Debito Arudou's July 8 Zeit Gist article, "Beware the foreigner as guinea pig," is a subjective and all too-real view of Japan today. I moved here from Canada with my Japanese wife two years ago with the intention of living our lives out here. For the longest time I chalked up any reason I might come up with for returning to Canada as the mere effects of culture shock.
I've challenged living in this country. But we've stopped asking ourselves "are there any good/justified reasons to return to Canada?" Now we ask "are there any justified reasons to stay?"
I don't know how many of the examples mentioned in the article are true; I don't care -- they are believable enough to be true. If Japan truly wants to be "international and global," why does this behavior occur? I may be married to a Japanese, but I am not married to Japan.
If Japanese society refuses to evolve or enter the 21st century, then there may be only one choice: Let it be. However, by then I hope to be long gone.
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