Recording summary · June 2023
Why i will NEVER come back to Japan [CB-HKY2T-9E]
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Overview
Daniel returned to Japan in 2023 for a planned six-month stay but departed after one month to return to Thailand, influenced by rude street encounters, perceived racial discrimination, an aging infrastructure compared to Bangkok, and disappointing YouTube viewership.
Daniel perceived a racial hierarchy in Japan, feeling treated worse due to his Southeast Asian appearance compared to tall, white foreigners, and experienced an internal cultural conflict between growing up in England and his external perception.
Themes
Daniel's post-2020 period in the UK, lockdown confinement, and idealization of his 2017 to 2019 years in Japan.
Negative cycling encounters involving older men on Osaka streets.
Comparisons between Osaka's aging demographic and infrastructure and Bangkok's younger demographic and modern central areas.
Disappointment regarding YouTube stream viewership remaining around 5,000 in Japan versus higher numbers in Thailand.
Observations of Japanese locals actively engaging with white Western travelers on trains while ignoring non-white foreigners.
Developments
Daniel divorced and departed Japan in 2020 before returning to the UK during global travel restrictions.
Daniel arrived in Japan in 2023 for a planned six-month stay but departed after one month to return to Thailand.
Daniel purchased fried chicken at Family Mart, where the Japanese clerk remained completely silent without uttering standard service phrases.
A Japanese man initiated a conversation in broken English with a Swedish couple on a train to Kyoto.
A Japanese woman assisted a Canadian couple navigating carriages on a train returning from Kyoto and conversed enthusiastically in English.
Uncertainties & gaps
Whether the elderly man reacted rudely due to the presence of Daniel's bicycle or no-bicycles signage rather than his mere presence.
Whether other Japanese cities outside of Osaka offer different demographic or environmental conditions.
Whether the Family Mart clerk's silence was motivated by assuming Daniel did not speak Japanese and discriminating against him due to his Southeast Asian appearance.
Whether an older man would have acted rudely toward Daniel during a past bicycle incident if Daniel were a tall, muscular white man.