I have read that some Europeans were granted the title of samurai during this period, but I'm wondering how a European person would typically be treated when, say, walking down the street in a city.
but I'm wondering how a European person would typically be treated when, say, walking down the street in a city.
This is an easy one: they wouldn't be. The Tokugawa Shogunate made a very active effort to keep Europeans off of Japanese soil. The first Europeans to visit Japan were the Portuguese; specifically traders and missionaries. The missionaries did what missionaries do and the southern half of Japan began to feature a lot of Christian peasants; about a quarter million in fact. However this all came to a head during the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. This revolt actually started over heavy taxation during a poor harvest but due to the peasants in that area of Japan being heavily Christian, the Shogunate interpreted this as the Christian faith causing instability in society. The Tokugawa were all about stability, so after this event they drove the Portuguese traders and missionaries out of Japan. The only European nation that ended up trading with the Japanese long term were the Dutch, and even they were secluded to a man made island off of Nagasaki. It is true that some Europeans helped the Shogunate build European style ships and some Europeans washed up on Japanese shores and ended up as prisoners but otherwise, they were kept out.
If you have any follow up questions, feel free to ask.