1 in 60

Yeah, so the other day over the course of promoting a certain event aimed at the local foreign population I usually don't get to talk to I found out an interesting tidbit of information that I've actually been wondering about for a while now: the foreign population of my town. So here it is: 60 people. That's right, out of 21,299 registered residents 60 of those are non-Japanese nationals, comprizing roughly 0.3% of the overall population. That also means that I personally make up 1.6% of the overall foreign population of my town!

Going around, we talked to one woman from Hong Kong who is raising her family here, found that some Peruvians are working at a local factory, and stopped by the residence of another Chinese person, a guy whose wife is Thai, and a Brazilian's place. Oh, and as an aside I believe I've already met all the western population of Shichigahama - all 4 of us. That makes 2 JETs with Joe and I, then 2 missionaries that live up on the hill. Maybe that number's off if they have other family with them, but I know they're the only others here.

So that just goes to show you exactly how much I stand out here, and serves to show how my every move is known by most everyone around that matters as well as a bunch of people that don't. The question that remains is how exactly I can and should interact with said foreign population, and if there's anything personally that I can do that would make their time here easier or more enjoyable. I'll have to look into that... it's on the "to do" list.

Oh, and those numbers are well below the national average of 1.6% foreign population if you were keeping score, but then that's not really too surprising for a little beach town off the beaten track that's tucked just far enough out of the way to avoid getting too much attention. The only reason people would have to notice this place is if we make enough noise to garner being looked upon.