Raising mixed-race kids in Japan is a complicated topic and the people in this video simply express their personal views so what they said is just what they say. There's much more to this theme. But I notice that an increasing number of mixed-race Japanese people are sharing their experiences on social media in Japanese and other Japanese people have more opportunities to learn about different experiences of different individuals. It's also interesting that how they talk about their experience might be a bit different from how mixed-race English-speaking people talk about their experience (because mixed-race Japanese people don't' necessarily speak English.) And if you speak Japanese, you will have access to these discourses. But if you don't, I can send you some Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that Japanese people actually speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3hZC0KZ
The island of Japan was already a mixed race in ancient time and before that. I would say that Japan, like the US, was an island of migrant and immigrants.
@@noticemesenpai69 Most of them are racist, but it is better to have a few acceptances rather than nothing. Who knows? Maybe Japan will improve in the future as more foreigners reside and bring change.
A mixed friend who went to college in Japan found that while people did not "mind him" he did not feel so openly accepted when it came to making new friends due to his Foreign heritage. I think there is a difference between "accepting the idea of something" and actually having it a part of your life, like your grandchildren being mixed race, which I think is realistic
I can understand that because i emigrated from my country and here i've had a lot of trouble with that too and so did my nephew at some point, they don't care but some of them aren't willing to include you in their culture
It was actually the opposite for me, a lot of people didn’t care I was from America and I made more friends and was more accepted in Japan than I ever was in America, did kids throw my stuff into the toilets still? Yeah, but now I know how to hide my important stuff so pickpockets take that
Aaron Z. Normally a lot of Japanese kids father’s aren’t home, they’re working usually and leave early in the morning before the kid wakes up (if the kid has a healthy sleep schedule) and get’s home after the kid is in bed. This usually causes a rift between the kid and the father, with the mother usually being at home, For me, at school it was easier to connect to people since my father was neglective towards me unless I got the highest grade in the year (which never happened) and other kids (though not the same reasons) knew the feeling of the father not being there,
Anyone moving from one culture or even geographic area will run into that to some degree I think. I experienced it when moving across the US early in high school. It's hard to feel as welcomed/included when most everyone around you has known each other their whole lives, despite how welcoming and friendly they try to be. Moving to a different country where the culture and even language is completely different would be significantly harder to really connect with people
I once asked my Japanese grandma what her and my grandpa’s first impression was when they found out my mom was marrying an American back in 1985. Her response was, “oh I was overjoyed that there was someone out there who would be willing to take her off our hands” 😂😂😂
Japanese people aren't aliens or psychopaths. How they have their conversation may be politeness-centered but it doesn't mean they are full-of-a-shit to a point they openly lie about their opinions on a street interview. I know that there's a stereotype that old Asian men/women tend to be xenophobic, but that's just a stereotype and a stupid stereotype because the term "Asian" is so broad. Don't assume that they are lying on interviews because it doesn't fit the stereotype's narrative, that's ridiculous.
Idk, but my gut tells me that some of them weren't being honest. Especially the ones who don't say much or drifted to much away from the question. Altho i def feel like 2 of the interviewed were fully honest, because of they way they expressed their opinion. P.S. i might be wrong on this for all ik
@Lucas De Araújo Marques Nice projection about summer child. Sadly their positive views about mixed-race is actually backed up by facts, as older generations of Japanese tend to be politically left-winged due to the popularity of Marxism and student activism in Japan back in 1950~1980's. Why wouldn't they have positive views about different races if they went through those era with those ideologies? I know its the complete opposite from the older generation of America, but different countries having a different history is a thing. Stop making an uneducated guess or relying on your gut-feeling and assume that they are lying just because things what they said in the interview were different from what you expected them to say, especially when you yourself don't know shit about elderly Japanese.
As a mother of a Japanese/french little girl I can say that the situation will be pretty different depending on how big is the town you live in! While most adults will tell you how cute your kid is when I was I was taking my daughter to the park and she wanted to play with the other kids, a majority of them would run off from her saying 来ないで！来ないで！(don't come! Don't come!) it was sometimes heartbreaking... But maybe it was more for me..? I hope
@@viniciusnishiyama704 it's the parents of those children, who should teach them the difference between good and bad. It's kinda painful to see kids being racist🤦♂ truely a sad event for this lady.
@@unwisely Yeah I agree, but kids will be racist/xenofobics even without knowing, and there's the fact that their parents are bulshit and simply don't care. But still every say mean things without knowing how can hurt others the problmem is if they have someone to correct them, which in school enviroment pretty much nobody will stand up to that
@@viniciusnishiyama704 I completely agree. One only needs to see the great stories that come out of Middle/High school to see how discriminatory kids get.
rsuriyop because *shiba inus* are cute, and they I think they might be a crossbreed but comparing mixed breed dogs to people is a bit strange so iam guessing it’s not that.
You call that "modern?" He's all for mixing just because he perceives ethnic Japanese as being "weak" and "short" and that intermixing will improve these physical attributes. If anything that makes me want to cry because it's such poor reflection to have of one's own people when compared to others. And not just that, if everyone felt the exact same way as him (you know, "modern thinking" in this sense) then you might as well just kiss ethnic Japanese people as a whole goodbye as they would end up going the way of modern Native North Americans.
@@rsuriyop I meant that he understands that in a globalized modern society, "book smarts" alone will only get you so far. This is what I meant young people where I live don't understand yet.
@@kingo_friver I'm very analytical whenever I read other people's comments. And if you're not being clear then it's fair to say that your comment is open to different interpretations.
Brazil has the second largest japanese colony in the world, first is in Japan, of course. Most of them are mixed and live in São Paulo. They have been in the country for over 100 years.
@@thornados4969 "The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in 1908. Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. According to the IBGE, as of 2009 there were approximately 1.6 million people of Japanese descent in Brazil and estimated at just under More recently, a trend of interracial marriage has taken hold among Brazilians of Japanese descent, with the racial intermarriage rate approximated at 50% and increasing."
@@sechabatheletsane9784 Brazil has also the largest population of italians outside Italy, as well as portuguese(Brazil is a portuguese speaking country, colized by the portuguese), third largest population of germans(the vast majority live in south Brazil. The germans have been in the country since 1818, totally immersed in the brazilian culture, their influence can be seen in cities like Gramado(try to look for it in google images) There are also some small towns where the german descendents try to keep some german culture. (look for Blumenau Oktoberfest Brazil)
This makes me very proud to be half japanese, and as a person who actually lived in japan for one year, i can attest that I have never experienced any type of racism while living there
I am from Greece and a few months ago, there was a documantary on tv about a Japanese lady who married a Greek and lived in Greece ever since. They had a son - grown up by the time the documentary was made - who went to Japan with his mother to meet his grandfather. The grandpa was very happy to meet his grandson and marveled at how tall he was. Αlso, this young gentleman here th-cam.com/video/M47OvlfwUkw/w-d-xo.html, by the name of Sotiris Kontizas, who is currently a famous Greek TV reality show chef, happens to be Greco-Japanese. In the video he talks about his experiences as a child and a teen, in both Greece and Japan. BTW he too, happens to be very tall, about 190cm, quite above the average Greek male height, which is currently 177cm.
You bet! A student of mine was in Navy intelligence, had an apartment in a Japanese city. Then he got married to a Filipino girl, brought her to Japan, landlord said “No pets!” And away he went to live on base.
I like that flipman was honest about maybe being uncomfortable about having mixed-race grandkids, but that he thought it was a good thing in general. It's honestly refreshing to see people trying to do better instead of doubling down on some attitude they grew up with
Parme San That’s the thing. The things people get bullied for aren’t necessarily the true reason behind it. I’ve seen bullying for such inane reasons that I am convinced that if someone wants to exclude or bully someone they will search for any and every excuse to do so
Avatar Ang AFAIK my ancestry is 100% Chinese. But I am mistaken for Japanese all the time by other Chinese and Japanese people. Once I was mistaken for Filipino, not because of my looks but because of my “vibe” by another Filipino person. I once took an online test that had me guess what type of Asian the person was. I scored an 80%, but I cheated. I didn’t look at the facial features, but the hair, makeup, and clothes which I feel are more distinctive.
I agree. I'm filipino but my background is a bit messy since I'm a 3rd generation Japanese in my mother's side and 2nd generation spanish in my father's side
In the anime Japan Sinks, some Japanese are portrayed as reserved to only help full blood Japanese and not foreigners or mix blood Japanese. Why do think is they added that to the story?
its interesting to see that a few of them find mixed race japanese people quite nice, like their features and such and are generally thought of “cool” i have a request though, i’ve heard that filipinos are generally frowned upon in japan especially by the elderly population, so i was curious on how they would respond to such a question
@@Kenxdrea No man apparently in like 60/70/80s (I forget exactly when) there was a lot of Philippines immigrant flooding japan, prompting the government to have much stricter immigrant law, and I think this is what @nani desu ka actually was referring to, I think.
