Regarding the Oct. 23 Views From the Street question, "Which minority groups face the worst discrimination in Japan?": I find it interesting that of the three Japanese people questioned, only one mentioned race, whereas all of the foreigners questioned answered to the effect that "Chinese and Koreans are discriminated against."
One could simply assume that this has to do with us gaijin in Japan being more sensitive to the plights of other people in our situation. However, after living here and understanding things such as how the Japanese government censures textbooks about wartime Okinawa, I believe there is the possibility that the struggles of non-Japanese residents of Asian descent are being downplayed to keep the general public ignorant.
Handicapped people will be discriminated against wherever they go, but I have never seen a place in Japan where their treatment has become an open source of grievance as one of the people in the article alleged.
Yet I have heard more than one Japanese person express at length their dislike of Chinese people and can report similar experiences on the subway. Of course, it would be silly to chalk up my personal experiences to what Japan or Japanese people are really like aside from the individuals that I have observed, but when paired with articles like this one, it is difficult not to pursue the above line of thought.
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