And well kyoto is a turistic spot, they usually just want turists to go in an buy something and get out (quickly!). So they are pretty much used to seing foreigners (but that doesn’t mean they will like them). Most people don’t notice this, for what I noticed and talked with other people who came with me. So you will not see the tipical over-helping japanese who grabs you by the hand to where you need to be.

(oops found them!)

Thanks for the shout (-:

Loco

True racism in Japan is certainly present. But I think it’s way less prevalent than Japanese people’s discomfort with people who BEHAVE differently (is there a name for this?). For newcomers to Japan, this is indistinguishable from racism. The vast majority of us non-Japanese-looking people simply can’t behave like Japanese when we arrive, until we acquire much stronger language skills and familiarity with day-to-day life. After a few years, once we get into the swing of things, we start to notice those strange reactions from Japanese people have mostly stopped. And then we start to consider that maybe those reactions weren’t based on racism quite as much as we thought.

Like you, I go out of my way to open my mouth and make sure people around me hear me speaking Japanese. The tension usually melts instantly. It’s a great technique. I think there’s more to it than people worrying about having to speak to you in English. It also signals that you know how things work. You probably know you have to bag your own groceries at the supermarket. You probably know you have to pay your restaurant check at the register, not at the table. You probably know that on a long-distance train trip you’ll need a regular “joushaken” as well as the reserved seat ticket. You’ve moved yourself into a category of “normal customer” instead of somebody who’s going to need hand-holding. The Japanese person can stay in their comfort zone, far less worried about having to enter into an interaction they haven’t practiced or trained for.