“日本の良さを体験して帰国しましょう”which means feel the goodness of Japan and go home. This sentence can be seen in many articles, news or columns about Japan tourism. I always wondered why they put an emphasis on “go home” until I had an extremely awkward experience when I came to Japan half year ago.
A university teacher invited me to have dinner with him. He told me a lot about this small town and the people living here. He also suggested that I join the celebration which would be held in his hometown. Until that, it was really nice.
Then he told me “It’s not apart of my job to provide you with a meal; it was my own idea”.
“I did this to let you to feel the goodness of Japan and go home.” His facial expression looked as if this was what he really wanted to tell me that night.
“Feel it and go home, go home”he repeated several times(both of us were a little drunk).
In conjunction with other experiences with this teacher, I felt insulted at that moment. “Are you kidding me? What do you think I am? A tourist? How much cost do you think I ‘ve paid? An air ticket?” was what I really think about although all I replied that night was “Thank you sir”.
Everyone knows that Japan is facing a serious population problem, so I thought that I would be welcome if I moved there. I have put a high value on the Japanese language ever since I was young. I even abandoned my family name and gave myself a Japanese one officially. And now the truth is that many Japanese people don’t welcome foreigners like me even though their towns are dying.
After that night, every time I think about my relationships with Japanese people, I’ll always remember his words, which let me know that I can’t be a “real” Japanese so I have to think about other ways.