Since I can't figure out how to pin a threaded comment, I'll repost my reply to @StudyCJK here because it contains information/feelings I wanted to express better in my video: It's understandable that you would have felt that way at the beginning of the pandemic because things were so unsure and governments weren't trying to look out for each other, they just wanted to reassure communities and their people that things would be safe. And from data and statistics that came out, it was clear that tourism did help to curve the spread. However, that's not what is happening for this #japantravelban. These people aren't tourists trying to enter Japan. They're families who haven't been able to see their loved ones in over two years (going on three years now that Japan has extended border closures until 2022), and they're students and scholars who have lost job opportunities, money, received half-hearted online education (not all but definitely a lot), and some even their dreams all simply because they don't have a Japanese passport. They've filled out all the right paperwork for their visas, passed school entrances exams, and are willing to do every test the Japanese government wants them to do, but still they've been denied entry simply because their passport/social + systemic class is different. (I add this because in recent news Japan has declared that foreigners arriving by private jet plane will receive eased processing/less restrictions, among other clear social + systemic class favoritism). But thank you for being brave and sharing your honest feelings and change of heart towards this matter. I really appreciate it, and it gives me hope that others in Japan may eventually have the same change of heart towards this issue so that all people, no matter where they're from, can receive the same equal human rights.
Thank you so much for opening up about this. A lot of us have been feeling this way for a long time and only now I've been seeing more people talk about it. I know there are many student's and workers waiting to enter japan, but I feel less alone in this being able to put faces to people's stories. Thank you for making me feel a bit better! I hope you feel a bit better too.
I feel you, 10 years of my life studying Japanese and building relationships in Japan. All for the Japanese government to say they don't want foreigners. I'd like to think that this is due to covid and I need to be understanding, but after a year of seeing the Japanese government show their true colors have left me so bitter. I miss my friends and don't see this as a reflection of them, but as the Japanese government holding our future hostage.
I'm sorry you've worked so hard for so many years to see your dreams and future held up like this. I hope that you, as well as everyone else who keeps working hard for a life/future in Japan, will be able to overcome this frustrating and dark time and move forward in a more positive direction. 💜
Thank you so much for sharing your feelings and thoughts about #japantravelban. I wholeheartedly agree with you. As you said, everyone's circumstances are different but we're all in this together and we'll get through it together. Don't loose courage! 💕 頑張りましょう!
I’ve been seeing a lot of this lately. I’ve been studying Japanese in hopes of traveling there one day but I’m very discouraged now after seeing so much. I wish you luck in all your endeavors and keep hoping for the best.
Thank you for bringing this up, I am currently learning Japanese, and I've been researching videos "how to move to Japan, etc" and I've been feeling pretty down on the fact that I am unsure that even if I passed the n2, if I would even get a job. Those videos were before 2019 so I just feel that it's all more apparent that the Japanese government really doesn't want foreigners. I acknowledge that there are significant culture differences but still, it's hard. I'm still in college but I am already feeling so frustrated with my future. But I realized that if I keep feeling down and upset about it, my dreams of furthering my education in Japan will start to become negative and I remember I shouldn't be so bitter about the situation. BUT everyone's situation is so different, and I just want to let you know that a lot of people have been feeling the same with the jlpt. I just don't understand why they would think there would be less people who would take the test when in reality, they have two years' worth of people who needed to take it and on top of this, they did about half the usual number of locations, the exam is now 100 dollars and not 65. It's too steep of a price for people to take a test, if you don't feel confident in it. I didn't really think about the systemic issues behind this and honestly, again thank you for making me more aware of this. I am just really shocked with just how few spots there were in Hawaii considering the huge Japanese population there that I encountered when I lived there. Hawaii is a BIG hub for Japanese language learning.
