While walking in Nara yesterday with my son, a tourist from Florida struck up a conversation. After a few initial light comments, he told me that although he’d visited many countries, Japan was his favorite because it was racially homogenous and therefore avoided “all the problems we have with multiculturalism, diversity, and political correctness…nowatimean?” As gracefully as I could, I slipped away from his comment and changed the subject. He (and his wife and another companion) were quite pleasant for the remaining ten minutes we strolled together, but my mind was still boiling for some time by the fact this guy was himself a foreigner—an element of unwanted “diversity” in the supposedly homogenous milieu he was praising—and his fellow-Trump-supporter conversational gambit was offered less than 24 hours after another white man uncomfortable with diversity murdered 49 people in New Zealand.
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Last day at 99 cents! (Kindle version in the U.S.)
Past the Isle of Dogs 
If he would have known the homogeneity of Japanese culture from the inside, he wouldn’t have been so presumptuous. Especially where it concerns their attitude towards the US and its citizens. He still has to learn a lot about the multifaceted meaning of a “polite”Asiatic smile. Not so long time ago, foreigners at immigration where directed to appropriate immigration desk with a sign that was indicating “ALIENS”.
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Hasn’t changed much, except we’re now fingerprinted too (even permanent residents). But I think that was his point. White supremacists regard Japan as a model country and would like to establish a similar state with only or mostly people who are white. Then crime would disappear and everyone would be happy. That’s ultimately the Trumpian vision, even if Trump doesn’t explicitly say it.
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The fingerprinting can be considered as a reciprocal measure. I remember that there was not so long time ago a big upheaval among US residents in Honduras when it was leaked that their fingerprints were forwarded towards US homeland security databases.
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I commend your self control. I suspect if I’d had a similar conversation about Scotland I would end up getting arrested.
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You could have pointed out that you, yourself, by virtue of living in Japan and raising a bi/multiethnic family were now polluting the so-called “homogeneous” nation that he so praised.
Nah.
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