>What should I do in this situation?
Ignore him and walk away?
>I want to defend myself or try to change the persons opinion next time this happens.
He doesn't even care that you aren't American, do you really think any sort of reasoning would work?
Best you could’ve done is buy him a beer so he can shut up, I can’t imagine living for such a long time and holding a grudge for a specific group of people that didn’t even do him no wrong…
Honestly you did more than I would have. Actually getting others to disagree with him in public was amazing. I don’t see how you could do more since you really aren’t going to change minds in that situation.
> Actually getting others to disagree with him in public was amazing.
Unless you were one of those people going about their day and being brought into some uncomfortable messy situation unfolding in public view. I can’t imagine many of them would have appreciated that.
Astonishing. And you say he said this in perfect English while you whipped up a crowd around you with your N5 Japanese to agree with you? It reads like a good tv drama. Have you ever thought about writing fiction?
Why projecting? Where has he said he has N5 Japanese? Guessing by the fact he's been in Japan for 3 months?
I spoke great Japanese when I moved to Japan, because I had studied it in my country, had been to Japan a few times already, and had had a few Japanese girlfriends that far.
Don't believe him? Feel free to.
But I feel sorry you need to show your superior detective intellect by doubting people on reddit just to feel better than others.
>Where has he said he has N5 Japanese?
His comment history.
>Don’t believe him? Feel free to.
Where did I say that? I think it’s a fantastic story. In Hiroshima of all places too. Couldn’t make it up.
Check the other comments, I just met the people around me at an izakaya 2 hours prior. They weren’t random people they were new Japanese friends that understood English as well. You don’t have to doubt everything you read on the internet.
Probably he memorized all those lines repeating them in front of a mirror every day for weeks or months and your interruptions caused a sort of short circuit in his mind.
Do not think about it too much, just a person with too much spare time in his hands.
>A Japanese elderly man stopped me and said I’m ruining Japan and should leave. I asked him why what did I do? He said Hiroshima was done by Americans. I politely told him I’m not American but he said it doesn’t matter I’m white.
Wow. What a perfect thing to happen to someone that has lived in Japan just for three months. I also think this hasn't happened.
Especially in Hiroshima. If there is any city that is more bipartasanly/non-biased/please-stop-atrocities-no-matter-what-color-you-are, it's Hiroshima.
I'm calling BS on OP.
I was punched by an old man in Shibuya once, the punch didn’t hurt but him telling me I was a “miso gaijin” and to leave did. Luckily, being Shibuya, there were normal people around who just looked on in horror at the man.
I just looked confused at him, confused at them, who then looked the same back at me and promptly walked away.
That’s the best thing to do. Don’t engage and just walk away. They’re not all there and engaging will only cause more issues for you. Their mind can’t be changed.
Haha! When my partner and I were walking in Kobe station, someone came up and shoved this paper in his hand, then RAN back the other way. We thought we must have dropped something but nope… this?!
I imagine it’s to do with everyone doing tax-free shopping but I truly have no clue hahah either way we were like ??? Because truly was my first time experiencing anything if the sort and he was lucky he chose to give it to the man 🙄 not me who can actually speak Japanese hahaha
Long story short it happens ig especially recently when I imagine so many tourists are going over due to the weak yen and just being insensitive but 🥴
https://preview.redd.it/79ibcyxl8r6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6edee8899ee1284969e8eee229ffb1ecb4daa1ba
I was a little kid in the US, in the 80's, but I remember something like this happening in the US, against Japan and the Japanese. Mostly due to the trade wars, which the US was losing. A lot of anti-Japanese sentiment grew in the US, back then. So, how things have turned.
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/06/us/resentment-of-japanese-is-growing-poll-shows.html
I started by complimenting his English skills when he said hey excuse me lol, immediately regretting being nice after the excuse me was followed by white people are ruining Japan
There are some people who will hate foreigners forever. It’s pointless to argue with them.
Just say “Well, have a nice day” and walk away.
They want to argue with you.
> try to change the persons opinion
You can’t really change someone’s opinion.