Discrimination is bad, but honestly, actively promoting mixing between foreigners and Japanese just feels really creepy, especially with lines like "Half-Japanese are so much more beautiful" and "Us Japanese are short so we must breed with foreigners to grow taller" - how about developing your own strengths and covering your weaknesses without resorting to actively trying to wash out your own race? All this content promoting half-Japanese people and their lives, issues, or perceptions by Japan and advertising them in foreign spaces just reeks of this same insidious agenda. I know Japanese people already have a garbage self-image after a crushing and humiliating defeat in a total war and having their current military, economic, and political system forced upon them by their conquerors, but at least have some pride in your own race and don't reduce it to this image of being so weak and pathetic as to require foreign blood to "survive" in a "changing" world.
Multiracial people are normal (I mean there are no people with 100% homogeneous genetics so...) , no problem at all. It is just whether they want to adopt the culture or not. But then, even culture is changing from time to time...
They give their opinions on the matter and everyone accuses them of being disingenuous, but if they said what people assume they would say then people would be even more outraged. Just accept what they say without drawing baseless conclusions because it doesn't fit the narrative that you want.
@@USSBARBEL That's hardly being cynical. It's just simply good to take anything that you see that's said in front of a camera with a grain of salt for good reason. Just look at politicians and what they say on camera for example. A lot of the time they don't even commit to the kinds of things that they had promised to do after getting elected. So I don't see why that couldn't also be applied to anyone else who says certain stuff on camera. Now does this mean that I automatically reject what the people in this particular clip are saying about mixed race people in Japan? No it doesn't. It just means that I would not be surprised if it turns out that they aren't being 100% honest about how they really feel about it. That's all.
thats probably a good thing, everyone in the west (usa specifically) wants to broadcast every single one of their opinions to the whole damn world, spark outrage and then argue about it
Holy shit, why are the comments so toxic here, many saying that these elders aren't revealing their true own opinions. It's like the "white girl" telling other people what to be triggered about, because she knows better. And also, this interview was done in Kansai right? Nice to see that.
The first man warmed my heart he's(because of people like him) the reason why I love Japan because they have are considerate, authentic (not all) and have good manners. Thank you so much for this video. I have been watching videos that were all negative about japan this is some good positive light here. Arigatougozaimasu.
Don't trust everything the Japanese say. They have a culture of appearing extra polite on the surface. Most Japanese, whether old or young, are two or three faced.
2:20. I feel bad for that guy, not seeing his extended family in America. Because the way Japan is heading, I don't wish for their culture & history to die out in a century or two.
@@leonax2010 I love the idea of it where we all can bring something to the table so to speak, having a truly united & diverse world. Just each country should at least try to preserve our cultures to keep it all balance so no big cultures can try & dominate but also try to promote smaller endangered ones.
@Time Traveller Herald of the Patriotic order i dont think you can use america and europe as examples. They were bringing in people from other cultures before now, so when slavery is abolished what do you think would happen to the people that setteld there? You dont think they'd have a culture of their own by that time? That is the true legacy of those that came before us. It is what it is.
@@tristanbackup2536 Globalism is both good _and_ bad. Good in that it helps strengthen economies as well as help aid in the prevention of wars between countries. However, cultures will still be near impossible to preserve when individual countries actually do end up becoming that diverse with mostly people of mixed backgrounds, whether you like it or not. Just look at America today for example. What kind of "culture" does it have? It has none. This is precisely why I worry about Japan as well as other countries that have not yet been fully "diversified" from the ill-effects of globalism.
People: Yuta should interview older people to get an actually accurate scenario of how japanese think Yuta: *does exactly that* People: now i doubt they think the same off-camera smh 🤷
right? obviously, this is a small sample size and the few people in this video do not represent Japan’s view on biracial people as a whole. Yuta was lucky to have interviewed the people in this video who had positive things to say about biracial people in Japan. all of us watching the video know that biracial people experience discrimination everywhere, but that doesn’t mean that these people in the video were lying.
That means that they're getting bullied, so they end up not going to school. From what I've read, it's happens sometimes over there, especially to foreign looking kids.
Many of them are speaking of the physical qualities of biracial people. Ask them “are biracial Japanese REAL Japanese?” in private and see their real opinion.
@RARAYAYA RAA these idiots think that the weirdos on the internet are representative of the normal population, which they aren't.. yuta is interviewing normal people, not some neckbeard writing shit on reddit or chan boards
@@絶望ガール-v3s What exactly did Kougeru say that made them "so stupid"? The question was _"Are __-they-__ there mixed race people around you? Are there any (biracial) people like that around you? What do other people think about that person?"_ The answer was _"They are not concious of it these days....I heard he was bullied...there is nothing like that now."_
@@commenterperson4481 “There is nothing like that now.” This was an obvious exaggeration. There is no way that he actually confirmed that there are no mixed-race kids who are being bullied in Japan because it's virtually impossible to prove something like that. So the only interpretation of what he said that makes sense is that he used an exaggeration to imply that the situation they're in is getting better and better compared to the past. Trying to refute his statement by saying, “There is,” is so childish and pointless that it's reasonable to conclude that a person who actually says it is stupid.
In very impressed by first elder's response, it was very nuanced. Suprised that people there are more open to this even though their culture is somewhat conservative, although I guess in country side you'll find much more conservative responses.
Living in the city you are forced to submit and grow used to it. You cant decide when to go to work or when take a brake, cant decide where you are gona walk or even where you may pee. Im not saying having rules set by the government are bad I quite enjoy not having shit on the streets, its just that those used to submiting also are way more supportive of the establishment propoganda as they are used to accepting what ever is thrown their way. And the other reason is how much knowlage observing nature gives you, I once watched a 2 hour video about bees and the most popular comment was; "You werent talking about bees where you."
I'm Japanese, so l know what people's mentality is really like in Japan. I know there are many genuine, kind and honest people there too, but most people just tell you what you want to hear. Japanese in general don't speak their mind. I did. Probably that's why I didn't fit in very well in my country. You can't be 100% sure if they're genuine or not. You have to be super careful not to say anything offensive, or even slightly inappropriate. It's a bit like you gotta walk on eggshells all the time when you're in Japan. Unlike what those eldery people say, not all half Japanese are blessed with perfect shape, long, lean legs and good looks. So if you happen to be half Caucasian and beautiful, with gorgeous body, you might be safe from getting bullied. So, because of half Japanese being so gorgeous, they can become tv celebrities, is it what they said? Are they serious? Yes. Like Yuta said in this video, learning the language is absolute MUST. Even then I'm still not fully convinced if they truly treat you the same way as they would fellow Japanese. Who knows, some are luckier than the others.
it's interesting that you posted this video at the same time as Joey, The Anime Man, who posted a video talking about his own experience growing up half Japanese
This was so refreshing. So wholesome. Even though one man admitted he would be a little uncomfortable at first, at least he’s admitting it, and willing to address it. In the rural parts of the US, despite it being such a diverse country, I feel like you’d get bad answers.
If you really thinking they're that accepting over there, I have news for you. No matter where you go, there will be a large groups of people with very conservative mindsets. Lol
Japanese elders are fabulous! They are so outspoken and so kind. Anytime I’ve needed help in japan, there’s always been an elderly person to assist me.
When I went to Japan elder people, especially in rural areas, like a train we took to Nara were really afraid of us. They even exchanged carts or seats whenever we were close, they also changed sidewalks. In Tokyo and Kyoto it happened less
Ah, I had the same concern as a Chinese/Japanese mix so I'd usually avoid blatantly stating my full ethnicity due to the political tension between China and Japan. Thankfully I live abroad where nobody really cares, however if I ever went back to either of those countries, my ethnicity would have been seen as a sort of "taboo". Even my relatives aren't particularly accepting of me. They'll either claim me as one side or the other. ToT
I am half Japanese and half white and lived in Japan from age 1 to 8. Never had issues at school and never felt left out. If anything I felt I got special treatment. However, a boy I knew who was half black and half Japanese had issues with being left out and made fun on. Seems like it’s not about mixed or not, it’s more about light skin or not.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Eurasian kids have more of the features that Asian people have plastic surgery for so they are considered more acceptable? I am Blasian. I actually had a harder time fitting in the USA than in Malaysia where my mom is from. That being said, my mom is Chinese-Malaysian. One of my cousins asked how I could be her cousin when she considered me to be a different race. She never met my African father since my parents divorced before she was born. She assumed I looked Malay not Chinese. My Chinese grandma kept saying that she cried when her beautiful daughter married an African.
@Hi, Nice To Meet You generally speaking, French people love Japanese culture and Japanese people love French culture. It's a good match. I'm French but my husband is Korean.
