Right outside of the base, there was a block containing kiosks and pavilions selling trinkets and electronics and weirdly, they were all run by Indians or Pakistanis. It was a little jarring--how do you get permission to come to Japan? And, how is it worth-it to go all that way to sell junk to Marines, right outside of the base?
Besides that block, it was pretty rare to see any non-Japanese person. We would occasionally see a western tourist or some Australians who had construction jobs. In a big city like Osaka, one would see westerners who worked at some kind of job that requires a jacket and tie and they always looked really smart and intense.
One time, a couple of us were touring a nearby island full of temples and a cute American woman latched onto us--she was in Japan to see her servicemember boyfriend (who wasn't at our base) and had a couple of days free, before he could join her. She just wanted to spend a little time with people who could speak English.
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