Question:
I'll be living in Tokyo for a few years due to my work. Are there certain neighborhoods or areas where it's better for gaijin not to go? I don't like to push the envelope with people that don't like to be around or near foreigners.
Answer:
Don't use the term Yakuza so casually without knowing who they are. Yakuza are not like those punks on the street or those stupid, deadly-drunk stinky gaijins who are picking up fights with other customers for no reasons - no wonder why many hostess bars put up "No Gaijins Allowed" signs.
Contrary to your wrong image, Yakuza are very well disciplined group of people whose code of ethics are far stricter than that of ordinary citizens if we have any. They are engaged in underground business that are "necessary evil" for the society with a tacit agreement with the law enforcement agencies believe or not. "Don't harm the civilians" is one of their well-known code of ethics not because they respect civilians (not to mention) but for the protection of their organization, which is (again) based on the tacit agreement with police which is another "necessary evil" for the safety of our society, isn't it?
As long as you are "aware" of the fact that the society of Japan is structured on a number of non-verbal understandings among the nation, you would be safe in Japan. You don't need to "know" what they are. We, including our respectable members of Yakuza, are glad to give you a benefit of the doubt because you are "gaijin" (no negative connotations are involved except for the fact that you are outsiders of the Japanese society no matter how many years you live in this 'homogeneous' nation where non-verbal, tacit understandings are possible). Welcome to Japan!
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