I want to talk about a hot topic today. The election results. Many Americans are excited about the results and can't wait for Trump to begin his days as a president, while others are absolutely furious. They couldn't be more livid. People are taking off work to mourn, taking to YouTube and Facebook to vent their feelings and talking about this "racist" America that Trump is creating. People are rioting and protesting in the streets in predominantly blue states, ironically. Americans are angry and they are hurt, and they want to be heard. Is their outcry being heard correctly? Is their protesting painting a picture of what America truly is? Or have they forgotten that they aren't the only people in the world? I want to talk about what Japan thinks about the election, and what the Japanese people think
about the Americans rioting and protesting the results in the street. I asked quite a few people. Some I knew, and some I never met before, and here are the collective findings of my interviews. For starters, Japan is most conservative. I know that their dominate party is called the liberal democratic party, but that doesn't mean they are democrats or liberals. The LDP is actually pretty far right winged. That being said, there are still many people who do not agree with the LDP and are desperately seeking for the current prime minister (Shinzo Abe) to leave office. I know because they drive around in their campaign cars and their megaphones quite often as they spew their reasoning behind their distaste for Abe. They don't throw anything, they just peacefully drive by, wave, and tell you what they think Abe is doing wrong and how he should fix things. More than half the people I talked to claimed to identify with the LDP. Second, the only news sources that Japanese tend to receive on political matters of the US are CNN and MSNBC. Very rarely do they get news broadcasted from NHK World, which is also a very liberal news source. Their newspapers tend to be more conservative I have found but for the most part, unless they are speaking with an American who is conservative, they are only getting one side of the argument. Most of them get that. On the day of the election, I watched it closely. I could hardly take my eyes off the screen. It was causing me so much anxiety. Everyone I work with knew who I was rooting for so when the results came that Trump had officially won the presidency I was congratulated many times. I was stunned. Shocked. I couldn't believe my eyes. Trump, actually WON?! How did this happen? I thought for sure Hillary was going to win. I thought for sure that she was going to be the first woman president and that all the Americans would be jumping for joy. That is not the case. Apparently, America is annoyed with liberals running the country and are desperately seeking a change. Clearly they want something different from the white house. No sooner had the results been posted had the ALTs (from various countries) displayed their dismay on Facebook. I expected as much. They lost. This was probably their first election that they had lost too. So it was understandable that they would take to Facebook to be upset. I think most people expected that to happen. However, it started going a bit too far. Rather than just accept defeat and move on, the foreigners took to whining and complaining. They acted like cry babies. It is one thing to cry about it silently at home, have a drinking fit at home, alone, it is another to involve people in your whining. That is exactly what the ALTs did in Japan. They whined, they cried, they drank, they threw mourning parties, and they took time off work. Who does that? Who actually does that? It is not a death in the family or a close friend, this is simply the presidential election which takes place every 4 years. Have they forgotten that annually there are state elections? Have they forgotten that? Not only are they taking time off of work, IN JAPAN, but back in the states, people are taking time off school! They are needing time to "process and mourn the results." Really? Just because you didn't get your way? REALLY!? In the wake of these events, I decided to ask Japanese what they think of Americans and their reaction to the election results. I was very surprised with what many of them had to say. They started off by saying that taking time off of work because of results not going your way is ridiculous. They found it absolutely childish and rude. They couldn't believe that people would even consider doing such a thing. Your job will continue to be there after 4 years. The president will change. It is not that big of a deal. The Japanese that don't like Trump, don't hate him. They know that it is really none of their business who is and isn't our president. One pointed out that the ALTs are in Japan, and not in America. And taking time off work to mourn for a country that doesn't directly affect the one you are living in is uncalled for. Most of the Japanese have lost respect for the foreigners in their country. When news hit here that Americans were rioting and protesting in the streets. Do you know what the Japanese did? They laughed. They laughed at Americans. They laughed because they were too appalled to do anything else. They couldn't believe what they were hearing and seeing. All of them said that "that is not how your protest." Also, "this is not something worth protesting. You already voted. Accept what happened and move on." One video in particular made it viral in Japan, and that was of a group of people beating up a Trump supporter. They were proud of beating him senseless and stealing his car!!! Who does that!!? 2 of my coworkers were planning a vacation to the US during the winter vacation. They were going to go to Hawaii and California. After seeing the protests, riots, and beatings going on in America, in BLUE STATES I must add, they canceled their trips. Those 2 in particular, said that they have lost all interest in going to America and never want to meet another American again. The people whom I had just met when I interviewed them, said that they will think twice now before they approach a foreigner because they don't know if they are a violent American or someone from Australia who is friendly. They told me that they believe "all Americans are selfish children. Don't bother coming to Japan." The ones who work with other ALTs said that they were told there is going to be a WWIII. I had to console an entire class at one of my schools because they were being told that America will abandon Japan now, and they will be nuked by North Korea. These lies are really having an impact on how Americans are viewed and the stereotype has really been affected in a majorly negative way. These are horrible statements made by very peaceful Japanese. It is very hard to upset or offend the Japanese because of the zen society. Congratulations America, you managed to piss off Japan. To the rioters and protestors, I hope you really sit and think about what it is that you have done to the peaceful Americans in the world. You have tarnished the reputation of America. You have made prejudice and racism a much larger issue in Japan. Since the election, my encounters with racism and prejudice have doubled. All because you weren't thinking about others, you were only thinking about yourself. You are all selfish, and you are all to blame for the stereotyping you have put upon us. This is YOUR fault. And this is YOUR doing. YOU are only to blame for this. YOU and YOU alone. I hope you are happy with yourselves. I hope you are proud for what you have done. You have successfully made the world hate you and be afraid to even talk to you. Japanese are now afraid to come near you. You have some SERIOUS apologizing to do. Great job America. Great freaking job.
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AuthorJeny B Archives
August 2021
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