You can feel that people saying only "that's fine" do not really think it. Fortunately, many people also have lot of sweet and positive experience to share. As a mixed-race person myself, I only experienced one bad encounter and when I got acquainted with the guy who was doing racist jokes, we became best friends. Lack of acceptance only comes from ignorance. Talk to people, get to know them and become friends. You'll see that the suspicious looks will fly away.
You know, I was doing my best to read faces. I wasn't really seeing distaste or deception or hostility there, ....it's not like they couldn't think of anything nice to say, ...I got more of a read like there was a note of apprehension or regret about the country changing. Plus I'd tend to expect they at least have known or heard of more bullying attitudes if not held some of those themselves in the past.
@@hellokatie3974 Eh, it's still racist. It's uncomfortable because people will use this kind of thing as a mask to downplay and obscure their racism, and maybe even suppress their own cognitive dissonance about it. "I'm not racist, I just joke around". Dark humor can exist without this and I don't think it's a good excuse to say racist things and be like "yeah I'm not a racist tho". Sure it might be different from a totally unfiltered bigot but _not_ being a huge dumb bigot doesn't make people magically not racist.
@@arifgunawan9329 Right. Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes; you have to acknowledge this and use this awareness to catch yourself. If you think you're _never_ racist because you see yourself as generally a good person... you're probably quite a bit more racist than you think.
I wish this was true to every nihonjin out there, I am Japanese-Filipino, I get treated differently sometimes and some even change their demeanor when they find out of not pure Japanese.
I'm mixed race Japanese American (Indian/Japanese) and visited Japan for the first time earlier this year. I felt a very warm welcome throughout Japan, though I did not visit Tokyo. I never once had the impression of harsh judgment though some people were confused because I can't speak Japanese.
I’m Filipino American and I have a cousin who has a family in Tokyo. She has 3 sons and about 6 grandkids now. Her sons may be half-Japanese but they are 100% culturally Japanese. Nothing wrong with that but there are more half people in Japan than most people think. 👍🏼
They answered the way you would expect them to on camera. Not convinced this is how they genuinely feel though. Too many “halfies” have stated otherwise.
maybe i'm being unfair here, but i feel like some of their answers felt kinda insincere, especially in relation to the question if hafus are bullied etc. feels like they're not really comfortable with the idea of mixed race japanese, especially the women in the interview.
Tatemae (withholding your honest thoughts) is a common practice in Japan so it's very possible, esp in front of a camera. It's easy to say one thing but different when confronted with the issue.
@@OneRadicalDreamer Yeah I would agree, u don't really want to be called out for being racist. Like in America if you are racist, in most cases, u don't want to say u are racist.
I definitely feel like there was an element of them saying what they know the interviewer wants to hear, especially because they all seem to give pretty much the same answers ("It's fine, never had a problem with it, never seen anyone else have a problem with it") as if pretending that being fine with it is the most natural response makes it so that it has always been true for everyone, somehow. I trust the most nuanced answers the most, because it at least shows that those people put a lot of thought into what they are saying, but they could just be better informed about what the "correct" opinions are, and are able to articulate them fluidly. I think one of the men in the video said it best when he said "These are the times," and in the Japanese mindset, if you don't get with the times, you get left behind; and unlike in America, where there is a very similar mindset toward technology, because Japan takes this attitude toward culture as well, being left behind means being socially ostracized and invalidated, and likely driven closer toward suicide through bullying and other forms of social pressure. I would love to see a more in-depth video where older Japanese people can give their answers anonymously, and see if that makes a difference in how they respond. I think a skilled interviewer could ask leading questions in a way that draws out their true feelings.
I'm biracial (Japanese + white) and though I don't live in Japan, I'm fluent in Japanese and have attended school there. People do say "Are you a haafu (biracial)?" (even complete strangers) a lot, but I personally don't find it insulting - just a little repetitive sometimes. I stay with my grandparents while in Japan and meet a lot of older people through them, but none of them have ever been rude - they say it a lot in this video too, but a lot of the time I do get called cute! Never been bullied for it (from what I know haha), but what I find interesting is that depending on which parent I'm with, I'm treated as a Japanese person or a foreigner.
That is interesting that people's perception of you is influenced by the adult you are with. I wonder if your mannerisms change depending on which parent you are with, and people pick up on that. When you go into a restaurant together, does the waiter talk to you when you are with your white parent?
Basically the same thing as asking people if they are racist or not infront of camera. They arent too ignorant to know the political climate has changed during their lifetime
Thanks for making this video From a halfu ~ Usually I have good experiences when I visit back home, but I had one bad experience when I went out running close to my home to the local shrine, and an old lady just looked at me like I was filthy. Just can't forget that... I visit every year (my grandparents still live there) but I'm planning to go back after university or at least for a few months to improve my Japanese, I can't read Kanji very well (I'm studying tho!)
Completely out off-subject Is it me, or the man with the kaki shirt if front of the Docomo shop is the same person on the advertisement behind him? :’)
The amount of series where theres manga about a character is half one and half another and they get called scum by a full blooded character IE Inuyasha
That’s true in most countries, it happened to my cousins kid In Greece His wife Korean and his daughter got bullied a lot as a kid No matter where you go it happens
Sonicfalcon16 yeah but it honestly happens anywhere , if your half you aren’t whole and never will be Some may accept it , some cultures are more accepting then others I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from my half Korean friends in school
For what it is worth i am a mixed race person (Irish and Native American) who spent a good part of my early childhood in Japan and i have nothing but fond memories and have waned to go back ever since my family left. Do hope that helped add to the subject, thank you..
A lot of them say “they don`t mind hafu kids” but when the time comes and they meet one I`m pretty sure their opinions will change. I`ve only been here in Japan for a month and i`ve already been called a lot of things and not one of them is Japanese. In their eyes i`ll always be a foreigner with a Japanese passport.
neitherlink Its not supposed to be like that. Even if I was born in a different country doesn’t mean that they should disregard my second nationality. There’s a reason two countries gave me nationality but a LOT of Japanese people immediately ignore my Japanese nationality just because I was born in a diff country. What about Naomi Osaka? She was raised in the USA but they call her Japanese? Is it because she’s representing Japan? 🥴 I don’t see how that’s different here.
@@saraflash11 You sure they don't acknowledge that you're both Japanese and ''something else'' as opposed to just ''something else'' like you seem to be alluding to? Because if that's the case then they're right and there really isn't anything offensive about it unless they said it in an demeaning way.
My son is from South Africa and is married to a Japanese lady. For almost 8 years in Japan. He is very happy and I love my Japanese daughter so SO much. You are good people. As long as you respect their culture and invest in Japan. I just want to go and visit one day..
That lady thats going I don't know or I don't see them or I don't imagine nothing... while everyone else clearly has exposure to halfers and this is presumably in the same surveyed area... its kinda suspicious.
I'm Japanese-American, who had a white father and a Japanese mother. It doesn't matter what others think of me. I experienced discrimination in America from blacks and whites. But I didn't want to be equal. Instead, I wanted to be "greater than". So I worked much more than my white and black co-workers did, and I earned a lot more than they did.
Hard to believe these answers except for the individual at 1:35 that clearly had a nuanced opinions. Many non-Japanese such as Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese that have lived in Japan for generations face extreme discrimination. Even the Brazilian-Japanese diaspora returning to Japan have huge issues with discrimination. Should we even bring up the debate on Naomi Osaka?
I get the impression from some of these interviews, and it wouldn't be uncommon anywhere, that the questions asked are ones that the subjects had never encountered before and so they had to go through the mental calculus on the spot to examine how they felt. It is heartening to see that when they do that, they come to a rational conclusion. And that is why I am learning Japanese with Yuta, so I can talk to Japanese people and have real conversations the way normal Japanese people speak! (Seriously, I am, and I thank Yuta for all his good work!)
Hmmm... Interesting. You kept saying “half-white” and “half-black”, but it didn’t seem like any of them responded in terms of race. They focused more on nationality - “half-American”, “half-German”, etc. I think that says a lot about how we Americans define our identities versus how people in other countries do.
MitoNaÁrea That may be true, but my point is they kept referring to countries rather than races. Even if they have an image of a typical person from that country, “mixed race” to them meant “Japanese + someone from another country”.
youseineko yeah because that’s what it is. Black and white aren’t races and even if Japanese people are a bit stuck in their way of thinking, this is one thing they got correctly
I'm half Japanese and half White, but I have never experienced any problems (as far as I'm aware) because of my race or my appearance. My hafu friends and acquaintances have been successful. My mixed Asian friends in college and law school have gone on to interesting careers. People obsess about race and others' perceptions, but what really matters is how we live our lives in terms of individual responsibilities and the pursuit of our goals. Of course, the above is just my experience.
