Video není dostupné.
Omlouváme se.
Explorations into being Hafu: Megumi Nishikura at TEDxKyoto 2013
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- What began as a personal journey to find her own place in a world between cultures has transformed, through the power of film, into a way for thousands to explore exactly what it means to be "hafu".
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
I'm born from a Japanese mother and a Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, and Caucasian Father. And I would never trade what I am for anything. Even though I have been teased for being ハーフ and my family in 熊本市 isn't really that accepting of me. I've learned to embrace what I am and love my multicultural self. My parents gave me a life of different cultural experiences and made me more understanding and compassionate.
I'm a proud ハーフ。
People called me "hafu", I have a part Brazillian and Japanese. Imagine The situation, japanese people in my own country (Brazil) called me "gaijin" so I could not date a Japanese or interact with Japanese groups, I could but, never to make a friendship. In Japan people called me "gaijin" because I didn't have a Japanese look.
The worst part of been a "hafu" in Japan back in 92 was that I was forbidden to go inside some places because I was a "gaijin", "hafu" or whatever name they call you.
Thank you so moch for speaking out in public about this topic. This is something that, I am sure, many half Asian (southeastasian, eastasian) people can relate to in general.
I am not ha-fu but I was born in Kyushu and raised in Tokyo. then came back to Kyushu at age of 12 due to my fathers work. Then, I had gone through the very similar experience of "not belong there" because my school mates and the adults / teachers there interfaced me as if I was from Mars. This experience really hit me hard and I am not sure if I have ever recovered yet.... I went overseas after my college degree, meant to stay out of Japan for the rest of my life. But I am back now in Japan, raising a small family here. I am very careful so that my daughter would never feel disfranchised from where she was born and raised. That, I learned from my own experience.
My daughter is half British and Japanese and is just completing her 4th year at Sophia university. She is confident, bilingual and proud of her background and both expects and demands to be treated as a full Japanese citizen which is her birthright without sacrificing her British heritage.
The same but with French hafu daughter.
Omg, I'm so glad I found this video! I've always struggled with my Identity as being half Japanese & Native American. It's extremely obvious I'm not full Asian appearance wise, and really doesn't help that I never got to learn anything of my father's Native American heritage. I was raised primarily by my Japanese mom and her family, and it always bothered me that I felt caught between two worlds and couldn't be seen as a full Japanese. I really wish there was a well visible hafū community or way to feel comradery and that we aren't alone.
You are not alone. In the Baha'i Faith there are so many half blood people, as unions between different cultures are encouraged. These half-blood people don't have issues with that fact, since they consider themselves to be citizen of the world.
Ironically Native Americans are Asians though. At least originally. They are related to East Asians DNA wise too. Some minor overlap with West Eurasians but overwhelmingly East Eurasian. Much like the Ainu the Native Americans represent a different population of Asians than modern East Asians.
@@amanb8698 well that explains.. I always though that Native Americans were a mixture of Asian and Africans in some way. Many cultural aspects about them that are also found in several African societies
There is a full 1 h documentary by Megumi, check out the Hafu Project!
This is really interesting. I've moved to Japan with my family when I was 7, and we stayed there for almost 5 years. I went to public school and got educated like other Japanese kids. We're originally from Turkey, and I looked like a regular Turkish kid with black hair and dark eyes.
I was one of the first foreign students in my school, later we had others and the school tried to become more inclusive. We later had "hafu" kids in my classes as well. I'm not sure if it's the norm in everywhere else, but kids can be so mean. The "gaijin" kids and "hafu" kids got bullied almost equally. I guess if you're in a culture that is very secluded, being different looking can be trouble.
Those years we spent in Japan really shaped my personality. I felt like I was Japanese in my heart, but looked like Turkish from outside. The social norms I conform to were so different, and I struggled in my first years at school back in Turkey. I've adapted of course, but something was not quite alright. I felt like a non fitting puzzle piece in the almost completed puzzle.
Fast forward a decade, I've moved to New Zealand. Here, it's really a huge mixture of cultures. Anyone can be from anywhere, anyone can speak any language. Biracial or international families are quite common. The kids grow up in an all inclusive environment, so they don't even react to others in surprise if they speak with accent or look differently. I'm sure there are some racism issues that I don't know about, but it's not a major problem in the society. At least you don't stand out if you look different, because everyone is different and there's no standards for one's look or one's accent.
The culture is so relaxed but also everyone follows rules, which is like a perfect mixture of Japanese attitude and Turkish laid back-ness (is that even a word?). So I can feel at ease knowing that everything will be executed according to the rules, but I can ask for exceptions if I need to. It's a bit difficult concept to explain, but a person who spent some time in both Turkey and Japan would easily understand what I mean.
