Japanese TV program!
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 19, 2020 I was approaching the entrance to the Nakano Broadway shopping arcade on the North Side of JR Nakano Station when I noticed that the perspective was especially good for a picture of the arcade. I stopped to do that and when I was finished and resumed my way towards the arcade, I was approached by these guys.
"Excuse me! Excuse me! Japanese TV program!"
Foreigners are not hairy apes dragging their knuckles on the ground. But they are relaxed lopers.
For a moment I almost stopped. If I had stopped and engaged the English-speaking guy, no doubt he would have taken that as acquiescence - a concession - and proceeded with a foreigner-in-the-street interview. But I wasn't in the mood to be an interviewee for some Japanese TV show. My better senses strengthened my will and I didn't stop or react to the guy except to wave him off. In addition, I am not a fan of people raising their voices to me. People probably don’t think it, but I think it’s incredibly violent. I didn't look at him to try to estimate his legitimacy. But from under the visor of my cap I did see that he was carrying a microphone on a stick. Was I rude towards him? By talking to me he was being both rude and violent. I was offended.
Almost an hour later as I was heading south and home, I passed nearby the same spot. So, I decided to take a look. The guy - I assume it was the same guy - was still there, pacing around against the chill and scanning the passersby. Under orders from his boss, I suppose, to find and interview a foreigner. How could he tell I was a foreigner, anyway? I was bundled up and wearing a mask. Not much of my complexion was visible, certainly no hair colour or tattoos were exposed. Plus, I am not remarkably tall. But I, too, can often spot foreigners at a distance, usually just by their gait. Foreigners tend to move differently from Japanese. It’s hard to explain the gait thing. I think of it as a kind of “looseness.” Western foreigners seem to move in a “loose” or more relaxed manner. We lope on our long legs. I’m not saying that foreigners walk like hairy apes dragging our knuckles on the ground. It only looks that way. I’m just suggesting that we are relaxed lopers.
By comparison, Japanese appear somewhat stiff. It’s not that they don’t move quickly. It’s that they seem to carry themselves differently. In truth, Japanese are quite fast on their feet, often walking faster than me. In fact, as I get older, I seem to be slowing down. These days it seems to me that most people walk faster than me.
Or not.
Anyway, that’s the story of how I escaped a Japanese TV show. I want anonymity more than notoriety.
By talking to me he was being both rude and violent.