Hello, I'm a Canadian with a genuine question about Japanese people in Vancouver. I'm not trying to make a negative statement, it's a real question.

I've lived here all my life and have met many people from Japan/Korea/China.. etc. I think I've noticed a trend among different Asian cultures. I've always found most Chinese and Korean people to be super friendly and happy to chat with native speakers with an enthusiasm to practice their English. So much so, it's not rare to received invitations (by both men and women) to join their parties or dinners, despite having only met them once. As for my encounters with Japanese people, most have been very friendly... but I've sensed there's hesitation or a lack of interest to make a friendship with Canadians when compared to Korean or Chinese people. I've seen Canadian/Japanese parties where it almost seems as invisible wall between the two groups. It feels as if Japanese people have a preference to stick with other Japanese or Korean people while in Vancouver.

Is this a real thing or am I misunderstanding? I know Japanese people have a tendency to be shy, is this connected? Do Canadians make Japanese people feel uncomfortable in some way? I'd love to hear your opinion or experiences?

Just we are all shy. And Japanese usually not have a party like the other countries people do. So some of or many of us are not really comfortable in the party, especially in the English environment.
Also many Japanese have sort of common sense there is a wired person in the party who uses drugs and try to catch Asian for sex.

That's it. We are just trying to be careful out of own country. Japanese tent to be careful and shy compared to other Asian.

Better to be alone than having wired friends. Need to make sure it's okay to be closer with the new people we meet.

Hope this will help your understanding of why we are not so open commonly.

if u want, i recommend u to attempt seeking japanese friends on the app HELLO TALK. people there are willing to learn English and encounter unlike here, ppl here r mostly violent n unwilling to understand any stuff then deny everything.

but... when native speakers of eng talk to someone, most of them tend not to care about whether jp ppl side keep up with what they are saying then conversations become like unilateral.
that might induce.... im unsure tho, probable.

I agree with your idea to some extent. From my perspective, Japanese people here in Vancouver aren't keen on learning English. I would say that they would have chosen another city to study English, if they would really desire to study English. Most of them just escaped from their stressful working environment in Japan and recharge batteries, along with thay Japanese university students here tend to get along with students from all over the world who met in the same language school. Whereas Japanese Canadians(born in Canada, or immigrants) usually don't like communicating with other Japanese(I don't know why, but they put much importance on their privacy). I don't think that Chinese and Korean are more friendly in general, but it's just "your" Chinese and Korean friends are friendly. Let's see Richmond and Coquitlam, they have huge communities so that they can communicate with people who have the same background because they don't want to get out of their comfort zone. Personally I feel that many Japanese would like to get along with Canadians but they just don't know how to get an opportunity and be conscious about their English. Sorry about my broken English. If you have any question, let me know.