I feel like people like me, or hafus like Megumi might be happier in an environment that we have in New Zealand. I know it's just not realistic to move to a totally different country to feel more included, especially when you have kids and job commitments. But maybe it's better than to feel like you don't belong. I understand that Megumi's efforts is to get the people in Japan to understand that hafu kids and international families are becoming more common as the times advances, and they need to be accepted more in the society. But it might not be easy to do that in Japan, especially there are" boxes to check" to fit in. Besides, it's not something you can achieve easily, it comes by education and exposure from young ages.
Now, I feel like I don't belong anywhere, and also I can be happy anywhere. Being at peace with how you look and how you feel was the key to my settling. When people ask where I'm from, I say I was born in Turkey, I live in New Zealand, and I'm a citizen of the world.
I understand what you mean even if I'm not turkish os Japanese, I'm half colombian and half Mexican and people can say that because they are both Latin countries they are similar... No that's not true there are big differences in a good way. I have lived in both countries and my education inside and outside is a mixture os customs from both places but from both families too (my family is a mixture of languages, religions, cultures, races, countries...and all of these with every member doesn't exist as a boundary is something that make our family richer) and I always say that I belong to two places and at the same time none of them, it can not be defined as a one thing, I'm proud of what I am I like it a lot and when I read your coment I saw a lot of things I can be relate with, even with the differences in our situations.
I think we are lucky to have such a great treasure in our lives
Japanese dad, white mom... quite rare, unlike the other way around.. She sure is pretty!
minh vuong A
Not that rare.
wow , as a american and japanese hafu..... watching this touched my heart. 他のハーフもこの動画見てますか？
+Tiara Ai Colquitt Thank you so much for sharing! I'm half Japanese and half Chinese, but I can't speak Chinese, and I'm international student. Even though I was born in Japan and grew up in Japan, if people ask me what my nationality is, I want to say "hafu," because the word describes exactly who I am.
+Tiara Ai Colquitt Please look for Ariana Miyamoto, she's a hafu japanese top model :D
klautaku Yes i know her!! She's Ms.Japan!
Tiara Ai Colquitt YES! She's awesome. Japan will have to get use to it, cause she's the new face of that country :)
klautaku Hafus in Japan are really started to get noticed. Especially Blasians! Which is really exciting for me :)
She is a beautiful lady.So she should be proud of herself,her face.
Incredibly enlightening. As a global diversity professional, I am spending more time understanding the racial and cultural dynamics in other countries. This video was insightful about racial issues in Japan.
Interesting topic. I am half-japanese myself but since my background is so mixed ( half Japanese - father's side, and Italian, Portuguese and Spaniards from my mother's side); and, I lived in so many different countries, I accepted from an early age that being a foreigner was/is normal. Belonging has much to do with your inner-self and how you are raised. If you believe diversity is part of the deal, there is no battle to fight. I lived in Japan for almost 2 years and had a wonderful experience. I, for sure, like Nishikura, was seeing as a foreigner and many times I wasn't even related to my japanese blood. It never bothered me. I just saw it as part of the experience. How oneself related to others depends pretty much about our own attitudes. Never had a bad experience in Japan.
Nothing wrong with being mixed blood. I have a great family because I married a Japanese woman and have 4 kids. Heck one is in college now and another 2 soon will be. Living on west coast of USA we have not had to much racism but when happens then as the dad I put a stop to it. Thank you for great video and we can not wait to back to Japan and visit family.
You're not half, You're DOUBLE! Better looking and smarter than the Average Japanese who has never been outside Japan. Also, I know exactly what you mean by the "War between the Grandparents" Old prejudices only die when the prejudiced persons die and take their outdated ideas with them to the grave. This is a very, very important film. NHK needs to air this on a regular basis starting in April of 2015.
You're "full" to the brim!!God bless you!!
I'm Japanese and German. I was born in Germany and migrated to New Zealand when I was 6 years old. I used to struggle with my identity, I was bullied in school for a long time and never felt like I fitted in. Even when I visited Japan in my last year of high school I didn't fit in. I spoke the language pretty fluently but stuck out like a sore thumb. I remember on the train some guys even commented that I must be "Mongolian." I became a Christian at 19, and it wasn't until my late 20's that I finally realised that it didn't matter what nationality I was that ultimately "I am a child of God." It isn't about being ashamed of my ethnic background but not getting hung about it. At the end of the day my worth is not based on my appearance, my marital/educational/financial status but on who I am in God. Now being older, being multi-racial has become an asset! :)
Simone Ammon - Were you bullied in New Zealand ?
Great talk, Megumi! I'm glad that you decided to make the Hafu film. I believe that all mixes in the world can relate to what you said.
I'm a Japanese citizen and I think this presentation is very truthful. It also makes non-Japanese couples hesitate in having a family with a Japanese person. I hope the Japanese society becomes more informed and progressive.
