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| Beer Museum in Sapporo, Hokkaido |
There are numerous posts on how foreigners are treated in Japan. They're usually from the white people, you know the Americans and Europeans. The tall blue-eyed blondes with high noses. And yes, I'm stereotyping because really, that's the concept of ''gaijin'' in Japan. Actually, in this side of Asia, that's the perfect poster image of a ''gaijin.''
So anyway, I'll throw in my share on the blog-o-sphere on how foreigners are treated in Japan. Although I'm Asian and my features can pass as a Japanese, I am a foreigner. And not just a foreigner, but a FILIPINA. I can probably say that the experience of Filipinas in Japan is different from the white, yellow and black ladies outthere. (No racism intended just being literary.)
As a Filipina in Japan, here are the most common assumptions about me. Other Filipinas, I'm sure, can relate too.
1. I was an entertainer before being a teacher.
Before the bubble economy hit Japan, Filipinas came to Japan to work as entertainers. There was a massive industry for dancers and singers in Japan. In fact, one of my late uncles was a trainer for dancers who are bound to Japan. Then the economy slowed. Suddenly, the entertainers' wages got lower and so the women had to resort to other entertaining activities. Hence, the term ''entertainer'' got a different connotation.
Fast forward to now. Most Filipinas in Japan have been an entertainer but now doing other things including teaching English. I was very young when the entertainment industry boomed but some people think that I used the ''entertainer ticket'' before becoming an English teacher.
2. I'm dying to marry a Japanese man.
When I was still single, I've heard a hundred times this suggestion ''Why don't you marry a Japanese man?'' or this question, ''Aren't you interested with a Japanese man?''. Actually, these are expected questions. I'm in Japan so why not a Japanese man? But what I don't appreciate is when people become pushy even if I say that I have a boyfriend back home. Or even if I say that I'm not interested with Japanese men. I hate it all the more when I'm given a lecture of the ''Benefits of Marrying a Japanese Man.'' Japanese men are okay- as students or friends. But beyond that- Let me consider a thousand times.
3. I'm after the Japanese man's money or the visa he can help me with.
I partly understand where the ''Why don't you marry a Japanese man?'' question is coming from. The Philippines is a third world country and it would be really nice if I can live forever in a first world country like Japan! One way to do that is get married! There's an ''open secret assumption'' that Filipinas who marry foreigners are after the citizenship or money or whatever the world thinks. I know that this not true in a lot of cases. I've met wonderful Filipinas who marry foreigners for love. And as for me, having a Philippine passport is hard and living in the Philippines is harder. But I'm getting by and I'm believing for a better Philippines in the future. (Btw, I hope Duterte runs for the presidency this 2016)
4. I'm abjectly poor in the Philippines.
I'm not rich (not yet, at least) but I don't live in squalor in the Philippines. I have a decent life back home just like many overseas Filipino workers. However, there's a prevailing concept that the Philippines is a poor country all people can't eat 3 times a day. Some people are surprised that I spend money in travelling because they think I can't afford myself such ''luxuries.''' I've also met people who can't believe that there cars, malls, high-rise buildings and other first-world things in the Philippines. Here' the thing, the Philippines is just like any other democratic, free-market country. There's rich people and poor people and a wide level of people in between. I'm one of those in between.
On my first few months in Japan, I was offended when people assume these about me. How dare they!
But when I thought about it, there's really nothing to heave and hurt about. So what if a woman was an entertainer before, including all its connotations, We're living in the NOW. Just like Elsa in Frozen sang, ''The past is in the past.''
And so what if a woman wanted to marry a Japanese man? How is it different if a woman prefers a Filipino man?
And so what if a woman is after the visa or the monetary benefits? People have been marrying for economic reasons since time immemorial. As long as a woman act within the bounds of marriage and treat her man respectfully, why would marriage for visa and money be a taboo?
And so what if a woman is poor? Poverty is not a crime but not doing anything about it is.
Before I come to the point where I can brush these assumptions aside, I thought all those things above seem to be forms of racism, or discrimination or racial prejudice.Why do people assume these things about me but not with my American, British or even Cuban friends? But interestingly, these things are commonly assumed not by other races or by Japanese people. Except for the 4th item, these things are commonly perceived by fellow Filipinas. So if this is racism, then it seems that we're racist on our own race. And more than anything, this makes me sad.
