The Term Discrimination in Japan

Reika Horio

I just had a discussion whether Japanese have prejudices and discrimination in Japan, and I recalled my old memory when I was small. In my opinion, there is much discrimination in Japan against foreigners, disabled people, homeless people and so much more. Those ideas mainly came from the media such as news, cartoons and movies.

In American studies class, many students have said they have prejudices and discrimination against Chinese and North Korea, because some Chinese people copy Japanese products a lot and they actually sell them like their products. Moreover, people who live in North Korea take Japanese away: abduction. Those bad and negative images have come from the news, and it remains people’s brains for a long time.
When I think about whether I’m a prejudiced person, I recalled I used to be against Chinese, homeless and disabled people. For example, I was against Chinese when I was in high school. I just had a negative image of them because they sold food with ingredients that we shouldn’t take into our body. However, those negative images have gone away when I had friends who were from China. I realized not every Chinese is bad like what I had heard from the media.

There was another discrimination that I felt against homeless people. I used to have prejudices because I wanted to believe I am different from them because of their dirty appearance. I didn’t even think why they were living in that environment. However, one book named “A Homeless Student Who Is in Junior High School” changed my image of homeless people. Since I’ve read the book, my image of homeless has changed in positive way. The book was written by the famous comedian, Krin. I was so surprised when I found he used to be homeless. My negative homeless image has gone because the comedian didn’t look dirty. I realized I had prejudices against them, and then I simply accepted them and respected their way of living.

Through my experiences, prejudices and discrimination always happens mainly because of appearance. I have my father who is disabled. He can’t see when it’s dark outside. He has eyes like birds. I clearly remember the night when my father came home with no hair, eyebrows and eyelashes because of his illness. I couldn’t believe what to say to him. I just felt I was so sorry for him. That happened when I was in a kindergarten, and since then I got bullied from my friends because of prejudge and discrimination against my father. Because he had no hair, everyone said to me, “Oh, your father has no hair, that’s funny!” I couldn’t bear it, but I knew my father had have a wounded heart more than anyone else. Because whenever he goes out, people look at him and say something about him in a small voice. I’ve heard one moving story from my mother. When I was small, I had a sports festival in the kindergarten, and my father had no idea whether he should go or not because he knew if he went, I would receive bulling from my friends. However my mother said, “You are the only father to Reika, so you should go and join it with her!” I was so impressed by her words and at the same time, I understood what a hard time my father had.

There is lots of discrimination in Japan not only to foreigners but also against people who have different appearances. I have lived with my dad since I was born, and I have had cruel experiences physically from my friends. I won’t forget those experiences forever. I think prejudices and discrimination are normal for people because we all have feelings and those can’t be the same to everyone, although I hope there will be a comfortable environment for people who have disabled like my father.