HerrWagnerfreund You perfectly live up to Richard Wagner's racist and nationalst name and are ideologically stuck in the past centuries. Congratulations!
If you like it or not the world is global now and traveling to Japan can be done from a place as distant as Europe or from elsewhere in the blink of an eye. So it will be inevitable that the people that make this world go round will mingle more and more and you can't stop that process - whether you like it or not.
It has always been like that and this process will increase with globalization and increasing international travel, international working, studying etc. etc.
I am glad that patriotic nationalist racists like you will be proven wrong by the behavioral nature of us humans. I exlude you from having the right to be called human.
If Megumi Nishikura decides that she is Japanese AND American then she is just that and it is not on you or anybody else to decide.
HerrWagnerfreund We are humans. Our blood is red. When we bleed. We are all the same.
That doesn't mean, however, to deny or forget one's own ethnic heritage(s), language(s), and culture(s) or claim, that these are superior to other ethnical backgrounds.
If you spin your ridiculous thought out, and taking you very literally, it means that one person and another person from two adjacent neighboring tribes never will and never should marry and have kids to preserve their individual tribe's customs, languages, etc. It has never been this way and it will never be. Rather, especially nowadays, it is quite the contrary and people will mingle more and more. They can and will still cherish their cultural heritage(s).
Just take e.g. the many Iranian Jews in Israel. They speak Persian as well as Hebrew language and love and cherish their Iranian / Aryan background and celebrate old Iranian / Aryan / Zoroastrian annual festivities while being believing Jews and celebrating Jewish festivities the same way.
Cultures never have been as seperate as you claim. In the end it all boils down to being a matter of attitude and reveals how much one loves his fellow human beings and being human in general. But if you want to keep on with your narrow and exclusive view of the world and people(s) you are, naturally, welcome to do so.
HerrWagnerfreund 1) Nothing wrong with being primates. That also doesn't contradict my previous statement in any way.
2) Please leave that decision to the affected people. If they feel they are German, Mexican, Jewish, Sub-Saharan and they have an emotional connect to that background then it is perfectly fine.
I am in a similar situation as Megumi Nishikura myself and when I was younger I felt insecure and had doubts as well. However, that changed when I grew older and more knowledgable about both my cultures, languages, countries' histories, etc. I think it is a decision that every multiethnic person makes for themselves if they feel they belong to both, three, four, ..., or just a single "lineage" or heritage.
Regarding your "SJW" (Social Justice Warrior) label: It is better not to pigeon-hole and stereotype the people surrounding you as it strengthens a narrow and limited view of the world and of the very people you are trying to discuss with as you are judging them by the generally negative connotations that go along with such a label.
As to human nature being tribalistic and a multiethnic world being a world without cultural heritage: This is a claim that you make that needs to be proven. I dare say from my own cultural background that this assumption is plain and utterly WRONG.
However, I can explain to you in detail if you are interested and you'll hopefully see that you are wrong there and that this romantic tribal purity idea of us humans is a big lie.
HerrWagnerfreund Our ancestors, namely individuals of Homo sapiens sapiens did mate with adjacent living tribes of another subspecies, namely Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. This wole romantic idea of ethnic "purity" is nonsense and never existed never will. Blame your human ancestors for f...ing up, very literally speaking :-)
Chicagoturtle1 I have question , how do you become a Japanese citizen ?
Thank you for sharing this enlightening and inspiring story, going through the "wall" of segregation, discrimination, ... we are humans after all, with families, friends, communities, with the same basic life-sustaining needs and requirements... we all bleed "red" regardless of race, religion, creed, political allegiance, etc. Why not try to get along with one another?
May Peace be with you all, Ciao L (a Veteran)
Half Mauritian-Chinese and half french canadian here living in Québec. I love being hapa:)
Veronique Leung Très joli mélange Véro , le produit de 3 continents . La diversité est une richesse
Merci bcp j'apprécie le commentaire.
Great talk 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 admire her for taking about it.
A 5 star project with 5 star people- our amazing HAFU folks. I'm Rick, I'm a white male while my wife is from South Korea. We have 2 amazing sons together. JR has a Law Enforcement Career while our younger son Harry is our family actor/model working and living in Hollywood. God Bless our HAFU folks you are so smart, beautiful and amazing!
Oh my god I'm half Japanese half Dutch. People are always wondered what nationality I am
***** you remind me of Rosario Dawson . Do you speak both languages too ?
Honestly I've heard that before but she is too pretty so I can't be!! haha but yes I speak Japanese and Dutch :D
***** and English...Impressive
+Hanna Miyashita yay me too :)
+Hanna Miyashita You're YOU. You are who you say you are. :) Don't put yourself in a box.
half Japanese and half Norwegian super moved by this!;W; YOU GUYS ROCKS!!
Mandy Tachi Me too!
