1 out of 30 babies born in Japan had non-Japanese parent in 2006

Monday 04th August, 06:21 AM JST

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cleo at 03:47 PM JST - 5th August

Being haafu seems to be cool still, but it depends on the mix; a mix that doesn't show in physical features isn't all that cool, if only because it's not noticeable.

Moderator: Please stay on topic.
Xentrix at 10:46 PM JST - 5th August

Mixed blood are more beautiful and more Intelligent. They are the "new aged people"
Azrael at 12:13 AM JST - 6th August

If "hafu" is cool, why do Japanese who ask me if I have a Japanese parent or Japanese relatives show more acceptance or turn more welcoming when I explain I don't have any Japanese descent? And why are Peruvians of Japanese descent looked down and frowned upon? Why does my PhD sempai of European/Japanese heritage gets flared up when Japanese tell her "Yappari, Hafu desune?"
cwhite at 12:27 AM JST - 6th August

I really have no idea Azrael, but it could well be that I don't care if people call me half, gaijin or white. Perhaps it's because I am proud to be a half and because I use it to my advantage. I probably tell Japanese that I am half British before they even open their mouths which breaks the ice in an instance. Maybe it's because I'm surrounded with half's and the majority of my friends are mixed race which makes it easier for me to blend in. Maybe it's just that Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba just happen to be more accepting then other prefectures in Japan. It could be many things, but I do know that people around me could not careless if one was a Brazilian, Peruvian, Korean, Indian or Filipino descendant. I guess I must be extremely lucky and people like Jero are just miracles.
Azrael at 12:43 AM JST - 6th August

Cwhite: Most likely, you are extremely lucky. In fact, you are the first person of Japanese/foreign descent I hear from that sounds unconcerned about it. The few ones I know are bitter, defensive and at least one has a broken spirit due to the discrimination they face. I want to believe there are people like you, with a more care-free and easier take on life; but the ones I know are not immerse in a mixed descent only environments. Even well-meaning Japanese highlight the line between the pure-bred and the mixed descent by calling them Hafu, Nikkei, Nissei - and yet Double (doburu) is a well-meaning attempt to acknowledge the person is nof "half" something but someone with a broader heritage, come off hurting sometimes (from what I see). I have four years in Japan, mainly in Academic circles (which I find, are more accepting to differences than the general populace). I think you are extremely lucky, and that is very good.
cwhite at 01:47 AM JST - 6th August

That is a pity. I would love you to meet some of my half Japanese friends who have lived all their lives in Japan. One group that is made of entirely half's is www.harts.blue-p.org/members.html Somehow I don't think the wordings will ever change although the meanings will diminish. After all if you are of to Nationalities then how else do you identify yourself, where lies your identity? This reminds me of the gay and lesbian debates...
cleo at 09:53 AM JST - 6th August

why are Peruvians of Japanese descent looked down and frowned upon?

Because one of them (who turned out not to be of japanese descent at all) killed a little girl, and mud sticks? Or possibly because many of those who came to Japan took KKK jobs that their Japanese peers don't want to do, and it's a class thing.

Why does my PhD sempai of European/Japanese heritage gets flared up when Japanese tell her "Yappari, Hafu desune?"

Why would anyone say 'Yappari, hafu desune'? What do they mean? That she is better looking than the sum of her two halves? Nothing to get flared up about there. Who knows? You'll have to ask her why they say it, what they mean by it, and why it upsets her.

The few ones I know are bitter, defensive and at least one has a broken spirit due to the discrimination they face.

I know quite a few haafus, including my own two; but I don't know any who are bitter, defensive or broken. All the ones I know are happy, confident people for whom having mixed ancestry is a plus.

After all if you are of to(2) Nationalities then how else do you identify yourself, where lies your identity?

What's wrong with just being you?
sammuraisteve at 11:50 AM JST - 6th August

My kids often get 'yappari! me no iro ga chigau desu ne." Like the brown colour of their eyes is different than the brown in a Jappanese person's eyes. What a ridiculous statement of ignorance! Because their mother is Japanese and none of her parents, grandparents, etc had anything but brown eyes, it is genetically impossible to be anything but brown (or black as some locals say.) Or should I assume that every Japanese person making that comment really thinks that my wife had Russian blue-eyed ancestors? There have been cases in Japan where being 'ha-fu' has been seen as not being Japanese enough to get into an establishment, not being able to understand the culture, smelling different, whatever. That's why I have a problem with the word. I've been here a long time and I have yet to hear an intelligent comment started with "Gaijin wa....." or "Ha-fu wa .....including "Ha-fu wa kawaii ne..." As much as I'm sure parents want to believe it. Ha-fu, quarter, one-eighth? Some day, yes, some day, people will realize that we are all mixed, there is no pure race and people will stop making ridiculous stereotypical comments. We're all "Ningen!"
cleo at 12:12 PM JST - 6th August

Some day, yes, some day, people will realize that we are all mixed, there is no pure race and people will stop making ridiculous stereotypical comments. We're all "Ningen!"

