My experience in Japan has spanned ten years now. I can't believe it... I was watching the B-film, Toxic Avengers 2 (1989), when I realized the Japan of 1989 has as much in common with the Japan of 2004, as 2004 has as much in common as 2015. Granted, the Gaijin experience has been declining in Japan since the early 1990s. Old guys reminisce about earning a cool, non-inflation adjusted 80k/year in 1985, before the internet's job advertising, before Japan's bubble blew, and before American women got fat. Heck, even when I was first in Japan, guys in their late 20s talked about NOVA not being "that bad...," it having slightly higher nominal wages and even English teaching trade journals...
However, I feel Japan, and Gaijin experience there, is reaching a point, when the decreasing social life and poverty wages/workload make Japan no more attractive than other venues.
When I first came to Japan, mass-marketed ekaiwa was relatively new (maybe taking off in 1996?). Gaijin still seemed somewhat new. English teachers had more currency (both prestige and money). There was more interest in gaijin, more of a novelty. There were less J-girls getting burned by sloppy Gaijin. There was also something called "internationalism" that was a buzz word. There was a real push at all levels of society to learn and befriend foreigners, and of course, learn English. There are less ekaiwas and less Gaijin teachers in Japan. How did 'internationalism die?"
Hip Hop was new in 2004 Japan. Bob Sop was the first African American guy. There were Nigerian gangsters in Japan, but everyone stayed clear of them, no matter how much they implored they were "Frank from NYC." Kansai 2004 had a few gaijin clubs/bars per major city. Each one was chill, with dancing, talking, bar logistics. When I returned to Japan in 2007, many were bankrupt, and most of the others were Japanese Hip Hop venues, the only foreigners left the infidels-are-#####s Muslim/Hindu types. (When inquiring about this change of a few years with previous J-girls I picked up in the old venues, they shrugged, no idea what happened.)
These days, in Tokyo, I see many Japanese dying their hair, tanning, and participating in the shake-down schemes Nigerians run (e.g., entrap gaijin in bars with outrageous bills, drugging drinks, etc.). I would never have thought this would happen to large segments of Japanese youth. I feel many of the gaijin women, through resentment, are also bad mouthing gaijin guys. Since all of the Gaijin women are Caucasian, they only bash Caucasian guys. I get much more ##### shield from J-birds my African American friends do not.
Japanese culture, politeness, tradition, pride, etc., seems much less intact with the younger generation. They see that they will have a less socioeconomic future, just like us back home. They are too poor to marry with kids. Japanese men are becoming Otaku. Japanese women don't want to be a wife/mom. Japan seems poorer, less friendly, more overweight than when I first came. This also affects Gaijin, as there are less English students, xenophobia is larger, and less "token Gaijin" positions for the long termers.
I feel like the last point may have the most influence in declining social status of Gaijin: internet TV. When I first came to Japan, one had to bring videos or DVDs to watch U.S. TV. There was a cable option, but most people didn't have it and it was limited. There were video stores with some Japanese subtitles but, again, limited. (I actually remember being on a screwed-up schedule to watch U.S. TV--stayed up until 4 am to watch English movies, to get up at 730, lol.)
Now, one can watch unlimited TV on the internet. Many movies are dubbed into Japanese, foreign movies no longer being the interest of English language learners. We have to address this fact: U.S. TV is very destructive. It denigrates men, particularly white men as something desirable. It promotes feminism. It promotes nasty behavior and has begun to show the mass poverty of an unregulated, non-safety net country. I run into Asian chicks thinking Caucasian people are evil, watch Schindler's List, talk about MLK like it's contemporary, etc. I know they are getting it from U.S. media, as it is totally taken out-of-context and has the same flavor of substituting the American man for the robber baron of old. Sex in the City has done irreparable damage to the Japanese woman. (Let's be real here, though J-girls are cute, the main attractiveness was their personality, gracefulness.)