You are so beautiful, this was a great ted talk 👏👏
My boyfriend is half Japanes e and half German and Irish. he has expressed the same problems. Your presentation has helped me understand his struggles better.
Wonderful film! When we are happy in our "skin," we know who "we" are... ^.^
Thank you (from "hafu" to "hafu") !!!!
Tiara!! I know your mom (Nori-chan) on facebook! She's in my blasian group :) Glad seeing someone I recognize!!
So sad to see and hear this. I am really happy something is being done and people are talking about this. Very inspiring, thank you.
Wonderful speech. Borders are actually in our minds. HAFU is the result that shows us, that we can love each other, no matter how many wars were before, or will be in the future. More and more hafus from all over the world will birth, and a new generation of human beings will bring down the walls that separate us ♥
I myself am "hafu" (British/Japanese). I did not grow up in Japan, however spent many a summer there with my Japanese family. I'm so glad that the 'Hafu Film' was made, it may not give my exact story, but I believe that all mixed-race children (especially in Japan) don't know where they belong, or maybe know where they belong, but are simply not accepted.
Thank you Megumi! I really understood what you were saying.
I may not be half Japanese, but I am half Filipino and half Mexican and I can completely understand how she feels. It's great that she's bringing an important topic that needs to be addressed in Japan.
+epocs stop trolling!
Kudo Kraftster , wow... mexican and pinoy.... both immigrants.... must be though
My daughter is like you guys. I hope she makes it big.
Very moving. She looks like my childhood friend who was also hafu.
You look so good.
The Baha'i Faith encourages unions between people from different cultures. Children that are born of cross-cultural couples are often healthier and smarter than those born of same culture/same country unions. The Baha'i Faith must have the highest percentage of cross-cultural couples of any group in the world.
I'm half German, spaniard, Irish, Native American And Mexican proud to be mixed!!
+Olivia Arteaga Yea im half Russian and half Mongolian proud to be mixed!
I’m half Chinese half Russian-American I’m proud to be mixed too !!
To Hafus and hapas. Come to Hawaii, you won't be treated as different. The only misunderstanding you might get is people will think you are born here, are local and assume you already fit in. :) This place is paradise for Hafus. As they say here Everyone in Hawaii is chopsuey.
That is actually a great idea! btw how is Hawaii? Is it very multi national or do a lot of the local people look hafu? (just wondering, sorry for the dumb question).
Student studying at Hawaii Pacific here: Pretty much 90% of the residents are of mixed race or multiracial in some form. It is pretty common. Also the islands contain many immigrants from Asia combined with Caucasian residents (expats).
Okinawa too I think
I understand your feeling although I have never had any discrimination but positive discrimination in Japan as an American Black male. I can imagine its hard for you. I loved living in Japan and is my favorite country but I hope your experiences made you stronger!!
You are DOUBLE.
dont try to change other people. but change yourself.
I'm Half Chinese in America. The thing is that I don't speak Chinese, but neither does my mother, and her parents speak only English at home. We are fully American and race is still a problem for me. Most of it is fairly petty. I was arrested recently. The police officer filed paperwork saying that i was Asian, but the prison guards filed paperwork saying that I was white. Kind of strikes home that being half actually has consequences.
Hafus and half Asians with Asian fathers are much more rare. It's refreshing to see.
In Hawaii, "Hafu" is known as "Happa" and generally used as description of ethnicity without any positive or negative connotation that I am aware of. I suppose if I were to live in Japan, I'd be considered "hafu" because I am only a quarter Japanese. However, in Hawaii, such thing is commonplace. As I grew up it seemed like most children had several different ethnicities by which to identify. The only time my parents pointed out that me and my sister have mixed blood was when they told us there is no pure blood line to protect, so in a way we are liberated from a homogenous culture. As I went through school, history was more enriching due to having ties to multiple places. I could look at multiple civilizations and know I am learning about my ancestors, making the information more pertinent to me. Perhaps it is a cultural and personal issue, but I have always considered having a diverse ethnic background a positive thing.
On the topic of being accepted in the Japanese culture, returnees that are labeled as "Kikokushijo" also face a different, but similar kind of challenge. Watching this kinda reminded me of the days I tried to bury a fundamental part of me that made people recognize that I wasn't exactly the same as the other kids.
I'm korean japanese so i just look asian so people dont bother me since i speak fluent japanese and i look japanese
wait, koreaxjapan also counted as hafu? some people said japanese often confused with korean and chinese looks with japanese
You do look Japanese like quite a few Ainu people! Be strong! I struggle with the same thing.
I am a filipino-japanese, when I was young in the philippines they called me "Hapon". Years have passed and I was able to go to japan for work, they called me Firipinjin a "Filipino" that made me sad and I felt that I do not fit in anywhere at all.
