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Being Half-Japanese is Different When You're Younger (Black in Japan) | MFiles

Mikhail Bakunin

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In this episode of The Melanated Files (MFiles), we introduce Aya. Aya is half-Black and half-Japanese and shares her journey growing up in Japan and her transition to life in America. Watch to hear her story.
 

MarryMePls

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I’m guessing by the pictures that she looked more “black” as she grew up and less japanese so it was harder to assimilate?
 

Bourgie Boho

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I've heard the racism half-black children go through when they are raised in Japan and China. The want to be closer to white and anyone that's dark gets bullied.

On another note blaisians are either gorgeous or hit in the face, no in between.
 

RasberryViolet

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In this episode of The Melanated Files (MFiles), we introduce Aya. Aya is half-Black and half-Japanese and shares her journey growing up in Japan and her transition to life in America. Watch to hear her story.

no-i-dont-think-will-meme-template.jpg
 

Mrs.Giroud

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She looked Thai when she was little, now she just looks black. It's never good to be an 'other' in a country where 99% of the population looks 100% the same.
 

sgirl88

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Can we start saying Half black half ASIAN? Black is a race, Japanese is the nationality. If you are going to use the Asian parent's nationality then use the black parent's nationality.

When we say half black half "nationality/ethnicity/culture/etc" it gives the impression that there are no black people in those nationalities/ethnicities/cultures/etc.

Just a suggestion :heart:
 

TheCluesIleftForYou

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She looked Thai when she was little, now she just looks black. It's never good to be an 'other' in a country where 99% of the population looks 100% the same.
Yep I was watch savannah sylver and she spoke on people only wanting to be her friend to learn english, she never was invited to anything. People know her for being the black woman married to the Japanese guy, but I can tell she is lonely and bored in Japan. She says her husband is her only friend, but to be a housewife with no friends in a country like Japan must be hard.
 

BrightMoon

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She is pretty!

I'm kinda surprised that neither her sister or her learned English until they went to school in ATL at around 12 or 13. Like she couldn't talk to her dad very well at all until then. Hafus usually seem to know English earlier, but every family is different so I can't judge.

She seems very confident and resilient and I think her parents responded well with the inevitable questions of "why do I look so different" "why is my skin darker or my hair curlier". They didn't do anything toxic or stupid which I appreciate. That's a tough environment especially growing up in a rural area of Japan like she did. I also like how she kept a balance and didn't romanticize or bash either country with her experiences of switching back and forth. She just told it how it was for her.
 

MochaEmpress

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She looked Thai when she was little, now she just looks black. It's never good to be an 'other' in a country where 99% of the population looks 100% the same.

To add to this point, I JUST watched a video where a pregnant black mom was rejected from maternity clinics in Japan (her husband is Japanese). She eventually found one that accepts black mothers but personally, I don't know why people put themselves or their future mixed children through that.

For starters, these homogenous countries rarely allow foreigners (including hafus) to get citizenship, if at all. Then you have to worry about your child having self identity issues growing up and wishing they were only the lighter half of themselves. Not to mention your child being potentially bullied in school because let's face it, children tease those that are different. I dunno. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Edit: Since your skeptical @Silver Donut here's the video.
 
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IrisOsiris

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To add to this point, I JUST watched a video where a pregnant black mom was rejected from maternity clinics in Japan (her husband is Japanese). She eventually found one that accepts black mothers but personally, I don't know why people put themselves or their future mixed children through that.

For starters, these homogenous countries rarely allow foreigners (including hafus) to get citizenship, if at all. Then you have to worry about your child having self identity issues growing up and wishing they were only the lighter half of themselves. Not to mention your child being potentially bullied in school because let's face it, children tease those that are different. I dunno. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Edit: Since your skeptical @Silver Donut here's the video.

She looked so pretty. And then she has to put those stupid lashes on top of all that nice makeup work just to end up looking like a clown. Why do these chicks do this with these lashes!!? Argh. Its distracting and shes too cute for that. I was hoping she would cut them down a lil or something.
 

SaintofSaint

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I’m guessing by the pictures that she looked more “black” as she grew up and less japanese so it was harder to assimilate?
Japanese people as it is didn't really like gaijins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAFU

When it comes to mixed-race people there's obviously going to be a difference, also not fitting in.

Can we start saying Half black half ASIAN? Black is a race, Japanese is the nationality.
asians.jpg


Japanese is actually an "ethnic" term.

