Half-Japanese??

leonmarino · 19 May 2006

Hi there.

I was wondering if there are more half-Japanese people on this forum besides me. I am half-Japanese, the other half being Dutch.

I am now 26 years of age, and I have rarely met any other half-Japanese folks. I am interested in how they were raised, how they thought of themselves being "just a half", or being "the best of both sides".

For me personally it hasn't been that easy. My mother moved to Holland when she was in her early twenties and raised my three brothers and me with all the love she had. She told us many things of Japan and its culture, its morals and values. She also had a hard time adjusting to the Dutch culture (which I can fully understand as it is in many ways opposite to the Japanese culture), and moved back to Japan, with my dad, a few years back.

As a kid I admired Japan and I wished I was full-blooded, instead of just half; I found the Japanese culture more civilised and polite, basically everything was better in Japan.. These thoughts were not that realistic as I have never lived in Japan, but for many years I had a obsessive love for Japan.

Just recently I realised that Japan has its faults, like any other country. I realised this a year ago when I went on a four week trip in Japan, my first visit to the land of the rising sun in 11 (!!) years. I experienced that I am not that Japanese as I thought I was, and that some foundations of the Japanese culture are opposite to my beliefs. My dreamy image of Japan died a silent death and made way for a more realistic view.

Overall I am glad that I enjoy the best of both cultures; I love Japanese music, food, drama and whatever, and I can also fully appreciate the beauty of the Dutch way of living.

I am curious to what other half.. double-blooded people think of this subject.

nice gaijin · 19 May 2006

Your view of yourself and the world around you has been shaken, and you are still standing. It's sometimes important for us to learn through direct experience that our delusions are mere fantasies that evaporate when touched by reality.

I know several people of mixed heritage, but I have to say you are the first half-Dutch, half-Japanese I've had the pleasure of communicating with. Your account has reminded me of a book I read recently, called No One Home: Brazilian Selves Remade in Japan, by Daniel Touro Linger. Among the stories in the book are those of the descendants of Japanese migrant workers who came to Brazil in the early 20th century, and for their whole lives were assigned a "Japanese" identity by their full-blooded Brazilian peers. After going to Japan to work or travel, they found that not everyone agreed with them about being "Japanese." I recommend the book for an interesting perspective of how some mixed Japanese and non-Japanese workers experience life in Japan.

I think it matters little where we come from and what we think we know, but rather what we can contribute in our pursuit of truth.

Davey · 19 May 2006

I sometimes think how it will be in the future, when I am having a child with my Japanese wife. Our child will also be half Dutch half Japanese. I wonder how I should raise him/her and how a half blood will feel in a Japanese, or Dutch society.

It's interesting to read about you Leon, and I am looking forward to read more of your thoughts about being a half blood.

What do you find the negative things, and the positive things if I may ask?

leonmarino · 19 May 2006

Pros and Cons.. ﾂ（ﾂ湘篠）

I tried to make a comprenhensive list of the pros and cons of being half, but it's not that easy..

It really depends on how you are raised I think, and the most important advantage is having a broader view on life in general. If you are raised between two perspectives, you will generally have a more open view on many issues, which will allow you to learn and adapt faster. I think.

A major disadvantage is a possible identity crisis. Not belonging to a nationality can be tough growing up.. I think I have grown over it, but I still experience some occasional sadness being a foreigner in both my "homelands"; I do have some Japanese way of thinking that is not in line with the Dutch way of doing things, and in Japan I am a foreigner.

Knowing this, I also have mixed feelings about having childeren. I would love to have kids someday, but on the other hand I would like to give them the Japanese education I enjoyed (I went to a Japanese school on saturdays in Holland), as I know that it helped me developed the logic way of thinking that gave me a advantage in several subjects. But on the other hand, I know that it can be hard too; my mother could never adapt to Holland no matter how hard she tried and experienced many sad moments.. I am currently in a relationship with a lovely Japanese lady, and I don't know if I want her to go through the same mess.

This is a negative projection of the things I experienced; it may be more healthy to look at life a bit more positive. After all, I am the person that I am today because of my experiences, and I can say with 100% honesty that I am happy being the person that I am. An Englishman in Nagasaki asked me the same question basically, as he has been married to a Japanese lady too; he wanted to know how it was like to be half.. I told him it depends on a lot of factors, but that parental love can overcome many things.

Mitsuo · 19 May 2006

I am also half Japanese. The other half being: German, English, Scottish, French, Danish, and Swedish.

