Two Albino Japanese people like me!

I can’t remember ever seeing an Albino person in my own country, but I see quite a few Albino people when I travel. Sometimes, I can’t tell Caucasian albinos apart from non-Albino Caucasians. Caucasian Albinos often just look like pale, Scandinavian people. Maybe that’s why when I notice more Albino people in Africa and Asia even though I’m sure there are also Albinos back home. (if you can enlarge this picture, it is really beautiful. I wish I could take the cheezy header off. It's a cute girl on a trampoline.)

In Japan, I have two Albino acquaintances. We met because we live in the same neighborhood and would always see each other walking on the road. These Japanese Albinos both became my acquaintances because they started giving me The Nod.

(You know what Nod I mean. It is that certain nod that people sometimes give each other as a greeting, even when they don’t know each other. In my country, The Nod is most common among African-Canadians who live in a part of the country that doesn’t have a high population of black people. My friends Meck and Anna used to get The Nod from all sorts of people, and at first I just thought they were super popular but then I realized The Nod usually comes from total strangers.)

I was shocked, flattered and extremely happy to have the Albinos in my neighborhood acknowledge me every time I’d see them. Obviously! I decided to up The Nod to a greeting with one girl I see especially often, and now we greet each other whenever we see each other. Once, we talked and found out each other’s names. She asked where I was from. I found out where she was from. She giggled nervously and remarked on our similar hairstyle.

It was a nice but awkward conversation because we don’t know each other, but I really want to become her friend. I really want to talk to her and become close enough to ask her so many questions, though I know I’ll probably be able to do that. I am really interested in what it’s like to stand out so obviously in a country like Japan. I also want to know what Japanese people think about albinos. I am really interested in Albinos.

Now Here's a Serious Post Unrelated To Japan...

I don’t know if you know about this, but it’s all over the African news. In rural areas of Tanzania, Albino people are being hunted. They are being brutally murdered and mutilated with machetes because traditional healers (local doctors / witch doctors) tell people that potions made from the legs, hair, hands and blood of an albino can make a person rich or healthy.

I usually don’t like to write about negative stories like the Albino murders because I hate sensational stories that reinforce negative (or just overdone) stereotypes of different countries. (That’s why you don’t read about underwear vending machines, Enjo Kosai, the NOVA teacher murder, Chikans, “weird” or nerdy fetishes, Akihabara/Otaku, maid cafes, cosplay, high school murders on this site. That stuff is 0.0001% of Japan, but 80% of what makes the foreign news)


Let me start by saying that Tanzania has had 30 years of peace (the war with Uganda ended in 1979), crime rates are low (one of the lowest rates in Africa) primary school is free, and the government has created successful literacy campaigns aimed at teaching adults to read. National healthcare is available for everyone, one third of the country is devoted to national parks and Tanzania has some of the finest greenery and natural beauty in Africa. Tanzanian people were wonderful and many friends kept me safe and healthy during my time there.


This case of the Albinos being hunted in Tanzania is different because I actually worked at an orphanage in Tanzania with an abnormally high number of Albinos. I actually met some Albino people who fled to the cities because they feared for their lives in their villages. 53 Albino people have been murdered in Tanzania in the past two years.

Other Albino children at the orphanage I worked at were abandoned by their parents because of superstition or because they need special care. Albino people usually have poor eyesight and are very vulnerable to the sun, so it’s hard for them to work outside for long hours or help the family on a farm. For some reason, the presence of Albinos is unusually high in Tanzania. It’s estimated that 173,000 Albinos live in the country. But 53 Albino people have been murdered in Tanzania in the past two years. It’s a very serious problem.