Sayaka Chatani

"Japanese girl"-ness

I no longer look like a Japanese girl. When Yukiko and I travelled in Cambodia, people never believed that we were from Japan. (I blame Yukiko mostly, though. :)) I am actually pleased that I am liberated from something that many Japanese girls chain themselves to. Basically the difference is, I do not wear make-up, do not wear super tight dark blue jeans, do not dye my hair, and do not care about 'the most popular color of the season.' I did not notice it before but I am now amazed at how obviously Japanese tourists (mainly girls but boys too) stick out in foreign counties.

It is not only about clothes and outer appearance. Yukiko says "It's because we are strong." Probably true. When I observe Japanese girls (tourists) walking on the street in Taiwan, Cambodia, Boston, and elsewhere, they are beautifully dressed, but look very nervous and weak.

When I was waiting in a line at the CKS Airport in Taiwan, 4-5 Japanese girls standing behind me whispered to each other, saying "こういうことが起こるのよね、台湾って. ("This kind of thing happens in Taiwan" implying that it would never happen in Japan.)" When I turned around to see what was happening there, one Taiwanese guy was standing next to them, and about to skip them in the line. First of all, what these Japanese girls just said offended my sense of Taiwanese nationalism, and second, I was so pissed off by the fact that they did not object or complain a word to the offending guy, and were even trying to avoid him noticing them whispering complaints.

I told him not to skip the girls behind me, and told those girls "日本語でもジェスチャーでもいいから文句言わなきゃだめよ！(You have to complain directly to the guy. Just shout in Japanese or in any language, and show him you are complaining!)."