to me, but after getting in, I felt like I had finally gotten settled in Japan. It was nice to know that I would not have to put up with other foreigners anymore."

Marie's comments confirm the stigma of being a foreigner in Japan. Although it cost her a lot of time and money, getting an apartment where there are no other foreigners somehow allows her to de-stigmatize her own foreignness by rationalizing that she has somehow been able to distance herself as part of the foreigner group because she lives in a building with no other foreigners. This stigma forms the beginning of "gaijin denial."

After 1987 immigration changes saw increasing numbers of foreign migrants enter Japan. Calls to limit the "Gaijin-Invasion" were made from politicians and the public alike. Interestingly, many informants in this study expressed support to curtail foreign migrant numbers also, as one foreigner puts it;

Anonymous: "I actually have had reservations about the [immigration] policy, [it] has been a bit too open...I mean, it really started to get bad when they started the working holiday visa program [this program allows a one year stay in Japan for certain nationalities]. When you get a large number of people coming to Japan with absolutely no intention of staying here, or learning the language. Really, their only motive was money. That is when the Japanese people notice you, and it isn't good when you get big groups of people because you do stand out. Whether it's good or bad people can see you, whereas before we were able to be quite exclusive."

Many apartment buildings were turned into foreign apartments, in which the owners would supply basic furnishings and rent the apartments only to foreigners (usually at a very high price) with monthly contracts. English speaking staff of the real estate office would take care of all bills for the foreigner. Companies offered English assistance in many aspects of daily Japanese life. This trend made it easier for non-immersed foreigners to continue to live in Japan without the pressure of learning the Japanese language. As a result, foreigners usually lived in Japan a full year or more before they began to learn the Japanese language or left Japan at the end of a year. This created a widening gap in behavior between immersed foreigners and non-immersed foreigners, as well as strengthening the tendency of immersed foreigners to distance themselves from non-immersed foreigners.

Non-immersed foreigners also had a tendency to distance themselves from immersed foreigners. As the non-immersed foreigner became immersed, however, the tendency to want to distance himself from the non-immersed foreign population and join the ranks of the immersed foreign population became stronger, and in most cases, after one year in Japan the foreigner would begin looking for an apartment building in an area away from the crowd of non-immersed foreign residents.

The tendency of immersed foreigners to distance themselves from other foreigners included occupations as well as residence. Since many of the non-immersed "working holiday" foreigners became English conversation teachers in Japan, a stigma [within the foreign population] emerged with becoming an English conversation teacher. As a result, immersed foreigners began leaving their positions as conversation teachers to look for work in other fields or in higher education.

This has actually contributed to the acceptance of foreigners by the Japanese population for without the stigma being attached to English teachers, many occupations that have become open to foreigners would still be closed. It was the immersed foreigners efforts and "banging on the doors" of other occupations that has made it possible for other foreigners to follow in their footsteps. In fact, the English conversation teacher has become, over the course of the last five years, primarily a position held by a non-immersed foreigner with less than 2 years experience living in Japan and little or no knowledge of the Japanese language, nor the desire to immerse themselves into the Japanese language and culture.

(b) Avoiding Incidents

Being a small minority group is never a guarantee of being invisible or of being seen as non-threatening. Foreigners needed to actively cultivate their "good" image to ensure tolerance was maintained. One way foreigners did this was by avoiding incidents, which essentially meant keeping out of trouble and minimizing the risk of being perceived as troublesome.

Anonymous: (Chinese) "Because we are a small group and there's a certain amount of discrimination collectivity there's also an attitude of not letting the side down. So...traveling on public transport or staying in a motel...you made sure that you left the place cleaner [than when you entered] and not disgrace your country of origin.

Gary: "I once took my wife to an old bar I had frequented long before we were married. When we got there, there was a sign in English on the door that said, "NO GAIJIN ALLOWED." I opened the door anyway and asked the owner if he remembered me. He did and allowed us in because he knew that I was not a troublemaker."

The success of this tactic was measured by the lack of negative public attention foreigners achieved, particularly from the media. As such, informants often cited the small numbers of foreigners in prison as evidence of how successful such avoiding had become. In this regard, foreigners compared themselves to other minorities, such as Iranians and other stigmatized foreign groups. By comparison, many immersed foreigners were a "model minority". This situation changed in the late 1990s with growing numbers of Caucasian migrants. Media headlines such as "Foreigner crime rate soars" reflected a threshold tolerance breach and non-compliance with the unspoken contract by these migrants.

