Japan is essentially a homogenous country. Frequently I hear that about 1% of the population is foreign. That is not a lot of people and more likely than not, they are in and around Tokyo and military bases.
Despite this, however, it is not a rare occurence that you see foreign models in magazines and on tv not only smiling and wearing clothes, but actually speaking. Sometimes they speak Japanese, sometimes English. Even without actors, a lot of commercials use English text and names for their products. This is a little odd to realize, but it would probably be very easy to navigate Japan without knowing the language as long as you know English. It is that common.
Here`s the best example I can find on the spot that is currently airing. Foreign actors, English on the packaging, and `Stride Stripe Debut!`
http://www.youtube.com/embed/wzyuPwTVy44

And of course American movies and music are very popular here. Even at the music store, Japanese music is stored under `JPop` as opposed to just `Pop` music, which is where the western music is. How is it that even within Japan, Japanese music has it`s own special section and Western music isn`t considered `International?` Are the Japanese backwards or is the West lacking in cultural exploration? That`s a question for another time.
What I am getting at is it doesn`t seem that the western world is so far away here. I don`t get a sense that western pop culture is rare or unfamiliar to Japanese people as a whole. So why is it that they stare at me every chance they get? They stare at me with curiosity (where is she from, is she a tourist, an English teacher or a student?) and with anxiety (Do I have to speak English to her? Can she understand us?). These things I have come to understand and sometimes I can ignore it, sometimes I have fun with it and wave as if I am a celebrity, and sometimes it makes me self conscious. It`s still something I am working on.
Today, however, was different. Today two little girls spotted me, pointed at me and laughed. At the time, I was pretty insulted. `I am not a joke,` I said to Okaasan (host mother). `I am a human. They`ve seen different people on tv, so why is it different in person?` She tried to put things in perspective, but sometimes things are just rude and that`s all. To make my point, I asked her when she was living in England, did anyone laugh or stare at her, knowing she`d say no. They treated her like she was any other person. For that reason, she will never know what it`s like to go somewhere and have everyone staring at her all at once and thus cannot console me.
I feel well adjusted to every other aspect of the lifestyle here, but being stared at and laughed at doesn`t make any sense with my American logic. I really don`t think I will be able to see it from their perspective given the mainstream value of western culture.

Location: Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan