Both native and foreign: How being of mixed race affects Japanese studentsPosted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Campus Life, Census/Demographics, Media Archive on 2016-01-13 15:00Z by Steven |
Both native and foreign: How being of mixed race affects Japanese students
The Cavalier Daily
Charlottesville, Virginia
2014-07-01
Emily Gorham
I have now entered week five of my three month stay in Japan as an intern for the Ibaraki Christian University’s English department. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about what I’ve termed the gaijin stare — a phenomenon in which, as one of very few foreigners living in the Japanese countryside, I get stares from just about everyone, wherever I go.
This concept got me thinking: what happens when the gaijin stare is misplaced? Japan used to think of itself as a homogenous nation. Some people still think of it this way — though times are certainly changing and interracial marriage is growing increasingly common.
By one statistic, one in every 49 babies born in Japan today is considered “mixed race” — or “haafu,” which natives presumably take to mean half-Japanese and half-foreign. While this number may not sound staggering, it means Japan’s mixed raced demographic cannot be ignored.
After experiencing the gaijin stare myself, I spoke to a few students at the university who are considered “haafu” for their take on racial perception in Japan…
Read the entire article here.