My Dad being Japanese, and my Mother coming from european descent.

In my opinion, I don't think there are any cons to my heritage.

I am proud of what I am. I actually never even thought of your question in the past. But so far, after reading your posts, I doesn't change a thing.

The only con I get is when people come up to me and start speaking spanish. I am like "what the hell". Or when I was in Hawaii, I got a lot of "What Island are you from". I have been labled everything, from Hispanic, Polynesian, Italian, to even greek. I guess because my skin is dark, olive complexion in winter, but my face gives out no hints that I'm Asian, except for when I smile. Let's put it this way, I look like a white dude, but with a great tan. lol

But I think it's cool, I love being a mut. Also being a mix gave me the understanding that I'm related to Mary Queen of Scots, and Oda Nobunaga. That made me even more interested in my family heritage and I embrace it all.

As for my parents raising me. Well, my dad is buddhist, and my mom is a non-denominational christian. So I have seen a cross of the buddhist (japanese) culture, and I guess just the original American way. Like funerals, weddings. Even the way things are handled. Although, of course, some of my Japanese Family, don't really like my European family. Another Con I guess. But it can happen no matter what race you are in.

Overall, nothing, to me anyway, has made feel bad about my bloodline. But I live in the United States, So I figure you have much different experiences than I do.

Well, Nice meeting you, and see you around Dude!

Later!

Mikawa Ossan · 20 May 2006

For a different perspective,

I am half German. The other half is Swedish and English. However, I have U.S. citizenship, having been born and raised there. So depending on how you look at it, I am a half or a quarter.

Since I come from a rather old-fashioned family, and if you trace my lineage through my father and his father, etc, it turns out that my great-grandfather immigrated to America from Sweden in the early 20th century, my brothers and I generally always said we were of Swedish stock when we were younger.

But I have never been to Sweden. (Nor Germany or Britain, for that matter.) And I am obviously not Swedish. Nor am I German or British. If I were to go to any of those countries, I am quite sure that I wouldn't quite fit in. And I am equally sure that my image of them (especially Sweden) is probably squewed due to the fact that I haven't lived in any of them.

But after moving to Japan, I've come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter. People like to use ethnic and racial makeup as a means towards identity, but it seems to me to be a false identity. A constructed idea, so to speak. Who you are ultimately has little to do with your racial and ethnic makeup, but rather on what you yourself think and do.

It's a little hard to explain, and other people rarely understand, but I think it's true.

sabro · 20 May 2006

Hapa and happy.

godppgo · 20 May 2006

Mikawa Ossan said:
But after moving to Japan, I've come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter. People like to use ethnic and racial makeup as a means towards identity, but it seems to me to be a false identity. A constructed idea, so to speak. Who you are ultimately has little to do with your racial and ethnic makeup, but rather on what you yourself think and do.
It's a little hard to explain, and other people rarely understand, but I think it's true.

I agree with you on this Mikawa Ossan. This can be a little difficult to explain for those who has never resided for a prolong period in other countries where they are the minorities. It is just human nature to distinguish ourselves from those who look or behave differently than the majority. However, I do think what counts at the end is what really made of you. Its all about how much effort and will you put in to understand your surroundings and participate as a functional unit in the society.

Sorry to skid off topic btw.

leonmarino · 20 May 2006

Oh I totally agree with Mikawa Ossan and godppgo here.

After a four week long stay in Japan last year I came to realise that I am not Japanese, and not Dutch either. I am who I am, following beliefs I have chosen myself. Only difference with a lot of people is that I got to choose from two very different set of options.

Ultimately nationality or race is just something you want to be able to rely on in times of insecurity. That is what I experienced growing up. But in the end it all comes down to what is within, and who you are instead of which ethnic group you belong to.

Thanks for your posts!!

epigene · 20 May 2006

Whatever I have to say has already been said here, so I'll just post some links for "hapas" in Japan:

http://www.hapaclub.org/
http://forum.hapajapan.org/index.php?sid=fb6ee89b3fb7df68aa9f2e4a3a2d68d6

I think there is a hapa community inside "mixi" but have lost track of it. Someone else might know better...

Elizabeth · 21 May 2006

It really depends on how you are raised I think, and the most important advantage is having a broader view on life in general. If you are raised between two perspectives, you will generally have a more open view on many issues, which will allow you to learn and adapt faster. I think.
A major disadvantage is a possible identity crisis. Not belonging to a nationality can be tough growing up..

