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Am I still a part of the Japanese community if I'm 1/4 Japanese?

ShiroKuro.

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15 Dec 2017
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I have a very American name and life but have a very Asian heritage. My great grandmother was head of the Japanese watercolor society and my biological grandmother has a very deep connection to Japan. However, my mother didn't become apart of the community so I know very little of Japanese culture and I haven't had the chance to embrace my roots. I certainly don't look very Asian but it's what I mostly identify myself as because everything is just a jumble. I really want to get into the Japanese community but I don't know if I belong there? I'm not accepted as anything else and my Asian friends don't consider me Asian mostly because I don't look it and because I'm only a quarter. I'm very confused of where I fit in and I'm not sure by just being 1/4 Japanese allows me to be apart of the community.
 
I think you're asking about the Japanese-American community in America, not Japanese people in Japan. Two very different things.

Or are you asking if Japanese people in Japan would think you're Japanese if you were in Japan?

"a part" not "apart". Also two very different things.
 
I'm pretty involved in the local Japanese/Japanese-American community here, and I don't have a drop of Japanese blood. If anyone asks what you're doing there, you can explain that you're trying to reconnect with your heritage, but honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
Assuming it's "a part", not "apart", I've editted the thread title.
 
Agree with nicegaijin on this one - surely being 'part of a community' means spending time with people in the community? Like nicegaijin, I live in Japan and don't have a drop of Japanese blood in me but the neighbourhood seem to accept me and people are friendly and seem to treat me as a normal person. It sounds like you need to spend a few weeks in Japan to try and work out your feelings toward the country and your roots.
 
I would guess that the social dynamics involved are more akin to inter-gaijin relations in Japan than to relations between gaijins and our Japanese hosts.
 
I would discount the opinion of anyone who determines who you are by the percentage of racial lineage. If your friends are so concerned with bloodlines, perhaps they ought to be dog breeders.
 
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