First of all let me tell you, Japanese people like to be left alone. If you don't know them, they don't really want you to talk to them. I mean of course there are exceptions to everything. And I don't mean that if you are lost and asking them to point you in the right direction or if the next bus stop is Nijo Castle, that you will be greatly upsetting them. They are extremely polite and will most of the time be more than helpful in setting you straight.
But if you are trying to push your religious opinions on them, it is not looked upon as favorably. Those poor Japanese women are just too polite to tell you to take a hike, so they will let whomever yammer on about all sorts of things. And will then do anything just to get you to leave them well enough alone. They will even thank you for whatever stuff you are trying to push in their hands. However, this tactic only works when you target them alone or at their homes. Otherwise, if you are a politician or a worker with you own set of flyers that you are trying to hand them at some station or other, you will get cold shouldered and brushed passed, or at the very least your flyer will be accepted only to make it into the nearest trashcan. Which is not so near. The local trashcan is actually an endangered species in Japan and is rarely found, and as such, flyers are more commonly not accepted due to the lack of dust boxes in the vicinity.
But perhaps this is my ever more Japanese mindset speaking when I say that it is extremely rude to impose upon and accost people on the street trying to force your ideas upon them. Especially when Japan is about 70% non-religious. And the majority of the remaining percentage devote themselves to Shintoism or Buddhism, and an even smaller percentage, Christianity.
And the super weird part about these people who violate my personal space, and waste my time, and knock on my door is that they are the most persistent people you will ever meet. They really do not want to take no for an answer and will keep pushing you until you have their book or pamphlet in your hand. I had one lady try to keep pushing a book at me right when I left school one time and it was all in Japanese. It was for one of the numerous cults in Japan that parade around as religions. If you don't know what I am talking about, check out either the news from 20 years back with the Saran gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system or the recent book called 1Q84 by Haruhi Murakami, or just look on the outside of a great number of home where you see their support posters everywhere. Those large hideous pieces of paper featuring some aging, unpleasant stern looking Japanese man or less frequently, woman, that wholly detract from the nice ascetic otherwise beautiful outside appearance of the home. And it is illegal to rip them down, and still more surprising, no one ever does. Well, this lady kept pushing me and I was like 'Lady, Thank you, but no, I don't even read Japanese.' And she kept pushing and then I decided that the best mode of action would be to turn off my Japanese understanding switch, revert to English and be like ' Well I am sorry. Hope that all works out for you. I am going to get going now. Bye!' She persisted a little longer, but with me walking quickly and plainly ignoring her, her will for the chase was short lived.
Other people who are an interesting factor in Japanese frontier of the bothersome people who approach just about anyone, are the Latter Day Saints. Yeah. Apparently moving half way around the world is not far enough to be rid of them. They still come to your door too. And they train themselves to speak a bit of Japanese to convey their message to the wonderful people of Japan. Apparently, it has been said that Japan is one of their largest markets for finding followers...not that I work for a company that supports this group or anything... To spot them is rather easy, as they parade around in pairs and are pretty in-discriminant in their prey. They are more modestly rather than fashionably dressed with these little name tags which is how you can tell them apart from the masses and then know well enough the counter movements you need to make to necessarily avoid them. They will also be porting around some sort of satchel filled with the lords words or works, or pamphlets, you know, the usual marketing. And if you are happily in a relationship with God, it is not enough to persuade them because you are obviously in the wrong one.
So the best way to avoid them is to clearly just avoid their vicinity. But what if they come to your home? This is troublesome. I just don't like opening my door for anyone who is not giving me money or not a friend. So you can spy at them from your peep hole, but in addition, not living in an apartment without an exterior gate is advisable. If you live in a gated apartment, they obviously cannot come and knock on your door, though they can ring you bell and chat with you over the intercom until you buzz them in or hang up. They know this and thus this type of building acts as a repellent for them. But if you do not live in an apartment with an exterior door to prevent unwanted people from coming into the main building, your door is fair game for them.
Want to know just one more piece of information? If you open your door, they are allowed to come inside. At least as far as the area where shoes are acceptable are allowed. This is pretty much just the entry way. A very small area. Never the less, a frightening article to know. I have never had to deal with this personally. Most people are too polite to intrude so much. I just read up on it when I was dealing with the people from the NHK. So good luck in fending them off. Equip yourself suitably!
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