For many immersed foreigners it also meant staying away from places in which were frequented by large numbers of non-immersed foreigners. This tendency by immersed foreigners to choose "not" to socialize with non-immersed foreigners can also be perceived as distancing.

One location in particular is Roppongi. Located near downtown Tokyo, Roppongi became the red-light district in the 1950's for American G.I.'s. During the 1970's it shifted to a city that catered to all foreigners. By the early 1980's, Roppongi had become world famous for foreigners who were interested in Japan as "the" place to visit first once they arrived. It's streets are filled nightly with gawking foreigners that are shocked at it's magnitude as well as Japanese girls looking for a foreign boyfriend or just sex. It is estimated that on a typical Friday night, over 6,000 foreigners visit Roppongi. Immersed foreigners, however, tend to avoid Roppongi. These comments sum it up;

Mark: "Roppongi is for newbies or foreigners who never grew up. The only reason to go there is to get a girl, and I would not want a girl I met in Roppongi. Whores, the lot of them. I think the last time I went to Roppongi was 4 years ago. I never want to go back."

Mark emphasizes his dislike for Roppongi by saying he "never wants to go back." His comments imply, however, that he used to frequent Roppongi and stopped going about 4 years ago. By avoiding Roppongi, Mark sees himself as "grown-up" as a foreigner in Japan. In other words, if new foreigners like it, chances are immersed foreigners will not.

This "distancing" and avoidance of non-immersed foreigners helps immersed foreigners distance themselves physically as well as emotionally from non-immersed foreigners.

I theorize that this tendency stems from an uncomfortable feeling immersed foreigners have when they gather with large numbers of non-immersed foreigners and further theorize that this uncomfortable feeling stems from the memories the immersed foreigner has of himself when he was a non-immersed foreigner. Memories which the foreigner would like to forget.

(c) Normalizing

In reaction to the large number of foreign residents and growing anti-foreigner sentiment, normalizing strategies suddenly became a priority as these new foreigners began to learn the rules of the unspoken contract. These are modern day examples of normalizing. I was also given many examples from an elderly foreigner who grew up in Japan post WWII. One person told me how his mother, changed her hair and clothes to fit Japanese norms. He also spoke of how many foreign males cut their hair short and refused to grow a beard to become less noticeable. Normalizing thus takes many forms. The tactic, however, remains essentially the same. Its occurrence is prompted by host reactions regarding the undesirability of certain behaviors or characteristics not considered normative. Normalizing is thus a reactionary response - one of many in an attempt to placate the host population. It can be seen as an essential, non-interactionary, tactic involving "display" but little else.

Normalizing is usually a small character trait that the foreigner picks up from the Japanese population. These characteristics are usually unique to Japan, and the foreigner, either knowingly or unknowingly, adopt these characteristics in their public life as a show of their quality of immersion. Some good examples are; carrying a handkerchief but never using it to blow your nose, bowing to greet everyone, wearing a T-shirt (male) or a bra (female) at all times, and feigning sleep on the train. While these are all small character traits displayed by the Japanese population, foreigners pick up these traits rather quickly. In this way the foreigner is displaying his willingness to "fit in" with the Japanese society without having to verbalize this willingness.

Foreigners sometimes take normalizing to the extreme, which causes members of the Japanese population to see the foreigner as "strange" or "weird." The opposite of what the foreigner is attempting to display.

Akemi: "I work in a small school. We had this British teacher who worked there. We served drinks to the teacher and students. The students would ask for different drinks, but this guy always asked for green tea. Summer, winter, whenever. He brought Japanese food everyday. He read Japanese comic books. It was like he was trying to be Japanese so hard....he even wore a yukata to work one summer day. We all thought he was weird...(henna gaijin)...and were happy when he quit."

(d) Acting Passively

When interaction increases, developing more sophisticated blending and non-threatening strategies becomes a priority. One such strategy was to act passive. Acting passively in public situations minimized the potential for the foreigner to be seen as a threat. Passive behavior can be linked to the "forgiveness" technique. Foreigners use various methods in rationalizing their passivity, as these examples indicate;

Dan: "I really don't look at it like I am passive towards the Japanese, I prefer to look at it as if I am ignoring them. The better I get at ignoring them, the easier my life gets."

