From:  (Hajime Yoji)
Subject: Re: Actually!
Organization: University of Tasmania
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 10:42:46 GMT

To Keis Ohtsuka
      Dept. of Psychology
      The University of Western Australia

Well, I did a follow up of you article but it didn't turn up on  soc.culture.japan. So I'm
writing this again. 

In article <1bbpvsINNk0b@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>, keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka) writes:

> Europeans and whites with European heritage in Australia/NZ/USA etc. do
> have their own culture. It seems to me that you should be sensitive to
> cultural differences when you interact with "whites" just as you are
> in socialising with people with colour. If you're open-minded to feel
> comfortable mingling with different cultural groups, I don't see any
> reason for you to avoid Australians just because some of them have
> different skin/hair/eye colours than yours!

Yeah, yeah, i know it is wrong  to avoid someone just because of their skin. You said my
prob is that I'm too sensitive when I'm with whites. Well, you might be right but it
is quite common for many of oversee students to feel awkard when talking to Australian.
So I'm not the only one anyway. 
But my prob roots to some of my bad experience I had when I was quite new in here. I was
several times called 'Jap' during that time. And once I was in the bus, a small
school kid shouted me "Piss off" repeatedly just because I told him I am a Japanese.  To
make thing worse, the people in bus was having fun out of seeing me being embarrased.
I still can remember those people whose face was smiling. And I still can't forget the feeling
of embarrasement and confusion I had. 
	But i do not think a little boy was a racist. He reacted in that way because his surrounding
environment telling him, probably TV, that Japan is something that Australian what 
it to piss off.
	How many times do you notice that any of activities western nation do is treated as
activities by their government. But if it is Japanese, media aren't fair to us. Who or
what ever the govt, companies, or organisation, it is always Japanese which are doing
that.  A typical example I saw was a magazine  talking about whales hunting. In this
article a greenie was saying that he is trying to contact with Norwaisian "embassy" and
"Japanese". Yeah, it is important to "see people as individuals not as a representative of a
certain ethnic group" but it is large population of Australian who don't see that way, 
My problem is not me being too sensitive to the other. It is me being too sensitive to 
myself i.e. being Japanese. 
So the problem is not Australian being white but it is my nationality. But my background
is none of my fault. 

If I'm with those outies(i.e oversee students), I 'm free from so called Japanese
complex stuff cos all of us feel some sort of bond that we are aliens. That is why I don't 
have any problem getting on with Islanders. 
 
> You said many of your best freinds are Pacific Islanders. You
> probably look at them as your friends, not as a sample of "Blacks"
> from Pacific Islands. You need the same mindset to get along (or 
> at least comfortable with talking to) with "White" Australians.
> Do not see them as representatives of an ethnic group. See them
> as people (and I must emphasise that you were able to do it for
> Asian-Australians so easily.)

I used the word "Blacks" since I thought none of them in soc.culture.japan would 
know what people from Pacific are like. I thought all of them in soc.culture.japan are
American. I'm quite aware Islanders culture and characteristic which is distincit from
Afro-American.


Hajime Yoji
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:8815 soc.culture.asian.american:9568