How is it like being black in japan?

Question:

I want to go to japan when i get older. I was planing to go to college their but i dont know when japan will recover from the earthquake and sunami. hopefully it wont take a long time. Anyway ive heard that people have many expierence in japan and some are nice and some are not. I actually plan to live their after i learn more things while im college. I was just hoping some one could tell me how its like. and please be as detailed as you want. dont leave any rude comments please. thanks

Answer:

1. For college, you'll probably need financial aid. At least your parents will appreciate it if you got some. So look for scholarship opportunities. As a black female (are you a black female?) There are lots of scholarships available in the USA. At least some of them have to be for overseas study.

I would recommend doing your freshman year of college in the USA (you're too young to drink anyway in Japan until you're twenty), and then in your second year, move on to Japan. But the credits don't transfer usually.

Check out Temple University, and the several other Universities that have campuses in Japan.

Or do grad school, or go to a language school after you graduate from University in the USA. Many choices.
I know many black folks living in Japan, from the USA, UK, Jamaica,South Africa, Haiti, and Africa. You will hear that there are so many Africans in Tokyo/other big cities, that people tend to think all blacks are Africans. Africans are known for their dubious employment and their tendency to say they are "American" while speaking Nigerian pidgin English that no one understands.
JET hires from all over the English speaking world, which is how I met South Africans (black and white), and a Jamaican English teacher. But of course most black English teachers are from the USA.
You know how it is. Old people tend to be intimidated. Young women (high school girls,) if you are female will talk about your body. (they do this with white girls too.) Since Japanese kids rarely see blacks or whites in rural areas, if you live there, you will hear it. "Her skin is the color of chocolate!" or to me "His nose is huge! He looks like Pinnochio!" or commenting on a girl's breast size (other girls and even grown women do this.)---However this kind of stuff is considered rude by most Japanese so it's usually kids who say something. And it's not the "I hate you" type of racism, it's more like "Wow...Look at it! " like you are an object at a zoo.

Blacks in Japan have told me they cannot stand to hear whites in Japan talk about "racism" because even today, and definitely 50 years ago, blacks had it much, much worse in the USA than they would have had in Japan.

You have to understand that us whites from the USA have never been a minority (well, some of us) so it is our first time being the only white guy on the train, and have people look at us. Some white people get really, really angry about this. But some blacks say "Hey it's better than Arkansas." so I guess I can understand that.