Opinion Who Cares About Differences By CHRISTINE CUNANAN-NOMURA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
違いばかりを強調しすぎなのでは？ 違いばかりを強調しすぎなのでは？ 東京の外国人向け情報誌によると、 日本のある学校のスピーチコンテストの課題文として 日本人と外国人の違いを強調し、外国人を 非難するようなエッセーが使われていたそうだ。 筆者はその記事を読んでうんざりしたが、 似たような例は多すぎるほどある、とも感じている。

The Tokyo Weekender, a publication read by many in the foreign community in Japan, recently published essays that participants of an English speech contest at a school in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa prefecture, were required to read out aloud. These pieces, which were chosen by the school staff, were all critical of foreigners' actions compared to those of the Japanese.

It is ironic that a school that is trying to teach English and "communications" is instead making the gap between Japanese and non-Japanese wider.

The female author, who wrote five of the six selected essays, remarked in one of her pieces: "Foreigners have strange ideas about etiquette. They don't think there is anything wrong with buying a present in a discount store. The price and usefulness of a gift are often more important than whether or not it is a famous brand or if it comes from Europe."

She concludes:"Foreigners don't understand the need for high-class, famous brand products. Perhaps their fashion magazines don't stress this. All my friends know the importance of a Gucci scarf and Louis Vuitton bag."

While most essays were written by this author, one piece was by a different author, who wrote: "Foreigners make a bad impression on Japanese people when they disregard traditional customs. For example, they don't pay attention to the seasons. What I mean is they don't wear a coat in the fall; they become angry when the heat in a building doesn't come on before December first or the air conditioning systems before July first logic. Foreigners don't understand the calendar year at all."

The logic of these essays alone is questionable, of course. But I also do not like the way both writers try to insert a "Japanese vs. foreigners" theme.

As a long time foreign resident of Tokyo, I find it both amusing and distressing that so much effort is made by some Japanese to identify how different foreigners are from Japanese, and how each side perceives the other side.

On television, and even in real life, many Japanese enjoy pointing out the difficulties foreigners have in trying to adapt to Japa nese culture - such as filming an African family's first experience at the onsen, a British guy failing to pronounce Japanese words correctly, or a Southeast Asian couple trying to eat natto. Elsewhere, people would find such topics boring, because differences are a fact of life rather than an oddity.

At the same time, much effort in Japan has been devoted to finding out what foreigners think of Japan and the Japanese. I have often been invited to speak at various conferences all over Japan. Ninety percent of these events have had a single theme: "What foreigners think of the Japanese."

I always felt that if the tables were turned and there was a symposium of foreigners giving their impressions of Filipinos, for example, I would probably not go even if I was paid to do so.

On the above, I just want to say: Who cares about differences and what various races think of each other?

This is the 21st century, and the most dynamic countries, cultures and cities are those that celebrate the differences within, instead of pointing them out.

Shukan ST: October 13, 2000

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