The Land of the Rising Sun - Part 2 - Japan’s Homogeneity

If you walk on the streets or are on public transport in New York, Dubai, London, Sydney – any global city – the probability of bumping into a person of black, brown, or white origin is one. Most global cities are very heterogeneous. 

Even in a racially recluse India, you would find many shades of skin tones if you are in public spaces, be it Hyderabad or Mumbai. 

Not so in Japan. Japan has amongst the lowest percentage of immigrants (sub 3% of the population). Apart from China (0.07%), not so many countries are closed to the outside world. Of the sub 3%, a significant percentage of immigrants are of Chinese and Korean origin. 

To an Indian eye, they don’t look any different. 

Couple this with lower Standard deviation of weight and height and body structure helped by an impossible BMI – (paunches are a rarity). you have remarkably similar-looking people of similar height and color in every city, everywhere. 

The Japanese penchant for subtlety means that almost everyone wears clothes of muted colors – be it men or women. It is a series of light colors and pastel shades that are seen. Men wear shades of whites and blues and the trousers are variants of blues, grays, and blacks. The only exceptions to this would be women wearing Kimonos. Unlike in India where a Saree is still very much in vogue and ubiquitous, a Kimono is not.

To the Japanese, in my dark blue sweatshirt, I must have been screaming “tourist” in every possible way. 

Even the houses – large, and small – are different shades of gray and brown. And, this does not vary whether you are in Tokyo, Osaka, or Hiroshima. To check this, you can do a Google search of Japanese houses.

Our tourist guide in Kyoto – which was the imperial capital for many years – explained the logic. The emperors wanted the Temples to stand out and be given prominence. To aid this, the citizens were asked to make their houses look similar – this is a decree that has stood the test of time. 

Japan celebrates its Cherry Blossoms – the tourist world descends in Japan during its flowery season. The Cherry Blossom color? A muted, light pink.

Looks as if even Nature has aligned itself to Japan’s homogeneity!!!