To the best of my knowledge, yes, especially given all the discrimination that still exists. Japan was at the height of its economic bubble in the 80s, so its citizens were not inclined to be deferential to non-Japanese.
What's really obnoxious about the situation of "foreign Koreans" is that many of their families have been in Japan for four generations, they no longer speak Korean or have distinctively Korean lifestyles, and the only reason anyone knows they *aren't* Japanese is because the government refuses to legally acknowledge them as Japanese citizens--like me, they have to register with the ward office everywhere they live, inform the authorities if they move, can't vote, and are legally barred from holding certain types of employment. Do a search on "Zainichi Koreans" and you should bring up a lot of stuff.
Real foreigners (i.e. people who were actually born in other countries) fall on a social hierarchy. At the top are English-speaking Caucasians (especially if you're male with blond hair/blue eyes), then Europeans, then Eastern Europeans, Latin Americans, and people from Southeast Asia. The lower you are on the totem pole, the more likely you are to be in sex or labor slavery.
And on that major downer, yeah, Chadwick is an awesome author precisely because he gives you the whole picture of what it's like to be foreign in Japan, including the linguistic cockups that frequently occur.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-04-04 04:39 am (UTC)To the best of my knowledge, yes, especially given all the discrimination that still exists. Japan was at the height of its economic bubble in the 80s, so its citizens were not inclined to be deferential to non-Japanese.
What's really obnoxious about the situation of "foreign Koreans" is that many of their families have been in Japan for four generations, they no longer speak Korean or have distinctively Korean lifestyles, and the only reason anyone knows they *aren't* Japanese is because the government refuses to legally acknowledge them as Japanese citizens--like me, they have to register with the ward office everywhere they live, inform the authorities if they move, can't vote, and are legally barred from holding certain types of employment. Do a search on "Zainichi Koreans" and you should bring up a lot of stuff.
Real foreigners (i.e. people who were actually born in other countries) fall on a social hierarchy. At the top are English-speaking Caucasians (especially if you're male with blond hair/blue eyes), then Europeans, then Eastern Europeans, Latin Americans, and people from Southeast Asia. The lower you are on the totem pole, the more likely you are to be in sex or labor slavery.
And on that major downer, yeah, Chadwick is an awesome author precisely because he gives you the whole picture of what it's like to be foreign in Japan, including the linguistic cockups that frequently occur.