Hey guys!
Today I wanted to talk about two things: safety and harassment and how my experiences
with both of those things have compared between Japan and America.
And I'll just tell you straight off the bat: SPOILER ALERT!
I like Japan much better!
So the first thing I wanna talk about is a story that
happened to me my very first week I ever got to Japan.
I was studying abroad.
I was staying in an international dorm.
And I had gone out to get groceries and I was walking home
and as I was walking up the steps getting ready to go into the building,
a Japanese guy shouted out from behind me (and I'm gonna paraphrase what he said because
his English wasn't very good so I can't repeat it exactly)
but he was like, "Hey!
Wait!
I saw you a while ago and I followed you home.
Are you a fashion student?
I would like to get to know you more.
Do you wanna go somewhere with me so we can get to know each other?"
And I was like...
Did you just tell me you followed me home??
No, I'm not going somewhere with you!
I'm sorry!
I did actually talk to him, though.
He didn't seem like he was genuinely a creepy guy.
Like what I think really happened was he saw me
and he wanted to talk to me but he couldn't work up the courage
to do it and so he just made a really bad decision
and followed me and when he realized I was gonna go in my apartment building
and he couldn't follow me into the apartment building,
that's when he was like finally, "It's now or never.
I have to say something!"
And so he kinda finally worked up the courage at the last moment.
And that's kinda the impression I got.
And so, I mean I don't think he was necessarily a bad guy or anything,
but at the same time no, I'm not gonna go somewhere and meet you!
You just told me you followed me home!
Now, I genuinely respect the courage that it takes to approach someone.
I would never like, make fun of someone or belittle them for approaching me.
Like I would never look down on them for that.
I've approached people before too and I've been turned down so I know how that feels.
And I mean I did stay there and I did talk to him a little bit at the same time.
And after I told him that I wasn't going to meet him again I didn't ever see him again,
even though he knew where I lived.
So I don't think he was a bad guy.
I think he just made a really bad decision.
And so even though that happened to me my first week in Japan and it was somewhat of
a safety issue, that's the only thing that's ever happened to me in Japan.
Japan is the safest, most comfortable place I've ever been.
I'm not gonna go in to statistics or whatever but Japan is one of the safest countries in
the world, if not maybe the safest.
Like I've never felt uncomfortable being alone.
I would walk anywhere in the middle of the night in Japan, wearing a miniskirt, by myself,
and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable at all, and that is not something I would do in America!
I'm also gonna tell you a safety story about something that happened to me in America.
Jun came to visit me and I was subletting a really nice apartment and the area we were
staying in was really nice and it had a beautiful view of a valley.
It was fantastic.
It was a really safe area—they had police patrols and all kinds of stuff.
However, about one month into our stay I woke up in the middle of the night to one of our
neighbors who was screaming bloody murder, and she was saying,
"Help!
Help!
There's someone in my apartment!
Who are you?!
Help!
Someone help!"
And I was FREAKED OUT.
I was so terrified.
And Jun, he sleeps like a rock.
He didn't even wake up.
I had to shake him and wake him up.
I was like, "Jun!
JUN!
Get up!
Jun!
Wake up!"
And it went on for a while and eventually the police came and I guess they sorted it
out or whatever but it was terrifying!
This is something that happens in America to people.
Like someone breaks into your apartment sometimes.
And I mean of course people break into your houses in Japan sometimes, too, but it's nowhere
near what happens in America.
There are a lot of foreign women who do experience- who do get harassed by perverts and things.
Like, there have been stories of like, people trying to take a picture of your underwear
or maybe someone groping you while you're in public, or the rare case of maybe someone
even trying to steal your underwear while it's hanging out to dry.
But honestly, in my mind if I compare something like that to the threat of physical harm of
someone breaking into my house in America, it's not even a comparison for me.
I would SO much rather deal with the perverts.
I can deal with that!
They're not gonna kill me.
They're just looking at my underwear or something like that.
I mean that's not nice, but I can deal with that.
And I mean, I like wearing skirts and dresses in Japan.
I like wearing them a lot because I used to be a huge tomboy and I've kind of like, swung
extremely in the opposite direction.
So I'm always wearing skirts and dresses in Japan.
And for me the places I've lived in Japan have been SO windy.
I don't know why it always seems so windy to me.
But I probably need to use my second hand now to count the number of times I've been
in public wearing a skirt or a dress and some wind just comes along and my skirt goes FWOOSH!
and I flash the Japanese population with my underwear.
So I mean, like the first time it happened I freaked out.
But at this point so many Japanese people have seen my underwear already I'm just kinda
like...
"Meh."
So I mean, if someone is trying to take a picture of my underwear of course I'm going
to call them out and be like, "CHIKAN!" and call over the police or something, but
I'm not gonna go home after that and crawl into the shower and be like,
"I feel so violated!"
or anything.
That is so much more something I'd rather deal with than feeling unsafe or feeling terrified,
like I felt terrified that day that our neighbor had someone break into their apartment.
So, safety-wise, Japan is like the clear winner for me.