" In New York, it's reasonable to assume anyone who simply looks confident would know his way around, regardless of race. In racially pure Japan, we have to assume differently."
My daughter is half Japanese, and looks Japanese enough to pass under most circumstances.
One of our fun games is that when anyone ignores me and talks to her (even though I'm the papa) she either ignores them or walks away, so they have to talk to me.
We get some very comical reactions.
It is very charitable of you to give the Japanese the benefit of the doubt like that, but their behavior is based on racism, not rational thought.