Chris: "Hell yes, I became passive in Japan. I had no choice. It was either become passive, or kick the shit out of every Japanese man that was rude to my wife in public. I did that at first, but I soon realized that there were too many rude Japanese and I would not be able to kick the shit out of all of them, so I just learned to act like I did not hear what they said."

Kevin: "I did not realize how passive I had become until my parents visited me from Canada. My father was being stared at on the train by this Japanese guy. I noticed it, but was so used to being stared at that it did not effect me anymore. My father, however was irritated and he did what any self-respecting Canadian would do. He walked up to the guy, looked him square in the eyes and asked him what his [the Japanese man] problem was. I intervened and explained to the Japanese man that my father was a tourist and new to Japan. I explained to my father that the Japanese man meant nothing by it. The confrontation diffused, we went on our way. Later that evening, my father told me how disappointed he was that I had become so weak in Japan that I would allow people to show me such open disrespect without standing up for myself. He told me that if that is what it takes to live as a foreigner in Japan, I was making a mistake to continue to live here. It really hurt my feelings. What hurt even more is that what he said was true."

Mike: "I look at it as being "flexible", not passive. In order to get along in the world, apart from your own country and culture, a certain amount of flexibility is needed. I can't expect every Japanese person to respect my cultural views and opinions, but they have every right to expect me to respect theirs. After all, I chose to live here. No one forced me to marry a Japanese woman and make Japan my home."

While a certain amount of passivity (flexibility) is needed in order for foreigners to be tolerated by the Japanese population, it was noticed that the extremes to which foreigners were expected to be passive were sometimes detrimental to their emotional well being. In many instances, foreigners were expected to just "put up" with behavior towards them from members of the Japanese population that a Japanese person would not have to "put up" with. In fact, many members of the Japanese population expect foreigners to adapt and follow Japanese social etiquette while at the same time members of the Japanese population felt as if they did not have to follow Japanese social etiquette when interacting with foreigners. When these situations occur it creates tremendous emotional stress for the foreigner.

Dan: "My worst day in Japan should have been my best. It was the day my son was born. We had chosen a hospital that was located within walking distance from where I worked so I could be there when he was born. Around 8:00 p.m., I received a call from the hospital informing me that my son had been born. I told them I would be right over, but they asked me to wait until the next day to visit. When I became persistent to visit, the nurse said "no" and hung up on me. I walked to the hospital anyway, but the doors were locked and the security guard would not let me in. He told me if I did not go away, he was going to call the police. The next morning, when I visited the hospital, my wife wanted to know why I had not visited the night before. When I explained it to her she was dumbfounded as the woman in the bed next to her had delivered her son 2 hours after my wife and the hospital had no problem in letting her husband visit the same night. What made matters worse was that because my mother in law had driven my wife to the hospital, they had my son listed under their family name and not mine. They refused to change my son's name on his baby bed, stating that "it did not really matter, anyway." It did to me, but not to them. Then, they asked my if my wife and I were married. These were all small things, but combined they really let me know how little power I have in Japan. My life is basically at the whim of the Japanese people. I felt like a child who had been mistreated, only there was no one I could tell. I just had to take it. When I discussed the situation with my wife's family, they were all in agreement that I was over reacting to the situation, however, when I asked them how they would feel if the same thing happened to them, the room filled with silence. I understood at that moment that the reason they thought I was over reacting was because I was not Japanese. A Japanese person would not ever have to deal with that type of situation in the first place, so they have no reaction ready for a situation like that. That is the main difference between foreigners and Japanese. We [foreigners] have to prepare ourselves daily to be treated like shit. Japanese don't."

Another good example of this extreme situation was reported by a foreigner recently in Tokyo. He had borrowed a bicycle from his friend to go around Tokyo sight seeing. He was stopped and detained a total of 6 times by police while they made sure he had not stolen the bicycle. This can either be seen as great police work in protecting the owners of bicycles in Japan or a blatant distrust of foreigners on bicycles.

