As Kofi Annan, the 7th UN Secretary General said, “We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race”. When I lived in England, being Japanese did not catch the eyes of passers-by. The fact that I had an Asian face, spoke Japanese and had yellow skin never bothered anyone. I think one of the major reasons for that was because there were so many people in England with different nationalities and backgrounds that being different was not a big issue there. I was able to spend my two years there, comfortably without having to endure the eye-popping stares that usually come with being different. Living in Britain taught me was to see the similarities that we share with others before seeking out the differences. 

My primary school in London consisted of students from 40 different countries across the globe. My friends would be from Greece, Bangladesh and Iraq and my study partners in class would be from America or Africa. Even my teachers came from countries outside of England. Before I left England, I remember getting a Burqa from a teacher who was from Afghanistan. In fact, the difference was not only our nationalities, but also our backgrounds. While I was one of the more wealthy students with a stable upbringing, my best friend lived on the country’s money and had a mentally ill mother who she could only meet once a week with supervision. Despite all the differences between us, however, we formed a strong bond and worked together and it never crossed either of our minds that being from different parts of the earth ever meant anything more. My best friend and I saw ourselves as just being people from different places under the same, blue sky. 

When I came back to Japan, I was singled out as a ‘returnee’ and suffered years of teasing because I read English books and acted differently. I have an American friend who people stare at on the streets because she has a different face. I think Japanese people are not exposed to enough culture. They fail to recognize that the differences do not separate us but, in fact, make the similarities between us even more important and draw us closer together. Japanese people often speak of making Japan a globalized country. However, until we learn to see beyond our differences and make an effort to find common ground with people across the globe, becoming a globalized nation is far out of our reach.