How are you treated if you are a foreign student in Japan?

How are foreign exchange students treated in Japan?

• I am planning on going to Japan as a foreign exchange student for one semester during my junior year of high school. I am Asian, and I am told I look a bit Japanese, but I do not speak a single work of Japanese. How are foreign Asians treated in Japan and in high schools?

• Answer:

  There are a lot of factors to consider with foreigners and social assimilation in Japan. The fact that you are Asian will not make you blend in, as the Japanese can easily distinguish between different Asian ethnic groups. Even if you were 100% Japanese, but were born in America, you would still get a lot of attention because your dress and hair style, skin tone, mannerisms and certain body and facial features would give it away that you are not a native Japanese. Also, there has been and still remains a long prejudice in Japan with regards to their Asian neighbors, especially China and Korea. However, with the recent adoption in Japan of contemporary youth culture from their foreign neighbors, and especially Korea, the new generation of Japanese are much less prejudiced. Aside from all this, my contention is the Japanese are essentially kind and friendly people who will be open and willing to be friends with you, as long as you make an effort to show them the kindness and respect that you expect them to give you. I am a Korean American myself, and I have been to Japan six times (and I am only 20 years old). I have never had hate or racism afflicted upon me, and I love going there because the cities are so exciting and the people are kind and generous.