I'm a half Japanese and half Korean. I love my parents but I hate being a half. It sucks. Especially these two countries. They are always against and sometimes I really struggle with my identity. I do not want to have a baby because I do not want them to have this kind of feeling. It never ends. I can tell this to no one because I know if my parents heard it, it will hurt them. But it hurts me being a half.
Japanese + White = Hispanic? x.x
do you really not know what Hispanic is or are you just kidding?
***** Do you really not know what sarcasm is, or do you just live under a rock?
+homie8333 I live under a huge rock I guess.
When she mentioned “Mexican Italian Indian” I’ve been called the same
You looks like zacatecana mija!
I’m looking to make a hafu one day
Discrimination is the basic culture in Japan. There are only Japanese and non-Japanese in their society. Non-Japanese are treated as the outcast and expected to stay as such in the Japanese society. Any behavior by trying to break the racial and social barriers will disrupt the social harmony and be detoxicated as much as possible. Whatever it is called; half or konketsu, trying to change the social caste in Japan is no easy than becoming a Brahman in India. Just look at Burakumin, Ainu.
First off, never ask a person "where are you from?" it sounds uneducated especially referring to a heavily mixed person because they can be from anywhere and still be heavily mixed no matter where they are. Instead ask "what are your nationalities?" I just had to get this out of the way because people wanna ask me where I'm "from" and I say "the U.S." but they don't like that so I say "Georgia" and they get frustrated and I'm like "Atlanta, Georgia" then they're like "no like where are your parents from?" like ok please just ask about my nationality not where I'm from because I'm gonna deadass say "Georgia"
I like this. When someone ask me where I am from I will say I am from human.
I'm a 16 year old "hafu" who has previously lived in Japan, but currently live in the UK. I myself accept that term. However, it all depends on context. Some people use it in a way which is used to attack that part of me or single me out, that's when it is unacceptable. There are those who simply use it as a term to define out of innocence.
Without a word which defines us, like "hafu" (half blood), no matter how disliked, people wouldn't know about this minority - Awareness begins change!
she looks Indian..or South American...I don't understand the big deal...I guess it is in Japan.
Japanese have White fetish her Skin is Dark
Is "hafu" an accepted term that mixed race children in Japan choose to call themselves nowadays? When I lived in Japan (20 years ago) many "hafu" found the term offensive as it labels and has the connotation of being "half" an human being - not Japanese. There was no question raised about the word at all which leads me to believe that it is now the accepted term (label).
I’m half japanese and 2nd grade and 3rd grade was an awful experience of constant bullying because I was a halfblood
😟 so sorry to read that (not first time). I fear so much for my young daughter to experience the same.😟
oh wow...David Yano is so FINE!!
Can definitely hear a strong Japanese influence in the way she speaks. Her personality seems more Japanese than many Japanese people I've met who live outside of Japan (since Japanese people who fit into Japanese society and are well-liked rarely leave their homeland for very long). I wonder what she struggled with, really? She said she didn't want to be singled out because she spoke English. Heh, why not? I bet if she wasn't sensitive about that sort of stuff she would have been fine. Japanese people would treat her like a normal person 99.9% of the time, and the other times they'd be envious of her. Seems like a good life. Like most filmmakers she's just reaching. Gotta make an 'artistic' film!
Actually in both Korean and Japanese cultures, being a foreigner does have a certain negative connotation to it. They are very "exclusive" cultures with a strong bias (positive or negative) against outsiders.
See this comment I wrote to someone else in the comment section of a different CZcams video:
"I'm a foreigner in Japanese society, and to be honest I haven't seen the xenophobia, intolerance, and ignorance that you're talking about.
From my experience it's not whether you're Japanese or a foreigner; it's whether you fit into the very strict and rigid structure of Japanese culture. I know plenty of Japanese people who have trouble fitting in, and they get bullied and pressured no less than a foreigner who doesn't fit in. When a Japanese person interacts with a foreigner, and they draw negative attention to him being a foreigner, nine times out of ten the foreigner is breaking a Japanese norm because of their own ignorance of the culture. Don't break any norms, and as a foreigner you'll be treated like anyone else who fits into the society. Break the norms, and even as a Japanese person you are not safe from crushing social pressure and deterioration of your social existence."
I agree that they're exclusive cultures with a strong bias against outsiders, but I tend to think of being an "outsider" as more a matter of culture than race, as long as you're not too caught up with identity issues and emotional sensitivity.
You may think this is a ridiculous view, given the number of foreigners who complain of xenophobia and being singled out for not being Japanese. But the thing is, foreigners who really do understand Japanese culture well enough to be treated like a Japanese person are few and far between. As a rule, the more a foreigner complains of disadvantages associated with being a foreigner, the more hanging out with them is uncomfortable because of how often they unknowingly break norms and miss social nuance in Japanese speech.
For most people it's much more preferable from an emotional standpoint to blame their problems on something outside their control, such as which race they were born as, than to take an honest look at their personality and their knowledge.