Probably the most sensible statement on this thread.

There have been cases in Japan where being 'ha-fu' has been seen as not being Japanese enough to get into an establishment

For example?
efftta at 07:12 PM JST - 6th August

The survey results indicate that an increasing number of foreign nationals coming to Japan for employment or study are settling in the country, experts said.

How about foreign nationals are the ones having all the babies, or are actually reproducing. Considering that the gaijin population of Japan is somewhere in the 2,000,000 mark, and there are roughly 128,000,000 Japanese (Therefore a 64 to 1 Japanese to non Japanese ratio), a birthrate of half that would indicate that foreign nationals are the ones reproducing like bunnies......
cwhite at 11:30 PM JST - 7th August

"Yappari" just indicated that they pretended that they noticed something. Same as in English when someone says "aha, just what I thought, I was going to say, but I wasn't sure" blah blah kind of statement. It means absolutely nothing and just tells you that person just wants to acknowledge that he noticed that you are half or had your hair cut or are wearing brand new shoes, etc, etc... Nothing to be upset about or even worth answering back, just continue with the conversation and talk about the weather or yesterdays baseball game...
RN at 04:10 AM JST - 8th August

I personally have no connection to the emotions of people who are of mixed racial backgrounds other than I'm black, but carry the genes of my ancestors which includes Caucasian, about 3-4 generations back. Because of this blood line, I am often mistaken for anything from Half white/half black, Latina, or even Morrocan. When I was younger it used to bother me mostly because it was said negatively, but now I appreciate the anonymity of my looks. I think anger from being labled "hafu" or whatever really stems from Childhood, and the teasing that comes from other children, because you look different than everyone else. I never had a problem with the way I looked until someone else did, and made fun of me for it. Typically you grow out of that anger and accept that some people are just innocently ignorant of these things.
privard22 at 07:51 PM JST - 9th August

No opinion, just observations. As an ALT teaching English in Fukui City public schools, I occasionally had teachers inform me sotto voce, as if it were a "dirty secret," that a kid in the class had a foreign parent. One old witch actually apologized to me for a kid being half Chinese--right in front of the kid (yes, that did lead to someone at the BoE speaking to her principal). But I also had more teachers pointing out half kids in a positive way--sort of an "isn't it cool?" thing. And I ran into many, many more kids than I'd expected, with all one hears about racial unity here, who themselves emphasized their being different and sought me out just to tell me, "My mom's Filipina." Also lots of other kids telling me about their half friends, clearly thinking it was cool. I wouldn't say the half kids always liked that--but many of them did. Also ran into kids who were shy about being different, and in the same class kids who ran with it and were extremely popular. There are still real problems here and yet the problems aren't universal or easily generalized. Anyone who does submit a generalization about being half in Japan--"This is what it's like..."--is going to be wrong for most people. So if someone says something that contradicts your experience, just let it ride and don't insist that their experience or their understanding of it is wrong.
cwhite at 05:27 PM JST - 10th August

come to think of it in the UK I was asked by a student if I was half Italian because I had an Italian brand rucksack. In Italy I was asked numerous times along with direction to somewhere in Italian. Even immigration in the US(SFO) asked me if I was half along with many many other instances around the globe. I would say all humans are equally curious about your background, language capabilities, qualifications, where you were born, if you play soccer (football), like the country your from, what car you drive and so on.
Japanophile1 at 11:33 PM JST - 10th August

LOL! I'm an American, but of the following descent: Swedish, English, German, a bit of Irish and Scottish with a touch of Native American Indian in there somewhere! I wonder what I would be regarded... Regardless, I love it! I refer to myself as a "mutt" aka "ningen" all the time. As a result of such genetic variety, I most likely have more immunity to disease, less likelihood of passing on genetically inherited birth defects to my children, etc... That's not to say I'm better, but it's just to say, being a "mutt" or "ningen" isn't all that bad! After all:

sammuraisteve at 11:50 AM JST - 6th August Ha-fu, quarter, one-eighth? Some day, yes, some day, people will realize that we are all mixed, there is no pure race and people will stop making ridiculous stereotypical comments. We're all "Ningen!"