I also find it preferable growing up with an integrated set of beliefs and values that are flexible enough to be later tested and modified into another culture
at the individual's discretion, if that is what is desired. But of course there are advantages both ways and as you say parental love and understanding can overcome almost everything....I don't know that mine will ever fully accept family ties being upended by a foreign culture, but at least they liked it there more than they expected.

sabro · 21 May 2006

As an American, I don't want to be melted. I don't want to be assimilated.... It sounds like a borg plot. But the truth is, very little of the Japanese culture has survived to my generation.

leonmarino · 21 May 2006

Sabro,
Can you explain what you mean? It sounds a bit vague to me..

epigene · 21 May 2006

leonmarino said:
Sabro,
Can you explain what you mean? It sounds a bit vague to me..

I think sabro means that Americans of Japanese ancestry lose touch with Japanese culture and language over generations and through interracial marriages. I have seen many second- and third-generation Japanese Americans who neither speak the language even a little nor understand the culture but have just a few tidbits of knowledge of Japanese food and customs.

Being "half" like you is a totally different experience, I think. (Quite a few of my friends are "half" non-Japanese.)

sabro · 21 May 2006

leonmarino said:
Sabro,
Can you explain what you mean? It sounds a bit vague to me..

Right now there is a lot of talk about immigration in the United States and passing English as the official language. The US is often referred to as a "melting pot" and people are clamoring on about how immigrants have to assimilate. (The Borg on Star Trek used that phrase: "Prepare to be assimilated.") I much prefer a salad bowl to a melting pot. I don't want to lose my cultural uniqueness.

Problem is that my generation of Japanese Americans has already lost the bulk of our uniqueness. Language, culture... anything that would identify us as a unique community is gone.

leonmarino · 21 May 2006

Interesting!

That clarifies it, thanks. Havn't really thought of second or even third generation Japanese Americans/Europeans.. But come to think of it, if I would ever have a child, he or she would be a second generation also! If I may ask you a few personal questions Sabro:

1 - Of which generation Japanese Americans are you?
2 - How does your cultural uniqueness express itself in everyday life?
3 - What do you and fellow Japanese Americans do to preserve your cultural awareness?

If there are other Japanese Americans/Europeans reading this thread, please feel free to answer! And sorry if I am being too intruding.

sabro · 21 May 2006

Thanks for the questions! I think it is great!

My grandparents immigrated from Japan via Hawaii about a hundred years ago. In Japanese American terms I am sansei or third generation. As far as cultural experience- very little remains... I love sushi, I eat sticky white rice with nearly every meal... I look for places to buy ume, oshinko and edamame... I like to watch old Zatoichi movies and I am taking Karate with my entire family. I think there are a few holiday foods that show up... and calling soy sauce shoyu... calling my Karate teacher Mark Sensei instead of Sensei Mark...

I don't speak, read or write Japanese... though I'd like to learn.

There is a museum in Los Angeles and some writing and arts projects designed to help preserve the customs

leonmarino · 21 May 2006

Interesting. In Holland most of the Japanese people are here for business and do not intend to stay their whole lives here, so second generation kids are rare. There is a very large Chinese community though and it really depends on the family and the person himself how he deals with his ethnical identity.

You say you would like to learn Japanese.. So why don't you? There are plenty of ways and methods to learn Japanese! I find the ability to speak the language an important part of my Japanese identity as it allows me to communicate with Japanese people in their language. If the problem is time, or the lack thereof, I'd recommend the Pimsleur courses. Only takes half an hour a day! I kind of learned Spanish that way. ﾂ（ﾂ湘篠）

sabro · 21 May 2006

Although I am a really good student in most subjects, I seem to be immune to learning new languages. I studied Japanese as a kid for a while, and took Spanish in high school and college. Nothing seems to stick. I'll give it another try. I spend a lot of time in my car and possibly a CD based system may work.

leonmarino · 22 May 2006

Yeah go for it!

Pimsleur courses are audio-based, so it's just listening and repeating.. I recommend it to anyone. And if there is something you would like to know, you can always post a question on this forum right? I'll be one of the many people here who will support you if you choose to give it another try!!

In the meantime, if someone has a interesting perspective on their partly Japanese identity, I'll be happy to read it!! ..I have to admit this forum doesn't get as many replies as I thought it would get.. Are there really so few half-Japanese?

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