The rise of the Black “Halfs” in Japan

I don’t claim to stay in touch with all the racial and identity battles raging in Japan for a while now. However, I can’t help but notice how different the dialogue is when its a person/child that is of African descent. The outrage of some Japanese people trying to protect their “monoracial” society floats unto my radar often, more so now that I reside in Japan and understand how brown people are profiled with negative preconceived notions. Mixed with white though and its all gravy, or in this case is it natto?

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Rui Hachimura
Rui Hachimura

What does a Japanese person “look” like?

It’s 2019, Japan seems to want to sit at the table of world leaders, innovators, diplomats, scientists etc but seems to abhor certain foreigners. What does it mean to Japanese and what does a Japanese person look like? I’m happy more and more of these biracial or “hafu” are rising to the top with a whole new generation of halfs coming up right behind them. It will be interesting to see what a Japanese person looks like, especially on the world stage – 20 – 30 years from now. There are many articles, films and write-ups on the topic and it seems some people are angry.

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Ariana Miyamoto
Ariana Miyamoto

Some famous black biracial Japanese off the top of my head and the country from which one of their parents are from are:

  • Naomi Osaka (Haiti) – Tennis
  • Rui Hachimura (Benin) – Basketball
  • Asuka “Aska” Cambridge (Jamaica) – Track
  • Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Ghana) – Track
  • Ariana Miyamoto (America) – Beauty Queen
  • Musashi Suzuki (Jamaica) – Football
  • Mandy Sekiguchi (Nigeria) – Rapper/Dancer/Actor
Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka
Musashi Suzuki
Musashi Suzuki
Asuka "Aska" Cambridge
Asuka Cambridge
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown