Thursday, October 27, 2011

Would an Australian dating a Japanese woman face racism and disapproval from her family if he wants to wed her?

Question:




Answer:


Hey I'm an American married to a Japanese woman, and really the answers here pretty well sum it up. I think it's a given that "every family is different" and you can't really make generalizations, however some things are constant: You will be marrying a person from a very different culture. Don't kid yourself that differences are superficial and love conquers all. There are very fundamental differences in the worldview and values of the Western English-speaking world and Japan. Also remember that the relationship will be unequal in the sense that someone will give up their language, homeland, and even some facets of cultural identity if you are to live together. But that's marriage. About her family, racism is not really that much of an issue. There are families that are racist, no doubt, but Australia is a nice place with nice people, it's prosperous, Japanese people know a lot about it, and many have visited it. Those may seem like trivial things, but my point is that there is a certain level of comfort with Australia, or the UK, or Canada/USA. If you were from Pakistan, or Sudan, or Cuba, perhaps there would be a little more hesitation. I'm not saying that it's right, I'm just saying that's how it is. They wouldn't want their daughter relocating to a place that has civil wars and cholera outbreaks.
If you can speak Japanese well, chances are they will love you. If you can't, but your wife can speak English and communicate fairly well with you, then they will be happy. If she is not an only child, then they may not be too upset with her moving to a foreign country. They may invite you to live with them if you are staying in Japan for a while. And the grandkids you give them will be half-Japanese, which means they will be super cute, and your in-laws will adore them.
So just go in there assuming they will like you, since they probably will. If they don't, you'll have to decide what to do from there--relocate overseas, etc.

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