This town ain't big enough for more than one gaijin

Marxy, an American who's apparently lived in Japan for a long time, points out a problem with being a gaijin (foreigner) in Tokyo these days: There are too many of them.

all foreigners with interest in Japan hate all the other foreigners with interest in Japan. The Colonialists all like their ex-pat buddies and pubs, but the Japanese-speaking foreigner contingent is in constant battle with themselves, vying to prove linguistic abilities, obscure knowledge, and depth of societal penetration. I call this the "gaijin complex," and I'm only finally finding my way out of it now after a long period of affliction and convalescence. But it's time we all get over it, because Japan is no longer a place where Western misanthropes can go to escape humanity, but a growing international hub where speaking Japanese fluently will no longer be such a rarity. Right now, Shibuya may be the odorous hot spot, but wherever we venture, there will soon be the stink of the West.

When I was in Japan in the rapidly sinking-into-the-past late 80s, I was in a provincial city and foreigners were like celebrities -- and it didn't matter how geeky or unsociable you were. (The complete psychopath who took my place when I went back to the U.S. proved that.) It also didn't matter whether you spoke Japanese or not. It's kind of good that that novelty phase is passing -- though what's happening in Tokyo will probably take a long time to get across Honshu to Niigata.