Are Japanese in Tokyo just permanently on edge 24/7 now?

Permanent resident, lived in Tokyo 14 years, speak Japanese, etc.

A few years before COVID, when there weren’t as many tourists. I had some negative interactions in daily life, but also a lot of curiosity about where I was from and why I spoke Japanese. People were hesitant, but still willing to communicate. Outside of a few situations, usually involving drunk people, I never felt totally unwelcome. It was a kind of light xenophobia that in most cases could be overcome.

Then COVID happened, and suddenly the narrative was that foreigners (because we all came from the Diamond Princess) were basically poisonous. I remember right after that, and for a few years, people would look at my face, cover their nose and mouth (even with a mask on), and run away. One woman ran out of the bento shop while waiting in line. At first it was kind of funny, then just annoying. Once more Japanese than foreigners started getting sick, the ridiculousness died down, but the stigma stuck.

But in the last few years, post-COVID, it feels like the overall attitude has shifted hard. People feel way more hostile, way more guarded, way more on edge in almost every interaction.

“Omotenashi” or whatever goodwill people had, just doesn’t feel like it exists anymore. At all levels, doesn’t matter where. Even at more expensive restaurants and hotels where you’d expect better. One look at my face and you can see the life leave their eyes. Crossed arms, X with the hands, “no English menu,” etc. Then I speak Japanese and they begrudgingly let me in, but still act like assholes. I have this experience multiple times a day now and it honestly feels like it’s getting worse.

Earlier this year there was that big JR delay, packed Ueno Station, and I saw a middle-aged guy grab an elderly woman by the neck and start yelling at her for walking the wrong way. That shocked me. I’d never seen something escalate like that over something so small in Japan. Lately I’ve also noticed more people bumping into others on purpose, more angry shouting on trains, more pushing and shoving in stations.

Then yesterday on my way home there was a rally about how foreigners don’t pay taxes and are taking everything from Japanese people, all the usual right-wing talking points. It used to be one crazy guy with a microphone. This time it was still that, but also like 30 people of all ages waving flags and shouting, and this is starting to get scary.

Not saying I expect to be loved by everyone. I just want to go about my day with some basic level of dignity without feeling like my existence is a nuisance and I should just leave. But lately it really feels like the atmosphere is getting worse and worse.

Do we just accept that a lot of people here straight up hate foreigners now, and that the political rhetoric is only going to make it worse? People are stressed out across the board. Once rice got expensive, even the patient people cracked.

I know this gets brought up a lot, but just wanted to share and see if anyone else has been feeling the same way.