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Nin10dude asked in TravelAsia PacificJapan · 8 years ago

Asian-American tourists in Japan?

Just curious, how are Asian-American/Australian/British, etc tourists received in Japan? Although they appear Asian, many can't speak a word of Japanese (or Korean and Chinese for that matter).

Does it make any difference if they can speak Japanese? Anyone have any past experiences (good or bad)?

3 Answers

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Japanese people basically welcome tourists no matter where they are from.

    And there is much Chinese and Korean statement in Tokyo, for example, because there are many tourists from China and Korea now.

  • 8 years ago

    You have a good question. Asian Americans make up only 5% of the US population, so if all Americans went to Japan as tourists, only 5% of them would be Asian American. It's more likely that more than 5% of American tourists in Japan are Asian American.

    But the overwhelming majority of Asian-looking tourists to Japan are from China, Taiwan, and South Korea, so Asian American tourists are buried in the crowd.

    But I don't know if you have a genuine fear or a passive-aggressive fantasy of being treated indifferently or hostile in Japan as a tourist as an Asian American.

    Speaking Japanese lets you get around much better, and it increases the fun value of visiting Japan by a factor of ten.

  • 8 years ago

    You'll be a gaijin just like any other tourist. It will help if you speak Japanese, but you'll still be a gaijin.

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