Unconscious discrimination in Japan無意識に存在する差別意識

" Is there discrimination for foreigners living in Japan? "  

Every once in a while some one brings up this question to us when we go to Spain where my husband comes from.

At the beginning, probably until 3 years since he started to live in Japan, his answer was "No".  When people say "discrimination" in Japan, we often mean for the action or attitude of seeing someone down.  It was true that we never met someone treating him with disrespectful attitude.  In that sense, probably there is much less discrimination in Japan compared to many other countries that we have traveled or lived and could see clearly it existed in their societies.  However, the answer of my husband to the question mentioned at the beginning has become "Yes and No" last a couple of years.

It becomes "Yes" when you define discrimination as "treating unfairly or differently". 

He often says ;

"I just want to be treated normal".

"I'm not a pet".

"I'm not here to practice their English".   

"Why they switch to English at Nomikai [drinking and eating after work] ? ".

Hearing cases that he gets stressed out,  it made me think that there must be so many communications ended up both side unhappy.  No matter how many times he explained to his boss or colleagues what bothers him, they seem not to get it.

And I found that foreigners who have been living in Japan for long and speak Japanese tend to have similar frustration.  They are not citizens of their home town country anymore, and then they cannot feel they are part of Japan by social pressure, unconscious discrimination.

Japanese try to conclude it cannot be helped because of the insular country mentality.  Most people stop thinking further in fact.  

I think what we need is to stop categorize, start talk more and live at this moment.