I was surprised at this video because Nishikura doesn't come off as a Westernized hafu who's clueless about the social landscape of Japanese society. I've met plenty of fully Japanese people who are less Japanese than her, in terms of personality and way of speaking. Most hafus who exude her level of Japanese aura won't have the complaints she has. It seems telling that she mentioned not wanting to be singled out because she speaks English. What an insignificant complaint! She's obviously just over-sensitive.
@@vriskanitram3905 Korea too? Holy macaroni!
As someone who’s mixed race, I’m sad I’ll probably never live to see a world that’s accepting of mixed race people from all over
no worry about it,halfies gonna be majority in near future in aaaaaaaaall countries.wea are in the middle on that.
whole world is gonna mix in few years, its already on the way, I was very conservative when younger, but I changed my mind about it.
Japanese are one of the last ones I guess.
This opens old memories in a way...Im glad I said no.
how is a "hafu" not a Japanese person? She was born in Japan....right?
Right, and Japanese people should accept it like you did, I think. However, it seemed like being Japanese is not just about where you were born, aka nationality, but also the ethnicity of being PURE Japanese seemed to be sadly valued. I'm half British/half Japanese and yeah it can be tough sometimes.
Does japan have birth right citizenship ? Also depends on the status of her mother. Is she an anchor baby ?
Now there is another trend in Japan to call these 'half children' as 'double kids, ' with double cultural background and richness. These notion is used among educational groups to support these kids. (City of Sapporo is one and Catholic groups.)
We are all mixed, and the ancestor of all of us was the same. 100% pure racial identity is a myth because such a factor couldn’t be occurred. We are humans…yes HUMANS! WHO WE ARE? WE ARE HUMANS! Every human is treasured irrespective of their skin color, morphological features etc. Every human creature is mattered!
O ADJETIVO LIVE, NÃO TEM PLURAL OK? LIVE NÃO LIVES...
They say that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. I suppose, in the land where every single person is 172-cm tall, the 173-cm-tall person is a giant. Japan has such extreme ethnic homogeneity (but not as high as 98% as she suggested) that the process of adjusting-- or simply getting experienced-- has only just started. This speaker herself surely has notions of in-groups and out-groups in her own mind. Wouldn't she look twice at someone with six fingers or vitiligo or with a facial tic? Maybe yes or maybe no,... but let's all admit that some evolutionary benefits came with mistrust of the unknown. I am 100% sure this speaker does not know that she is already connected to everyone and everything (like we all started in utero!). Her continued use of the word "half" is a poor choice when compared to, say, "double". How about no word at all? How about replying "It doesn't matter" to tactless questions. Japanese people would not ask twice. One problem solved. End of. :)
I agree. My kids aren't half anything. They're Australian and Japanese.
You belong to both your families but you are unique but you do not need and would not blenag to your societies.
If asked, I would say she looked kind of brazillian, and I've guess this is why Brazil is no unique, mixed races are common and deep within our culture that it became it own thing. People here had origins from everywhere else, europe, africa and asia, and actually a lot of japanese.
and I don't mean drunk
I'm a so-called "hafu", but I hope Nishikura is mindful of the fact that she does not speak on behalf of all of us.
Contrary to what Nishikura says, I don't crave to be “seen for the part of [me] that is Japanese and the part of [me] that is not”. I'm not interested in dicing myself up and talking about what percentage of my blood or culture is from Japan or Spain or America (as though such a concept is even plausible). My problem is rather that I am sick of people defining one another primarily by their 'racial heritage' in the first place, as though this necessarily forms the centrepiece of our identity. Look at the extent to which two "hafu" people can differ on values, desires, and self-perception, and you will see that their shared 'half-Japanese heritage' is of comparatively trivial significance. So why make a documentary that singles us out solely on the basis of our 'race' of all things?
Japanese society is indeed unhealthily race-obsessed. But you do not discredit race-based thinking by promoting race-based labels like "hafu", by covering your website with half-faces of "mixed-race" people, and by making galleries with 'half-Japanese specimens' displayed on the walls (as the backers of this documentary project have done). It seems a counter-productive strategy if you seek not to be categorised and objectified on account of your perceived racial background.
When people ask me where I'm from, I just state my nationalities, not that that really says who I am either. But being "half" anything should have nothing to do with it.
So much truth here.
I found what she and the people working with her did, quite interesting as my son is a hafu, but then I realized that it will not make any difference in Japan and will only be of relevance to those who are in her situation.
Japan is what it is and I don't see for what reason or belief it should change.
Like any country or culture or relationship : It is not a walk in the park, especially if you take everything personally. But if you go over those petty annoying moments you will find all the other moments so much rewarding.
You can't be loved by everyone and you can't love everyone ... that's life.