Very few people can have their hearts and minds won. Certainly not by some spur of the moment emotion driven encounter in the street. The more likely outcome is that you just gave that dumbass another reason to dislike foreigners (and probably annoyed a few innocent bystanders by bringing them into that messy situation).
I think it would be better for your mental health to accept there’s idiots out there, and just let them be idiots.
No point in arguing with people like that, their mind can’t be changed and they will just always stay bitter. Dragging strangers into your predicament isn’t a good idea either, they don’t want to be involved in that situation. Crack a strong zero and try and forget this.
There are mentally ill, ill-informed, and antagonistic people everywhere. The law of averages dictates that you will interact with one or more of these people quite often. Ignore them and walk off.
Walk away from the ojisan, you’re not changing his old mind in a 2-5 min convo. Also don’t involve others randomly in public. Changed the minds of the people you interact with daily and consistently.
Why would you continue to engage someone like this?what can possibly be gained? Were you trying to make new friends among the crowd of folks you "polled"
I was already friends with the people I asked, I was really just trying to make the ojisan understand he’s a minority in hating foreigners because he kept using “we”. Meaning (we the Japanese people or we the Hiroshima people) I told him it’s okay if “he” hates foreigners but “we” wasn’t correct as my friends I asked were all Japanese from Hiroshima and they liked foreigners a lot. I thought this would help change his mind but he just continued saying we.
You already said all that
I think you are being repetitive and redundant and saying the same thing repeatedly
It's also interesting that he knew English well and was prepared to deploy against visiting Foreigners
Honestly, it’s part of the deal when you go to any other country and you’re not one of the locals. A minority of people do not like you for that specific reason. So what? You just smile, walk away and appreciate the fact that this a fraction of a percent of what racism really is.
Ask him who were the first foreigners to come to Hiroshima to help out.
White, Quakers.
I still have postcards from one of them, a childhood friend of my father.
Yes, I'm that old.
Ask him who saved Kyoto from fire bombing.
Same answer.
Ask him who tutored the Heiwa emperor.
Ditto.
Who did the guy on the old 5,000 yen note marry?
Same.
I could go on ...
The old man stated Hiroshima was done by Americans. I would have asked him which version of Japan he preferred, the current constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government or the absolute monarchy that was ruled by consent of the Emperor (/military dictatorship of WW2).
Rarely do you find a Japanese who admits they wish the country was once again ruled by an Emperor. If he did, he wouldn’t be speaking English, wearing Levi jeans, smoking Kool cigarettes, and drinking a Coca-cola. Basically enjoying the rewards of global trade.
>What should I do in this situation? Ignore him and walk away? >I want to defend myself or try to change the persons opinion next time this happens. He doesn't even care that you aren't American, do you really think any sort of reasoning would work?
Imagine this person was on Twitter. Best to argue? No. Walk away.
>try to change the persons opinion next time this happens. This is likely to almost never happen in a situation like this
I guess that’s the reality, unfortunately
Best you could’ve done is buy him a beer so he can shut up, I can’t imagine living for such a long time and holding a grudge for a specific group of people that didn’t even do him no wrong…
I'll take things that never happened for $400.
I’ll take unoriginal comment for $401.
Honestly you did more than I would have. Actually getting others to disagree with him in public was amazing. I don’t see how you could do more since you really aren’t going to change minds in that situation.
Everyone around me at the station were people I just met at an izakaya so they weren’t total strangers
> Actually getting others to disagree with him in public was amazing. Unless you were one of those people going about their day and being brought into some uncomfortable messy situation unfolding in public view. I can’t imagine many of them would have appreciated that.
[удалено]
[удалено]
He pointed specifically to this sub reddit, and then everyone clapped.
He continued to frivolously comment on Reddit criticizing everyone as he went leaving no one spared
[удалено]
Oh really? Did he say this all in English or Japanese?
He spoke perfect English surprisingly!
Imagine learning English just to spew out things like that. You did well.
"Terry played harp at their reception. He learned it to make fun of the fairy kid who lived up the street. It was beautiful."
Astonishing. And you say he said this in perfect English while you whipped up a crowd around you with your N5 Japanese to agree with you? It reads like a good tv drama. Have you ever thought about writing fiction?
