Foreigners In Japan

Japan is a very homogenous country. At a time when teachers are dying naturally brown hair black (lawsuit ensued) and the country is feeling caught between past and future, what role to foreigners play in japan?

Old School Gaijins

The above video should remind you of Tokyo's Golden Era of Insanity during the 90s. My own major crush on Japan comes from this period, when the youngsters in FRUITS fashion hung out in Yoyogi park and in Harajuku, where reclaim the streets type activists had managed to get the streets closed to vehicular traffic. So what next?

Harajuku Station's Yoyogi Park

All of this coolness in the 90s brought a lot of foreigners to Japan. Unfortunately, the 21st century saw the end of the closed street that facilitated the thriving Sunday street scene in Harajuku. It's still a hip section of town, but not what it once was. So what happens when a more conservative Japan meets with the Gaijin rush brought by their awesomeness during the 90s?

Gaijin on Your Block

But even more so than culture, the practical need for English teachers in Japan has allowed so many foreigners to enter an otherwise homogenous society. But are the Japanese ready to face the beast they've created? (Note: ALT stands for Assistant Language Teacher. The JET Programme began in 1987 as an exchange program for students from the UK to teach in public middle and high schools in Japan under the supervision of a trained Japanese Teacher of English, or JTE.)

Dozo Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu