bananas?

A couple of years ago, a minister was criticized when he stated that Japan was a "homogeneous state".

According to the Japanese Constitution, all citizens are equally important regardless of ethnic identity.  However, we have no effective restrictions on xenophobic actions, and foreign nationals are sometimes restricted from certain services and activities.  The nine largest minority groups residing in Japan are the North and South Koreans, Chinese, Brazilian (most Brazilians in Japan have some Japanese ancestors), Filipinos, Taiwanese, the Ainu and the Ryukyuan.  The Ainu is the only native people group that has been formally recognized by the Japanese government.

It's difficult to recognize the ethnic diversity in Japan because the people above and the Yamato Japanese (the dominant native ethnic group of Japan) are all Mongoloids.  I remember how a foreign student once told me how he was surprised to see "so little diversity in such a big city (like Tokyo)".

Maybe the majority of the Japanese actually think that Japan is a homogeneous state, or rather that Japan "should be" homogenous.  I get the impression that a lot of Japanese people have a low level of tolerance especially towards other Mongoloids.  Many who are okay with Caucasians have a harsh attitude towards the Koreans and the Chinese.  Probably the reason why we're sometimes called "bananas" - yellow outside but white inside.

There's an autobiographical novel called GO written by Kazuki Kaneshiro which depicts the difficulty of the life of Zainichi Koreans (mostly descendants of Korean people who were forced to come to Japan during the colonial times; Zainichi = residing in Japan).  Apparently, they have a huge identity problem because they're regarded as foreigners both in Japan and in Korea.  GO is a pretty intense story with an intense protagonist: "I was born in Japan and raised in Japan.  Why am I a foreigner?  Is it a matter of genes?  In case you don't know, the majority of the Japanese came from the Korean peninsula long long time ago.  But I don't give a damn about my ethnic identity anyway because it means nothing.  I feel really sorry for you guys that you have to define yourselves as 'the Japanese'; I'm not going to define myself in any way.  No one is going to define me.  I'm free.  You hear that?  I'm free!"

The first time I read the story, I was in junior high.  I thought the protagonist was a hero. The second time I read it though, I felt slightly differently; I partly felt sorry for the author.  It seemed to me like he was trying too hard, or a bit too self-conscious.  There were some Zainichi Koreans in my university as well, but they were like any other student - I didn't feel any of the hostility or the persecution complex I noticed in some parts of the novel.  But maybe it was just that my classmates didn't show it and I didn't witness anything around me.  It's still true that there are some nasty discriminations going on.

Either way, it's not only Zainichi Koreans who talk about identity problems.  There are these people called ha-fu here in Japan - it comes from the word "half" as in "She's half French and half Japanese".  We usually use it as a term to describe someone who is mixed race (mostly half Caucasian), so I think most people have a good impression when they hear someone is a ha-fu.  Some girls even say they want ha-fu children.  But many ha-fus seem to have sad childhood stories to tell.  "I'm always a foreigner where ever I go.  You'll never understand this pain unless you're a ha-fu."

Do I feel sorry for them?  Not necessarily.  Despite the fact that I do have a couple of very good ha-fu friends, I might not have a good impression on ha-fu people as a whole.  They sometimes act like they're very rare special creatures when in fact, they're just mixed-race; even the statement above - "you'll never understand --" sometimes sounds to me like they're trying to be special.  But it might be the other way around; it's the overall Japanese attitude towards ha-fu people that I don't like.

Lately, I was asked to proof-read a Japanese self-introduction written by a ha-fu guy.  I mostly had to rewrite it, but I noticed that he still hadn't forgetten to introduce himself as a "ha-fu".  Ha-fus love to introduce/label themselves as ha-fu (while I believe Zainichi Koreans wouldn't enjoy calling themselves Zainichi).

But maybe it's just their way of saying that they're not "foreign", and that they are, in fact, Japanese like the rest of us (despite their foreign looks).  For the most part, I believe "the Japanese" are doing a great job in making ha-fus feel special (rather than "different" or alienated).  But in their perspective, that may only mean that they have difficulties being treated according to who they are, and not how they look.

Sometimes when I watch TV, I feel sorry to see ha-fu girls just sit there next to a guy who does all the talking.  That's all they have to do sometimes - to sit and smile and be half white, half yellow.  But then again, it's not only ha-fu girls - sometimes, all a female newscaster has to do in Japan is to sit there and smile and nod and look beautiful.