I was a novelty in Japan from day one.  You must have read countless stories of how foreigners are treated in Japan.  Starting from being stared at in public places, hassles of renting apartments, there are outright cases of being discriminated in the workplace by not offering jobs at all or only low-paid jobs. 

I am also reminded of situations where I thought I was being treated in a special manner when I kept getting invited to all these clubs and parties for their international events.  These gatherings are mostly dominated by women of all ages and children who are all trying to learn more about the world.  In fact, I was even offered money (apart from free transport and food) to join some of these gatherings.  A search would be made to find every single foreigner in the area and they will all be pulled to this event to educate the Japanese about our cultures.  It was indeed a lot of fun but I felt that I was being used, that I was an object of curiosity, and that I was a prop (considering the number of pictures that they would take of me). 

I recall that several other foreigners that I met were asked to wear their traditional clothes for the event.  It was quite amusing to be in these gatherings, especially with all the kids around you who looked as amused as they would be in Disney Land.  The women were rather shy and some of them would try to talk to us if they spoke some English.  Overall, it was fun, but I always felt like an object going to these events.  Why did I continue to go then?  Well, the people appeared to be more pleasant than they were in other places.  Secondly, I met some people who were genuinely interested in foreign people and I made some excellent friends.

Over the years, Japan has made a lot of progress in accepting foreigners and appreciating other cultures.  It also appears that the Internet is having an impact since the Japanese people are no longer solely dependent on the Japanese media to get their information about the rest of the world.  I understand that MYNIPPON community has a sizable number of Japanese who are committed to knowing the world on their own.