The police in Japan have a reputation [when responding to Japanese/foreigner confrontations] for constraining the foreigner but not the Japanese person. Furthermore, the report that is filed, if any, usually takes the side of the Japanese person with little or no weight given to the foreigners statement of what happened. In other words, there is little or no penalty against members of the Japanese population even when a confrontation leads to the hospitalization of the foreigner. In many instances, it was reported that foreigners were actually scolded by police, after being assaulted by members of the Japanese population, for being in the wrong place and the wrong time and were told that they needed to learn more about Japan in order to stay out of trouble.

Dan: "A few years ago I was at a farewell party for another teacher. We were at this Japanese bar. When we left, some Japanese guys followed us outside and began a confrontation. They insisted that one of the foreigners in our group had been rude to them and wanted to kick his ass to teach him a lesson. I talked with them for over an hour, putting foreigners in taxis one by one as I talked and excepted responsibility for the actions of the foreigner. We were right in front of the station, and there was a police box in front of the station. The police never came out, even when the guy started really getting violent. After a while, I got tired of being shoved around so I shoved back. The police were all over me. They told me to go home and learn Japanese etiquette. What a bunch of crap."

(e) Identity Manipulation

Another form of blending "Asian" foreigners and half-Japanese children into the Japanese system is by using identity manipulation. This is similar to Goffman's (1963) concept of "passing", though it is more generalized and flexible. "Passing" is the conceptualization that some stigmatized individuals can effectively disguise their identity and come to be seen as members of the dominant group. This is rarely possible for full blown foreigners, but half-Japanese and other "Asian" foreigners can manipulate their identity to take on other roles. Thus, one "half" I spoke to was often mistaken for being Japanese. She used this to great effect and avoided the negativity of being seen as "gaijin". During a phase of anti-gaijin sentiment, this can be seen as highly effective. It did, however, expose her to the racial connotations of being an outcast in her own group. Similarly, some informants reported pretending to be Japanese because they were given preferential treatment in many shops, or because it lowered the stress level of being seen as a foreigner.

It appeared that being Asian and appearing to be Japanese was helpful in acquiring respectful service in restaurants, stores and other establishments. The former is perceived to add value to the local economy, the latter is often perceived as detracting value, and taking away from the pride of the average Japanese salesperson to be forced to wait upon a non-Japanese person. Identity manipulation is highly dependent on context and requires greater skill when the foreigner is required to interact with the Japanese population. Pretending to be Japanese amongst an audience "wise" to the salient features of a Japanese identity is unworkable. As such, many "Asian" foreigners used this tactic to "pass" themselves off as Japanese. Caucasians and other physically distinct foreigners, however, cannot play this "identity" game. It was found that the foreigners who were able to "pass" physically as Japanese tended to have lower stress levels than those foreigners who were physically distinct from the Japanese population.

Identity manipulation can also occur virtually. That is, various ethnic indicators can be disguised so that if the ethnic is never seen, s/he can give the impression of being a dominant group member. The Japanization of Korean surnames was a common ploy. Thus, Goi became Goto, Me became Mei and so on. The children of the second generation went on to receive Japanese first names as well. Who could tell that someone named Yasushi Yamahara could be non-Japanese? Another ploy was to master the local accent; this allowed the ethnic actor to "pass" while on the phone. It was this technique which allowed physically distinct foreigners to lower the stigma of being a foreigner because they could mask their foreignness while on the phone. This required a near native Japanese speaking ability and the ability to "mask" was only beneficial on the telephone. The benefits of "masking" ceased when the physical appearance of the foreigner became known to the member of the Japanese population.

(f) Some Additional Tactics

So far I have outlined various strategies that are purposeful in the art of blending in. There are other strategies however that serve the same function but are quite inadvertent. These strategies are utilized specifically for escaping the immediate effects of discrimination but inadvertently impression foreignersEabsence or conformity. I identify three inadvertent techniques, these are *relocating, *avoiding, and *career minimizing.

Relocating

With a never changing sentiment towards foreigners in Japan, it was expressed by many informants that relocating to a new city or even country was a distinct possibility. Two informants left Japan during the course of my study. Many stated they wanted to go to more culturally diverse and tolerant locations where their visible presence would not be so noticeable. Places like Hong Kong, Sydney and New York were mentioned. In contrast, many foreigners also expressed the desire to move to remote locations in Japan where there were fewer foreigners, therefore, fewer negative feelings towards foreigners by the Japanese population.

