What's It Like Being Mixed Race in Japan? | Blasian vs Wasian

makeup in train stations. like half, so I'm basically saying that, oh, if you wear this makeup you'll look like half Japanese, half something you know, usually white, you know the person, so I think it's quite fetishistic, that's quite problematic, yeah, I remember seeing it the first time I saw it. like hauu, they were actually sold as eyeshadow palettes that would make you look more like a Hau and there are even tutorials on YouTube made by Japanese where they show you how to look like a Hau, which is very strange, they will like their eyes to be look very big, they'll like the outline of the nose, you know, the whole outline, they look half white, it's very strange when it comes to mathematics. high school it's like oh it's because you're Asian like it's not because I studied do your homework I did yeah yeah you expect my life to be easy CU

what

they call me all the time um but they say it in terms of like I looked like this, it was like a look given by God, but for me I actually grew up very chubby and fat, so I had to transform myself like training to lose weight, you know, it's like hard work to where I got now, but like people think I was born like that, which it's very frustrating, it's flattering, but it's also a little uncomfortable for me when people say g g boy, it's also something new for me, it trivializes the effort you put in in total. a little annoying I mean, I shouldn't be offended, but it's a little annoying when they say it's like it's a backhanded compliment.

I mean, I appreciate you thinking that, but it's like this, have you heard the terms before? I don't know where you heard it. I heard it in college when I went to school in Tokyo. I don't think I remember who I heard it from, but yeah, it came up once. Yeah. I remember learning about it and

being

like

what

. What a horrible thing to say to someone, an unfortunate Hau because you're supposed to look really perfect and I think it's not just Outlook and beauty and also someone you know who doesn't speak English, everyone calls aan, so that's why I'm always struggling. about these words because I'm still learning English and yes my English is not perfect but I'm trying thank you but I'm trying too Japanese people think they speak English they even know German like everyone in a different country this program is welcome so , why don't you feel like I really don't feel like you will always be treated differently for

being

different like in Ghana too?

I've always looked different, so I'm so used to this that it's not something, but I mean, I guess it is something like that. I used to fight before, so at the gym I showed up there. I don't know how to do anything right, but then I mean, again, we're from Ghana, but then they see that they're afraid of you and that helps you know that they're fighting them and they're afraid of you, that works in your favor, like that. Which in that sense, I guess it happens, but I guess I've been lucky with the environment I grew up in, so in the US there are a lot of people from diverse backgrounds, so I never really felt part of it after moving to Japan. , my university was also diverse and there were people from many backgrounds, so of course I listened to the comments you all said as if I had never felt attacked.

I simply explained to them why it is not always the case that they imagined, so if I were born again I would choose to be half. I said yes, being half allowed me to live in different countries so us and Japan allowed me to be bilingual, understand multiple cultures and I think that is very important in this world, you have to understand different cultures and people if only I was born in Japan . I feel like I will be limited in terms of perspective, so I would like to be reborn as a medium, especially in my work, when I travel around the world and compete.

I interact with everyone around the world, so I have to be. open-minded, well, first of all, I didn't choose to be born in the first place, however, you know, I think being

mixed

, I think it automatically opens my mind to the fact that you know I could be treated like an outcast. as a misfit based on his appearance, so I feel like it throws away a lot of ignorance that other people have to go through to become less ignorant. I totally agree with you two. I feel really blessed. being able to be part of two different cultures and I feel like it has greatly expanded my view of the world.

I lived in Canada my entire life until I was 18, so I think my worldview was still a little more culturally diverse growing up. with a Japanese culture, but I think I hadn't seen that much of the world yet and I think I just didn't know that much, but being able to have that Japanese cultural background gave me that connection like you said to move. to Japan and I would really like to be immersed in a completely different culture to the same degree that I did in Canada and I think that's not something that everyone can experience and I feel very grateful for that so I would be very happy to be happy. so I feel like that a little bit harsh I feel like if I were born again I just want to be me but if I were to specify it as

mixed

I totally agree with what you say about having an open mind because a lot of the times I interact with people from Japan, usually They think they are absolutely right, the way they live is how everyone in the world lives and the same with the people of Ghana and I am glad I can see a lot of people. different worlds, so I don't always think I'm right.

I'm like that, that's probably how I think and I feel like by having that open mindedness there would be a lot less conflict and I also think it's easier to grow when you're exposed to a lot of different people, a lot of different opinions, so by specifying it based on your background, I would totally be according to what you say, being mixed. I have been able to connect with more people, I think that if I was only Japanese, my world would be limited and if I was only American, then I would also be limited in that way, so by being mixed

race

and being able to speak both languages ​​I can understand both cultures and also the food and connect with more people too, so I think that's helped me in many ways to learn new things and get more opportunities.

