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| The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates (1489810) | |
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The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by heypaul on Wed Oct 17 07:08:26 2018 Gaijin Seat |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Dave on Wed Oct 17 07:13:14 2018, in response to The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by heypaul on Wed Oct 17 07:08:26 2018. Reading that I couldn't help but think of the book, "Stranger in a Strange Land." |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Wed Oct 17 22:00:02 2018, in response to The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by heypaul on Wed Oct 17 07:08:26 2018. Ah yes I've noticed that too. I'll add some of my observations:1. School students will take that seat and think nothing of it. 2. Drunk businessmen will also take it. 3. People in face masks will also take the gaijin seat, probably because the empty seat also appears next to people wearing those face masks. 4. For white, tan, and other light skin colors the phenomenon is a gaijin seat. However there will sometimes be more than one empty seat next to a black person. I think the most awkward example of this was a manspreading black man wearing a wifebeater and shorts (which is an extremely un-Japanese ensemble) - he had a gaijin row of 4 seats on an otherwise standing room only train. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Edwards! on Wed Oct 17 22:25:52 2018, in response to The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by heypaul on Wed Oct 17 07:08:26 2018. HmmmSome people are Just filled with salt. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Thu Oct 18 00:40:15 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Wed Oct 17 22:00:02 2018. I never quite discovered that issue in Japan because with the exception of the Shinkansen ride and maybe one day where I was just super tired and the loading was rather gentle by Japanese standards, I generally stood on the train.FWIW, either the Japanese are really good at hiding dirty looks, or they managed to tolerate my existence on the train. In contrast, the dirty looks seemed to come from Americans. Even in Europe, I manage to railfan without much trouble... |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Thu Oct 18 19:44:07 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Thu Oct 18 00:40:15 2018. Railfanning in Japan is considered normal so you will never get a dirty look for it. Even video recording at the railfan window which peeks over the shoulder of the train operator. I suspect that there might be dirty looks if a child wants to look out the front and you're in the way of the part with the lower window, or if you are on a platform getting in the way of someone else's shot.It took me 3 years to notice the Gaijin Seat phenomenon. Mainly because for the most part I was travelling with a Chinese-American friend and he would typically take that seat, unknowingly forming a buffer. Also, the regular commuter trains to the airports, and the Yamanote line typically have non-Asians in every car, so the Gaijin seat is nonexistent there. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Thu Oct 18 21:42:30 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Thu Oct 18 19:44:07 2018. I probably should have explained that the dirty looks reference wasn’t in regards to railfanning, but more so because I’m black. The security guards actually politely shamed a young Western kid to move back from the platform so I could take a photo on the Ginza Line.FWIW, I didn’t go anywhere obscure railfan wise, so it may have explained why my presence wasn’t shocking. It's not like I went out to Toride on the Joban Line. It was mostly rides on the Ginza and Yamanote Lines. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 18 23:56:25 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Wed Oct 17 22:00:02 2018. How come the gaikokujin seat is next to Saitama? |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Express Rider on Fri Oct 19 06:11:11 2018, in response to The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by heypaul on Wed Oct 17 07:08:26 2018. The Gaijin seatThe Gaijin seat you're not from around here so you're gettin' heat The Gaijin seat The Gaijin seat empty 'cause they're different as horse from Buffalo meat The Gaijin seat The Gaijin seat cold as the arctic Polar Bear's roar it's empty cuz of the one that's usually ignored |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Fri Oct 19 06:59:42 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Thu Oct 18 21:42:30 2018. However the group of us feels about Japanese public culture, it is nice that official actually helped you railfan!! I don't think that would happen in too many other places. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by MainR3664 on Fri Oct 19 07:02:25 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Wed Oct 17 22:00:02 2018. The drunk businessmen are probably1) Less inhibited generally 2) More worried about stumbling, and puking than whatever evils the Japanese usually feel westerners will perpetrate against them. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Fri Oct 19 13:53:19 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Thu Oct 18 19:44:07 2018. So its more of a phenomenon on lines away from the airports and in and around downtown Tokyo? |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Edwards! on Fri Oct 19 15:52:36 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 18 23:56:25 2018. Seriously,dude?You watch "One Punch Man"? Wow 🙌! |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Oct 19 18:11:10 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by MorningsideHeightsM100 on Fri Oct 19 13:53:19 2018. Even lines within Tokyo, there are a lot which are rarely used by non-locals. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Oct 19 18:34:10 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by AEM-7AC #901 on Thu Oct 18 21:42:30 2018. In that case I'll add the corollary I discovered: dressing or acting similarly to those around you goes a long way. To go to the extreme, a black man wearing a full blown suit has no problem getting seatmates. They're "culturalist" - showing signs of being a part of their culture leads to being welcomed, and showing enough signs of being from another culture will leads to being avoided. So having non-Asian skin is an immediate -1 or -2 points as it is a sign of another culture, but it can be made up for in other ways. Being a railfan is so common there I can imagine it being a +.For example I wore just a hoodie in 50 degree weather, because that's all I need. No joke, the locals wear winter coats (and often scarves!) in this weather. Needless to say I got a lot of dirty looks. For fall I now bring something which at first glance looks a lot warmer than it actually is, and no more dirty looks. |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Fri Oct 19 18:37:47 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Oct 18 23:56:25 2018. What do you expect for a class C hero... |
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Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Oct 19 20:11:31 2018, in response to Re: The Empty Seat on a Crowded Japanese Train: Years on, the ‘Gaijin Seat’ Still Grates, posted by Edwards! on Fri Oct 19 15:52:36 2018. Actually, I prefer older anime like Gatchaman or even Ōgon Batto.The character does make for some amusing crossover fanart, though.  |
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