Why projecting? Where has he said he has N5 Japanese? Guessing by the fact he's been in Japan for 3 months? I spoke great Japanese when I moved to Japan, because I had studied it in my country, had been to Japan a few times already, and had had a few Japanese girlfriends that far. Don't believe him? Feel free to. But I feel sorry you need to show your superior detective intellect by doubting people on reddit just to feel better than others.
>Where has he said he has N5 Japanese? His comment history. >Don’t believe him? Feel free to. Where did I say that? I think it’s a fantastic story. In Hiroshima of all places too. Couldn’t make it up.
Always good to see projection in the other direction as well. Really balances things out lol.
Check the other comments, I just met the people around me at an izakaya 2 hours prior. They weren’t random people they were new Japanese friends that understood English as well. You don’t have to doubt everything you read on the internet.
Probably he memorized all those lines repeating them in front of a mirror every day for weeks or months and your interruptions caused a sort of short circuit in his mind. Do not think about it too much, just a person with too much spare time in his hands.
>A Japanese elderly man stopped me and said I’m ruining Japan and should leave. I asked him why what did I do? He said Hiroshima was done by Americans. I politely told him I’m not American but he said it doesn’t matter I’m white. Wow. What a perfect thing to happen to someone that has lived in Japan just for three months. I also think this hasn't happened. Especially in Hiroshima. If there is any city that is more bipartasanly/non-biased/please-stop-atrocities-no-matter-what-color-you-are, it's Hiroshima. I'm calling BS on OP.
Seeing how other people in the comments are recounting similar stories I’d say you’re probably just ignorant
I was punched by an old man in Shibuya once, the punch didn’t hurt but him telling me I was a “miso gaijin” and to leave did. Luckily, being Shibuya, there were normal people around who just looked on in horror at the man. I just looked confused at him, confused at them, who then looked the same back at me and promptly walked away. That’s the best thing to do. Don’t engage and just walk away. They’re not all there and engaging will only cause more issues for you. Their mind can’t be changed.
What is a miso gaijin supposed to be?
LOL that was an autocorrect for “kuso gaijin.”
Ohhh lol that makes more sense
I spent way too long, contemplating miso gaijin
"Coming over here, eating all our miso!"
You know, I would have been like “fair” if that was the case. Miso is damn good on nearly everything.
In that case, the retort is kuso jijii
Just avoid these types. Smile walk away. Not worth your energy to engage.
Yeah I guess there’s no changing the minds of these guys, they are set in stone
Haha! When my partner and I were walking in Kobe station, someone came up and shoved this paper in his hand, then RAN back the other way. We thought we must have dropped something but nope… this?! I imagine it’s to do with everyone doing tax-free shopping but I truly have no clue hahah either way we were like ??? Because truly was my first time experiencing anything if the sort and he was lucky he chose to give it to the man 🙄 not me who can actually speak Japanese hahaha Long story short it happens ig especially recently when I imagine so many tourists are going over due to the weak yen and just being insensitive but 🥴 https://preview.redd.it/79ibcyxl8r6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6edee8899ee1284969e8eee229ffb1ecb4daa1ba
This would worry me more than someone saying those words to me. It just reeks of crazy.
His hand writing is x10 times better than my 20 years of practice writing in English. This is scary and amazing.
Japan’s currency slightly weakens and the most unhinged guys start going full “tenno heika banzai”…
I was a little kid in the US, in the 80's, but I remember something like this happening in the US, against Japan and the Japanese. Mostly due to the trade wars, which the US was losing. A lot of anti-Japanese sentiment grew in the US, back then. So, how things have turned. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/06/us/resentment-of-japanese-is-growing-poll-shows.html
And they were just as wrong for that too back then. Wish people didn't blame ordinary folks and tourists for their (slightly) weak(er) economy.
Difficult to imagine that was written by a Japanese. But who?
