Idea for Chinatown in Ikebukuro draws negative reaction

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Nessie at 06:44 PM JST - 25th November

Ikebukuro is worried about going downmarket? Um...okay.
realist at 09:38 PM JST - 25th November

The Japanese are an extremely ethnocentric, xenophobic race, and this story illustrates it very well. The usual "complaints about the foreigners are surfacing "they dont understand Japanese, they dont keep the rules about trash, the Chinese mafia will move in, and there will be the inevitable increase in crime." Japan is ba land of myths - the nation is founded on and depends on myths to keep it going. Japanese never commit crimes, there are no Japanese gangsters, Japanese people always keep the rules about everything in Nipponland. Foreigners are unwelcome here, they want to dwell in their own narrow little karaoke/manga/maido/cute paradiseundisturbed by foreigners and foreign influence. Given that over 80% of Japanese landlords in the Tokyo area neither welcome nor accept foreign tenants, the very fact that the Chinese feel they can establish a Chinatown in Ikebukuro shows amazing resiliance. Ikebukuro is a bit of a dump anyway, so a Chinatown might actually improve the place. Yokoso Nippon!
usaexpat at 12:11 AM JST - 26th November

I'm not quite sure what the issue is here. It's not going to be a traditional Chinatown ala Yokohama but it includes "chinatown" in the name? So the Chinese merchants want to form a cooperation of some sorts who cares. As for all of the comments about racisim and xenophobia you did notice that the complaint was about sharing in common area maintainence etc. not "we don't like you because your Chinese" I think what's at issue here is being a good neighbor.
Eizenhauer at 12:29 AM JST - 26th November

Would Chinese allow a "Japanese district" in the middle of Beijing? Why should Japanese people be so meek, soft and indifferent over Chinese establishing their business districts?
Triple888 at 12:47 AM JST - 26th November

"Would Chinese allow a "Japanese district" in the middle of Beijing? Why should Japanese people be so meek, soft and indifferent over Chinese establishing their business districts?"

Japanese can do that but there is just not enough Japanese around. There are Indian/Central Asian and Korean districts in Beijing if you didn't know.
sydenham at 05:53 AM JST - 26th November

I see 2 problems: One is that the Chinese generally think they are a culturally homogenous group with unique characteristics, and therefore tend not to integrate well with others. The other is that the Japanese generally think they are a culturally homogenous group with unique characteristics, and therefore tend not to integrate well with others.
koizumi at 09:01 AM JST - 26th November

Welcome to Tokyo, capital of Japan ... second largest economy in the world - and the least 'international' capital city of any major nation on the planet. When, oh when, will this ever change?

Poster above, the Japanese are not a race unto themselves. They are PART OF the Asian race ... just as are the Chinese, Mongolians, Vietnamese and Laotians. All brothers and sisters in this wonderful Asian melting pot - but don't say that in Ikebukuro!
teaabe at 09:20 AM JST - 26th November

until the Chinese stop thinking in terms of 'chinatown' and the Japanese in terms of 'purity', little progress will be made.

as for the Chinese, take the chinatowns in the U.S. they're a living shame. one could tell it's more unkempt than the other parts of town, save for those in 'black' or Hispanic communities.

it's embarressing for Asians being unduly represented by the Chinese. it usually means being 'dirty, backward, and laughable'.
gogogo at 11:53 AM JST - 26th November

realist: Great comment
bdiego at 03:25 PM JST - 26th November

"Hu, who came to Japan about 20 years ago and has worked for an advertising company, said there is no other area in Japan except for Ikebukuro with so many Chinese stores and restaurants."

Is this true? Yokohama Chinatown has over 1000 Chinese restaurants. I'm Chinese and hardly noticed the Chinese establishments in Ikebukuro when I was there. Maybe they're all spread out.
ScottishThug at 05:00 PM JST - 26th November

This is hardly anything unique to Japan. Lots of other places have these sorts of problems.
tclh at 05:34 PM JST - 26th November

Too many China towns everywhere! In Australia there are some areas which are heavily populated by Arabs and dominated by Arab businesses but they are happy to be just Australian towns. Ikebukuro should be something like" Ikebukuro International Town" because this name will sound better and reflect the fact that there are many overseas students from many parts of the world come to Japan to study Nihongo initially.
elbudamexicano at 10:58 PM JST - 27th November

Ikebukuro is a dump! It is one of the worst places in Tokyo. So many poor Chinese students, etc..first lived there and now they are gaining power due to all of their hard work and efforts, while the existing Japanese owned sex shops etc..are going down the drain? I due sense a big of resentment by the local Japanese business owners and also jeolousy. There will be a CHINA TOWN in Ikebukuro, because there is already a CHINA TOWN their but most of us non-Chinese do not know it because unlike the China Towns of Yokohama, SFO etc..it is for Chinese, for their needs not for tourists ok?
jonnyboy at 08:11 PM JST - 28th November

considering what a hotspot yokohama chinatown is you would've thought the folks in ikebukuro might be able to see the upside of it... seems not. anyone know the history of how yokohama chinatown got started?
mushroomcloud at 10:48 AM JST - 30th November

The rate that things are going, with Japan having her elderly population increasing by the day, and China's influence growing by the hour, it is not too hard to imagine Japan becoming a tributary state of China, just like it was in the past.

This is what Japanese people fear the most.