Japan is a great country with some great people (they just have the worst government of all time, killing it's own citizen and the pacific ocean with radioactive waste) so love it or leave it.
I agree that the focus on hafu is a focus on race, and that the biggest problem is that "Japanese" is seen as a race, not a nationality. However, rather than the huge leap into getting ordinary Japanese people to accept anyone with Japanese nationality as Japanese, maybe a more realistic preliminary goal is get hafus, i.e., people with one Japanese parent, accepted as Japanese. From there, it will be easier to further accept Chinese, Caucasians, Afro-Caribbeans etc. with Japanese nationality also as the Japanese people that they are.
As a haafu I partly agree with you but I don't think Nishikura means that we should be defined by our race, but rather our heritage from all ends is part of who we are. The race any of us are born as has a major impact on their lives and it _is_ part of our identity, it just doesn't define it.
right on broski, there's too many movements that speak for other people these days.
i'm learning japanese and so i hear a lot from gaijin living in japan... a lot of them get annoyed about being treated differently, but some of them have pointed out something very obvious and very true... if you don't know them, they don't know how long you've been there, you could have got off the plane yesterday and so they're not going to treat you like they would a japanese person.
but, i've heard it happens when you've known people a while too, so it still sucks, but meh.
th fgh you clearly don't live in japan. Her speech was quite appropriate for hafu in Japan and you would understand that if you lived there.
my baby is hafu
Embarrassing self-promotion of myopic skewed film. There are many ハーフ who are fully comfortable with their identity and haven't made self-centred pity dramas about their lives here.
I've had relationships with Japanese ladies, no problem, I'm Jamaican and English- who cares. Life is cool. peace
She doesn't seen italian at all, she looks indian
That's confusion
Half Canadian half philipino, I look mexican...
She's sweet!
Asian + European = South Asian? It does look likely.
Asian + European = Eurasian
Nasib Alfarsi I mean in terms of looks, she does look Indian.
Kendall L in terms of look anything mixed with white can end up looking south asian ( indian ) , there are countless of mainstream examples. Megumi is a bit taller than the average japanese girl but her body type is 100% japanese.
Southeast Asia is largely white Spanish mixed with locals anyway, largely Phillippines. Same with South Americans, there's whites, mixed, and Japanese Brazilian.
annie b Philippines is mixed mostly with Chinese. that's why most of them are very short in stature and brown. They are just plain ole Asian. So if you want to talk about Asian-ness, you should start with Asian features and end up there too.
well.... i mean... i get it. i am a white guy and this lovely japanese woman decided to have a baby with me. so, i am just trying to figure what it will mean for the child. personally, as an american with about seven or eight ancestral countries of origin- who is not particularly fond of the united states- i dont think it matters to identify with a nation in relation to race. that ship sailed. we all love japan. they have this thing about integrity which is incredibly admirable, but, my 2 cents is- we are all children of the world, foremost. i hope my daughter will realize this and take cultural identity with a grain of salt. life is life. good enough in/of itself. my daughter will be lucky to be half anything. i never was. humanity will all be yellow sooner or later. if we make it that far.
I think Japan is an ethnic purist tendency society. What is accepted without any reservation is one who is full bloodied Japanese. This may have happen because japan is a conquistador country- a warrior country since time immemorial that it is very proud of its heritage, ancestry and ethnic bloodline; so that a pure bloodline is preferable than a half bloodline. On the other hand, east of Japan is a country colonized by foreigners that its culture, ancestry and bloodline was also "colonized" or adulterated that it became to them that what is foreign is good. If you are a mestizo(half blood/breed) you must be good, handsome or beautiful. So come to the Philippines if you are a half blood and you will be even be adored.
Damn! That nose! I would think her mom or dad would be Indian!
Until she speaks fluent and excellent japanese
Clearly for japanese from japan : EITHER you are 100% japanese OR you are not japanese. This is sad to say but this is reality. Hope minds will evolve but this will be slow... unfortunately
Father genes are 70percent so it's not half
Japan is almost like Europe in racial relations with foreigners, the difference is that in Europe there's been a lot of immigration basically 1 in every 10 people in Europe are Arab/Black/Asian/Mixed that's why they're more "respected" in Europe than in Japan. There's also prejudice of Germans against Russians, Swedes against Greeks and so on and on that means even if you're White but a foreigner, you're disrespected. Racial/ethnic prejudice starts when the majority of area A feels that the minority B might someday betray them or take over their power, anything said other than that is just an excuse or pure b#llsh#t.
***** Not really, you have to take account that japan is a country that has not have any type of mass immigration, so of course people are gonna look at you if you are a foreigner. On the other hand, in most European countries immigration have been there for decades, and people have been interbreeding and such. Huge difference.
kind of strange she feels she couldn't fit in in the usa; afaik everyone is mixed to some degree over there; western european blondes with pigtails are a tiny minority in the usa nowadays...