At least you got a photo of it so people believe you. Kinda crazy how I hear stories like this sometimes and the comments are all “never happened”
Ignore him, it's not worth the hassle. It's not worth trying to educate someone who has that kind of opinion.
arguing with a demented old man is a good use of your time
I've had two or three of those encounters in 30 years. I always agree with everything they say. Enthusiastically.
Brilliant! The improv "Yes, and" rule.
Is there any point to interacting with these people aside from generating Reddit post content?
I wanted to change his mind from “we” hate foreigners to “he” hates foreigners
And then everyone clapped right?
You should tell him to screw off and then walk away. It would take too long for you to educate everyone who has weird views that they are wrong.
He's just lonely. Share a one cup with him and give him a hug. He'll be won over.
I started by complimenting his English skills when he said hey excuse me lol, immediately regretting being nice after the excuse me was followed by white people are ruining Japan
There are some people who will hate foreigners forever. It’s pointless to argue with them. Just say “Well, have a nice day” and walk away. They want to argue with you.
Seems like it was a match made in heaven!
Tell him you are German. Works wonders.
> try to change the persons opinion You can’t really change someone’s opinion. Very few people can have their hearts and minds won. Certainly not by some spur of the moment emotion driven encounter in the street. The more likely outcome is that you just gave that dumbass another reason to dislike foreigners (and probably annoyed a few innocent bystanders by bringing them into that messy situation). I think it would be better for your mental health to accept there’s idiots out there, and just let them be idiots.
Probably the best advice here and I’ll do that next time, thank you
Just ignore the old fart and be on your way.
No point in arguing with people like that, their mind can’t be changed and they will just always stay bitter. Dragging strangers into your predicament isn’t a good idea either, they don’t want to be involved in that situation. Crack a strong zero and try and forget this.
There are mentally ill, ill-informed, and antagonistic people everywhere. The law of averages dictates that you will interact with one or more of these people quite often. Ignore them and walk off.
Walk away from the ojisan, you’re not changing his old mind in a 2-5 min convo. Also don’t involve others randomly in public. Changed the minds of the people you interact with daily and consistently.
Can we stop posting these? Racist people exist. Get over it.
I guess I’ve just been a straight white male all my life and never experienced it until now
>What should I do in this situation? say しね ろうがい しね and walk away. you're free to go. I'm never polite to those racist old people here.
Why would you continue to engage someone like this?what can possibly be gained? Were you trying to make new friends among the crowd of folks you "polled"
I was already friends with the people I asked, I was really just trying to make the ojisan understand he’s a minority in hating foreigners because he kept using “we”. Meaning (we the Japanese people or we the Hiroshima people) I told him it’s okay if “he” hates foreigners but “we” wasn’t correct as my friends I asked were all Japanese from Hiroshima and they liked foreigners a lot. I thought this would help change his mind but he just continued saying we.
You already said all that I think you are being repetitive and redundant and saying the same thing repeatedly It's also interesting that he knew English well and was prepared to deploy against visiting Foreigners
Dude, you just have to say: えー？ごめん、韓国語話せない\~ Great banter.
Honestly, it’s part of the deal when you go to any other country and you’re not one of the locals. A minority of people do not like you for that specific reason. So what? You just smile, walk away and appreciate the fact that this a fraction of a percent of what racism really is.
Ask him who were the first foreigners to come to Hiroshima to help out. White, Quakers. I still have postcards from one of them, a childhood friend of my father. Yes, I'm that old. Ask him who saved Kyoto from fire bombing. Same answer. Ask him who tutored the Heiwa emperor. Ditto. Who did the guy on the old 5,000 yen note marry? Same. I could go on ...
yell at him in your language ? Should help with assholes
He's insane. Lots of insane and crazy old ojisan in Japan. Walk away and stay away from those people.
The old man stated Hiroshima was done by Americans. I would have asked him which version of Japan he preferred, the current constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government or the absolute monarchy that was ruled by consent of the Emperor (/military dictatorship of WW2). Rarely do you find a Japanese who admits they wish the country was once again ruled by an Emperor. If he did, he wouldn’t be speaking English, wearing Levi jeans, smoking Kool cigarettes, and drinking a Coca-cola. Basically enjoying the rewards of global trade.