Why Japanese assume that people who appear non-Asian in Japan can't speak Japanese

Dot representative population graph derived from 2016 data from the SBJ, MoJ, JTO & JEES

Look at this dot map. What do you see? No, it is not a Rorschach Inkblot Test. This is a graphical representation of the amount of "visibly foreign" (people who most people would not consider to be of the phenotype / race "east Asian" skin / hair / eye color) people in Japan in 2016.

Try spotting the red and yellow dots in the map (those who can speak Japanese). Those dots statistically represent the people-of-foreign-origin or nationality that can understand Japanese — although it does not represent where they actually live.

Not many of them, right?

(If you're wondering why the colors I chose are hard to see, especially the brightness between gray & black and the colorblind traits of blue & yellow: that was intentional as in real life, it is not easy to differentiate between tourists, and short- medium- long- permanent term residents)

●: black

American / African / European / Russian / Indian / Australian / Southeast Asian tourists, short term visitors, and business people in Japan for 90 ~ 180 days or less.

●: gray

Medium to long term (including permanent resident status) to permanent (include special permanent) residents of Japan (either Asian or non-Asian).

●: blue

American / African / European / Russian / Indian / Australian / Southeast Asian people who are medium to long term (including permanent resident status) residents of Japan who can use and understand the Japanese language less than fluently to not at all. (i.e. can't hold a conversation beyond simple ordering from a menu or asking for directions etc)

●: red

American / African / European / Russian / Indian / Australian / Southeast Asian people who are fluent in Japanese (able to listen, read, write, and converse at a JLPT N1 level)

●: yellow

American / African / European / Russian / Indian / Australian / Southeast Asian naturalized Japanese citizens

Rightly or wrongly, a Japanese native who encounters people who do not "look" like a typical Japanese is not going to encounter, through random chance, a non-Japanese westerner, etc., who is integrated into society such that they can communicate with them the same way they can communicate with people who were born, raised, and educated in Japan.

Let me be clear and say that this does not mean that Japanese are unable or unwilling to accept people who do not appear to be Japanese. Sociological evidence and examples through history and even popular culture of today shows that Japanese are more than willing to accept Japanese as one of their own if they are ethnically Japanese: that is, behave in a Japanese manner and communicate in Japanese and practice Japanese customs and live in Japan, which are traits common to >99% of the Japanese populace (if we include those who are legally foreign under the status of Special Permanent Residents).

When we meet people, we go through four general stages of acquaintance:

In Japan, you need to get to at least the
Acquaintance Level for most people to not
think about initiating conversation in Japanese.

1. initial impression from appearance
2. initial impression from simple dialogue
3. impressions from content of their conversation and their behavior
4. a sum of a collection of encounters from the first three stages

The vast majority of our encounters with people in life, especially in an urban environment, are made solely from visible appearance. The next level is through simple, trivial, interactions (making a purchase at a convenience store or ordering at a restaurant). The last two phases are for those who have invested time assimilating into society. Often, this mean avoiding both:

• other foreigners (both in real life at foreigner friendly bars, restaurants, and work divisions) but in the English digital bubble (English social media and English one-way media) as well
• other Japanese who are "globalized", in that they make a point to hang out with foreigners on weekends or during evening activities away from normal life and work. While some people call these people "English hunters" (for foreign language acquisition) or "gaijin hunters" (for romantic interests), there are also Japanese who enjoy the company of non-Japanese for a feeling of "being internationalized". And they would prefer that the foreign residents they consort with integrate and assimilate as little as possible into Japanese society, as this increases their feeling of "globalism".

Speaking Japanese to Racially non-Japanese: Bad for Business

We've probably all seen and laughed at various videos on the internet showing exasperated foreign residents expressing feelings of alienation when being presented with service (often at a restaurant) in English, and the staff has a difficult time understanding that the foreign resident really wishes to communicate in Japanese.

Japanese businesses pay attention to tabelog and
gurunavi when it comes to reviews from domestic
Japanese in Japan audiences.

There's a very good reason why they do this. From a business and statistical point of view, speaking Japanese to people who do not appear to be likely to speak Japanese is bad for the bottom line.

Mathematically speaking, the number of foreign people in Japan (tourists) who would prefer that staff speak English to them (tens of millions of people) outnumbers non-Asian people who live in Japan who would prefer to speak in Japanese (tens of thousands of people) by three orders of magnitude.

In other words, the people that desire one thing (a smooth English transaction with no language negotiation or adjustment) spend far more money in stores than the local foreign residents who want a smooth Japanese transaction.

And while foreign residents may pay more taxes than tourists, tourists spend far more money on consumables (restaurants, bars, and goods) than foreign residents in Japan.

Money Talks.

What happens when a foreign tourist does not get a smooth English transaction? Or has to ask the waiter specifically to speak in English or has to ask for an English menu? That person will reduce the score they give that store or restaurant in Yelp! or Google Maps or the other popular services that are ubiquitous and used by tourists.

Even if a store is unaware of the scores it is getting on online sites, it is aware of the looks of frustration and consternation it sees on tourists faces when they are vexed by a foreign language.

