Your experiences of Japan as a travel destination?

I live in Japan and was just talking to my overweight friend about this. His friends frequently make off color remarks such as "he looks like a sumo wrestler but he is actually smart!" Of course service induatry folks will be much more polite.

My junior high students call their fat friend piggy, their short friend baby and their undeveloped female friend flatty. So sensitivity is not super big here yet.

very concerned father wrote:

I fear that my daughter, who weighs about 25 stones, will be ridiculed.

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS

Your first concern should be------- can she withstand the rigors of the trip?

I have visited Japan four times and have really enjoyed my trips there. I love Japanese food and culture. I wasn't an avid runner at the times I visited Japan before. I plan to run the Tokyo Marathon and am really looking forward to going to Japan and doing some serious running. As others have posted, the Japanese are fairly modest and reserved and won't do any direct fat shaming even if they do feel most Americans are relatively fat (which is the truth).

Yeah, I live in Japan. I can say there are very few obese people in Japan. There are one of two options that will happen:

The first, which is true 99.57% of the time. She will be ignored. People here ignore everyone, regularly. Japanese ignore Japanese. There is a term in Japanese to describe this social indifference and intense inward ("me") focus. They do not make eye contact. If you are not sure what I am talking about, when you get off then plane and think, what's wrong with everyone... remember what I have written here. That is what you are feeling all around you.

Foreigners here (especially Tokyo / cities) are ignored even more because Japanese are deathly scared of speaking English and even more scared of failure (for anything) so they simply live their lives in rigid, predictable, linear communication patterns. An encounter with a foreigner in English is in the "does not compute" territory and in the realm of ambiguity, which Japanese people don't do. They don't do ambiguous situations at all. They shut down and brain-fry (internally) if faced with ambiguity. Culturally they are brought up to be xenophobic with really strong in-group (Japanese), Out-group (the world) thinking. This means you will also be ignored HARD as will your entire family. They don't do this on purpose, it is passed on, like religion is wrongly passed on to babies/children by their parents. They simply have no say in the matter of "Gaijin" (foreign people) and they carry many false stereotypes that persist unchecked from generation to generation because that is what they know as truth.

So, she should be totally ok everywhere in Japan. No one cares about her or you. People just care about themselves here. Too many examples to list. Been here 8 years.

The other extremely rare cases are explicit, overt racism, which has unfortunately happened to me 3-4 times. This will not happen to you. The chances are very very low.

In general, no one shames people here in public. If they can't even notice others AT ALL and cannot speak to strangers, which they don't do at all, how can they possibly shame your daughter? think about it. In schools or perhaps other small regular settings, with only Japanese people, definitely shaming occurs. This is a universal trait of humanity. FYI

Everything you understand about Japan is wrong. I hope some others have posted truths here as well.

If she is strong, she may be recruited as a Sumo wrestler.

So I'm assuming that Sumo wrestlers get a pass?

Riceman wrote:

GE Human Geography Class wrote:

Not true. Japanese are a mix of Jomon (Hokkaido), SE Asian, Pacific Islander, and Siberian Asian. The 1st Emperor of Japan back in 600 B.C. came from SE Asia. There was a sizable Korean and Chinese migration in the 5th Century. Similarly Europeans are a rich blend of Caucasoids (Persian/Mesopotamian,Indian), Central Asian, NE Asia, and Siberan Asians having settled Europe starting 20,000 B.C.

Dude, get real. That’s like saying there is extreme diversity in a bag of white rice. All of these little grains are slightly different.

Lol. At least one good post in here.

Thanks for all the good advice so far. I'd like to book a vacation for come October. Can anyone recommend reasonably cheap airlines that fly regularly from Heathrow? Am also open to sharter-flights.

Japan will be rapidly de-populating in a few decades. Apparently, young people there never have sex. Like 60% of the population 35 and under are virgins. No joke!

Japan is a lot of fun but you'll be spending lots of money.

I'd go to Japan year if I had a job that paid me enough. The neighbors all talk to you every day. It's so safe girls like myself regularly run alone by myself or in small packs every day or at night. Public toilets are everywhere, not only next to train stations, and they are cleaned and freshened hourly. The first time I went in Japan my Dad was assigned by his company. We're from Singapore, and we were blown away how Japan kept 100% of the houses, buildings, culture, religion, manners, and hospitality from the old days. Japan is very much the same as it was 1,000 years ago, unlike back home in Singapore.

GE Human Geography Class wrote:

&Michael wrote:

Japan is a model for whites. Their nation is racially pure and immigration is totally under control. They respect America and Europe, and the influence of the West is visible in their culture (see their awesome cartoons, and the appearance of the characters therein) , and yet have adapted to modernity without abandoning their traditions.

Not true. Japanese are a mix of Jomon (Hokkaido), SE Asian, Pacific Islander, and Siberian Asian. The 1st Emperor of Japan back in 600 B.C. came from SE Asia. There was a sizable Korean and Chinese migration in the 5th Century. Similarly Europeans are a rich blend of Caucasoids (Persian/Mesopotamian,Indian), Central Asian, NE Asia, and Siberan Asians having settled Europe starting 20,000 B.C.

Japan is very multicultural with Arabs, Indians, Americans, Chinese, Germans, Africans, Iranians, V living safely in many places. Foreigners can even walk outside in public at all hours of the night (and day) in Japan and not be accosted and murdered like they would be in their home cietnameseountries.

The best time to vacation in Japan is now, Spring Time. If you fly the Boeing 787 the flight time is alot shorter given it's built with 1/2 Japanese designed and manufactured parts.

Japan is one big discounted Whole Foods store. Literally. There more real, fresh, and natural foods in Japan than anywhere else on the globe. Fish, veggies, herbs, beef, pork, chicken, you name it. Every city and town is loaded with thousands of fresh food products for sale every day of the year.

Well, Japan is rich in culture and culture activities. I've never been there but want to visit. I always read about this country on travel blogs, it really inspires. By the way, guys share good travel blogs, please. Here are some blogs I follow https://travelsites.com/best-travel-blogs/

In your third paragraph it's true that Japanese will ignore you and not even make eye contact. They do that with each other as well. I found out, though, that when I asked for directions they would knock themselves out trying to help out. The first week I was in Tokyo I got lost and I couldn't understand the answers of the person I asked for help. The only thing I could say in Japanese was the name of my hotel. Finally he grabbed my arm, took me to the train station, bought me a ticket, pointed to the train I was to ride and held up 2 fingers meaning the second stop.

My co-worker explained to me the difference in cultures. For hundreds of years most Japanese lived in villages and never saw strangers. Here in America, we have a hunters and gatherers history. When people were travelling they wanted to show they were friendly so they wouldn't get shot.

Thanks, spammer. I miss these concerned father posts. Hope you’re still around OP and drop one of these again. We need more light hearted trolling around here these days.