A fake book cover designed by Arni Kristjansson entitled ‘Why do Japanese people stare at foreigners?‘ and designed to be used by non-Japanese residents living in Japan when they feel they’re drawing too much attention.
“The idea is simple, print out this cover and wrap it around a book in Japanese. Then, as soon as you get stared at on the train or in a public place (to the point where it becomes uncomfortable) take out the book and pretend to start reading it while giving the starer ample view of the cover. The starer is then made aware of the situation in the most Japanese of ways, through non-confrontation.”
Very clever.
What is the result of their awareness? Do they stop? Is the idea that they are doing it sub-consciously and seeing the fake book title jars them into acting differently?
The idea is to make people aware that their staring is making others uncomfortable in a non-confrontational way. Japanese culture is one of politeness, and doing something passive like this causes the people staring to realise they are being impolite without drawing attention to the individual themselves.
Can I get a PDF file of this book cover so I can print it off and use it? Lol
You can, there are PDF version available from Arni’s site – http://arnikristjansson.com/?/graphics/staringbook/
Check the sidebar on the right for the download links.