I don't think these kinds of moments are difficult to find, if you drink a lot and spend money....

There are so many angles, I could answer this, but one that just came to me: In Japan, each place serves it's function and that function can change, but if you go against people's expectation of a place, it backfire at least half the time, usually with awkward avoidance or passive agressiveness. It can go well, but not very often . A chain cafe is not a place to make friends or have a friendly conversation with a stranger. An old style cafe run by a retired couple is. Sadly there are fewer of those.

Expecting people to speak English is the same. There are places that welcome tourists. If you go somewhere that isn't touristy, you are expected to at least attempt to be able to communicate your needs. Also Japanese people have truama about English because they spend so long studying it ineffectively.

I wouldn't call it racist as much as just rigid. I think overall in Japan, local people with tattoos or piercings have a much harder time than foreigners (even foreigners with the same kind of appearance).

In Japan, the standard is to assume you are a nuisance everywhere you go, and foreigners don't do that, so they are by definition a nuisance. This is the only way things function as well as they do despite a decaying economy. It's not about race or nationality MOST OF THE TIME.

I think in many ways, North and South America and China tend towards one extreme and Japan is a rare case of the other extreme. I like balance.

They're just scared of things out of the ordinary, unless you find people eager for those kinds of things, and those people are usually drunk.

Honestly I get fed up with the way gentrification has weeded out all of those so-called third spaces that don't involved alcohol, but the alcohol driven places are still thriving, for no reason other than the fact that some people are willing to spend more money on alcohol than food.

I don't drink anymore so it's very difficult for me to meet new people. I have to hang out places with drunk people as the only sober one, which is ok while they are tipsy, I don't like it when they get too sloppy haha, never really have.

Tell me if you are in Tokyo next time! I'll try to show you more of that.