No. Seeing as how children born in Japan to Korean or Chinese families are often not officially “Japanese,” let alone the fact that children born and raised in Japan by Brazilian families are most certainly not “Japanese.” I’ve had people tell me that my neighbors are Koreans, I should watch out. Even though they’d been living in this area for three generations.

A good example. A teacher I worked with lived in the US for most of her teen years. When she returned to Japan she HID the fact she lived abroad, even doing poorly at English tests in college, because she didn’t want people to think she wasn’t “Japanese.” I’ve read about special classes students can taken when returning from abroad in order to “reeducate” them into the social world of being “Japanese.”

What I’ve found so insanely funny are the American English teachers who happen to have Japanese blood, usually three or four generations removed. They often insist that they are in fact “Japanese” while having had almost no exposure to the culture or people. The ones that DON’T do this (so it seems to me in my limited experience) are those people who have very close ties to Japan. Usually people born to parents who immigrated from Japan, 1st generation American kids. They’re the ones that have openly stated that they are in fact NOT Japanese at all and don’t pretend to have some mystical connection to the country. It’s in interesting aspect, the closer you are to being “Japanese” the more likely you are to say that you’re not “Japanese.”

(I’m also going to throw in there that I detest the random college kid who comes to Japan for a semester and then spends the next 4 years using chop sticks to eat his hamburger because he became Japanese while abroad. God I hate those people.)

I Saw This Whole Mess Of Responses Yesterday And Today I Find Out That U Got All The Videos Lined Up Neatly Thx, I Wish I Had This Page Last Night XD

Well done. Lots of different points from different views. While I have never lived in Japan, only visited many times, I cannot see why gaijins would expect to be the same as Japanese. Your points, in particular, to fit in and live, but to keep values you hold dear were well stated. Maybe because I married a Japanese and have never felt discriminated against when I visited Japan, my viewpoints are slanted. I also agree that non-Asians really cannot integrate. More interactions between gaijins and Japanese and more internationalization might be inevitable, but it might not be all that is best. Who knows?

As for Japanese returnees, the problem is that most of them are VERY proud of themselves because they are fluent in English and so on. For example, one of my classmates in my uni (Waseda) told me very proudly that she met 2 guys of Chuo University and then they respected her because she is in Waseda Univ. Well, honestly, I wanted to tell her she didn’t take the same exam as non-returnee students. In my uni, retunees can take the same exams as non-Japanese students and it’s much easier than standard exams because it includes Japanese language exam. Kinda cheatinf, isn’t it? That’s why I also have lots of respect for non-Japanese students whose country is not an English-speaking country and who passed the exam in my Uni…
And then, general reputations on returnees are that “returnees are proud of them because they are fluent in foreign languages but useless because they don’t make any effort to improve other skills”. So, some intelligent returnees want to avoid this kind of labelling, that’s why they don’t want to show easily their language skills. I’m trilingual myself, you can trust me for that.

As for Japanese returnees, the problem is that most of them are VERY proud of themselves because they are fluent in English and so on. For example, one of my classmates in my uni (Waseda) told me very proudly that she met 2 guys of Chuo University and then they respected her because she is in Waseda Univ. Well, honestly, I wanted to tell her she didn’t take the same exam as non-returnee students. In my uni, returnees can take the same exams as non-Japanese students and it’s much easier than standard exams because it includes Japanese language exam. Kinda cheatinf, isn’t it? That’s why I also have lots of respect for non-Japanese students whose country is not an English-speaking country and who passed the exam in my Uni…
And then, general reputations on returnees are that “returnees are proud of them because they are fluent in foreign languages but useless because they don’t make any effort to improve other skills”. So, some intelligent returnees want to avoid this kind of labelling, that’s why they don’t want to show easily their language skills. I’m trilingual myself, you can trust me for that.

An interesting discussion, though I have to admit I could only play some of the longer clips in the background as I worked. The consensus in the videos seems to be “don't try to take it too far” and I'd agree. There's no sense in forgetting who you are in an attempt to make a life here.

I agree with the comment that Japan is not ready to accept non-Asian immigrants.

Thanks for posting this collection.

When asked “Sir, what is the ultimate truth?”, the Master replied, “The sound of one hand clapping.”
The Koan addresses the central issue of all human strivings, “All discursive thoughts and ideas lead to still more discursive thoughts and ideas.”

Kudos to Hiroko for being straight up. I also fully endorse what Hikosaemon said.

Living in Japan requires patience and maturity if one wishes to survive in Japan long-term and enjoy one's life. We cannot change who we are, so taking offence at Japanese people viewing us gaijin as being different is just a waste of energy. We are different.

Embrace the wonderful cultural differences that Japan has to offer us gaijin but don't lose sight of who you are.