The first guy said it best, high respects for him. I also think you got a lucky bunch lol some of the ones against it, that I've heard personally, say some wicked tings lol
As a biracial Japanese I've never been bullied although I did feel I was a bit out of place. Since my other half is not American or Western (it's Middle Eastern) I always felt a bit "ashamed" of it and sometimes wished if I was full Japanese. I gradually learned how to embrace my other self though. :) But I guess it really depends on everyone's experiences.
My grandmother (Japanese) married my GI grandfather after the war. She has passed now, but I still love her dearly and I think of her often. It has fostered my love of Japan of course. Sometimes I just like listening to your episodes to hear Japanese being spoken naturally. It can be tough there I'm sure. Lots of stress but I think of Japan and the people there often. That you for this episode.
Hi, I'm Half Japanese, Half Hong-Kongese and felt like I've always been treated a bit differently on both sides. Mostly from the Japanese side and whenever I am in Japan. It's not always bad but I do agree about the sense of distance at times. Most Japanese are polite and will attempt not to make a face to face confrontation of any kind. Nowadays, with the population growing toward the senior side, the dynamics and balance between older and younger generations is changing. There are more and more Hafu in Japan and it looks like they are doing ok. There is some bullying but then again Japan has always been known for it(and not really doing anything concrete or long lasting about resolving this). Hopefully, with the younger generations, things will change for the better. I do agree that there is a different (distant and colder) approach from some native born pure blood Japanese when it comes to Japanese born/living outside of Japan, and Half Japanese and Half Asian folks. If the child is half white, it seems to pass better with older generation. Also if you don't speak Japanese fluently, there could be some annoyance. Again this is my experience and opinion.
I dunno, some of the interviews have had more diverse opinions, like some of the interviewees calling homosexuals "disgusting". But it is a small sample size, so you can't say how representative it is.
That's always the problem with questionnaires anywhere. But it's not too hard to see when (Japanese) people aren't honest because they'll be evasive and nod along without saying much. People who don't want to talk about the topic would most likely refuse an interview. Why would they agree if they weren't comfortable talking about it? I think the people in this interview were honest but some of them probably hadn't thought about the topic very much. There are several personal reasons to not want your family marrying a foreigner, for example fearing they might move out of the country and losing touch with them, so their answers were actually very surprising and opposite to the general expectation. Only one of them had heard about the problems that half-Japanese people face so it's understandable that they didn't have much to say.
I think this is all positive reactions only the negative ones are never shown to public, most of the Japanese elderlys hates hafus because of the “impure bloodline “ BS and says “you well never understand because you are not full Japanese “
I'm a halfie and yes, we don't really get bullied but we aren't exactly treated the same either. Personally I don't connect with either of my parents countries cause I dont speak the languages fluently. I would feel much more accepted in a country where I can comfortably speak the language.
Raising mixed-race kids in Japan is a complicated topic and the people in this video simply express their personal views so what they said is just what they say. There's much more to this theme.
But I notice that an increasing number of mixed-race Japanese people are sharing their experiences on social media in Japanese and other Japanese people have more opportunities to learn about different experiences of different individuals.
It's also interesting that how they talk about their experience might be a bit different from how mixed-race English-speaking people talk about their experience (because mixed-race Japanese people don't' necessarily speak English.)
And if you speak Japanese, you will have access to these discourses. But if you don't, I can send you some Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that Japanese people actually speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3hZC0KZ
You make a good point. The experiences of half-Japanese people who grew up in Japan are probably much different then hafus who grew up elsewhere.
half korean or chinese - these answers would be more interesting.
The island of Japan was already a mixed race in ancient time and before that. I would say that Japan, like the US, was an island of migrant and immigrants.
The Japanese say they accept everyone, but everyone knows the Japanese as racist. I don’t know how these two ideas exist if one isn’t a lie
@@noticemesenpai69 Most of them are racist, but it is better to have a few acceptances rather than nothing. Who knows? Maybe Japan will improve in the future as more foreigners reside and bring change.
A mixed friend who went to college in Japan found that while people did not "mind him" he did not feel so openly accepted when it came to making new friends due to his Foreign heritage. I think there is a difference between "accepting the idea of something" and actually having it a part of your life, like your grandchildren being mixed race, which I think is realistic
This sounds like a fact though
I can understand that because i emigrated from my country and here i've had a lot of trouble with that too and so did my nephew at some point, they don't care but some of them aren't willing to include you in their culture
It was actually the opposite for me, a lot of people didn’t care I was from America and I made more friends and was more accepted in Japan than I ever was in America, did kids throw my stuff into the toilets still? Yeah, but now I know how to hide my important stuff so pickpockets take that
Aaron Z. Normally a lot of Japanese kids father’s aren’t home, they’re working usually and leave early in the morning before the kid wakes up (if the kid has a healthy sleep schedule) and get’s home after the kid is in bed.
This usually causes a rift between the kid and the father, with the mother usually being at home,
For me, at school it was easier to connect to people since my father was neglective towards me unless I got the highest grade in the year (which never happened) and other kids (though not the same reasons) knew the feeling of the father not being there,
Anyone moving from one culture or even geographic area will run into that to some degree I think. I experienced it when moving across the US early in high school. It's hard to feel as welcomed/included when most everyone around you has known each other their whole lives, despite how welcoming and friendly they try to be. Moving to a different country where the culture and even language is completely different would be significantly harder to really connect with people
I once asked my Japanese grandma what her and my grandpa’s first impression was when they found out my mom was marrying an American back in 1985. Her response was, “oh I was overjoyed that there was someone out there who would be willing to take her off our hands” 😂😂😂
based
Damn. Granny got her ass.
Glad that the people who he interviewed seemed accepting, hope they thought positively also on off camera.
They value not offending anyone over speaking the truth. Do not trust them on their word.
Japanese people aren't aliens or psychopaths. How they have their conversation may be politeness-centered but it doesn't mean they are full-of-a-shit to a point they openly lie about their opinions on a street interview.
I know that there's a stereotype that old Asian men/women tend to be xenophobic, but that's just a stereotype and a stupid stereotype because the term "Asian" is so broad. Don't assume that they are lying on interviews because it doesn't fit the stereotype's narrative, that's ridiculous.
Idk, but my gut tells me that some of them weren't being honest. Especially the ones who don't say much or drifted to much away from the question. Altho i def feel like 2 of the interviewed were fully honest, because of they way they expressed their opinion.
P.S. i might be wrong on this for all ik
@Lucas De Araújo Marques Nice projection about summer child. Sadly their positive views about mixed-race is actually backed up by facts, as older generations of Japanese tend to be politically left-winged due to the popularity of Marxism and student activism in Japan back in 1950~1980's. Why wouldn't they have positive views about different races if they went through those era with those ideologies?
I know its the complete opposite from the older generation of America, but different countries having a different history is a thing. Stop making an uneducated guess or relying on your gut-feeling and assume that they are lying just because things what they said in the interview were different from what you expected them to say, especially when you yourself don't know shit about elderly Japanese.
I love how people think people outside of japanese cultures dont do this. Why do people view them as some other species? anime much?
As a mother of a Japanese/french little girl I can say that the situation will be pretty different depending on how big is the town you live in! While most adults will tell you how cute your kid is when I was I was taking my daughter to the park and she wanted to play with the other kids, a majority of them would run off from her saying 来ないで！来ないで！(don't come! Don't come!) it was sometimes heartbreaking...
But maybe it was more for me..? I hope
Little kids can be one of the most cruel creatures :/
@@viniciusnishiyama704 it's the parents of those children, who should teach them the difference between good and bad. It's kinda painful to see kids being racist🤦♂ truely a sad event for this lady.
@@unwisely Yeah I agree, but kids will be racist/xenofobics even without knowing, and there's the fact that their parents are bulshit and simply don't care. But still every say mean things without knowing how can hurt others the problmem is if they have someone to correct them, which in school enviroment pretty much nobody will stand up to that
@@viniciusnishiyama704 I completely agree. One only needs to see the great stories that come out of Middle/High school to see how discriminatory kids get.
@@viniciusnishiyama704 i agree 💖 i hope those kids grow up atleast a little broad minded in future. 🙃
I was so scared of what they were gonna say but after hearing their responses I was deeply moved in a positive way. Thank you!
What do Japanese Elders think of *_Shiba Inus_* though?
What do Japanese elders think of foreign dogs... and unconventional mixed-breeds, like the Labradoodle and Cockapoo?
I fail to understand why this completely non-related random comment getting so many likes... but ok.
rsuriyop because *shiba inus* are cute, and they I think they might be a crossbreed but comparing mixed breed dogs to people is a bit strange so iam guessing it’s not that.
must do a heccin protecc fren
Ya boi out here asking the _real_ questions.
