Black Lady in Japan One evening in the common room of my dorm
Me: Waah, who all these men that keep coming up to me?!?
Carr: Jasmine, you're a Black Women in Japan? You're quite rare here.
Alright y'all. You know I'm the "race" girl. Oh yes! Even in Japan I discussed racial politics. This travel abroad year has been eye opening If anything, I realized even more how race is a social construct. Many people say it, preach it, but they don't follow this very real truth. You hear "all people are equal." And then you hear FOX news. Sometimes it's people from Fox news saying that! Being in Japan reminded that the notion of race is stupid! Idiotic! Frustrating! Damn, we can just fix this shit already? Nope!
I digress...
Japan is not a racially diverse place. It's not London or New York City with their hodge of cultures. If you find something "ethnic" it has probably been "Japanified." This country is almost completely Japanese. I say" almost" because there are ethnic minorities: Koreans, Chinese, Ainu (natives of the Japan), and Okinawans. If you're a Westerner, a bit dark-you stick out. Sticking out was the least of my worries though. Honestly,before I came to Japan I read some horror stories about horrendous racism towards Black people from the Japanese. At the same time I read stories about how it actually wasn't that bad. Going to London, I didn't think about the treatment of the British because I was going to be London. It would be somewhat similar to the States. But Japan? How do they view Black or non-white minorities? How is race classified there? Is there even a race issue? Well, I experienced it for myself. It really was not bad...at all. In fact, I felt so relaxed here after eased into my daily life. I'd say I was more at ease in Japan than in London and the U.S. Dare I say it? Sometimes I wasn't aware that I'm black. WOA! Anyway, I feel that the attitude towards black people is one of curiosity especially when one goes to parts of Japan that may not be used to seeing foreigners of the dark sort.
Story!
During Golden Week in Kyoto. I left my hostel to catch the bus to the Silver Temple. As I was walking to the train station I passed by a two ladies on edege of the sidewalk. Before I passed them one lady looked up at me, did a double-take, whispered to friend and proceeded to stare at me. You know that look you get when you see something you know exists. You've seen it in picture books, maybe read about it, but never actually seen it with your own eyes. I was that subject. They heard about black people, seen them in the movies, but dammit here comes one walking their way. I wasn't offended. I just laughed and moved on.
Now you know how it feels???
The funniest part about all of this was hearing the white students talk about "standing out." My friend, who is also black, and I just looked at each other and moved on. We're used to the standing out already. This was nothing new to us. But funny aside, I hope my white friends got a taste of what it feels like to be a minority. I hope they gained some sort of understanding. They sounded frustrated the first couple of weeks in Japan and I wonder if they realize that's frustration minorities in the States have from childhood.
Food for thought?
I don't want to bomabard one post will all this "race talk." Thus ends Part 1.
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