Another book on Japan

I just finished read Cartels of the Mind: Japan's Intellectual Closed Shop by Ivan P. Hall. What struck me the most was the consistent finding of quotes that described exactly how I felt sometimes when I was there in Japan -- the feeling that no matter what I did, or how long I was there, or how good I was with using chopsticks, or whether I was able to speak the language, I would always be a second class citizen. And that even though I was in a relatively international city because of the large number of foreigners there either as researchers or language teachers, I wasn't free to live where I wanted to. There were certainly ghettos, where us foreigners were supposed to live. If you ventured beyond that, it was definitely difficult, and there seemed to be no restrictions on landlords - they could refuse to rent to you.

This book covers the legal, news, academic and research communities, detailing how Japan, through its bureaucracy and traditions, has made it very difficult if not downright impossible for any foreigner to gain access to Japan. Whether it's the restrictions on hiring lawyers, or the clubs prohibiting foreign members, or the universities that fire all foreign lecturers or professors, these are all detailed.

Despite all that, I did enjoy my six month sojourn in Japan. But I think I definitely made the right decision to not pursue teaching and/or research possibilities in Japan. I think an annual contract with the potential for non-renewal would not have been a realistic situation for me.