How will people in Japan judge me since I'm a foreigner?
Will they judge be just because of how I look? I'm an American with blonde hair My friends that have visited Japan on a school trip said that they were stared at a lot, so I want some tips that might help me not stand out
Japan - 6 Answers
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1 :
They all see you as sexy beast
2 :
You can't avoid being stared at as long as you are in Japan. But don't be afraid. You don't have to be someone else. Stay as you are now. I don't know what you mean by judge. But you don't have to worry about it unless you come to Japan to work.
3 :
they will not judge you by the way you look but they will judge you by the way you act and the way you dress.
4 :
You'll be a gaijin....
5 :
Okay first of all, no matter where you go -- whether it's down the road to the grocery store or half-way around the world to a different country -- people judge you based on your appearance. It's just a fact of life. Japan is really no different, but it seems like stories of how foreigners get treated in Japan are passed around and blown all out of proportion. You're going to stand out no matter what you do, and frankly if you try to blend in you're probably just going to look silly and make yourself stand out even more. My advice to you: don't be rude or obnoxious, learn some basic Japanese before you go (stuff like please and thank you), bring a phrase book with you, see if you can find bilingual maps of where you're going and bring those too (very helpful if you have to stop and ask for directions), bathe and clean your clothes regularly, and other than that just stop worrying about it. Smile and be reasonably cheerful when you talk to people, and show some genuine interest in the culture, it gets you pretty far with people. But at the same time remember that Japan isn't a theme park and the vast majority of people there aren't there to care for or entertain you, they're just trying to enjoy their own vacations or go about their everyday lives. Don't be shocked when strangers on the streets or subways don't talk to you -- they're not being rude, it's just how things are done (and really, how often do total strangers in other cities stop and strike up random conversations on the streets?). People might be curious but that's okay. You're curious too, or you wouldn't even be in Japan. All of this is pretty common sense, but people really seem to freeze up and not even think about it when it comes to traveling in Japan. Remember that no matter what you look like, you have a LOT of control over how people treat you because you have control over how you treat everyone around you. Good behavior will generally get you treated well. Being an obnoxious nuisance will annoy people and you'll be back here a week after your trip asking why the Japanese are so rude (they're not). Remember that there are jerks everywhere and you might run into them, but for most people the above rule of reciprocal good behavior and nice treatment applies.
6 :
If you go outside of the big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, you are guaranteed get stared at, but don't get paranoid about it, no-one in japan is out to get you and it's not because they dislike you, a blond haired american is just not something they see that often. Most people won't negatively judge you because you are a foreigner, really the only people who still resent tourists, etc, are a few old people and they cant really do much, so don't change yourself, go as you are and as long as you are cheerful and polite everyone will be nice back.
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