＜ドナルド・キーンが描いた日本――生誕100年に＞／23 「変な外人」への抵抗感
Not all my experiences in Kyoto were agreeable, however, and sometimes Nagai-san was obliged to cheer me when I felt particularly chagrined. My problem was that I had become so enamoured of Kyoto that I wanted to be accepted not merely as a peculiar gaijin but as someone who belonged in the city. There was nothing I could do about changing my face to look more like a Japanese, but I tried speaking with a Kyoto accent, and I spent many hours roaming the city, learning what each quarter was like. I attended every festival, and I paid my respects at the graves of a hundred famous writers. I joined several groups of intellectuals and faithfully attended meetings. But no sooner did I begin to feel that I was accepted, than someone was sure to ask what I, as a gaijin, thought of a painting, a play or a restaurant. I became the representative of all the gaijin of the world. Nobody seemed interested in my personal opinions, and if I offered them the usual response was, \