The subway racist
It’s the fifth Sunday - so I can write whatever I want - today it’s not so much fun. I have witnessed and heard about quite a lot of incidents with tourists - and here’s one of mine - a more harmless one - maybe will discuss the more violent one that happened to me once I’m over it. The below story happened on a crowded Tokyo subway car back in early spring 2025. More than a year later, I'm still livid thinking of this incident.
I stood facing the wall, a big suitcase (with stuff for an event I was producing in it) in front of me, masked and maintaining that fragile bubble of personal space we all seek on public transport. When the tourist family boarded - parents and two sons around twenty - they announced themselves with a cloud of aftershave potent enough to make me nauseous. The father instructed the family on the upcoming train transfers in German. I briefly considered offering directions (he didn’t seem too confident) but decided against it after observing their dynamic - one woman, three men - this usually means that the oldest man insists that everything is fine and my offer would just have been in the way.
The mother refused to touch the handles ("Probably germs all over!") and kept bumping into everyone. Bumping into people on trains happens all the time; I didn't mind. But when she bumped into the youngest son and he was more than embarrassed by practically having to hug his mum in public, he began commenting - probably for his family's amusement:
"Japanese people are too short to reach the handrails anyway," he announced in German - not as a throwaway comment but as an extended, smug routine.
Perhaps he assumed no one could understand. He was wrong. I turned to him, informed him there were indeed people on the train who understood German and asked him to stop being racist.
Some might say, “Oh come on, that’s not racist, it’s just a joke.”
But “jokes” like these rely on stereotypes and on the assumption that the people being mocked won’t understand - or won’t speak up. That’s precisely what makes them racist. They’re meant to dehumanise, with a smirk instead of a slur.
His response? He scoffed. Laughed. When I told him this wasn't a laughing matter, he laughed harder - that weightless laughter of someone who's never faced consequences.
In that moment of frustration, I said: "Next time, leave that Hitler moustache of yours at home." I know how Germans react to this kind of comment. It was a line I'd mentally prepared years ago after a family friend had mocked East Asian features and I'd been too stunned to respond on the spot.
The boy didn't even look up from his phone - he just mumbled about "not expecting to meet the Antifa on a Tokyo subway." Instead, his mother (!) apologised for him trying to de-escalate. The young man? (Mind you 18-22 years of age and old enough to apologise). He offered nothing.
Just before their stop, he attempted one final provocation - commenting that Japanese people have "too many fluffy toys" hanging off their bags. His mother quickly contradicted him “I don’t think it’s too much, it’s cute”, clearly trying to defuse the situation. I didn't engage; unlike his earlier comment, this was merely a statement, not explicit racism.
Dear young man:
You weren’t being clever. You were being cowardly - mocking people you assumed couldn't understand, then hiding behind your phone when confronted. When your mother apologised for you, you let her. Not a word. Not a glance.
What troubled me most wasn’t the joke itself. It was the weightless laughter of someone who's never faced consequences and how completely normal that reaction seemed to feel to you.
I saw you. Others did too.
So in short - dear reader, I don’t think you need this advice, but maybe a friend or relative does - if you're fortunate enough to travel:
Bring curiosity instead of arrogance
Find humour that doesn't depend on cruelty
Approach with humility the people whose home has welcomed you as a guest
And please - keep your racist jokes to yourself.
"they announced themselves with a cloud of aftershave potent enough to make me nauseous"
That is one thing I have become so much more sensitive to while living in Japan: the waft of aftershave or perfume from some tourist. I hate it. Really there's no need to bathe in the stuff, a few drops is quite sufficient!
I've heard both German and French tourists make snide/rude comments in Japan. They have usually been embarrassed when I speak to them in their langauge. I think it's probably common and it certainly doesn't just happen in Japan. I've witnessed it in the UK, the US and France at different times. And it also applies to other European nationalities too.
Mind you the funniest one of those was back several decades when I visited the Niagara Falls with some people I knew from Finland including a Finnish lady, Virpi. We were in the gift shop looking for souvenirs and these two mid-teenaged kids were running around causing trouble and being rude in Finnish. Virpi rolled her eyes and we commiserated (we could all understand at least some of what the kids were saying). Then they made their mistake by running around the corner and into her/us. They didn't apologize and one of them said something about stupid fat Americans. Virpi shouted back at them with the sort of Finnish you are never taught in school, I forget all the words but Perkeleen Vittupää was definitely in there somewhere. The two kids kind of shrunk and oozed away in shame
Thank you for writing this and I am grateful for your strength in speaking up. Riding the subway in Tokyo these last two weeks I have seen a number of acts of entitlement on the part of Euro-Americans that have left me wondering if I should intervene or just “Let Them” as Mel Robbins says. Nothing quite as explicit but things like allowing one’s child to lie across three subway seats, with shoes on, while an old lady has nowhere to sit, public displays of affection in crowded spaces on trains, etc. I wish these folks would stop treating Japan like it is their playground if privilege.