The first old man is way more modern than lots of young people where I live.
True af
You call that "modern?" He's all for mixing just because he perceives ethnic Japanese as being "weak" and "short" and that intermixing will improve these physical attributes. If anything that makes me want to cry because it's such poor reflection to have of one's own people when compared to others. And not just that, if everyone felt the exact same way as him (you know, "modern thinking" in this sense) then you might as well just kiss ethnic Japanese people as a whole goodbye as they would end up going the way of modern Native North Americans.
@@rsuriyop I meant that he understands that in a globalized modern society, "book smarts" alone will only get you so far. This is what I meant young people where I live don't understand yet.
@@rsuriyop Overthinking Lv999
@@kingo_friver I'm very analytical whenever I read other people's comments. And if you're not being clear then it's fair to say that your comment is open to different interpretations.
Brazil has the second largest japanese colony in the world, first is in Japan, of course. Most of them are mixed and live in São Paulo. They have been in the country for over 100 years.
Interesting. Thanks for that fact. South Africa has the largest population of indian people outside of india.
I thought Peru has the most Japanese. Former president Fujimori was obviously a Japanese descent.
♥️
@@thornados4969 "The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in 1908. Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. According to the IBGE, as of 2009 there were approximately 1.6 million people of Japanese descent in Brazil and estimated at just under More recently, a trend of interracial marriage has taken hold among Brazilians of Japanese descent, with the racial intermarriage rate approximated at 50% and increasing."
@@sechabatheletsane9784 Brazil has also the largest population of italians outside Italy, as well as portuguese(Brazil is a portuguese speaking country, colized by the portuguese), third largest population of germans(the vast majority live in south Brazil. The germans have been in the country since 1818, totally
immersed in the brazilian culture, their influence can be seen in cities like Gramado(try to look for it in google images) There are also some small towns where the german descendents try to keep some german culture. (look for Blumenau Oktoberfest Brazil)
This makes me very proud to be half japanese, and as a person who actually lived in japan for one year, i can attest that I have never experienced any type of racism while living there
They all think it’s cute until they child bring home a person
you aint watch the whole vid?
@Sunny Ah Day A person
I am from Greece and a few months ago, there was a documantary on tv about a Japanese lady who married a Greek and lived in Greece ever since. They had a son - grown up by the time the documentary was made - who went to Japan with his mother to meet his grandfather. The grandpa was very happy to meet his grandson and marveled at how tall he was.
Αlso, this young gentleman here th-cam.com/video/M47OvlfwUkw/w-d-xo.html, by the name of Sotiris Kontizas, who is currently a famous Greek TV reality show chef, happens to be Greco-Japanese. In the video he talks about his experiences as a child and a teen, in both Greece and Japan. BTW he too, happens to be very tall, about 190cm, quite above the average Greek male height, which is currently 177cm.
2:54
You bet! A student of mine was in Navy intelligence, had an apartment in a Japanese city. Then he got married to a Filipino girl, brought her to Japan, landlord said “No pets!” And away he went to live on base.
The very first guy and the guy with the flip sunglasses had some really interesting and candid opinions. Quite an interesting video!
They were so cute. 😭
@@Imjustacatlady they were. Like great Japanese grandpas spreading a nugget of wisdom
@@afsmeg yes !
I like that flipman was honest about maybe being uncomfortable about having mixed-race grandkids, but that he thought it was a good thing in general. It's honestly refreshing to see people trying to do better instead of doubling down on some attitude they grew up with
It's very different how you "feel" about something versus how you interact with the idea when it hits your life.
Naomi Osaka probably changed a lot of people's views on mixed-race Japanese. But bullying of mixed-race kids still exists in Japan.
Yeah, she made me dislike them more
Don't want to undermine your point, but people will always find a reason to bully someone, being different from them just makes it easier.
I mean people gonna get bullied regardless, people (where I live) will make fun of u for anything
How bad is the bullying?
Parme San
That’s the thing. The things people get bullied for aren’t necessarily the true reason behind it. I’ve seen bullying for such inane reasons that I am convinced that if someone wants to exclude or bully someone they will search for any and every excuse to do so
Many are actually already half-Japanese, just mixed with other Asians, so it's harder to point out.
Ahh idk, i don't think those count
@Avatar Ang East asians look similiar. I can tell the difference between chinese, Korean, and japanese. But i doubt most people can.
Abilawa andamari really easy to tell them apart if you’re surrounded by them for over 18 years lol, I’m currently 20 so basically almost my whole life
Avatar Ang AFAIK my ancestry is 100% Chinese. But I am mistaken for Japanese all the time by other Chinese and Japanese people. Once I was mistaken for Filipino, not because of my looks but because of my “vibe” by another Filipino person.
I once took an online test that had me guess what type of Asian the person was. I scored an 80%, but I cheated. I didn’t look at the facial features, but the hair, makeup, and clothes which I feel are more distinctive.
I agree. I'm filipino but my background is a bit messy since I'm a 3rd generation Japanese in my mother's side and 2nd generation spanish in my father's side
The first old man made me tear up a bit. He is so true and honest. I loved that interaction
In the anime Japan Sinks, some Japanese are portrayed as reserved to only help full blood Japanese and not foreigners or mix blood Japanese. Why do think is they added that to the story?
Too bad
I thought no one would mention this movie. That movie hits home because I personally know a lot of half Filipinos and half Japanese.
@@karltorento3358 and have they told you if they have been discriminated?
It is like Keanu Reeve's character being forced to live in a shack in *47 Ronin*.
@@timothyswag3594 I'm not sure If the script writes should put the halfies
its interesting to see that a few of them find mixed race japanese people quite nice, like their features and such and are generally thought of “cool”
i have a request though, i’ve heard that filipinos are generally frowned upon in japan especially by the elderly population, so i was curious on how they would respond to such a question
Isn’t that bc the bad reputation japan made with them? (Colonizing and taking women )
@@Kenxdrea the same is true for almost the entirety of East Asia, but perceptions still vary
@@Kenxdrea No man apparently in like 60/70/80s (I forget exactly when) there was a lot of Philippines immigrant flooding japan, prompting the government to have much stricter immigrant law, and I think this is what @nani desu ka actually was referring to, I think.
Discrimination is bad, but honestly, actively promoting mixing between foreigners and Japanese just feels really creepy, especially with lines like "Half-Japanese are so much more beautiful" and "Us Japanese are short so we must breed with foreigners to grow taller" - how about developing your own strengths and covering your weaknesses without resorting to actively trying to wash out your own race? All this content promoting half-Japanese people and their lives, issues, or perceptions by Japan and advertising them in foreign spaces just reeks of this same insidious agenda.
I know Japanese people already have a garbage self-image after a crushing and humiliating defeat in a total war and having their current military, economic, and political system forced upon them by their conquerors, but at least have some pride in your own race and don't reduce it to this image of being so weak and pathetic as to require foreign blood to "survive" in a "changing" world.
Multiracial people are normal (I mean there are no people with 100% homogeneous genetics so...) , no problem at all. It is just whether they want to adopt the culture or not.
But then, even culture is changing from time to time...
They give their opinions on the matter and everyone accuses them of being disingenuous, but if they said what people assume they would say then people would be even more outraged. Just accept what they say without drawing baseless conclusions because it doesn't fit the narrative that you want.
I agree 100%, Anti Riku. Why be soooo cynical? Maybe.. JUST maybe.... they are being honest.
Actually, I think it's even better to take in what you see here with a grain of salt, and not just simply accept what they say at face value.
@@rsuriyop Why be skeptical right out of the gate when there's nothing to go on? Just listen to what they're saying until something says otherwise.
@@rsuriyop Rather cynical of you, isn't it? Have they given you a reason to distrust them? U know them?
@@USSBARBEL That's hardly being cynical. It's just simply good to take anything that you see that's said in front of a camera with a grain of salt for good reason. Just look at politicians and what they say on camera for example. A lot of the time they don't even commit to the kinds of things that they had promised to do after getting elected. So I don't see why that couldn't also be applied to anyone else who says certain stuff on camera. Now does this mean that I automatically reject what the people in this particular clip are saying about mixed race people in Japan? No it doesn't. It just means that I would not be surprised if it turns out that they aren't being 100% honest about how they really feel about it. That's all.
We need that elder to meet his nephew kids.
If Yuta set it up, I'd kick a few bucks into a GoFundMe.
1:06 I thought he had some freaky eyebrows until I realized that I'm stupid.
Same
lol
I thought he die them like rock lee
i thought it was a filter
Smith Wright No one asked
Japanese people never talk negatively about social or sensitive topics in public.
Need to "settai" to let them talk frankly.
thats probably a good thing, everyone in the west
(usa specifically) wants to broadcast every single one of their opinions to the whole damn world, spark outrage and then argue about it
@@Surteronarto Didn't take long to see the hate speech come out.