They don't call themselves "ASIANS" but are in that category.

Remember you are American. Americans and anywhere outside use different terms. For example you would be a GAJIN in Japan - a NON-Japanese national.

If that was true, then Chinese / Koreans / Indians and others in the ASIAN category would all be the same nationality. RIGHT?
 

RoijaRhaa

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Black people are still agreeing with their non-Black partners in raising their bi-racial kids in homogeneous counties like this??????


LORD....
 

brittiskies

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Black people are still agreeing with their non-Black partners in raising their bi-racial kids in homogeneous counties like this??????


LORD....


Her father (black man) was in the air force and stationed in japan so he really didnt have a choice. The mother was a full Japanese woman.

What I did think was interesting/strange is that she couldn't communicate with her father until she was 12.
 

Fauxfilabih

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Japanese people as it is didn't really like gaijins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAFU

When it comes to mixed-race people there's obviously going to be a difference, also not fitting in.


View attachment 2267215

Japanese is actually an "ethnic" term.

They don't call themselves "ASIANS" but are in that category.

Remember you are American. Americans and anywhere outside use different terms. For example you would be a GAJIN in Japan - a NON-Japanese national.

If that was true, then Chinese / Koreans / Indians and others in the ASIAN category would all be the same nationality.


well black is neither an ethnicity nor a race so the point still stands.

If you specify that a person is Japanese, then you should specify the black ethnicity or nationality.


The accurate way of saying would be - half Japanese half "Guinean" or half Japanese half "Fulani" for example.
 
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SaintofSaint

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well black is neither an ethnicity nor a race so the point still stands.

If you specify that a person is Japanese, then you should specify the black ethnicity or nationality.


The accurate way of saying would be - half Japanese half "Guinean" or half Japanese half "Fulani" for example.
Americans from what I saw the most love to say "I AM ASIAN AMERICAN" and then the often response is...

But... What Asian? Chinese? Korean? Japanese?

And I think it is the same in the West. But American-Asians do that X10. Specially when they introduce themselves.

For example a Korean woman once said that all ASIAN-AMERICANS can relate to her. Just because she ate RICE growing up... WHAT!???

So I asked a Japanese woman, she said NO. I can't relate to her on THAT level. The Korean was trying to say they were all the same.

Of course they all are descendants of people from ASIA... But are American at the same time.

But it is not true. Because each nationality has different ways of thinking and different traditions.

So when I see people say I am "something-American" I just look...

I'm B-Jamaican. But I don't go around telling people to their faces in person. I specify it ONCE and move on or if people want to know.

But I often see like Asian-Americans always saying they are ONE and the same. But that is not true.

Where I live people don't say they are "something-Asian" they just say "I am Chinese" or "I am Japanese".
 

Litay

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To add to this point, I JUST watched a video where a pregnant black mom was rejected from maternity clinics in Japan (her husband is Japanese). She eventually found one that accepts black mothers but personally, I don't know why people put themselves or their future mixed children through that.

For starters, these homogenous countries rarely allow foreigners (including hafus) to get citizenship, if at all. Then you have to worry about your child having self identity issues growing up and wishing they were only the lighter half of themselves. Not to mention your child being potentially bullied in school because let's face it, children tease those that are different. I dunno. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Edit: Since your skeptical @Silver Donut here's the video.



They rejected a pregnant woman form a hospital? Wow. I just...wow.


Yet so many black majority countries let the same people who hate us assimilate into our societies so easily.
 

Jsolidus

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To add to this point, I JUST watched a video where a pregnant black mom was rejected from maternity clinics in Japan (her husband is Japanese). She eventually found one that accepts black mothers but personally, I don't know why people put themselves or their future mixed children through that.

For starters, these homogenous countries rarely allow foreigners (including hafus) to get citizenship, if at all. Then you have to worry about your child having self identity issues growing up and wishing they were only the lighter half of themselves. Not to mention your child being potentially bullied in school because let's face it, children tease those that are different. I dunno. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Edit: Since your skeptical @Silver Donut here's the video.

Its hard for to feel sorry for black folks who put themselves in situations like this.

You wouldn't see my pregnant black ass in Japan expecting them to not be racist!

So fµck!ng busy trying to make exotical babies instead of using common sense. Its why a lot of mixed kids end up fµcked up!

Im not against interracial relationships but you got to be smart about it! Raise your mixed kids in a area where they wont face so much racism!
 

sunburnt

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I mean...Japan is a homogenous country in every sense of meaning. Mixed Japanese (even half whites) aren't generally accepted as members of the culture even if they grew up in Japan and are fluent.

