Twice each year, across Japan, thousands of gaijin from all over the world converge on prefectural institutions and universities to sit the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. The test-takers are incredibly diverse--in my room of people taking the N4 (second to lowest out of 5 levels), there were people from the US, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, the UK, and India. The Japanese people fielding this sudden influx of foreigners are generally good-natured about it and take it in stride, and there are all kinds of helpful signs posted with furigana, English, and illustrations. Still, I have to wonder what particular nationality of gaijin the good folks at Niigata University had in mind when they felt the need to explain this concept:
On a tangentially related note, in my 23 years of experience fielding dumbass comments about my ethnically ambiguous appearance, this is far and away the winner: "No, no, you don't look that Japanese. I can easily tell that you're American, even before you talk. ....Oh, but I'm not saying you're fat or anything."
Never change, Japan.
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