@@Surteronarto no, overly opinionated idiots from far left and far right yelling at eachother causing division is destroying the western world
@@yourcurtainsareugly unsurprisingly keyboard warriors willing to say things they would never say infront of a group of minorities
@@Surteronarto honest conflict? lmao more like people from both sides making up lies about eachother
Holy shit, why are the comments so toxic here, many saying that these elders aren't revealing their true own opinions.
It's like the "white girl" telling other people what to be triggered about, because she knows better.
And also, this interview was done in Kansai right? Nice to see that.
i think old people are more honest since they don't give a fuck what anyone thinks
@@matty6878 Kilumba
Kansaiben!!! you right!
@sunny dayday 勝手にそんなん決めつけないでください。
The first man warmed my heart he's(because of people like him) the reason why I love Japan because they have are considerate, authentic (not all) and have good manners.
Thank you so much for this video. I have been watching videos that were all negative about japan this is some good positive light here. Arigatougozaimasu.
There are bad apples in every society (and argument).
@@Jacquobite yes there are but there are good apples as well ^^
translation: you like him because he said what you wanted to hear
Don't trust everything the Japanese say. They have a culture of appearing extra polite on the surface. Most Japanese, whether old or young, are two or three faced.
@@lifelongvirgin5794 yeah I understand that I am sure it's common everywhere.
2:20. I feel bad for that guy, not seeing his extended family in America. Because the way Japan is heading, I don't wish for their culture & history to die out in a century or two.
Ig this is a downside that comes with globalisation..
@@leonax2010
I love the idea of it where we all can bring something to the table so to speak, having a truly united & diverse world. Just each country should at least try to preserve our cultures to keep it all balance so no big cultures can try & dominate but also try to promote smaller endangered ones.
@Time Traveller Herald of the Patriotic order i dont think you can use america and europe as examples. They were bringing in people from other cultures before now, so when slavery is abolished what do you think would happen to the people that setteld there? You dont think they'd have a culture of their own by that time? That is the true legacy of those that came before us. It is what it is.
@@tristanbackup2536 Globalism is both good _and_ bad. Good in that it helps strengthen economies as well as help aid in the prevention of wars between countries. However, cultures will still be near impossible to preserve when individual countries actually do end up becoming that diverse with mostly people of mixed backgrounds, whether you like it or not. Just look at America today for example. What kind of "culture" does it have? It has none. This is precisely why I worry about Japan as well as other countries that have not yet been fully "diversified" from the ill-effects of globalism.
@Time Traveller Herald of the Patriotic orderwho keep doing this?
I miss the old jingle at the beginning of your videos
Doesn’t really fit with the seriousness of this videos content, no?
People: Yuta should interview older people to get an actually accurate scenario of how japanese think
Yuta: *does exactly that*
People: now i doubt they think the same off-camera smh
🤷
Yeah i was thinking like that too, like wtf they want from Yuta.
The replies seem cherry-picked
right? obviously, this is a small sample size and the few people in this video do not represent Japan’s view on biracial people as a whole. Yuta was lucky to have interviewed the people in this video who had positive things to say about biracial people in Japan. all of us watching the video know that biracial people experience discrimination everywhere, but that doesn’t mean that these people in the video were lying.
"The newspaper says they don't go to school." lol ok newspaper
That means that they're getting bullied, so they end up not going to school. From what I've read, it's happens sometimes over there, especially to foreign looking kids.
This channel has actually discussed this very issue. Of large numbers of foreign children living in japan but not attending school.
Yeah, Japan really isn’t looking forward to looking anything like the west
@@noticemesenpai69 What do you mean by that??
MitoNaÁrea they’re not looking forward to lots of other people’s coming to their country and ruining it.
The first guy is really open minded. This gives people in this community hope😆
I'm really early for this video
Thank you Yuta for all these videos that introduce more of Japan to people around the world that are interested in your country.
Many of them are speaking of the physical qualities of biracial people. Ask them “are biracial Japanese REAL Japanese?” in private and see their real opinion.
Couldn't agree more
Yuta's never willing to show the shitty parts of his country, have you not realized that yet???
@@contown731 yuta seems really different than nobita..
@@RezaOLine Nobita's simply honest. Yuta's basically "Japanese master race!"
@RARAYAYA RAA these idiots think that the weirdos on the internet are representative of the normal population, which they aren't.. yuta is interviewing normal people, not some neckbeard writing shit on reddit or chan boards
1:59 "there's nothing like that now" in regards to bullying. Oh yes there is LOL
I would have told you that. For me i don't care if your mixed or not.
What he was actually saying was that mixed-race kids are less likely to be bullied than before. Why did you take that literally? You're so stupid.
@@絶望ガール-v3s What exactly did Kougeru say that made them "so stupid"?
The question was _"Are __-they-__ there mixed race people around you? Are there any (biracial) people like that around you? What do other people think about that person?"_
The answer was _"They are not concious of it these days....I heard he was bullied...there is nothing like that now."_
絶望ガール that’s not what he said in Japanese or English... you probably shouldn’t go calling people stupid
@@commenterperson4481 “There is nothing like that now.”
This was an obvious exaggeration. There is no way that he actually confirmed that there are no mixed-race kids who are being bullied in Japan because it's virtually impossible to prove something like that. So the only interpretation of what he said that makes sense is that he used an exaggeration to imply that the situation they're in is getting better and better compared to the past. Trying to refute his statement by saying, “There is,” is so childish and pointless that it's reasonable to conclude that a person who actually says it is stupid.
In very impressed by first elder's response, it was very nuanced. Suprised that people there are more open to this even though their culture is somewhat conservative, although I guess in country side you'll find much more conservative responses.
Living in the city you are forced to submit and grow used to it. You cant decide when to go to work or when take a brake, cant decide where you are gona walk or even where you may pee. Im not saying having rules set by the government are bad I quite enjoy not having shit on the streets, its just that those used to submiting also are way more supportive of the establishment propoganda as they are used to accepting what ever is thrown their way. And the other reason is how much knowlage observing nature gives you, I once watched a 2 hour video about bees and the most popular comment was; "You werent talking about bees where you."
Geez you are too gullible. Open your eyes 👀
@@mechanikalbull5626 You "open your eyes" yet you close your eyes to people who are honest because you can't believe it's true.
I'm Japanese, so l know what people's mentality is really like in Japan. I know there are many genuine, kind and honest people there too, but most people just tell you what you want to hear.
Japanese in general don't speak their mind. I did. Probably that's why I didn't fit in very well in my country. You can't be 100% sure if they're genuine or not. You have to be super careful not to say anything offensive, or even slightly inappropriate. It's a bit like you gotta walk on eggshells all the time when you're in Japan.
Unlike what those eldery people say, not all half Japanese are blessed with perfect shape, long, lean legs and good looks.
So if you happen to be half Caucasian and beautiful, with gorgeous body, you might be safe from getting bullied. So, because of half Japanese being so gorgeous, they can become tv celebrities, is it what they said? Are they serious? Yes. Like Yuta said in this video, learning the language is absolute MUST. Even then I'm still not fully convinced if they truly treat you the same way as they would fellow Japanese. Who knows, some are luckier than the others.
it's interesting that you posted this video at the same time as Joey, The Anime Man, who posted a video talking about his own experience growing up half Japanese
This was so refreshing. So wholesome. Even though one man admitted he would be a little uncomfortable at first, at least he’s admitting it, and willing to address it. In the rural parts of the US, despite it being such a diverse country, I feel like you’d get bad answers.
If you really thinking they're that accepting over there, I have news for you. No matter where you go, there will be a large groups of people with very conservative mindsets. Lol
After watching this, I feel a certain way about elderly Japanese people... I LOVE THEM!
I love this elder people 💓
🥰Yes, me too, they are very nice
For me, Im just dissapointed of what has become of Japan.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 care to explain
@@oyasumilunlun Form a proud an land land to just like every other globalist country.
Japanese elders are fabulous! They are so outspoken and so kind. Anytime I’ve needed help in japan, there’s always been an elderly person to assist me.
Big thumbs up for asking these questions for all the mixed people out there
When I went to Japan elder people, especially in rural areas, like a train we took to Nara were really afraid of us. They even exchanged carts or seats whenever we were close, they also changed sidewalks. In Tokyo and Kyoto it happened less
Is it just me or is Yuta advertising his Japanese lessons becoming a meme?
It’s already been a meme for a while
1:07 IS NOBODY GONNA TALK ABOUT THOSE REALLY COOL GLASSES??? nice video btw nwn
What respectful people. I wish them good health and prosperity, we have many things to learn from the Japanese society and mentality!
That was actually interesting, they seemed more open than I expected. Thanks for the video.
