Rather than unite the population, the buzz around “hafu” created an “us and them” mentality, says Okamura. That look valued Japanese people with longer legs and defined facial features, including bigger eyes and taller noses, that gave them the impression of being non-Japanese, says Okamura. The makeup and fashion industries picked up the trend, coining the term “ hafu-gao” or “half-face” to represent an aspirational look that appeared half foreign. It was even used as a selling point to promote the girlband “ Golden Hafu.” The mixed-heritage quintet performed covers of Western pop songs such as 1962 US pop song “The Loco-motion,” more famously covered by Kylie Minogue, and “Come, come to Hawaii!!! in Japanese. However, “hafu” didn’t come with the same negative connotations as konketsuji. In 1973, its use was formalized in the 1973 edition of a dictionary called Kanazawa Shōzaburō’s Kōjirin or “Wide Forest of Words,” where it was listed as a synonym of konketsuji. Spying an opportunity, Japanese management companies started to promote local actors, dancers and singers of mixed heritage, says Okamura, the independent scholar.īy then, the derogatory term of konketsuji had given way to “hafu,” a corruption of the word “half-caste”. “Back then, there was a lot of debate over whether to assimilate or keep apart these children when they entered elementary school,” says Lawrence Yoshitaka Shimoji, a sociologist at Ritsumeikan University in Japan.Īs Japan absorbed Western influences in the post-World War II years, perceptions changed.Įuropean languages were seen as chic and exotic and Japan’s fascination with Western movie stars grew. Politicians associated those children with Japan’s defeat and painted them as a problem for society. Those children faced discrimination as the government considered people from Japan’s colonies as inferior to the Japanese.įollowing Japan’s defeat in WWII and during the American occupation (1945 to 1952), the term konketsuji applied to the children of American military personnel and Japanese women, and was considered a derogatory term. In the 1930s, the term “konketsuji” – or “mixed-blood child” – described the children of Japanese nationals who married locals in countries like China, Taiwan and Korea that Japan colonized. With the concept of Japanese supremacy came new terms to describe people of mixed race. In those hubs, the derogatory term “ainoko” – or “hybrid” in English – was used to describe children born of a Japanese and foreign parent, according to Hyoue Okamura, a Japan-based independent scholar.Īs Japan opened up and modernized during the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), it started cultivating its own brand of nationalism, promoting the country’s racial homogeneity and superiority over other Asian nations. ![]() ![]() Mixed-race identity has a complex history in Japan.īetween 16, Japan closed its borders to foreign influence – with the exception of Chinese and Dutch traders who came to the port cities of Yokohama and Nagasaki. Some who consider themselves Japanese say it leaves them feeling othered in their own country. Well-known figures such as Vogue model Rina Fukushi and tennis star Naomi Osaka have given mixed heritage people more prominence in the public sphere in Japan, and globally.įor others, however, the apparent fascination with their heritage brings unwanted attention and can invite casual racism. Many mixed heritage entertainers and sports stars are hugely popular in Japan. People who look different, therefore, attract more attention than they would in a more ethnically diverse country such as the US. Official figures paint Japan as an ethnically homogenous nation – according to the 2018 census, 98% of the population is considered Japanese. ![]() What it means to be a mixed-race model in Japan
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