日本人だって見える～
なんだかんだ言ってハーフに憧れる日本人も多いから、嫉妬もあると思います。
Two things I don't understand ...
First, the audience seems to be filled by Japanese people (so I'm guessing this show was in Japan), so why making this whole presentation in English (I find that almost insulting).
Second, you don't get people to get to love you out of pity, you have to proove that you deserve being loved.
Having spent a long time in Japan as a complete gaijin I can tell you that this country is great BECAUSE it is homogenous. It was harsh, as xenophobia is very strong there, but I admire this will to protect what they believe to be their culture (except for their language that they are killing little by little with the replacement of old Japanese words with English conterpart ... this is the saddest thing I've ever witnessed. Show a Japanese person a spoon and 99% of the time he will say "supoon" instead of the real japanese word "saji", "puresento" instead of "okurimono" ... katakana must die)
Some Hafu are well integrated in the japanese society, lots of models, actor, singer, anchorman, journalist ... but all of them just embraced their Japanese culture and heritage, showed it to the Japanese people and gained their integration in the Japanese society by working, not because they have a parental link to Japan.
My son is half Japanese and half French ... and if he will go through harsh time (meaning he can't get over it) because he is somewhat rejected by some part of the Japanese people ... it will be my failure as a parent for not having prepared him for what will happen because of his mixed blood ... this is not his fault nor this is the Japanese people's fault, but mine!
patataboy The TED was in Kyoto, so she must have been intent on reaching an English audience for her film which most certainly flopped in Japan.
It's called spoon because it is a western spoon, not traditional japanese spoon. They use foreign words because they are technically different and things they didn't have at the time. Same with chocolate, which was an important, asian mainly used red bean paste this there is a word for that but chocolate is borrowed. Think of all the things borrowed over? When you go to an Italian restaurant do you order noodles or pasta? Ravioli? Lasagna? It's all italian. When you eat japanese food you order sushi or sashimi right? Not raw fish or raw fish on rice.
They aren't butchering the language it evolves like every other language. Nobody speaks the same japanese it used to be ages before, and you don't speak the same English either.
annie b
It is butchering ... a spoon is a spoon, Japanese spoon does not exist, as even in Japan it has many shapes. So it is exchanging a local word for a foreign one.
And why using the English word ... UK did not invent the spoon, so your comparison with the Italian pasta or Japanese sushi is irrelevant.
And why every time a new word is used in Japan, it is the American version of it ... the Us fucked up Japan big time twice. They have no pride ... moyashi yarou
And cut the carp about the language evolving, French Canada is always finding a French based word for every new word or English based word appearing, China make the Chinese word of everything.
So Japan is killing its culture by not adapting new words using traditional Japanese.
It is as stupid and dumb as English people using French words for cooking elements when the English word was there to begin with.
+Gordon Graham if you watch any ted x video from another country (eg. greece) they still always speak in english, so I don't see why she should have done otherwise
themaknaeli I attended a TED conference in Tokyo at which all the Japanese presenters did their presentations in Japanese. As they were presenting to a Japanese audience (except for a few foreigners scattered throughout who were supplied with earphones for translation) it was only natural that they did so. If a Japanese presenter were to lecture in English to a Japanese audience one can only surmise that it's the international audience on CZcams he or she is addressing and not those directly in front of him or her. As this presenter's film was a flop in Japan one can fairly assume she was trying to promote her film via CZcams. If her "message" was intended to bring about more awareness and empathy for ハーフamong the Japanese, then her message would most certainly be lost on an audience who can't understand a word she is saying.
You are double honey! much more than a half.
Double is getting more and more used instead of Hafu.
Where are my Japanese-Bengali homies at? Hmu
この人綺麗だし、何も気にすることないと思う。 羨む人もいるんだから自分を受け入れないと！ そうしないと周りは迎えられないはずだよ。
TFW you're half Japanese and then the other half is like 6 other ethnicities and people don't know wtf you are LOL
"wow you look white/hawaiian/asian" okAyyyyyy
well you didn't get your looks from your dad
based on the way you look, you look like a human being that hasn't slept for 3 days and is very tired.. you need some rest..
Most interracials look fucked up. Its not natural.
To many sensitive people in this world, and this blog is getting stupid. ....I'm out!
Josh Nyce cya idiot
I really disagree. The definition of japanese doesn't need to change, diet sort ruins everything. Just accept you'll never be full and start relying in a good personality and talents instead f obsessing with half of you ethnicity as your entire identity.
*****
"probs" ..because you don't know and assume things about those disagreeing with this sentiment. what does being white have to do with anything, or are you just racist?
+annie b I kind of agree with you. Muliculturalism destroys countries in my opinion. And you should just accept who you are as a human being and not try to change. There are more important things in society than just how you look, like your personality.