Interesting Tidbits: Gaijin Eat Gaijin

Most of my friends in Japan are Gaijin - that is to say, foreigners. I have a handful who aren't, but they're a minority. Moreover, they're almost all fluent English speakers who have been raised atypically from Japanese norm. I've met my foreigner friends through others, or through work, but never simply by approaching one and trying to establish a friendship. The prospect of that isn't very interesting to me at all.
That's because I'm a Gaijin-Eating Gaijin. And I'm one of many. It's a little bit of a phenomenon, let me explain to you how it works.

From the Yamanote Line Walk!

You see, like many other Gaijin, I've come to Japan to get a whiff of something new, different from what my life had been like until then. And so far, so good, I'm still loving it here. Culture, food, and sights, everything really, but people especially. The Japanese as a lot are a hard-working people with high standards - so much so that service when it comes to just about anything is incomparable with what you get elsewhere. If you're a paying customer, you're just about God.
 You could say the same about daily life, really. People are respectful enough that you don't ever have a bad day just because some random person decided to be a dick to you. As crowded as downtown Shinjuku is, for instance, you won't get shoved by someone in a hurry.
 But you see, Gaijin have a different set of standards than the Japanese common-folk do, I'm afraid, when it comes to manners and littering for one, but, gasp, I'm gonna say it, a more likely tendency towards crime in general. Was that racist? I'm a Gaijin too. Canadian, by nationality, I'll remind you.
 I tend to avoid Roppongi like I would a pool full of AIDS. I used to go clubbing in Tokyo quite frequently, and, if you like a fun night out I'd recommend it to you too, but all my favorite clubs were outside of Roppongi - Shibuya, Ebisu, and Ageha in Shin-Kiba. Why? Because Roppongi is foreigner turf, man. Everything I liked about clubbing in Tokyo doesn't apply to clubs in Roppongi - they're just worlds trashier. You're more likely to get shoved and cussed out or something, and frankly, if I wanted that, I would've just stayed and clubbed in Montreal. And it's not the Japanese people doing the shoving either.
 Well maybe that's petty, you say. But even that aside, the American Embassy issues warnings about Roppongi. People don't get robbed or killed or assaulted in Tokyo - but when they do it's usually in Roppongi! Who'd have guessed! Me. And it's unsurprising.
 But you know, it has a lot to do with rivalry too. In a room full of Japanese and one other foreigner, I'm always eyeing that guy, seeing if he's up to no good. Maybe he's doing the same. Usually it ends up he's just a pretty normal dude.
 And I'm staunch when it comes to defending this country against Japan-bashers. I'm usually the first one to wonder out loud why the person doesn't just go home when they finish complaining about the country (and once they leave the table.)
 The bottom-line is, I like Japan to be its own thing. I like my coworkers and my friends too, but Japanese society as a whole is a beautiful thing that works well on its own. Yeah, there are flaws, too. I can write articles about the things that don't work as well, but I like Japan better when people aren't turning it into something else. When in Rome, right?