For example, the Japanese entertainment industry is filled with half-Japanese actors/actresses because most fully Japanese families would not accept or take pride in their children being celebrities. They prefer less flashy, more secure career paths for their children. Foreigners/half-japanese people typically find work in Japanese entertainment because that's how the culture/society views them: for entertainment purposes.

That's just the way it is there. If you want to do well in Japan, then don't disrupt the status quo. Conformity is embraced there and the maintenance of Japanese culture & lifestyle depends on that conformity remaining. It's been that way for literally thousands of years and it's not changing anytime soon. Japanese are very prideful. Even with lowered birthrates, race-mixing, foreign expats, etc. they are going to make sure they remain purely Japanese.
 

sgirl88

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Japanese people as it is didn't really like gaijins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAFU

When it comes to mixed-race people there's obviously going to be a difference, also not fitting in.


View attachment 2267215

Japanese is actually an "ethnic" term.

They don't call themselves "ASIANS" but are in that category.

Remember you are American. Americans and anywhere outside use different terms. For example you would be a GAJIN in Japan - a NON-Japanese national.

If that was true, then Chinese / Koreans / Indians and others in the ASIAN category would all be the same nationality. RIGHT?


(1) "Remember you are American"

I am not American. I am Jamaican and as a Jamaican I often times get annoyed when people use Jamaican as a race. The vast majority of Jamaicans are black but there are people here that are not black as well. However, some people like to make claims like "Jamaicans are not black" or that "all Jamaicans are black". Jamaican is a nationality that sometimes acts are an ethnic identifier outside of Jamaica. You would not, as a Jamaican, need to say you are Jamaican if you are in Jamaica right? Same for Japan.

If you ask a black person from an African country or a majority black country what they are they would say their nationality/culture/etc first. If you ask them their race the vast majority would say black. So a Japanese person would say Japanese if you asked what they were but on a global level their race would be Asian. Some might deny that their race is Asian but when it is time to pull that Asian card they do it with a quickness (eg when KPop groups are denied "western" awards these actions are classified as anti-Asian). If they can call themselves Asian when it can benefit them they can deal with being globally seen as Asian.

(2) "Americans and anywhere outside use different terms. For example you would be a GAJIN in Japan - a NON-Japanese national."

I would rightfully be a gaijin in Japan if I am not a national of Japan. If I immigrated to Japan, however, my nationality would be Japanese. A sizable portion of Japanese people would still see me as non-Japanese despite that and this is what a lot of immigrants and others in Japan are fighting against. For example, there are people who descend from Korean Asians (called Zainichi) that live in Japan and have lived in Japan for generations yet they are still considered outsiders till this day. This is discrimination and not just a simple 'some cultures do/say things differently' type of situation. If an immigrant went to America and got an American citizenship and was then told they are not a real American that would be classified as discrimination. The same is true in Japan. If the argument comes up that the 'USA is a different story because of imperialism' it would not hold any weight because Japan has a history of that too. If an American immigrates to my country (Jamaica) they would be a Jamaican despite some people in the US and elsewhere using 'Jamaican' as an ethnic group. Nationality is a nationality and I say this as someone who comes from a country that is as similarly homogenous as Japan (Black population in Jamaica is roughly 92.1%)

(3) "If that was true, then Chinese / Koreans / Indians and others in the ASIAN category would all be the same nationality. RIGHT?"

No? I don't understand the logic here. I am saying that Asian is the race and Japanese is a nationality. Therefore, Asians from China/South Korea/ India would still have whatever nationality they claim.

Eg. 1 - If a person who was born, raised and still resides in South Korea and is Asian their race would be Asian and their nationality would be South Korean. If That same person immigrated to India their race would remain the same (Asian) but their nationality would then be Indian. In India they could use Korean and an ethnic/cultural marker but that would not deny non-Asians of South Korean nationality from their South Korean nationality.
Eg. 2 - My race is black. That is unchangeable. My nationality is Jamaican. That can be changed. I can claim my Jamaican heritage/culture aboard if I decide to move to another country therefore using Jamaican as an ethinic marker. That is, if I move to the USA I would be Black raced, American by nationality and Jamaican by culture (a black Jamaican-American).

