Comments on: Haafu

By: Half a Life as a Haafu « Far Outliers

Half a Life as a Haafu « Far Outliers — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:47:51 +0000

[...] via Japundit [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 04:37:05 +0000

How about we just stop looking at the false concept of “race” altogether and just live on the same page together?

By: Duo

Duo — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 01:31:39 +0000

Em, you wanna go back to segregation?

By: nycboy

nycboy — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 01:15:26 +0000

i love it when people extoll multiculturalism and then cite countries like the u.s. or astralia as example. i bet you they’re not blacks or aborigines. no matter how bad haafu are treated in japan, give me one example of a lynching there. as recently as a few years ago a black man was dragged to his death behind a truck. and need i remind you that tasmanians aborigines were EXTERMINATED. they’re no longer there.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 04:55:20 +0000

Fortunately, the international culture of young people is so common these days that it’s hard NOT to imagine a completely muddled-up cultural map a few generations from now, even in Japan (how much Japanese culture is really left in Tokyo?)

We might have our ideological differences, but we’re all on the same page, so to speak.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 00:42:30 +0000

Madne0, the USA has been multicultural for it’s entire existence, which has been much longer than the last few decades. I don’t know what you mean by “embraced” anyway.

Japan’s culture is great for the most part, but some aspects of it need to be challenged, and immigration is the best way to do it. Of course, that goes for any country.

By: madne0

madne0 — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:59:40 +0000

Duo: All of the countries you mentioned have only “embraced” multiculturalism in the last few decades. Like i said, don’t mistake multiracial societies with multicultural ones.

By: Curzon

Curzon — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:42:05 +0000

Leaving Japan? Good riddance.

Why do people have patience for snobby rich kids who bitch and moan? Japan is not perfect, but it’s getting a lot better.

By: Duo

Duo — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:28:21 +0000

Multiculturalism is just fine here in the U.S. And in Canada, and Australia, and NZ, and the E.U.(for the most part), and lots and lots of other places since before the Roman Empire. You’d better learn to live with it madne0, there’s no going back.

Great piece Ms. Pearson!!

By: Marie Mockett

Marie Mockett — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:40:52 +0000

I found this article so interesting, as I’ve always wondered what life would have been like had I grown up mostly in Japan instead of America. As things stand now, I feel fortunate to have been part of two cultures. But I know I owe that debt to my parents for having seen the positive in blending cultures. As some of these comments show — and other stories in the news demonstrate — tolerance is not necessarily a universally shared attitude, or the logical aim of history.

By: madne0

madne0 — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 16:44:32 +0000

“Many here believe that Japan, with its rapidly graying population, has no choice but to open its doors to a massive influx of foreign labor within the next couple of decades. Japanese society will doubtless endure some painful teething. But, frankly, I can’t wait.”

Seeing what massive immigration did to traditionally homogenous (both racially and, expecially, culturally) countries i don’t see much reason for rejoicing. The sad truth, as we saw so recently in the Balkans, is that multiculturalism doesn’t work, and can be the recipe for disaster. Now, please don’t mix race with culture. Look at Brasil! Very mixed racially, and works (relatively) well. But remember, they only have one dominating culture…

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 14:18:41 +0000

I thought the article was a tad shallow and offered no solutions. Pearson has the financial freedom to have been able to attend a high-ranking university in the US and now live in whatever country she wants.

There are thousands of other “haafu” people out there in Japan, stuck in environments where they are teased, harassed, and marginalized because of their backgrounds, who don’t have the opportunity to attend private international schools or simply move away to greener pastures. I’ve met far too many biracial people raised in Japan with absolutely horrible stories to tell, and who are sadly unable to reach their full potential due to society’s opinion about their worth.

I would have been interested in hearing more about Pearson’s experiences as an adult after she moved back to Japan, and perhaps her ideas about what other “haafu” people can do to cope with their situation, other than simply hop on a plane and don’t look back.

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:48:48 +0000

Pearson has now moved to Latin America, where she will report for AP from there, after three years in Tokyo. Judging from the responses this article has received worldwdide (check out the blogs around the world that have commented on her article), Pearson might have a book here. A very good book indeed. Natalie, are you listening?

By: JP

JP — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:40:44 +0000

I tell my daughter she is not ‘Half’ but ‘Double’

Brilliant!

By: haafu reader

haafu reader — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:37:43 +0000

Pearson’s article about her frank and personal explanation of the search for own personal identity deeply moved me. As a haafu, I find many of her struggles and experiences directly relating to that of my own.

By: Fernand

Fernand — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:32:54 +0000

I tell my daughter she is not ‘Half’ but ‘Double’: She has the incredible advantage of being as well Japanese as European. And she is proud of it. Until now (she is 10) no problems.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 23:40:42 +0000

Well-written. I was worried that it would be another one of those rants about the exclusivity of Japan, but Ms. Pearson has a good angle on things. Unless you stay in the same town and do the same thing all your life (and maybe even then), you’re going to feel very out of place on a regular basis. I think this realization escapes many people who suffer from “culture shock,” in Japan or anywhere else. Fortunately, Pearson’s figured it out, even embraced it, as you can clearly see in the closing of the article.