They're like who are you? They're like what are you?
What are you. Like you're an alien.
I'm Joshua I was born and raised in Tokyo
my parents are from Japan my auntie's uncles they all look white they all
look Caucasian but they all stay perfect Japanese.
Growing up, I was never told I was Japanese by Japanese people.
I was always told I'm foreign or Western or British or whatever.
Imagine feeling like a foreigner in a country that you were
born and raised in that is the reality for many international families here in Japan including
joshuas who have been living here since the 1950s third generation but still don't
completely feel like a part of Japanese Society oh sorry I don't speak Japanese
did you ever have that where you're like speaking perfectly and they're not registering it
or they're still using the hand gestures it does get annoying sometimes and people just start
laughing even at Starbucks I just asked where's the toilet in Japanese right
and she was like (shocked)
this was in Tokyo people say like just suck it up and move on but at the same time if
it's happening to you every single day every single encounter you have you have to explain
who you are and I have to explain my life story to every single person I interact with
I'm legally British so that's the only reason why I say British yeah but like I don't
feel British I'm not British at all my accent's not British at all I don't hear it I don't hear it
so right I wouldn't consider you American but like I'm not even Japanese by law and I so
whatever that is that maybe you guys can decide what I am what is he when I told people in
the UK that I'm from Tokyo yeah like oh yeah very very funny don't take up this blah blah blah and
like they're like and where are you really from no I'm not lying I'm from Tokyo and they're like REALLY?
so even people in the UK didn't believe you no they're like where are you from in America
yeah you can't really truly fit in anywhere you go no not at all so I mean they always said like
I can't really locate your accent I was like even I can't locate my accent like it's okay
this issue is a bit complicated as you can see but looking at the comments section I couldn't
help but think that people had oversimplified it three generations and didn't feel like he
was Japanese until he left Japan speaks volumes about how close Japan is to foreigners it seems
like you're never accepted in Japan if you're our Foreigner xenophobia pure and simple is it even
possible for a foreigner to become a citizen of Japan that that's a thing like I never consider
myself Japanese like it was always a struggle with my identity because now talking to non-japanese
people they say I'm Japanese but Japanese people say I'm not Japanese so like I'm like right in
the middle saying like what can I be like what am I what am I what is he what am I that's a unique identity
Like I told you I got married back earlier this year in May and uh you know we want to have kids here and it's kind of like with
them too like when we have kids what's their identity are they Japanese are they Americans
I don't know I'm really intrigued by your life and your story you don't feel unique but I've
never met anyone like you but for me I don't feel special at all like yeah this is what I went
through it I only know this right I only know this life so I don't know how it's like to
be you right like yeah born and raised in America how it's like to be surrounded by Americans yeah
I mean I did experience that a few years but yeah so English was my first language so I only
spoke English with my parents and at home because I was in the states obviously but when I came back
to Japan I just switched to Japanese really quick like I was put into preschool Japanese preschool
and I just switched automatically and I was put into Japanese school my parents policy
was that they wanted me to understand how the locals think my parents wanted me to be exposed
to the real Japan I guess and maybe first few years of elementary school I did get bullied
here and there but like not major they're just oh he's just a Gaijin or he's just a foreigner like
he's still funny but like if they didn't kind of include me into the core group did you still have
to take English class and Japanese cool yes but the teacher told me I could just read books okay
yes because she was like oh you know too much like please don't participate on my first
day of high school it's very important person from the high school came up to me he was like
can we go into like a private room I want to talk to you and I was like okay this is serious and we
go into this room and he sat me down he was like all the teachers want to know how much
Japanese you speak guys I took the test I passed yeah that means I speak perfect Japanese I went
to Japanese school I was born and raised here why doesn't that itself tells
you that yeah I speak perfectly Japanese like to be fair I know where they're coming from like they
just want to make sure because I was the only foreign looking person in the high school right
I do understand where they're coming from but at the same
time why can't they just like tiptoe that like right yeah they have a formal meeting and yeah
asked me directly because that makes me realize that oh they do notice I'm very
different yeah and that kind of gets uncomfortable when people remind you every day that you do look
different especially at that age especially at that age I was only 15 right so yeah it did make
me uncomfortable but at the same time like it is what it is I look different so have you ever
had someone make you feel really weird about speaking Japanese just a few weeks ago like I
was trying to go into Imperial Palace and I and this lady gave us two English pamphlets
and I told the lady that oh one one can be Japanese and she just repeated what I said in
Japanese while laughing she was like like
she just started laughing and I was like lady like you're
not supposed to do that maybe I just caught her off guard like it was so unexpected how can you
prepare people hello excuse me I want to warn you I am a white guy but I do speak native Japanese
you need a t-shirt yeah I've thought of that before and even Japanese people sometimes
they tell me to have like a shirt that says I speak Japanese or whatever but that it's not
my duty to do that right right you're just living your life I'm just living my life here right
when I start using words that only native speakers would use or know they're like who are you what
like they're like what are you what are you like you're an alien they came up yeah uh I've had this
feeling before but not for
my whole life just for my adult life living abroad yeah so that kind of thing
happens and I have to explain every time when you're walking around the streets and
you're talking to your foreign looking parents and you're a foreign looking kid did you ever get
weird looks or did you ever catch people talking about you all the time all the time
I can hear them so I kind of forced myself not to talk too loud me I just want to live
your life and like have normal friends and do normal things that normal people do
you realize we look like tourists right we do we do we're now fitting The Stereotype
of being tourists even though we look like we just came from Europe or something I know
I can't believe you've never ridden in one of these I know right first chance like
it was like more like a touristy stuff before her you definitely are from here
because you're like so French people have never been to the Eiffel Tower
You're like a kid.
then why didn't you just get on one I know right like I don't want to pay the twenty
dollars oh okay now's your chance today's your day I like this street this is a cool Street
you know what's interesting how you were saying like your fashion is not Japanese so you don't
come and shop at Harajuku or anything not really I just go to H and M or Zara
yeah you don't have a Japanese hairstyle no I don't or Japanese fashion because I I know I
wouldn't look good in it I guess the kind of copy British or American style okay yeah
Yeah nice!
I think your English is absolutely fine. You don't have to worry about it.
Maybe reading and writing might be a different thing but you should be okay in the UK
I think this will stick with me my whole life but I think I'll just be fine with it I quite like it now
yeah yeah it's your unique position in the world there's a story to tell every time
you gotta accept yourself for who you are yeah definitely and you're
helping Yeah by asking me questions so Joshua started a YouTube channel you should subscribe
to my channel subscribe to his channel thank you thank you like this video and
thanks for the interview thank you thank you very much thanks for having me it was
interesting to get your perspective yeah see you around yes okay thank you thank you