@Cleft Chin Kingdom, I'd recommend the manga mostly though hah
@Cleft Chin Definitely is, enjoy it!
one of the kids at my high school in Japan said "I'm chinese (maybe half chinese).. Please don't tell anyone"
Ah, I had the same concern as a Chinese/Japanese mix so I'd usually avoid blatantly stating my full ethnicity due to the political tension between China and Japan. Thankfully I live abroad where nobody really cares, however if I ever went back to either of those countries, my ethnicity would have been seen as a sort of "taboo". Even my relatives aren't particularly accepting of me. They'll either claim me as one side or the other. ToT
I am half Japanese and half white and lived in Japan from age 1 to 8. Never had issues at school and never felt left out. If anything I felt I got special treatment. However, a boy I knew who was half black and half Japanese had issues with being left out and made fun on.
Seems like it’s not about mixed or not, it’s more about light skin or not.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Eurasian kids have more of the features that Asian people have plastic surgery for so they are considered more acceptable? I am Blasian. I actually had a harder time fitting in the USA than in Malaysia where my mom is from. That being said, my mom is Chinese-Malaysian. One of my cousins asked how I could be her cousin when she considered me to be a different race. She never met my African father since my parents divorced before she was born. She assumed I looked Malay not Chinese. My Chinese grandma kept saying that she cried when her beautiful daughter married an African.
Totally different but same❤️
My girlfriend is French, maybe my sun,,,🇯🇵
@Hi, Nice To Meet You generally speaking, French people love Japanese culture and Japanese people love French culture. It's a good match. I'm French but my husband is Korean.
You can feel that people saying only "that's fine" do not really think it. Fortunately, many people also have lot of sweet and positive experience to share. As a mixed-race person myself, I only experienced one bad encounter and when I got acquainted with the guy who was doing racist jokes, we became best friends. Lack of acceptance only comes from ignorance. Talk to people, get to know them and become friends. You'll see that the suspicious looks will fly away.
You know, I was doing my best to read faces. I wasn't really seeing distaste or deception or hostility there, ....it's not like they couldn't think of anything nice to say, ...I got more of a read like there was a note of apprehension or regret about the country changing. Plus I'd tend to expect they at least have known or heard of more bullying attitudes if not held some of those themselves in the past.
Unfortunatly, tatamae is to normalized in Japanese society. For me that´s bad.
@@hellokatie3974 Eh, it's still racist. It's uncomfortable because people will use this kind of thing as a mask to downplay and obscure their racism, and maybe even suppress their own cognitive dissonance about it. "I'm not racist, I just joke around". Dark humor can exist without this and I don't think it's a good excuse to say racist things and be like "yeah I'm not a racist tho". Sure it might be different from a totally unfiltered bigot but _not_ being a huge dumb bigot doesn't make people magically not racist.
@@arifgunawan9329 Right. Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes; you have to acknowledge this and use this awareness to catch yourself. If you think you're _never_ racist because you see yourself as generally a good person... you're probably quite a bit more racist than you think.
Nice video keep them coming and your program is really helping me
You're great Yuta!!
¡Greetings From México!
I wish this was true to every nihonjin out there, I am Japanese-Filipino, I get treated differently sometimes and some even change their demeanor when they find out of not pure Japanese.
at least they have to find out !
@@PHlophe she will never get that. She can always hide the other half of her, not something other hafus can do
Pure ... yes, that's their suggestion when they call you half. You're not pure. It's blatant racism.
maybe you just speak english and philipino on them? Learn japanese for pete’s sake
@@toreatsung66 Asians don’t consider each other the same...
Hii i enjoyed this!!
the comments are more concerning than the actual video.
I'm mixed race Japanese American (Indian/Japanese) and visited Japan for the first time earlier this year.
I felt a very warm welcome throughout Japan, though I did not visit Tokyo. I never once had the impression of harsh judgment though some people were confused because I can't speak Japanese.
the first person has international exposure
The timing of this and Joey's vid is uncanny
I couldn’t agree more
Yep
Seriously it's truly mysterious
yes
came here because I saw that vid. really strange how they released on the same day.
I’m Filipino American and I have a cousin who has a family in Tokyo. She has 3 sons and about 6 grandkids now. Her sons may be half-Japanese but they are 100% culturally Japanese. Nothing wrong with that but there are more half people in Japan than most people think. 👍🏼
Hi, my fellow half Filipino!🤗❤
They answered the way you would expect them to on camera. Not convinced this is how they genuinely feel though. Too many “halfies” have stated otherwise.
you should watch this yuta’s video.
m.th-cam.com/video/2nKE-H7UpF4/w-d-xo.html#
This prove
So close to 1 million subs. Rooting for you.
maybe i'm being unfair here, but i feel like some of their answers felt kinda insincere, especially in relation to the question if hafus are bullied etc. feels like they're not really comfortable with the idea of mixed race japanese, especially the women in the interview.
@SamuraiSquirrel Not an opinion, this is a fact
Tatemae (withholding your honest thoughts) is a common practice in Japan so it's very possible, esp in front of a camera. It's easy to say one thing but different when confronted with the issue.
@@OneRadicalDreamer Yeah I would agree, u don't really want to be called out for being racist. Like in America if you are racist, in most cases, u don't want to say u are racist.
I definitely feel like there was an element of them saying what they know the interviewer wants to hear, especially because they all seem to give pretty much the same answers ("It's fine, never had a problem with it, never seen anyone else have a problem with it") as if pretending that being fine with it is the most natural response makes it so that it has always been true for everyone, somehow.
I trust the most nuanced answers the most, because it at least shows that those people put a lot of thought into what they are saying, but they could just be better informed about what the "correct" opinions are, and are able to articulate them fluidly. I think one of the men in the video said it best when he said "These are the times," and in the Japanese mindset, if you don't get with the times, you get left behind; and unlike in America, where there is a very similar mindset toward technology, because Japan takes this attitude toward culture as well, being left behind means being socially ostracized and invalidated, and likely driven closer toward suicide through bullying and other forms of social pressure.
I would love to see a more in-depth video where older Japanese people can give their answers anonymously, and see if that makes a difference in how they respond. I think a skilled interviewer could ask leading questions in a way that draws out their true feelings.
@@OneRadicalDreamer good point.
I'm biracial (Japanese + white) and though I don't live in Japan, I'm fluent in Japanese and have attended school there. People do say "Are you a haafu (biracial)?" (even complete strangers) a lot, but I personally don't find it insulting - just a little repetitive sometimes. I stay with my grandparents while in Japan and meet a lot of older people through them, but none of them have ever been rude - they say it a lot in this video too, but a lot of the time I do get called cute! Never been bullied for it (from what I know haha), but what I find interesting is that depending on which parent I'm with, I'm treated as a Japanese person or a foreigner.
That is interesting that people's perception of you is influenced by the adult you are with. I wonder if your mannerisms change depending on which parent you are with, and people pick up on that. When you go into a restaurant together, does the waiter talk to you when you are with your white parent?
You are kawaii
Basically the same thing as asking people if they are racist or not infront of camera. They arent too ignorant to know the political climate has changed during their lifetime
Thanks for making this video
From a halfu ~
Usually I have good experiences when I visit back home, but I had one bad experience when I went out running close to my home to the local shrine, and an old lady just looked at me like I was filthy. Just can't forget that...
I visit every year (my grandparents still live there) but I'm planning to go back after university or at least for a few months to improve my Japanese, I can't read Kanji very well (I'm studying tho!)
I can promise you that you're over thinking it.
mitch dan you don’t know that
Everyone is so nice, watching this makes me feel good.
Completely out off-subject
Is it me, or the man with the kaki shirt if front of the Docomo shop is the same person on the advertisement behind him? :’)
I'm glad I learnt " kokojin /hakujin" from Filthy Frank back then.
The amount of series where theres manga about a character is half one and half another and they get called scum by a full blooded character IE Inuyasha
To be fair that show is 20 years old by now
That’s true in most countries, it happened to my cousins kid In Greece
His wife Korean and his daughter got bullied a lot as a kid
No matter where you go it happens
@@littlefishbigmountain oh yeah absolutely. So im happy to see thats not as much of a thing now. Its just something i noticed on old series
@@SpartanTrigger REALLY? damn...I didnt know Greece had issues with that.
Sonicfalcon16 yeah but it honestly happens anywhere , if your half you aren’t whole and never will be
Some may accept it , some cultures are more accepting then others
I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from my half Korean friends in school
These elderly people grew up listening to Ann Lewis, a mixed girl with successful singing career in Japan
Thanks Yuta for uploading this.
😂😂😂😁 Yuta, you always find a way to bring up your classes. I respect your hustle. 💯
“Japanese kids are weak”
-An elderly Japanese man
I was a little surprised by that comment but as a Japanese man living in Japan he would know
Yes, it was rather mean.