How to be Spoken to in Japanese when You Don't Look Asian

There are actually ways to reduce the odds of being treated like a foreign tourists, despite the mathematical odds against it.

Go to places that tourists or globalists can't go to

• No English / alphabet signs, menus, or restaurant name
• No pictures on the menu, and no plastic food or photos of food on the outside of the shop
• Little glass to look inside, and a place not on ground level (2nd floor or higher or an underground level)
• Few if any menu items written in 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet) and especially ローマ字 {rōmaji} (Japanese transliterated into Latin alphabet)
• Avoid any place mentioned in a guide book like Michelin's or English electronic maps

Do not speak a foreign language to your friends within earshot of any Japanese, even when you are not addressing the restaurant or store staff

Even if you're talking quietly, people can hear
and locate an English speaker like a RADAR blip.

Foreign languages tend to stand out. If you're in a country where English is not the native language, you can tend to hear English (or another tongue that is different from the language everybody else is speaking) stand out from the other conversations. If you and your friends converse in English at the entrance of the restaurant while waiting for a table, or you speak English to everybody else at the table when not addressing staff, the staff can hear that and make the (logical) conclusion that you are more comfortable speaking in English.

If you must communicate in a foreign language (because some of your guests are unable to hold a conversation in Japanese), make sure you have finished ordering and communicating with the staff before code switching to English.

Make sure your foreign friends with you can actually speak and understand Japanese

In a "globalized" situation, the language used
in any group discussion will be English
if just one person is weak linguistically.

Rightly or wrongly, staff will make an assumption regarding language at the lowest common denominator. That is, even if you speak Japanese well, if other people are struggling with the language, the staff may switch to English or direct all communication to the person they think (even if they aren't) a native Japanese speaker to serve as translator.

Until your friends are "ready to engage" in the language of the land -- that is, able to hold a conversation in Japanese in Japan of any general nature for at least three to four hours without "code switching" (switching back and forth between their native language and the Language of the Land), it is best to segregate your Japanese capable foreign friends from your non-Japanese capable foreign friends, and plan your activities accordingly: feel free to hang out at foreigner and English friendly venues with your non-fluent friends, but for times when you want to have deeper conversations with Japanese, it is best to have a smaller go-to list of friends whom you know can keep up with the conversation.

If you do not segregate your circles of friends by their language ability, you will find it hard to have conversations with most of the Japanese populace, as they will have to slow down, simplify, and choose simpler topics of conversation to accommodate and be polite to the person of the least ability (so he or she is not left out).

Keep your "internationalized", "English capable", and/or "globalized" Japanese friends separate from your regular Japanese friends

Your international Japanese friends belong
in your circle of non-Japanese capable
foreign friends.

While it appears to be counter-intuitive, the more exposure Japanese have to dealing with non-Japanese (especially if they work at a foreign company or have spent time overseas), the less likely they are to instinctively treat you just like everybody else living in Japan.

They have learned the tenets of Globalization, which says that the whole world gravitates towards a Universal Culture and a Universal Language... which happens to be English.

These "international Japanese", or "i-Japanese" (mentioned in tip #7 of my Ten Good Habits for Learning Japanese for life in Japan), will not understand and will think it is odd that any non-Japanese would want to communicate in a language other than English unless one has no choice.

You should treat "i-Japanese", ironically, in the same way you treat your circle of friends who can't hold an extended conversation in Japanese: do not invite them to any activity where you wish to speak Japanese. Most of them will not be able to resist the opportunity to code-switch to English. And when people who can't speak Japanese see this Japanese person speaking English to you, rightly or wrongly, they will assume that either you can't or you don't want to converse in Japanese for extended periods of time, and you will be excluded from conversations and opportunities that Japanese will want to have exclusively in Japanese.

Avoid places popular with tourists (for eating or shopping)

The more dealings with foreigners that a place has, the more likely they are to learn that not only do the vast majority of foreigners don't speak Japanese, but they also learn through the customer's feedback and expressions that being spoken to initially in a foreign language that they don't know makes them uncomfortable. Thus, if you go to places that are popular with tourists, your chances of getting spoken to in English increases. These places include, but are not limited to:

Blame this movie for the
increase in Shibuya & Shinjuku
"bucket list" naïve tourists.

• 新宿 {Shinjuku}
• 渋谷 {Shibuya}
• 原宿 {Harajuku}
• 秋葉原 {Akihabara}
• 六本木 {Roppongi}
• 浅草 {Asakusa}
• 京都 {Kyōto}

There's nothing wrong with these places, of course; they have excellent sites, history, food, and culture. However, they are also so accustomed to being part of tourists' must-see list that all but the minor shops are used to associating non-Asian (and Asian, especially Chinese and Korean) faces with the inability to understand and speak Japanese.

Be a Local and a Regular

Referring back to the original graph and to the pyramid, the best way to be spoken to in Japanese when living in Japan is to be a regular. If everybody knows you, and they know you speak in Japanese comfortably and that you are not a tourist and prefer to speak the language of the land, then they will speak Japanese to you are capable of constantly and comfortably doing so.

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