The Japanese Obsession with Finding "Pro-Japanese" Foreigners

A term that is frequently used when Japan talks about foreign countries and individuals is 親日, roughly translatable to "friendly to the Japanese/Japan" or more directly, "pro-Japanese." Often, the usage of the term crops up in discussions concerning international exchange at a grassroots level. A "pro-Japanese" country, the narrative goes, is much more likely to be friendly and helpful to Japanese individuals traveling or living in the country. Local citizens, additionally, would be much more receptive toward learning about Japanese culture and adopting at least some aspects of it in their daily lives.

It goes without saying that the term is overly generalizing, even for places that are most often labeled "pro-Japanese" by the Japanese media and people, like Taiwan. While it is certainly true that the Taiwanese are much more exposed to Japan and Japanese culture than perhaps people from anywhere else outside Japan, and are thus more likely to see Japan in a positive light, to conclude that the majority of the Taiwanese will simply agree with the Japanese on most matters cultural, not to mention economic and political, is surely a blind exaggeration.

After all, people and countries are ultimately driven by self-interest. Sometimes the interests of one country or people may align with those of Japan, but it is impossible for two countries, and even two individuals, to have the same interest on all issues all the time. Hence, the Japanese obsession with finding a country and a people that are on the whole "pro-Japanese" is not only futile but amounts to self-deception. A blind belief that someone is consistently on your side can lead to even nastier surprises when the supposedly "consistently friendly" person goes against you on some particular issues.

But perhaps an even bigger issue for foreigners who are caught in the Japanese tendency to find those who are "pro-Japanese" concerns the implications of not belonging to the "pro-Japanese" foreigners. It is almost implied that the existence of supposedly consistently "pro-Japanese" countries and people mean that there must be countries and people who are consistently 反日 or "anti-Japanese." For citizens of countries that implied to be "anti-Japanese" residing in Japan, the burden of proving themselves as an exception to the rule can be tiresome and constantly present.

Indeed, for those who are burdened with the "anti-Japanese" label simply based on where they come from, offsetting the potential casual xenophobia that they receive daily will involve extraordinary efforts to prove that they are unabashedly and consistently "pro-Japanese" in every way normal Japanese people can observe. For many, such an exercise is both a subject of great insincerity and negation of individuality bordering complete pointlessness. To be seen as 親日, foreigners need to steadfastly hide any criticism of Japan and its people in any way and often resort to outright lies just to cement a pro-Japanese reputation.

Whether such efforts are worthwhile is, without a doubt, highly questionable. Each individual has different opinions on different issues, formed from years of socialization based on schooling, home culture, and personal experiences. In the case of foreigners in Japan, they may be inclined to agree with most Japanese on some issues, but disagree with the majority on others. This is not a matter of being pro- or anti-Japanese but simply a matter of personal preferences. If social pressure in Japan insists that only pro-Japanese foreigners are welcome in Japan, then it becomes excruciatingly difficult for foreigners to simply be themselves and express their own opinions while in the country.

At the same time, the insistence to see the world in binary "pro-Japanese" vs. "anti-Japanese" terms can detrimentally color Japan and Japanese people's relationship with the outside world. The fact of the matter is that most people in the world are not only not thinking about Japan as 100% positive or 100% negative, but also, in fact, most people outside Japan have no relationship with Japan aside from what they see in the media, and frankly, do not think anything about Japan at all. To quixotically categorize people who think nothing of the country as pro- or anti-Japanese is a ridiculous exercise.

Thus, to get out of this weird circle of 親日 and 反日, the first step is for people in the country to stop seeing the outside world from the perceptive of Japan at the center. Once "the Japan factor" in learning about the world is removed, then it becomes so much more objective to see people from around the world as simply people with personal concerns that mostly have absolutely nothing to do with Japan. It is a lesson, not just for the Japanese but people everywhere that they need to stop caring so much about what people in other countries think of them, but at the end of the day, they probably really just do not care.