That’s a fairly uncharitable way of phrasing it. You can live a perfectly reasonable life in Japan as a permanent resident, even one of english heritage, withou

That’s a fairly uncharitable way of phrasing it. You can live a perfectly reasonable life in Japan as a permanent resident, even one of english heritage, without too much trouble from discrimination. I may not live there full time but over the years I've lived there part of the year I’ve made friends and advanced my career all the same as my native Japanese coworkers and associates. Yes, there is some juvenile behaviour from people who are prejudiced against foreigners and even mixed descent residents, but that happens in many countries including my native Australia. As with those places, the vast majority of people are perfectly agreeable and will cause you no grief. Culturally, as long as you aren’t going out of your way to be particularly individualistic, you can participate pretty much the same as everywhere else. Of course, like many older workplaces elsewhere, you’ll have a harder time if you want to be unique and stand out.