Re:The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train
by tunesmith on Thursday October 24, 2019 @01:07AM
(#21341791)
I don't understand the conclusion that just because he wrote a couple of articles about it ten years apart, that he's been constantly stewing on it for that entire time. Maybe it's something that only occurs to him when he's on the train, and even then maybe only sometimes, and maybe - as a writer - he's trained to recognize these transient thoughts and tease them into articles. That's what a lot of these slice-of-life articles are, focusing on moments that would otherwise slip by and escape notice.
Re:The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train
by spats1990 on Thursday October 24, 2019 @01:05AM
(#21341788)
In the words of the late Donald Richie: "I would leave Japan if I were Japanese."
But there are endless perspectives on this issue and quite a few have their merits, despite contradicting each other.
The article’s plenty insightful, it provides a wonderful insight into what it’s like to be the author, and secondarily, an aspect of being a foreigner in Japan that obviously really disturbs some.
There’s no need for quotation marks on home in your last paragraph. Mr. McNeil is not attempting to be Japanese. He’s professionally American in Japan. He writes for English language publications, campaigns for American cultural attitudes and despite living in Japan for 15 years and being a writer his Wikipedia page is only in English.
If he’s being treated unfairly there’s no evidence of it in the linked article.