Japanese Love Foreigners

Ever try renting an apartment in Japan? Good luck. There are 195 countries in the world today, but if you're not Japanese, you're all lumped together. Surely, there's no difference between Canada and Nigeria. Us vs. them. The polite word would be ethnocentric. The other word starts with an "r." For some reason, there's this idea when you're outside Japan that everyone here is oh so polite. Not really true. Sure, their poor service workers are forced to act super kind and their society is full of rules for how you're supposed to act (welcome to prison) but there's an overwhelming dark side too. I do think Japanese are pretty polite but of course, they're not perfect and like any other country, they can be downright rude, not just to foreigners but to each other as well. It's a shame. I'm meandering from my main point. It's not that Japanese look down on foreigners but well, they look down on foreigners. That's Japan in a nutshell. Polite but not polite. Racist but not racist. They follow the rules but they don't. Confused yet? Contemplate this: prostitution is illegal in Japan, and yet it's everywhere. Gambling is illegal in Japan. What about those pachinko parlors everywhere? Uhm, yeah, isn't that gambling? No, no, no. They change the metallic balls into money in another building so it's not gambling. What? Yeah. You gotta love Japan. They're not racist. But my wife can't believe she married a foreigner. And that TV ad showing a foreigner as a gorilla? Uh, yeah, don't read too much into that. Welcome to Japan. Now give us your money and leave. Too harsh? Absolutely, it's not that bad, but when they talk about foreigners like they're alien invaders trying to take over, you got to stop to think for a second. I can't believe I married a gorilla.