Unfortunately, things like prejudice and racism exist on a large scale in the world, especially on social media. Japan is also a big zone of prejudice, mainly because of its huge cultural difference and the fact that foreigners easily stand out among thousands of Japanese with similar traits.
Traditional Japanese don't like Westernism, there are always some Japanese grumbling and staring at foreigners. Despite these numerous cases, we can treat them as a minority and consider that like any country, the nation strives to end this racist and prejudiced thinking. We are going to talk about exactly that in this article.
Japan is a strict country that promotes high standards of morality, education and respect. Whether they like it or not, Japanese people need to treat others as well as possible, otherwise social failure will happen at some point. Depending on the situation, bad people can have their careers and entire lives ruined because of a simple act.
See too: Do you know what a Hikikomori or NEET is?
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Japanese media shows no truce for racists
This is what happened recently to the author of Light Novel with the pseudonym Mine. He writes a work called “Nidome no Jinsei or Isekai of” which already had an anime adaptation in production and scheduled for October. In early June 2018 things started to fall apart completely for author Mine.
Earlier this week, the voice actors who were on the Anime production team released a note on twitter saying they were withdrawing from production. Soon after the dubbing agencies, the anime's production studio announced that the adaptation had been canceled entirely. Even Hobby Japan has decided to stop sending Light Novels to the bookstore, which will likely also be cancelled.
Why did this happen? Just because the author Mine in the years 2013 to 2015 posted on his twitter some racist comments against Chinese and Koreans. He even called China the country of insects and made several other insults and derogatory euphemisms to Korea and China. In his work a character came to kill 3000 Chinese in the war.
Other authors did worse atrocities like Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of Samurai X who was caught with child pornography. Why did the author of Mine just lose his entire career over old twitter comments? Wasn't it normal to curse and criticize each other on the internet?
The author even apologized on Twitter with the following words: "I apologize for some of my past tweets, I am deeply sorry that there was an inappropriate expression of mine that made many people feel uncomfortable."
We recommend reading: The habit of apologizing in Japanese society
Is the Japanese media's effort to eliminate racism and prejudice enough?
Japan rarely hits this prejudice and racism key, so much so that if you search about racism and prejudice in the Japanese language, you will end up falling into articles talking about the prejudice and racism of Americans (USA). Much of the media is just trying to keep up the appearance of a liberal and hospitable country, but one that has a lot to improve.
It doesn't matter if the country makes laws or tries to end cases of prejudice or racism, unfortunately every law is flawed and the majority of the population usually breaks these small laws. For prejudice and racism to decrease, people need to make individual changes, something a little complicated for the Japanese.
Although it may seem that the Japanese are isolated and individualistic, Japanese society operates on a collective basis. The Japanese follow what the majority say is right or wrong, rarely questioning the attitudes of those in power. Bullying in Japanese schools happens precisely because of this, even if a student doesn't agree with what is happening to their classmate, they don't have the courage to interfere or help for fear of going against the group.
Read also: Ijime - Bullying in Japanese schools
Bigoted and racist attitudes will continue to happen, whether in public, at work or on trains. The Japanese will not have the courage or attitude to meddle, lecture or criticize the person who is doing wrong. The most they will do is lament on social media or when it's a case of a famous person, massacre them and damage their career.
The Japanese are watching! You cannot be silent!
Of course, it's not just the Japanese who commit prejudice or discrimination unintentionally (or deliberately), you'll come across these situations anywhere in the world. The relationship between the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese is not very good, due to many events in the past. Even the Japanese don't usually accept the differences between themselves.
Read also: Relationship between Korea and Japan - Do they hate each other?
In the same way that Brazilians say they have no prejudice, are welcoming and that most of the time it's a joke, the Japanese think the same thing. Fortunately, some show that they are aware that prejudice and discrimination is real and has a negative impact on their country's reputation.
A Japanese commented: People without knowledge can be full of prejudice. People who are prejudiced against foreigners are basically those who don't know foreign countries. Because he is based only on what he hears, he has a distorted image, he does not understand different values, he defames, he considers himself normal and treats others as “strangers”.
This same Japanese man commented that he suffers prejudice from other countries, not just because he's called a squint. Basically all of the country's cultural factors are criticized, such as geishas and even sushi. As an example, he cited whale hunts, which don't even represent 0.00000001% of the population, but there are many hate speeches against the entire Japanese race because of this.
Read also: Geisha - Who are they really? History and Curiosities
Unfortunately, both Japanese and Brazilians have a stereotyped view of each other, a cliché impression full of pre-defined thoughts and ideas. Unfortunately, people forget that each human being is different from one another and are endlessly fighting on social media poking each other in the eye.
The case cited in this article serves as an example to show that we can put an end to the distorted ideas that the Japanese have of foreigners. First, publicizing it in the Japanese media to gain Japanese supporters, since regretting it on Brazilian social media will only generate more hatred and stereotypes.
Then we have to make an effort to do our part and change the distorted view that Japanese people have of foreigners. Make an effort to understand their culture and language and communicate in a cheerful and friendly way. Many Japanese are totally unaware of foreigners, and many Japanese have admitted to being afraid and prejudiced until they meet a real foreigner. Will you do your part?
