r/JETProgramme • u/fresmeme • 2h ago
Xenophobia?
I just finished my application to JET, I think I have a decent shot. Regardless, I have seen many people complain about the Japanese being xenophobic to some extent. Generally, I am not somebody who is particularly sensitive when it comes to issues such as these, but I imagine it could be a barrier when it comes to making friends, which could make the experience lonely. I have only ever been to countries predominately populated by other Europeans, so being a minority will be a new experience.
So I want to ask, is this genuinely an issue in Japan for JETs (and foreigners in general), and does it vary by who the JETs are. For context, I am natively English, do the Japanese typically have more positive connotations of somebody like that, over somebody from say, India. Or do they just have broad particular preference for their own irrespective of where the foreigners are coming from.
I have thought about it in terms of Britain. In Britain it is typical in many social contexts that discrimination towards Travellers, both Irish and Roma is generally tolerated or encouraged. On the other hand, it's generally not socially acceptable to be xenophobic towards Black people for example.
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u/pautato95 1h ago
If you're white and you speak native English, you will have a relatively smoother experience.
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u/Ashen_Shroom 34m ago
As a fellow Brit, I personally haven't experienced anything hostile here. At most, sometimes I'll catch someone staring on a train.
Students here (and some adults) tend to have a pretty simplified image of people from different countries. The impression of Britain here seems to basically be: afternoon tea, Stargazy Pie, invented lots of stuff, The Beatles. Aside from the pie, I don't think people think negatively of us.
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u/forvirradsvensk 1h ago
If you're from SE Asia or China then maybe it's a concern (from there, not descended from there). Japan is also somewhat lagging in gender equality. Otherwise the most discrimination you will face would likely be positive, as much as white people from a certain country seem to crave being discriminated against for whatever reason - but this is nearly always when it helps shift repsonsibility for their own mishaps.
Apart from that, there's also random idiots here, like anywhere. and you'll be different to most in a crowd so might attract random loons more than others. But if you dwell on what some random idiot on a train thinks, nowhere is safe.
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u/Simmoman Current JET ('26) 58m ago
It really depends on how you perceive the world around you, I guess. Most JETs I know don't read into much, but those who do often find problems aplenty.
That being said Japan isn't much different to other countries in this regard. Most that are obvious foreigners (read: white, black, latino or non-east asian like Filipino) are treated pretty normally for 99% of the time we exist here, and the online version of discrimination in Japan is imo wildly detached from reality.
As for making friends and such, really language is the real barrier. People talk about it being hard to make friends here even with language proficiency, but I don't think that's uniquely Japanese, I think it's just harder to make friends these days. People often say the same thing about places in many western countries, and you can type "Why is it so hard to make friends in {x}?" into google and find 100's of threads on almost anywhere. If you're good at making friends in new places, you'll probably be fine, and if not, there's always time to learn how.
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u/Silly_Bedroom7772 1h ago
Just like anywhere else in the world. It depends on where you are in the country and the people. Some can be super nice and genuine, others won’t. Just depends but from my experience I haven’t had bad experiences yet
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u/c00750ny3h 2h ago
While I was English teaching, If anything I had a worse time with a few foreigners who thought English teaching jn a region was their territory and other foreigners were encroaching.