Loneliness Foreigners Japan

7/February/2023 in Kyoto

Over the past several years, foreigners in Japan always catch my eye

in a cafe, train, bus, shop, street.....wherever

Here I'm using this term, "foreigners", to mean "racial minorities"

People who "physically" don't look like Japanese, more specifically White and Black person

They catch my attention, simply because they make me think about myself in a foreign land


When I was abroad, particularly in Eastern Europe or Balkans, I always felt a strong sense of an outsider

Apparently because I looked different

I want to emphasise here, "I LOOKed different"

Differences in appearance.....physical differences.....are very powerful & very immediate

that instantly makes him/herself understand he/she is an outsider

also, that instantly makes people around understand this man/woman is an outsider


But it didn't bother me that much

I went abroad on my own will. I became racial minority on my own will. Not like, I was forced to move there by work or a partnership with someone or some unprecedented causes

If it was too uncomfortable, then I didn't need to stay there

Having said that, everyday I was forced to be aware of my own nationality & my own race

due to an attention & treatments I got

Again, it wasn't too annoying or bothering

But surely, it was mentally energy-consuming


In this sense, staying in my home country feels very nice

Because I can be "one of them"

I can be assimilated into mass

I can avoid to think about my own nationality & my own race

And nobody pays attention to me

Then, look around & see "foreigners" & wonder their everyday life here in Japan

.....if what they think & feel is somewhat similar to me in a foreign land?

.....if they're more excited here than in their home country like me in a foreign land?

.....or, if they feel loneliness like me in a foreign land?


This loneliness is not that loneliness we usually feel in everyday life

This loneliness is, let's say, a type of loneliness coming from being racial minority in a foreign land

It can be tough, painful, acute, but also can be fun, exciting & very addictive

.....So, probably what catches my attention is this loneliness that a racial minority foreign person in Japan must be feeling