By relocating out of heavily foreign populated areas, content security is increased for the foreigners remaining in that area by reducing the visibility of foreigners. Although, this is only likely if relocating occurs on a mass scale, and occurs in conjunction with geographical spread and the limitation of population size. On the other hand, emotive security is bolstered for the foreigner who leaves, as s/he escapes the discriminatory context. In relation to the second issue, relocating is unique because the foreign actor need not change, but rather selects a "scene" in which s/he fits or can be better concealed. In a place like Seattle Washington, however, new problems arise. Whereas being less American is the concern in American society, the context of America requires being increasingly more American.

Relocating in this instance requires more concealing; concealing one's non-American qualities. Emotive insecurity may still be evident in this instance, for there is always the fear that they may be discovered as a fake American. Relocating is particularly acute during negative shift periods, where the salient features of an American identity become sharply focused and the ethnic actor seeks a reprieve from unwanted negative attention, such as the terrorist bombings in New York.

Relocating obviously has conditions that enable it and make it possible. Generally, young children cannot easily relocate. Relocating tends to be done by those with a high degree of independence and mobility; they are not "tied down". Indeed, most informants who reported this strategy were in careers that were technical, scientific and "objective" as opposed to "arty" and "subjective". The careers they had maintained touristy qualities that made movement easy. There is evidence that foreigners may even prefer these types of careers because of their content insecurity concerns.

Avoiding

Another type of inadvertent concealing involves avoidance tactics. During the height of anti-foreigner sentiment in the late 1990s, many informants reported avoiding unnecessary public outings because of the continued threat of "street racism". Some informants identified specific locations to be avoided and on which time of day such avoidance should be strongly adhered to.

For example, one informant spoke of the "negative vibe" in the kabukicho district, which on Friday evenings was "full of yakuza". These were groups that informants saw as highly resistant to the presence of foreigners in Japan. Avoiding them served the twin goals of avoiding "street racism" and of "impressioning" foreign absence. By avoiding being seen publicly, foreigners inadvertently concealed their presence and no public acting was required. "Avoiding" obviously requires the ethnic actor to know what to avoid and how to avoid it. This requires social knowledge about specific locations and the social types that need to be avoided. It is this type of knowledge that makes avoiding effective. Avoiding can also be linked to "distancing."

Career Minimizing

Finally, "impressioning" foreigner absence was also achieved through career choices. Informants often expressed a distinct preference for non-public occupations. Thus, although foreigners began to enter career fields that came into direct competition with the host population from the 1980s onwards, informants still reported preferences for becoming solicitors rather than barristers, and most notably, foreigners have largely avoided the political arena.

The host population [Japanese] was also found to be taking part in minimizing the career opportunities of foreigners in Japan. It is common to find advertisements in the Japanese newspapers that blatantly announce, "JAPANESE NATIONAL ONLY." This type of blatant discrimination would cause quite a stir in almost every other developed country that was looked at. This type of open and undeterred discrimination is truly unique to Japan, yet the foreign community continues to act passively towards this type of career discrimination by using the unspoken contract as a rationalizing tool.

In order for foreigners in Japan to fully assimilate into the Japanese culture and society, it is imperative that the host population [Japanese] actively pursue opening all careers to foreigners who are qualified to perform the job that is open. The blatant disregard for foreigner's human rights in cases such as forced career minimizing in Japan is a perfect example of rationalized discrimination, which was discussed earlier in the unspoken contract. The fact that newspapers allow companies to run such advertisements establishes how the unspoken contract has allowed members of the Japanese population to stretch the boundaries and definition of discrimination to fit their [Japanese] needs. When asked about career minimizing, one Japanese editor had this to say;

Anonymous: (Name withheld) "Well, there are also advertisements in our newspaper that specify "Native English Speaker Only", but no one is complaining about that."

This Japanese editor has rationalized that because English schools require that teachers be native English speakers, that the level of discrimination is the same. However, if a Japanese person could pass as a native English speaker on the phone, they would most likely receive an interview. Jobs such as modeling can request certain types of individuals and it is not considered discrimination. The comparison the editor makes is quite irrational, yet the editor is unaware of the irrationality of his statement.

Go on to Chapter 7