Recognizing and saving yourself from this debilitating condition

Who is The Disenchanted Gaijin?

The truth of the matter is, there are a lot of foreigners living in Japan who just shouldn't be here. Whatever they scream to the contrary, it's abundantly clear that they are miserable in Japan. It is evident to everyone but themselves that they should just go home, if for no other reason, than at least so that others wouldn't have to listen to them whinging! These complaining expats are best known as 'Disenchanted Gaijin'.

The Disenchanted Gaijin (DG) lurks under a number of guises. In Thailand, for example, his alias is The Disenchanted Farang. The DG is a master of disguises and altered identities, but he can always be recognized by a few distinguishing features:

he lives in a gaijin bubble

he hates diversity and change

his comments and attitudes are thinly veiled racism

he is a well of disparaging remarks

he is a general cranky pants

The Disenchanted Gaijin is the poison that well-adjusted expats fear. He is dangerous because he weilds his negativity freely, and those standing too close risk becoming infected.

Most often, the DG are peole who came to Japan because they didn't have anything better to do. This often includes those who don't know what they want to do with their lives or are 'finding' themselves, people who think it would be cool to tell their friends that they lived in a foreign country, and those who naively came to Japan thinking it would be an easy way to make money. Most of them had no interest in Japan before coming, and are therefore unlikely to garner an interest by living there.

The DG invests most of his energy in seeking out the differences between his own culture and that of Japan. By keeping track of these inconsequential differences, he is assured of a constant supply of points to bitch about. Some might say the the DG uses these complaints to avoid facing his own shortcomings. Although he is skilled at pointing out cultural phenomenon, he is unable to put his realizations to any good use. Instead, he will focus on his own disapointment that Japan is not a carbon copy of his own country.

Sometimes the 'disenchanted' sneaks up on the gaijin. Some expats arrive with a bright attitude but find themselves increasingly intolerant. They sink into an attitude of disinterest, eventually reaching disenchanted gajin status. This group of DG could have been saved, if only they had recognized the change that was overcoming them! These Disenchanted Gaijin teach us an important lesson: we must be ever diligent in our efforts. The minute we lose track of our reasons and goals for being in Japan, we risk falling into the DG trap.

Some people can (and will)happily live in Japan until they can take advantageof that pension fund they paid into. But there are many more who are in Japan for the short-term only. For them, the trick is to get out while the going is good.

The disenchanted gaijin is like the last guy at the party. Most people made it a point to leave while they were still having fun, and they will have a fond memory of the event. The Disenchanted Gaijin doesn't recognize the point where things start to go downhill. He sticks around, naively believing that things will pick up again. And the worse it gets, the more stubbornly he hangs on. At the end of the night, he is the one passed out on the sofa in a puddle of his own vomit.

What to do if you or a loved one have morphed into a Disenchanted Gaijin:

Go home.

If you dislike living in Japan, the obvious solution would be to leave. Unless, of course, you enjoy making yourself miserable (which is how it appears when you spend all of your time complaining).

If you are locked in a Japanese prison and really, really can't leave Japan:

Ditch the crappy attitude. It's not helping anything.

How to save yourself or a loved one who is on the verge of Disenchanted Gaijin status:

-At the risk of being repetitive: Go home. Most DG live with the delusion that everything is better in their home country. As hard as they think about their home, they cannot remember one single negative point about it. Sometimes it is enough for a borderline DG to go home for a vacation and see that all is not perfect there, either. They can regain their perspective that home is not, in fact, the Garden of Eden. This shock tactic can sometimes wake up the DG into realizing that he has been wasting incredible amounts of time complaining.

-Read. Knowledge is power, my friend, and it could save you from the evils of DG. There is an abundance of books covering Japanese culture and society. Although the typical DG will claim that he knows all there is to know; DG are, as a rule, ignorant of the historical and socioligical backgrounds that explain modern Japanese behaviour. As much of a Japan expert as the DG considers himselof to be, there is still much wisdom to be gained.

-Make some friends, already! Oh yes, the DG has plenty of friends. It just so happens that they are all from the same cultural background as him. He will be able to find lots of excuses for this ("I don't speak Japanese", "There aren't any Japanese in my neighbourhood", "I have never seen or met a Japanese person", etc.) but all these reasons are plainly transparent. Every excuse is surmountable, and the rewards of breaking out of the gaijin bubble can save the DG from his own miserable existance.

A list of convenient replies to save you from wasting your energy when talking to the Disenchanted Gaijin:

"Then don't eat it"

"Then don't go there."

"Then don't use it"

"Then don't talk to him/her/them"

"Then just go home already!"