The Japanese word "hafu" -- or "half" in English -- refers to people who are ethnically half Japanese, and is now used more for multiethnic people in general in Japan. Anna, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, has a Japanese mother and a White American father, and spent her childhood in Japan, before moving to the US in her teens. "I don't know how many hours I've spent telling my life story to strangers who want to fulfill their curiosity," says Anna. "It was getting to a point where I thought, Why do I need to share my biological background with someone I'm never going to meet again?"
onsdag 23. september 2020
Japan's hafu stars are celebrated. But some mixed-race people say they feel like foreigners in their own country
"Excuse me, are you hafu?" the taxi driver asked. Anna, a woman of mixed Japanese and American heritage, was in a taxi en route to a party in Tokyo last year when she was asked that question, and says she had half expected it.
The Japanese word "hafu" -- or "half" in English -- refers to people who are ethnically half Japanese, and is now used more for multiethnic people in general in Japan. Anna, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, has a Japanese mother and a White American father, and spent her childhood in Japan, before moving to the US in her teens. "I don't know how many hours I've spent telling my life story to strangers who want to fulfill their curiosity," says Anna. "It was getting to a point where I thought, Why do I need to share my biological background with someone I'm never going to meet again?"
The Japanese word "hafu" -- or "half" in English -- refers to people who are ethnically half Japanese, and is now used more for multiethnic people in general in Japan. Anna, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, has a Japanese mother and a White American father, and spent her childhood in Japan, before moving to the US in her teens. "I don't know how many hours I've spent telling my life story to strangers who want to fulfill their curiosity," says Anna. "It was getting to a point where I thought, Why do I need to share my biological background with someone I'm never going to meet again?"
