An empty space on a Japanese train, a full mailbox of diverse views on the 'gaijin seat'

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An empty space on a Japanese train, a full mailbox of diverse views on the ‘gaijin seat’

Empty all these years: Ten years ago, Baye McNeil posted the first entry on his blog, Loco in Yokohama. It was titled 'An empty seat on a crowded train.' His Black Eye column revisiting the subject a decade later generated a lot of reader feedback. | COURTESY OF BAYE MCNEIL

Nov 4, 2018

Baye McNeil’s recent Black Eye column, “A decade on, revisiting the empty seat,” garnered a great deal of attention. Here are some of the responses received by The Japan Times over the past couple of weeks.

All my questions answered

I am a black Malawian student at Naruto University of Education in Tokushima Prefecture, and I can testify to having the exact same experience as that explained in the article.

I never knew if I was the only one in this dilemma, and I was really confused as to what was going on. Now, this article has explained it all and has answered all the questions I had about this situation.

Keep sharing those experiences and help us foreigners understand Japan better through them.

SYDNEY PHIRI

Naruto, Tokushima Pref.

A decade? Try ‘40 years on’

I was very interested to read Baye McNeil’s article on the “gaijin seat.” Actually, I was surprised!

The reason is this: For two years (from April 1977 thru April 1979) I lived in Tokyo and experienced this phenomenon often on my daily train ride from Shinjuku to Daikanyama, and experienced this furtive eye-glance phenomenon. At that time, gaijins were a rare oddity and I just assumed my blond hair and tallness stood out. I myself would furtively glance when I saw another “gaijin,” wondering what their story was.

But that was 40 years ago! I assumed that with the influx of foreigners and international exposure, things would have changed. Loved those two years I lived there and was awed by the kindness of the Japanese.

PATRICIA

Seattle

Do what brings you comfort

I’ve been a Japan Times reader for many years, and I’ve been to Japan approximately 50 times in over 20 years, on business and holiday. I was just in Japan during Typhoon Jebi.

I’ve been to many destinations in Japan. I take JR, private railways and Metro lines regularly. And I’m African-American. So I’ve had people come up to me and touch me out of curiosity (not just in Japan).

I have to say that I have rarely experienced the phenomena described by the writer. None of the experiences come to my mind as particularly traumatizing.

Public transportation is uncomfortable, annoying and intrusive. People have a right to eke out any level of comfort they can. Whether it’s women-only train cars, or not sitting next to someone that makes you uncomfortable, as long as it does not move into the realm of American ‘50s-style segregation, I do not think this is a big problem. We all just want to get to our destination as quickly possible with minimum interference from other passengers.

HARRY SHAW