"Why work out when I can just stab people with a katana?" - Japanese kids
Go watch some WW2 footage of Japan and you’ll get what he means
@@animerocks2468 Fair point lol
Damn just started watching, that first guy seemed pretty based.
何かすごいよ…！言葉出来ない！どうもありがとうございます！🙏🏽🗻
For what it is worth i am a mixed race person (Irish and Native American) who spent a good part of my early childhood in Japan and i have nothing but fond memories and have waned to go back ever since my family left. Do hope that helped add to the subject, thank you..
They probably just saw you as a white gaijin, not half Japanese
I'm a big fan of the first gentleman hahaha I love how he talks about everything on this topic.
A lot of them say “they don`t mind hafu kids” but when the time comes and they meet one I`m pretty sure their opinions will change. I`ve only been here in Japan for a month and i`ve already been called a lot of things and not one of them is Japanese. In their eyes i`ll always be a foreigner with a Japanese passport.
If you were born outside of Japan, that’s what you are though.
i mean have you met them?
neitherlink Its not supposed to be like that. Even if I was born in a different country doesn’t mean that they should disregard my second nationality. There’s a reason two countries gave me nationality but a LOT of Japanese people immediately ignore my Japanese nationality just because I was born in a diff country. What about Naomi Osaka? She was raised in the USA but they call her Japanese? Is it because she’s representing Japan? 🥴
I don’t see how that’s different here.
@@saraflash11 You sure they don't acknowledge that you're both Japanese and ''something else'' as opposed to just ''something else'' like you seem to be alluding to? Because if that's the case then they're right and there really isn't anything offensive about it unless they said it in an demeaning way.
After only a month in their country, they did not consider you Japanese?! Wtf how rude lol
My son is from South Africa and is married to a Japanese lady. For almost 8 years in Japan. He is very happy and I love my Japanese daughter so SO much. You are good people. As long as you respect their culture and invest in Japan. I just want to go and visit one day..
Are u and your son blaque ?
That lady thats going I don't know or I don't see them or I don't imagine nothing... while everyone else clearly has exposure to halfers and this is presumably in the same surveyed area... its kinda suspicious.
She doesn't see them because she doesn't want to.
@@timothyswag3594 Don't go around making assumption yet we're just asking for opinions
yep get the gestapo to investigae
I'm Japanese-American, who had a white father and a Japanese mother. It doesn't matter what others think of me. I experienced discrimination in America from blacks and whites. But I didn't want to be equal. Instead, I wanted to be "greater than". So I worked much more than my white and black co-workers did, and I earned a lot more than they did.
Hoping I read this right: 大阪黒醤油ラーメン Osaka black soy sauce ramen (is 黒醤油 read as 「くろしょうゆ」?)
めっちゃおいしそうだ！チョー食べてみたいんだよ
Hard to believe these answers except for the individual at 1:35 that clearly had a nuanced opinions. Many non-Japanese such as Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese that have lived in Japan for generations face extreme discrimination. Even the Brazilian-Japanese diaspora returning to Japan have huge issues with discrimination. Should we even bring up the debate on Naomi Osaka?
Haven't seen anyone harrassing Osaka on Social media in here
I get the impression from some of these interviews, and it wouldn't be uncommon anywhere, that the questions asked are ones that the subjects had never encountered before and so they had to go through the mental calculus on the spot to examine how they felt. It is heartening to see that when they do that, they come to a rational conclusion. And that is why I am learning Japanese with Yuta, so I can talk to Japanese people and have real conversations the way normal Japanese people speak! (Seriously, I am, and I thank Yuta for all his good work!)
Hmmm... Interesting. You kept saying “half-white” and “half-black”, but it didn’t seem like any of them responded in terms of race. They focused more on nationality - “half-American”, “half-German”, etc. I think that says a lot about how we Americans define our identities versus how people in other countries do.
youseineko yup. Western = white to Asians unless otherwise specified
Lol. They associate America with whiteness.
MitoNaÁrea That may be true, but my point is they kept referring to countries rather than races. Even if they have an image of a typical person from that country, “mixed race” to them meant “Japanese + someone from another country”.
youseineko yeah because that’s what it is. Black and white aren’t races and even if Japanese people are a bit stuck in their way of thinking, this is one thing they got correctly
@@mitonaarea5856 America, the browning nation
Wow that's amazing from the data collected so far. Bravo !
I'm half Japanese and half White, but I have never experienced any problems (as far as I'm aware) because of my race or my appearance. My hafu friends and acquaintances have been successful. My mixed Asian friends in college and law school have gone on to interesting careers. People obsess about race and others' perceptions, but what really matters is how we live our lives in terms of individual responsibilities and the pursuit of our goals.
Of course, the above is just my experience.
The first guy said it best, high respects for him.
I also think you got a lucky bunch lol some of the ones against it, that I've heard personally, say some wicked tings lol
Saving face at its finest. They sure didn't think it was cute when Ariyana Miyamoto won Miss Universe Japan back in 2015.
*just a mix japanese here don’t mind me*
Bruh you're from Britannia you’re not fooling anyone.
All Hail Britannia
All hail Lelouch
@@kushfalcon that really doesn't distort the narrative whether he's from Britian or not.
Area 11
yo that's wild Yuta & Joey did similar videos like less than a day apart.
This was a GREAT VID!
The first elder is a real one.
People are pretty damn aware of controversial opinions and wont express them on camera.
Won't express controversial views on camera? Have you ever watched the news or anything on the internet?
Bruh they know this is TH-cam , no controversy ever takes place here
As a biracial Japanese I've never been bullied although I did feel I was a bit out of place. Since my other half is not American or Western (it's Middle Eastern) I always felt a bit "ashamed" of it and sometimes wished if I was full Japanese. I gradually learned how to embrace my other self though. :)
But I guess it really depends on everyone's experiences.
日本語話せるの？
@@darknessbroadcast4139 まあまあ話せます！
@@user-nb2ub9hn8s まーーーじか。すげえええええええ
Half pure, Half polluted in their eyes.
かっぱ
My grandmother (Japanese) married my GI grandfather after the war. She has passed now, but I still love her dearly and I think of her often. It has fostered my love of Japan of course. Sometimes I just like listening to your episodes to hear Japanese being spoken naturally. It can be tough there I'm sure. Lots of stress but I think of Japan and the people there often. That you for this episode.
Hi, I'm Half Japanese, Half Hong-Kongese and felt like I've always been treated a bit differently on both sides. Mostly from the Japanese side and whenever I am in Japan. It's not always bad but I do agree about the sense of distance at times. Most Japanese are polite and will attempt not to make a face to face confrontation of any kind. Nowadays, with the population growing toward the senior side, the dynamics and balance between older and younger generations is changing. There are more and more Hafu in Japan and it looks like they are doing ok. There is some bullying but then again Japan has always been known for it(and not really doing anything concrete or long lasting about resolving this). Hopefully, with the younger generations, things will change for the better.
I do agree that there is a different (distant and colder) approach from some native born pure blood Japanese when it comes to Japanese born/living outside of Japan, and Half Japanese and Half Asian folks. If the child is half white, it seems to pass better with older generation. Also if you don't speak Japanese fluently, there could be some annoyance. Again this is my experience and opinion.
I never trust these interviews. In a country where you're suppose to keep the harmony no matter what, it's hard to find genuine opinions
I dunno, some of the interviews have had more diverse opinions, like some of the interviewees calling homosexuals "disgusting". But it is a small sample size, so you can't say how representative it is.
Then don't watch? tf
That's always the problem with questionnaires anywhere. But it's not too hard to see when (Japanese) people aren't honest because they'll be evasive and nod along without saying much. People who don't want to talk about the topic would most likely refuse an interview. Why would they agree if they weren't comfortable talking about it?
I think the people in this interview were honest but some of them probably hadn't thought about the topic very much. There are several personal reasons to not want your family marrying a foreigner, for example fearing they might move out of the country and losing touch with them, so their answers were actually very surprising and opposite to the general expectation. Only one of them had heard about the problems that half-Japanese people face so it's understandable that they didn't have much to say.
I really don't see an issue in japan about it. I mean, yeah some rockiness but I think it is early prejudice.
I think this is all positive reactions only the negative ones are never shown to public, most of the Japanese elderlys hates hafus because of the “impure bloodline “ BS and says “you well never understand because you are not full Japanese “
This is “your image”, right?
@@じょ-x1t ?? Context pls?
This was very interesting to know. I appreciate this due to wanting to live in Japan. Thank you for this interview!
I'm a halfie and yes, we don't really get bullied but we aren't exactly treated the same either. Personally I don't connect with either of my parents countries cause I dont speak the languages fluently. I would feel much more accepted in a country where I can comfortably speak the language.