Yeah, I think I'm very blessed to have been able to grow up in a home where there are two completely different cultures and I think that's a really valuable way. get to know the world because you have a lot of intimacy with two cultures from the day you are born. If I were a completely Japanese person, I could still go to a different country or meet other people from different countries to have that intimate relationship with a different culture, but being half or double or multicultural from the day you are born really gives you a advantage and I think it's been really fun to experience both, you know the food culture and a lot of other things so yeah.

I am very glad I was half and will choose it again. I don't know if it's the same for you, but at least for my grandparents, my Japanese side, they were super against marriage with a black African person. person in general and I've also heard that from a lot of gays and I realized that a lot of those grandparent thoughts disappear once the grandchild is born, so technically the racism is resolved, you know, little by little, so I think that they'll also die anyway, no, but I really like that point, especially because in my case, Japan and the United States just a few decades ago were literally at war with each other and now I'm here so I think it's cool.

To see, you know countries that were once completely opposite of each other, now you know they're together and you know times change things like that, but I think it's really cool to be physical proof that people can get along, you know, yeah, Lastly, no, basically. how I took the question it's like I have to be born again I want to be a human being no not really like maybe I could be a bird like it would be cool to be one I know I feel like a different being so if you think about rebirth you could be reborn as a human , you could be reborn as anything else, like a river or a fish, you know, that kind of thing, so that's where my mind was going and even if I were reborn like I would like to be reborn with my parents, right, because I like my parents, I love my brothers, you know, that's nice, I enjoy it, so half of it is great, but it's like I was reborn with my parents, so it would probably have to be like that.

Like this time, I was born in a different time, so I was thinking about it in a different way, like knowing that I want to be a halfway game, like I did once you know it's cool, something cool. be something else, but if I were reborn in this time I would like to be born to my parents so that it would allow me to have food, yes, the advantages of being mixed, okay, I feel like this might be biased for my work, but I feel like the same Things that used to bother me when I was younger because I was mixed

race

come to work in my favor in Japan now that I'm older because when you're a kid you want to look like everyone else and you want to fit in, but now it's like if you look different, you'd be chosen to model, you'd get all these jobs and I'm like guys, I'm actually not that tall, but in Japan I can pass because they We're like we need a diversity card, let's include you.

I also feel like it's something immediately interesting about you, like when you walk into a room, they immediately say, Where are you from? Oh, you're this, this, this, oh, me. I've never known that kind of vibe. I have realized that being mixed race has many advantages and that being mixed race in Japan allows you to be that bridge between the Japanese and the rest of the world because it is really difficult for the Japanese for the most part to meet people from different countries. We can help many Japanese who have no contact with foreign countries to see the world, so I think it is a very good advantage.

I think I feel the same way in the workplace. I realized that in Japan there are a lot of opportunities for mixed-race people if you are doing something talent-related, like in the entertainment industry, there is a very high demand for mixed-race people here and coincidentally, I wanted to work. in the entertainment industry when I came here, so that was a big plus for me to help me get my foot in the door and also having that bilingual ability with a pretty convincing Japanese accent, just from growing up with it, is a big plus. In addition to being able to work in Japan, I've also heard from some Japanese people that even if you look a little more like a foreigner, but speak Japanese and are Hau, you're a more identifiable kind of foreigner to the Japanese.

What I've heard is that you look like a foreigner, but they're not so afraid to talk to you because there's a certain identification, like you have that Japanese culture and a little bit of an Asian appearance, and they seem to find it easier to connect when people hear my last name they always get very scared because they don't know how to pronounce it but then they hear my name sakur like the look of relief what is your last name do you want to go first sure yes, I will go First, it's a yes, if you are bilingual or grew up in several different countries, then you understand different cultures, but if I was mixed race but grew up in Japan, only spoke Japanese, there's not really an advantage.

I'm just Japanese. Advantage because I speak English, I grew up in the US, you know, I've been to a lot of different countries, so I understand different cultures. Just because you are mestizo doesn't mean you have an advantage, you have to understand different cultures, be bilingual, like you said, it all depends on. how you were raised, I feel like it also has to do with how you look, it's not just a mix, but how close you are to your Asian features, how close you are to your other features, do you feel like I respond to what you said.

Like, yeah, exposing other people to other cultures, but also maybe teaching people not to be racist, but I don't want, I don't want you to look at me and say, "Oh, look at Kazo, I'm going to hate people less." blacks." Like you know, it's just that I don't want to be the reason it's like it's 2023, you should already want to not be an idiot, yeah, yeah, it's not your job to do it, yeah, it's not my responsibility to make it known how to behave . others exactly wait, wait, I still think I have this idea that you're tired of explaining, you know, but I really like the point you made about being like a middle ground between you're not completely a foreigner.

We're not completely Japanese, so they can relate to you and I think there's still value in doing that hard work of trying to educate them and expose them to different perspectives. You know it's exhausting, but I still think there's value and we're uniquely positioned to be able to explain and teach, as well as make the change, you know, be a part of it. Wow, I like that.