Being Black in Japan?

Depends on how you dress & act. Don't dress ghetto or gangster..Don't act macho. Act like the nice guy you are and you shouldn't have any problems. You will get looks, but only because you're not one of them.

Finding work isn't so easy. You need a four year degree even before you get started. If you know a lot about IT / computer related jobs, the better off you'll be. But completion is very tight. And the Japanese tend to hire who they want in some situations. They can get a way with things that are illegal here.

First, as you may know, if you don't have a 4 year degree you can pretty much give up the idea. Second, your most likely profession will be English teacher.

As for whether they are bothered by your presence, or welcome you with open arms, it's going to be in the middle. You're just another foreigner. Being black may make you a bit more of a foreigner, but still basically a foreigner.

Is it a good idea to work here? Do you like teaching English? Do you have some sort of skill that a Japanese person doesn't have in order to get some other type of job that you may like more than teaching English? Only you can answer those questions. But I don't think that you should let the color of your skin hold you back. You'll get some looks, but so do I. Fact of life.

Don't worry you won't be the first black person in Japan. They might be some stares but nothing major. The vast majority of Japanese are friendly and welcoming. With regards to working, unless it is teaching English, you really need a sort after degree that will enable you to get ahead of the queue and of course your level of Japanese should be great. So start learning the language today and researching your options. Goodluck

As someone else said the only likely "legitimate" work you would find in order to support yourself on an extended stay would be as an English teacher. You need a 4-year degree for that, though it doesn't matter what subject it is in. I wouldn't go so far as to say Japanese are racist, but it is the land of stereotypes, even worse than America in my opinion. They don't really have a need to hate you because the country is 99% Japanese and thus you pose no threat to the majority as in the way you might in America. Without a doubt you can expect some students will not want to have a black teacher, they will feel you are "less than" your blue-eyed, light-haired counterpart. And you will likely even be told this by some students, who will face NO discipline from the Japanese system. And you will likely find that when you go to teach places, you are given the more difficult assignments - beginning students or difficult students. Plus, Japanese guys tend to date with Japanese girls, so it's not likely you would have a relationship while staying there, unless you like women, then it's a different story I suppose.

Someone else said something that made me laugh about how they are civilized on holiday. I was on vacation in Guam before when I saw literally hundreds of Japanese tourists leave their cigarette butts on the beaches. I talked to one of the locals there who went around the beaches picking up after them and he said they were the worst about littering the beaches.

I live in japan, and from my perspective we always welcome newcomers and foreigners in a welcome and respective way.

Japan has a variety of jobs, but with your bet I would suggest English Teacher.

If you don't have a 4 year degree though, forget the idea of working here.

Every country has different types of people, different attitudes, different ethnic, different culture, different skin color. Don't worry about being judged, people don't seem to really bother hating on others here anymore. (As I have noticed)

And also (if you haven't already) I would suggest you getting to know the japanese language, because that just makes your choice of jobs even more selective.

A question like this comes almost every day now.

Did you know if you did a search of Yahoo answers "Black people in Japan" you get over 4000 questions of similar nature?

"Would they be bothered by my presence, or welcome me with open arms?"

Neither. Most people will be inbetween. If you are in any major city like Tokyo, most people probably wouldn't care to think about it. You won't be the first black person to ever visit Japan.

I had friends (3) African Americans visit me in Tokyo. 2 female and 1 male (all traveled here at different times, not in a group). ALL of them had a fantastic time visiting, none of them made any complaints and said they would love to visit again when given the opportunity.

Does that help answer your question?

Well, they're not purposely mean to blacks. They don't think that you're lower. There's no KKK or slave stuff. Actually the KKK they have there is the Kokusai Kōryū Kikin which is a cultural-promotion company. They've never even heard of the KKK racists.

They're what I call "accidental racists". They will probably be very friendly and ask lots of questions that might be offensive. They'll be lighthearted and nice though.

I think it's actually better over there. It's a shock at first but then you realize that the reason they're so careless about it is just because they don't see anything wrong with it. I think it's good that they're comfortable enough like that. If you get offended because they called you black, they'll just be confused. "Yeah and you are, so what?"

If you think it won't bother you then sure! I actually saw a lot of them in the bigger cities such as Tokyo. Also in this one small city (Numazu in the Shizuoka prefecture) there was this small school of 300 and they had one black student. They always joked with him about it and said things that would offend African-Americans but he knew that they were just playing and would joke back.

Also, in the anime and advertisements they have the classic blackface characters. They don't see the big deal about it. XD

I personally can't see a problem with anything, they are a civilised country, they do not bother when they are over here on holiday why should they back home.

We don't live in the 1800's anymore. Move on. No one is going to hate on you just because you're from a different place and have a different skin color.

No one has time to hate on other people anymore, they mind they're own business.

Don't worry (:

I live in japan, (half japanese, half american)

There are Naval bases, military bases and stuff, so there are alot of american people.

Black , white , and alot of other races.

They will welcome you. They love american people.

At least most do..