My main issue is that black people exist in every country/etc. So, by stating half black and half ethnicity/culture/etc it; (1) makes it seem that black people don't exist in those places which is false, and (2) makes it seem like only Asian and white races get to be identified by their culture/etc as well but we (black people) are ONLY a race. There are black people in multiple cultures, we speak multiple languages. We too are a VERY diverse group (in fact we are the most diverse racial group).

I hope I explained my point better.
 

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(1) "Remember you are American"

I am not American. I am Jamaican and as a Jamaican I often times get annoyed when people use Jamaican as a race. The vast majority of Jamaicans are black but there are people here that are not black as well. However, some people like to make claims like "Jamaicans are not black" or that "all Jamaicans are black". Jamaican is a nationality that sometimes acts are an ethnic identifier outside of Jamaica. You would not, as a Jamaican, need to say you are Jamaican if you are in Jamaica right? Same for Japan.

If you ask a black person from an African country or a majority black country what they are they would say their nationality/culture/etc first. If you ask them their race the vast majority would say black. So a Japanese person would say Japanese if you asked what they were but on a global level their race would be Asian. Some might deny that their race is Asian but when it is time to pull that Asian card they do it with a quickness (eg when KPop groups are denied "western" awards these actions are classified as anti-Asian). If they can call themselves Asian when it can benefit them they can deal with being globally seen as Asian.

(2) "Americans and anywhere outside use different terms. For example you would be a GAJIN in Japan - a NON-Japanese national."

I would rightfully be a gaijin in Japan if I am not a national of Japan. If I immigrated to Japan, however, my nationality would be Japanese. A sizable portion of Japanese people would still see me as non-Japanese despite that and this is what a lot of immigrants and others in Japan are fighting against. For example, there are people who descend from Korean Asians (called Zainichi) that live in Japan and have lived in Japan for generations yet they are still considered outsiders till this day. This is discrimination and not just a simple 'some cultures do/say things differently' type of situation. If an immigrant went to America and got an American citizenship and was then told they are not a real American that would be classified as discrimination. The same is true in Japan. If the argument comes up that the 'USA is a different story because of imperialism' it would not hold any weight because Japan has a history of that too. If an American immigrates to my country (Jamaica) they would be a Jamaican despite some people in the US and elsewhere using 'Jamaican' as an ethnic group. Nationality is a nationality and I say this as someone who comes from a country that is as similarly homogenous as Japan (Black population in Jamaica is roughly 92.1%)

(3) "If that was true, then Chinese / Koreans / Indians and others in the ASIAN category would all be the same nationality. RIGHT?"

No? I don't understand the logic here. I am saying that Asian is the race and Japanese is a nationality. Therefore, Asians from China/South Korea/ India would still have whatever nationality they claim.

Eg. 1 - If a person who was born, raised and still resides in South Korea and is Asian their race would be Asian and their nationality would be South Korean. If That same person immigrated to India their race would remain the same (Asian) but their nationality would then be Indian. In India they could use Korean and an ethnic/cultural marker but that would not deny non-Asians of South Korean nationality from their South Korean nationality.
Eg. 2 - My race is black. That is unchangeable. My nationality is Jamaican. That can be changed. I can claim my Jamaican heritage/culture aboard if I decide to move to another country therefore using Jamaican as an ethinic marker. That is, if I move to the USA I would be Black raced, American by nationality and Jamaican by culture (a black Jamaican-American).

My main issue is that black people exist in every country/etc. So, by stating half black and half ethnicity/culture/etc it; (1) makes it seem that black people don't exist in those places which is false, and (2) makes it seem like only Asian and white races get to be identified by their culture/etc as well but we (black people) are ONLY a race. There are black people in multiple cultures, we speak multiple languages. We too are a VERY diverse group (in fact we are the most diverse racial group).

I hope I explained my point better.
Yeah that is fine. (y)
 

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Can we start saying Half black half ASIAN? Black is a race, Japanese is the nationality. If you are going to use the Asian parent's nationality then use the black parent's nationality.

When we say half black half "nationality/ethnicity/culture/etc" it gives the impression that there are no black people in those nationalities/ethnicities/cultures/etc.

Just a suggestion :heart:
The majority of black people in the US have multicultural heritage, much similarly to how the majority of white people in the US, while still being European have multicultural heritage. Because black people are ethnically mixed, but still largely of African ancestry, it's kind of an ambiguous term. Most white people in the US are mixed with English, French, Welsh, German, etc, so we just call them "white" instead of saying 1/4 English, 1/4 French, or something. This same example also applies to African-americans.
 

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