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  • Hey guys! Today I wanted to talk about two things:

  • safety and harassment and how my experiences with both of those things have compared between

  • Japan and America. And I'll just tell you straight off the bat:

  • SPOILER ALERT! I like Japan much better!

  • So the first thing I wanna talk about is a story that

  • happened to me my very first week I ever got to Japan.

  • I was studying abroad. I was staying in an international dorm.

  • And I had gone out to get groceries and I was walking home

  • and as I was walking up the steps getting ready to go into the building,

  • a Japanese guy shouted out from behind me (and I'm gonna paraphrase what he said because

  • his English wasn't very good so I can't repeat it exactly)

  • but he was like, "Hey! Wait! I saw you a while ago

  • and I followed you home. Are you a fashion student?

  • I would like to get to know you more. Do you wanna go somewhere with me so we can

  • get to know each other?" And I was like...

  • Did you just tell me you followed me home?? No, I'm not going somewhere with you! I'm

  • sorry! I did actually talk to him, though.

  • He didn't seem like he was genuinely a creepy guy.

  • Like what I think really happened was he saw me

  • and he wanted to talk to me but he couldn't work up the courage

  • to do it and so he just made a really bad decision

  • and followed me and when he realized I was gonna go in my apartment building

  • and he couldn't follow me into the apartment building,

  • that's when he was like finally, "It's now or never. I have to say something!"

  • And so he kinda finally worked up the courage at the last moment.

  • And that's kinda the impression I got. And so, I mean I don't think he was necessarily

  • a bad guy or anything, but at the same time no, I'm not gonna go

  • somewhere and meet you! You just told me you followed me home!

  • Now, I genuinely respect the courage that it takes to approach someone.

  • I would never like, make fun of someone or belittle them for approaching me.

  • Like I would never look down on them for that. I've approached people before too and I've

  • been turned down so I know how that feels. And I mean I did stay there and I did talk

  • to him a little bit at the same time. And after I told him that I wasn't going to

  • meet him again I didn't ever see him again, even though he knew where I lived.

  • So I don't think he was a bad guy. I think he just made a really bad decision.

  • And so even though that happened to me my first week in Japan and it was somewhat of

  • a safety issue, that's the only thing that's ever happened to me in Japan.

  • Japan is the safest, most comfortable place I've ever been.

  • I'm not gonna go in to statistics or whatever but Japan is one of the safest countries in

  • the world, if not maybe the safest. Like I've never felt uncomfortable being alone.

  • I would walk anywhere in the middle of the night in Japan, wearing a miniskirt, by myself,

  • and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable at all, and that is not something I would do in America!

  • I'm also gonna tell you a safety story about something that happened to me in America.

  • Jun came to visit me and I was subletting a really nice apartment and the area we were

  • staying in was really nice and it had a beautiful view of a valley.

  • It was fantastic. It was a really safe areathey had police

  • patrols and all kinds of stuff. However, about one month into our stay I woke

  • up in the middle of the night to one of our neighbors who was screaming bloody murder,

  • and she was saying, "Help! Help! There's someone in my apartment!

  • Who are you?! Help! Someone help!" And I was FREAKED OUT.

  • I was so terrified. And Jun, he sleeps like a rock.

  • He didn't even wake up. I had to shake him and wake him up.

  • I was like, "Jun! JUN! Get up! Jun! Wake up!" And it went on for a while and eventually

  • the police came and I guess they sorted it out or whatever

  • but it was terrifying! This is something that happens in America

  • to people. Like someone breaks into your apartment sometimes.

  • And I mean of course people break into your houses in Japan sometimes, too, but it's nowhere

  • near what happens in America. There are a lot of foreign women who do experience-

  • who do get harassed by perverts and things. Like, there have been stories of like, people

  • trying to take a picture of your underwear or maybe someone groping you while you're

  • in public, or the rare case of maybe someone even trying to steal your underwear while

  • it's hanging out to dry. But honestly, in my mind if I compare something

  • like that to the threat of physical harm of someone breaking into my house in America,

  • it's not even a comparison for me. I would SO much rather deal with the perverts.

  • I can deal with that! They're not gonna kill me.

  • They're just looking at my underwear or something like that.

  • I mean that's not nice, but I can deal with that.

  • And I mean, I like wearing skirts and dresses in Japan.

  • I like wearing them a lot because I used to be a huge tomboy and I've kind of like, swung

  • extremely in the opposite direction. So I'm always wearing skirts and dresses in

  • Japan. And for me the places I've lived in Japan

  • have been SO windy. I don't know why it always seems so windy

  • to me. But I probably need to use my second hand

  • now to count the number of times I've been in public wearing a skirt or a dress and some

  • wind just comes along and my skirt goes FWOOSH! and I flash the Japanese population with my

  • underwear. So I mean, like the first time it happened

  • I freaked out. But at this point so many Japanese people

  • have seen my underwear already I'm just kinda like... "Meh."

  • So I mean, if someone is trying to take a picture of my underwear of course I'm going

  • to call them out and be like, "CHIKAN!" and call over the police or something, but

  • I'm not gonna go home after that and crawl into the shower and be like,

  • "I feel so violated!" or anything. That is so much more something I'd rather

  • deal with than feeling unsafe or feeling terrified, like I felt terrified that day that our neighbor

  • had someone break into their apartment. So, safety-wise, Japan is like the clear winner

  • for me.

Hey guys! Today I wanted to talk about two things:

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