Fantastic series of videos. Admittedly I am a relative newcomer to Japan, and have only been here a total of about a year if I add up my various visits plus recent (more permanent, career based) move to Tokyo, but I feel like I’m starting to see some of the cultural layers peel away in my daily interactions with others – particularly through daily life at my work and graduate school. As an anthropologist, I try really hard to listen to everyone’s feelings about identity, home, culture and place, and then form somewhat of an understanding about the cultures and subcultures around me… but this is something that any anthro student or professional is told can and will take YEARS to come together for you. Since I have some years to spare, I’m trying to be patient and just let the big picture come together over time. I don’t want to become Japanese – but I do enjoy living among Japanese people and making a positive difference in the community around me (I’m okay with participating in things like trash cleanup days and I think it’s helped me to be at least recognized as a positive part of the community).

I have to say, Hikosaemon’s account on being Japanese and whether or not that is a desirable goal really has a lot for people to think about and really digest intellectually (and I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days). Honestly, I think he had a lot of really helpful things to say, and I tend to agree that keeping my identity as my own, rather than forcing new definitions or restrictions around it constantly, is something that is very important to me. Observing the general social code is of course important when living in another country and usually makes things a lot easier for you and those around you, but your identity is something you always have control over. If you are a generally unhappy person where you are living now and you want to come to Japan thinking that will make you happy – it probably won’t work out. I get a lot of emails from people who want to move to Japan because they love what they’ve learned about Japanese Culture and have formed this very defined picture of Japan in their heads…(I think everyone does this to some extent and even I admit to have had perceptions before coming here) but I try to remind them that at the end of the day we’re all just human – eating, working, sleeping and living in the space around us for better or for worse, AND that what many of the Japanese Video Bloggers have been saying is quite true (I’m paraphrasing here but you get the idea) “Everyone who comes to Japan will have a different experience.” It’s wonderful to travel and experience new cultures and ideas, but remembering who you are and why its special for everyone to have their own sense of identity, culture and happiness in life is quite important. That’s what I honestly feel.

woops. Accidentally tried to post this as a guest without logging in….

Fantastic series of videos. Admittedly I am a relative newcomer to Japan, and have only been here a total of about a year if I add up my various visits plus recent (more permanent, career based) move to Tokyo, but I feel like I'm starting to see some of the cultural layers peel away in my daily interactions with others – particularly through daily life at my work and graduate school. As an anthropologist, I try really hard to listen to everyone's feelings about identity, home, culture and place, and then form somewhat of an understanding about the cultures and subcultures around me… but this is something that any anthro student or professional is told can and will take YEARS to come together for you. Since I have some years to spare, I'm trying to be patient and just let the big picture come together over time. I don't want to become Japanese – but I do enjoy living among Japanese people and making a positive difference in the community around me (I'm okay with participating in things like trash cleanup days and I think it's helped me to be at least recognized as a positive part of the community).

I have to say, Hikosaemon's account on being Japanese and whether or not that is a desirable goal really has a lot for people to think about and really digest intellectually (and I've been thinking about it for the past few days). Honestly, I think he had a lot of really helpful things to say, and I tend to agree that keeping my identity as my own, rather than forcing new definitions or restrictions around it constantly, is something that is very important to me. Observing the general social code is of course important when living in another country and usually makes things a lot easier for you and those around you, but your identity is something you always have control over. If you are a generally unhappy person where you are living now and you want to come to Japan thinking that will make you happy – it probably won't work out. I get a lot of emails from people who want to move to Japan because they love what they've learned about Japanese Culture and have formed this very defined picture of Japan in their heads…(I think this happens to everyone to some extent. Even I admit to having some defined notions before I came!) but I try to remind them that at the end of the day we're all just human – eating, working, sleeping and living in the space around us for better or for worse, AND that what many of the Japanese Video Bloggers have been saying is quite true (I'm paraphrasing here but you get the idea) “Everyone who comes to Japan will have a different experience.” It's wonderful to travel and experience new cultures and ideas, but remembering who you are and why its special for everyone to have their own sense of identity, culture and happiness in life is quite important. That's what I honestly feel.

Here is the answer to your question:

A non-racially Japanese individual can become a Japanese citizen through naturalization. So technically, yes, this is possible, though difficult. After naturalization, this person would become a foreign-born Japanese.

However, would this naturalized Japanese citizen ever be considered Japanese by the Japanese society at large, and by individuals who are not his close friends/confidants? No, because the Japanese society as a whole sees nationality and race as inseparable, and have not had enough exposure to diversity to be able to see beyond this construct. It is not so much rejection as it is a total unfamiliarity with Western views of nationhood and citizenship. I hope this makes sense.

It seems that many Americans, or other Japanophiles from diverse societies, struggle with this reality — and that is totally understandable. The best way to deal with this issue is to understand how and why Japanese society is the way that it is. Accept it. Understand that the society could change someday, and that the current cultural perception of us/them does not mean that you cannot like Japan, love Japan, have close ties with Japan, take inspiration from Japan, study Japanese, or integrate the culture into your everyday life. All it means is that if you ever decide to put down roots there, you could seek naturalization but would nevertheless have to contend with a certain social “otherness.”

Always be patient, diplomatic, and respectful — these traits will get you very far in Japan, and will open many doors.