From: blamb@hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Texas Southern University marching band in To^kyo^
Keywords: A self perpetuating phenomena
Date: 17 Dec 92 19:58:36 GMT
Organization: Horizon Research, Inc.

In article <1gq77pINNcoe@agate.berkeley.edu>, 
haniff@argon.berkeley.edu (Tariq M. Haniff) writes:
=> 
=> I don't mean to try to justify what happened in Akihabara, but I think some
=> ugly behaviour of foreigners in Japan is perpetuated by the existing racism
=> against them.  What I mean is that there is a "damned if you do, damned if
=> you don't" attitude, so why not? This probably was not the case with TSU,
=> which sounds to me like the "opportunist" syndrome of the LA riots.
=> 
=> When I was in Tokyo, I saw a bunch of Navy guys jumping the rail on the 
=> subway. I thought to myself, "what a  bunch of a**h*les.  This is going 
=> to do a lot for the American rep."  But on the train, I heard them
=> complaining to each other about the racism they had faced there and how 
=> they were going to "get back at them."
=> 
=> When it came time to exit, they pretty much just walked right by 
=> the ticket puncher.  The puncher held his arm out to stop one of them,
=> but that fellopw merely shoved the arm out of his way and kept walking.
=> 
=> I thought to myself, "Well these guys are fed up with some of the BS
=> they have to put up with here, and this is a vent of some of that 
=> frustration."

I've run into some service people from time to time in Japan. Some
of them exhibited the kind of attitudes that were noted above. Some
didn't. But in one case when I met 3 or four of them on a train,
they were drunk, raucous, and abusing and annoying the Japanese
on the train. One of them said, "These Japs are afraid of us and
won't say anything... so we can do anything we want." This is pretty
far from venting frustration. I would rather state that bias against
them is used as an excuse to be the "ugly american".

In another incident - near Roppongi - myself and some friends went
to enter a karaoke bar. There were two of us ahead, and two behind.
The two of us who entered first - myself being one - were older and
a little better dressed than the other two guys: young engineers
wearing jeans and t-shirts. At first the man at the door started to
seat us, but when he saw the two younger guys entering, it was the,
"So sorry... members only" story... where members are anyone Japanese,
and non-members are anyone not Japanese. Later we conjectured that
this was because our two younger friends may have looked like US
servicemen. Some time later, the master of a piano bar in the same
area told me that the service people have trashed a lot of places
around Roppongi, and are not welcome because of it. 

Maybe that's racial prejudice, but from what I can see, in the case
of the servicemen, at times it may be justified. And I used to be
one too. It could be that your initial impression of "what a bunch
of assholes" was true and accurate. If it quacks like a duck...

=> The same phenomena exists in the employment of foreigners in Japanese
=> companies (those in the US included).  The management attitude:
=> 
=> "We don't want to give the gaijin too much responsibility since he/she
=> will just jump to another job after a little while here."

How is this the same phenomena? 

Anyway... I know quite a few people who have worked
for Japanese companies for 10 or more years and have considerable
responsibilities and trust. I also know a lot of people who jump
jobs whether they work for a Japanese company or not. Sometimes
I am in a position to hire people, and a strong consideration is
"how many jobs have they had?". I will discard the resume of someone
who has had 5 or 6 jobs in 8 - 10 years. I am very prejudiced in
this regard. So... I won't even hire a person who seems unstable,
never mind not give him any responsibility later.

=> The employee attitude:
=> 
=> "I'm not going to kill myself for nothing.  Chances are I can't advance
=> here, so I better start looking somewhere else."
=> 
=> Flame if you wish.

No flame... but I might be more careful about overgeneralizations
when citing overgeneralizations.

Acting like an asshole in a foreign country because you don't
feel accepted seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me, and
should not be condoned any more than we would accept or allow
such behavior from foreigners visiting the US.

Now... let me guess... the Japanese should be blamed for not
tolerating such behavior... or if they do tolerate it, then
they should be blamed for letting people act like jerks and
doing nothing about it.

I guess that was a flame.

- Bill Lambert
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.asian.america,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.african.american,misc.education