In conclusion, what are the thoughts of the posters here, particularly the guys with a long view? Japan is still nice, but is it the siren song it was? When I came back from Japan, though I was a much more manly guy (PUA wasn't monetized or a mass-phenomenon then, but we still got laid.), I couldn't reassimilate back to my high-end academic life, ending up having to re-tool. Would I have been so distressed at leaving Japan prematurely if I had come in 2014? What say you?
However, I feel Japan, and Gaijin experience there, is reaching a point, when the decreasing social life and poverty wages/workload make Japan no more attractive than other venues.
When I first came to Japan, mass-marketed ekaiwa was relatively new (maybe taking off in 1996?). Gaijin still seemed somewhat new. English teachers had more currency (both prestige and money). There was more interest in gaijin, more of a novelty. There were less J-girls getting burned by sloppy Gaijin. There was also something called "internationalism" that was a buzz word. There was a real push at all levels of society to learn and befriend foreigners, and of course, learn English. There are less ekaiwas and less Gaijin teachers in Japan. How did 'internationalism die?"
Hip Hop was new in 2004 Japan. Bob Sop was the first African American guy. There were Nigerian gangsters in Japan, but everyone stayed clear of them, no matter how much they implored they were "Frank from NYC." Kansai 2004 had a few gaijin clubs/bars per major city. Each one was chill, with dancing, talking, bar logistics. When I returned to Japan in 2007, many were bankrupt, and most of the others were Japanese Hip Hop venues, the only foreigners left the infidels-are-#####s Muslim/Hindu types. (When inquiring about this change of a few years with previous J-girls I picked up in the old venues, they shrugged, no idea what happened.)
These days, in Tokyo, I see many Japanese dying their hair, tanning, and participating in the shake-down schemes Nigerians run (e.g., entrap gaijin in bars with outrageous bills, drugging drinks, etc.). I would never have thought this would happen to large segments of Japanese youth. I feel many of the gaijin women, through resentment, are also bad mouthing gaijin guys. Since all of the Gaijin women are Caucasian, they only bash Caucasian guys. I get much more ##### shield from J-birds my African American friends do not.
Japanese culture, politeness, tradition, pride, etc., seems much less intact with the younger generation. They see that they will have a less socioeconomic future, just like us back home. They are too poor to marry with kids. Japanese men are becoming Otaku. Japanese women don't want to be a wife/mom. Japan seems poorer, less friendly, more overweight than when I first came. This also affects Gaijin, as there are less English students, xenophobia is larger, and less "token Gaijin" positions for the long termers.
I feel like the last point may have the most influence in declining social status of Gaijin: internet TV. When I first came to Japan, one had to bring videos or DVDs to watch U.S. TV. There was a cable option, but most people didn't have it and it was limited. There were video stores with some Japanese subtitles but, again, limited. (I actually remember being on a screwed-up schedule to watch U.S. TV--stayed up until 4 am to watch English movies, to get up at 730, lol.)
Now, one can watch unlimited TV on the internet. Many movies are dubbed into Japanese, foreign movies no longer being the interest of English language learners. We have to address this fact: U.S. TV is very destructive. It denigrates men, particularly white men as something desirable. It promotes feminism. It promotes nasty behavior and has begun to show the mass poverty of an unregulated, non-safety net country. I run into Asian chicks thinking Caucasian people are evil, watch Schindler's List, talk about MLK like it's contemporary, etc. I know they are getting it from U.S. media, as it is totally taken out-of-context and has the same flavor of substituting the American man for the robber baron of old. Sex in the City has done irreparable damage to the Japanese woman. (Let's be real here, though J-girls are cute, the main attractiveness was their personality, gracefulness.)
In conclusion, what are the thoughts of the posters here, particularly the guys with a long view? Japan is still nice, but is it the siren song it was? When I came back from Japan, though I was a much more manly guy (PUA wasn't monetized or a mass-phenomenon then, but we still got laid.), I couldn't reassimilate back to my high-end academic life, ending up having to re-tool. Would I have been so distressed at leaving Japan prematurely if I had come in 2014? What say you?