What's it like Growing Up Half White in Japan?

TOKYO GUIDEBOOK takashifromjapan.com/tokyocompleteguide

Felt a bit sad about the German/Japanese who didn't feel like he belonged anywhere. I'm half Japanese/Swedish and felt that as a kid but only realised it later it in life. Then I moved to a very multicultural place like London and it flipped, I felt I belong in BOTH Japan and Sweden, and by extension, everywhere.

It's facinating watching her speak Japanese and then flip to fluent English. I can still hear the Japanese accent come through, but still sounds like she's been living in the U.S. for a long time. She seems very sweet and humble, hope she does well when she comes back to the States.

Sending my heartfelt wishes to all the "misfits" in the world. You are not alone. Don't seek happiness through external validation. I love and support you all.

Wow, what a cool girl. She may feel 'out of place' being mixed and living in Japan, but I think it makes her so unique and special. The way she switched from speaking fluent Japanese to pure American English is so rare for an American. Again, super cool. Thanks for the video.

I appreciate the last interviewee--the german/japanese guy, very down to earth and came to terms with his situation as being unique and half, with an awkward unbelonging in Japan despite his Japanese mom, her attention on bringing him up with the language and values. Yet when in Japan he is considered foreigner! No one knows the pain of this experience except those who have lived it!

Another episode of "Takashi interviews the most attractive people he can find".

I'm half Taiwanese, half white American and grew up on the East Coast of the US. People were really awful and ignorant toward me growing up and I used to hate being half Asian when I was a kid, because I just wanted people to stop bullying me. When I got older, I realized that a lot of the bullying came from jealousy, and I was actually so fortunate to have such a different perspective than the average American. It's not always easy to be mixed race, but I feel very grateful to have the experience! Thank you Takashi, I love getting to hear the perspective of other hapas from around the world :)

I’m Half Mexican & Black. It’s interesting hearing other types of mixed peoples experience. And Half Japanese people have a very unique experience I’m finding, regardless of what the other half is, unless they are totally Yamato passing, they seem to share this “being treated as a outsider”experience.

My husband is Japanese, I'm Caucasian Canadian and giving birth in 7 days. Excited to see how our daughter looks and also flourishes! We'll be teaching her English, French and Japanese. EDIT She arrived Jan 5, I absolutely loved reading everyone's comments <3 She's ridiculously cute!

Man, you’re doing an amazing job! I’m not Japanese or even particularly interested in the culture. But, your interviews are so informative and captivating that I can’t scroll away from them. I think it really breaks down to the importance of communication to foster respect. Keep doing your thing!

I somehow envy everyone who was raised bilingually. There is nothing easier than learning an idiom naturally starting in your 8th month in your life, when the brain’s speech center starts developing! I started learning foreign languages as a hobby in the age of 18 and it was always a struggle knowing I‘ll never reach their skills. 👍

This makes me feel happy! Thank you so much for this video Takashii

Your interviews are very interesting. You seem to get a lot of information about the people and the cultures. Thank you.

Thank you Takashii. I find your interviews fascinating and informative.

I love your videos! They are so personal and informative about everyone you interview, but also address large societal issues about identity, prejudice and discrimination through the experience of these individuals! I myself am of mixed heritage (not Japanese though) and have struggled with how I feel about myself and how others feel about me just by the way I look... You are doing an important job, improving the world! 🌏 Arigato gozaimasu!

Good interview as always Takashii. I always enjoy the Hafu interviews in Japanese especially how they have adapted to growing up in Japan

You are a very good interviewer, asking excellent questions and making the people relax and answer satisfactorily.

It's funny and interesting how switching to english changes A LOT of her character when speaking. (Speaking as a non Japanese here so maybe I'm wrong). Her japanese persona is much more "cute timidly polite" not only the the way she speaks, a bit more high pitched and the choice of words, but also her posture and gestures with her hands. Oh I love the German guy! His accent gives it away, that he is German haha. Probably not suprising that his german accent is dominant when speaking english (not his japanese), but would be funny haha.

Great interviews. It's interesting the two gals could speak the language but would ultimately see themselves returning to overseas. It's also great that you dived deeper into different nationalities among ha-fu in a way that was not too uncomfortable but yet able to bring up the differences.