Evangelion Voice Actress Megumi Hayashibara Compares Rude Foreigners to ‘Invasive Species'

Tokyo Weekender

a day ago

Prominent Japanese voice actress Megumi Hayashibara has sparked debate online foll
owing
her latest
blog post
. The 58-year-old Tokyo native,
who's
most well known for her role as Rei Ayanami in
Neon Genesis Evangelion
,
shared
her concerns about Japan's cultural identity and political apathy on Sunday. The blog
, titled 'Indifference, Ignorance, and Not Knowing,'
quickly went viral. The comments that drew the most attention regarded international students receiving subsidies and foreign tourists behaving badly. She compared the latter to an 'invasive species.'
List of Contents:
Megumi Hayashibara's Blog
The Online Reaction
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'Some international students receive subsidies for free, whereas Japanese students need to take out a student loan (which must be paid back, leading to debt),' wrote Hayashibara. 'The truth is being twisted. Don't leave it up to others. You must vote. We're at a point where just saying 'whatever' or 'it won't change' doesn't cut it anymore. If things continue as they are, Japanese unique qualities, such as our manners, our attitude, our technology and possibly even anime as a form of freedom of expression, will be lost.
'In the midst of all this, there are some people staying at vacation rentals with no manners, foreign tourists who don't know what it means to yield, and even those who go so far as to remove bamboo from trees in Kyoto,' continued Hayashibara. 'If we don't have regulations that are properly enforced, it could become dangerous. It will be like how Japanese crayfish were instantly devoured by invasive species. For instance
,
the Japanese rule of lining up to buy things could end up disappearing.'
Hayashibara went on to say that she wasn't trying to criticize any specific country. She just feels that tax money should first go to people who pay taxes here, including foreign residents, as well as to disaster-hit areas and to students who are supporting the country. The original blog post also included a section discussing South Korean politics. That was later edited out after a Korean friend contacted her to say that her comments could inadvertently fuel political divisions.
The Online Reaction
While there have been several comments online criticizing Hayashibara's blog, including one X user who
described
it as 'hate speech,' many agree with her views. 'The behavior of many international tourists is really bad, she's not wrong to call out the problem,'
posted
one person on X. Another
pointed out
that Japanese crayfish was 'a metaphor for how traditional Japanese culture is being overwhelmed by outside influences. This is supported by the following line about the decline of the unspoken rule of lining up.'
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