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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Hello World!

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A few years ago, I started
a journey asking

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the question of what makes a
Japanese person Japanese?

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Why would I, a Canadian, spend a couple
years delving into Japanese Identity?

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Well, my wife is Japanese, which makes
our kids both Japanese and Canadian.

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In Japanese they're known as hāfu,
because one half of them is Japanese.

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So that kind of implies that
they're not fully Japanese.

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In Canada, they can call
themselves Japanese-Canadian,

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half-Japanese / half-Canadian,

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or simply Canadian.

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Because as Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau so eloquently put it,

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"A Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian

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and the diversity of our country is
actually one of our greatest strengths."

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Take me for example.

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I've always called myself Canadian,

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but if you trace back my ancestry,
I'm also lots of things.

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My father is of Chinese descent,

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but his family moved to
Guyana over 100 years ago

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when they came over
as indentured labourers.

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They'd been there so long that
my father's sole language is English.

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And can I pause on this
picture for a second and say

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that I've never thought of
my father as a stylish guy,

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but man, he's looking pretty slick,

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along with the rest of
my aunts and uncles.

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But on to my mother, who is mostly
British, but was born in Belize.

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I say mostly, because recently

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she found out she has some
Indigenous Central American mixed in,

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which means I do as well.

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Anyways, she grew up all over
the West Indies with her family,

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and after marrying my father in Guyana,

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promptly moved to Canada

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and they became Canadians.

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Despite their varied backgrounds,

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and having moved to Canada

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in their twenties,

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they could easily call themselves Canadian.

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I was born in Canada,

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so that makes me a Canadian,

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and no one has ever questioned
if I'm Canadian or not,

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despite having such
an eclectic background.

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My wife's story is much simpler.

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She was born and raised in Tokyo,

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and her family has lived in Japan

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for as far back as they can remember,

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with some claims to samurai lineage even.

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And, like me in Canada,

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no one in Japan has ever questioned
if she's Japanese or not.

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But our kids, they are both
Japanese and Canadian.

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So why is it in Canada,

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if they call themselves Canadian,

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people won't question them.

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Whereas in Japan, if they
call themselves Japanese,

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it's not accepted so easily?

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Perhaps it's because
there are people like

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the former Prime Minister
of Japan, Asō Tarō,

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who have proclaimed that Japan is

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"One nation, one civilization,

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one language, one culture,

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and one race,

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the like of which there is
no other on this earth."

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So that got me thinking,

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what makes a Japanese
person Japanese or not.

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Is it the blood that runs
through their veins?

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A parent they were born to?

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The country they grew up in?

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Is it how they look?

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How they act?

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How they speak?

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To seek answers, I went to
the far north, Hokkaido,

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to talk with the Ainu people

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who have lived on the land
for thousands of years.

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I went to the far South, Okinawa,

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who've had many influences,

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from Chinese,

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to American,

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to Japanese.

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I went all over Japan and
met with Zainichi-Koreans,

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whose families came to Japan
from Korea generations ago.

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Nikkei-Brazilians, who returned
to Japan after generations away.

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Hāfu, who have one Japanese parent
and a strong connection to one another.

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Kikokushijo, who grew up
partly outside of Japan

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and often feel like
outsiders upon returning.

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Refugees, who may have been
born and raised in Japan

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but can struggle to attain citizenship.

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And I met with Naturalized Japanese,

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who became Japanese later in life.

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I met with all kinds of Japanese,

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who are Japanese, but...

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it's complicated.

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So I went out asking the question,

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"What is being Japanese?"

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When I am asked if I am Japanese,
I kind of feel weird.

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I am Japanese and I'm also

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Ainu, that's how I feel about myself.

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I want people to introduce
themselves naturally like,

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I am Japanese but my grandpa was Ainu.

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So I like Ainu language and culture.

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And that's my roots.

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My ideal society is that anyone can
freely express their roots with pride

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and can be accepted naturally.

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So Maya is Ainu, and they are the
indigenous people of northern Japan,

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in the area now known as Hokkaido.

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I am from Biratori in Nibutani, Hokkaido.

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In Biratori, about 70-80% of the
population have Ainu roots.

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So the Ainu culture strongly
remains in this area.

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I was raised surrounded by all the
culture and traditional arts.

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The Ainu were there
before the Yamato,

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or as they were
also called, Wajin,

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who settled the mainland of Japan

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and became the majority
of modern day Japanese.

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The Ainu had a different language,
and a different way of life;

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living in small villages,
hunting and gathering.

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Ainu's community is really small.

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If you have 3 or 4 houses,
you can say it's a Kotan, a village.

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So with that kind of characterization
with the number of rivers,

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maybe the number of the Ainu
are not so different from today,

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maybe 25,000 or so.

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While they didn't officially
become Japanese before 1869,

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they had been under the control

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of the Japanese Matsumae clan
for three hundred years.

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So when the Meiji era began,

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the Ainu had already lost their autonomy.

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At the end of the Meiji era,
it's a kind of slavery system.

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Men had to go to the seashore to work
for Japanese people every year.

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So they had to do like the Japanese did.

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Ainu customs were gradually forbidden.

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Tattoos were banned and hunting deer
or fishing salmon were restricted.

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Even though some Ainu
weren't farmers, they were forced

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to farm anyways, and were given
poor quality land on top of that.

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Ainu didn’t lose their power when
Hokkaido became part of Japan.

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By that time, they had lost it already.

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They had been exploited for so long.

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So not teaching the Ainu language,
not teaching Ainu culture,

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is what parents did.

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It seems that parents
often told their children

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not to marry Ainu so that the
Ainu blood would be

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I don't like this expression, “diluted”.

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In a history textbook you'll find
about two pages discussing Ainu.

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Textbooks only have big
historical events and numbers.

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Maybe it's the things they don't
write about that are culture.

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I would like you to learn
what's not in the textbooks.

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To find out what wasn't in the textbooks,

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I travelled to Hokkaido,

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where Maya and her
relatives were undertaking

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an annual collection of tree bark

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that'll be used to make
traditional Ainu cloth.

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Today we all came to
peel off the tree bark.

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And this work has to be taught
to the next generation,

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but can only be done once a year.

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It won't tear.

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So like this, Ainu people and
non-Ainu people are doing this together.

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This is not a ritual
that only Ainu can do,

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or only Ainu should do,

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because Ainu sees people as humans,

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this should be the way it is,

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so we gather here together, enjoying,
being merry, full of happiness.

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While Maya proudly identifies
as Ainu and Japanese now,

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it wasn't so easy for her to do so
back when she was young.

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My parents are known and actively
involved in the Ainu culture,

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also my grandma and uncles

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are proud of being Ainu
and work as artisans.

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They are known well
enough to be easily found

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on the internet or in many media.

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So I was repeatedly asked by my parents

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if I was ok to be on media

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when in elementary school.

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Not only was her family well known,

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but her father was one of the only
remaining teachers of the Ainu language.

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Consequently…

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I've done Ainu speech
contests when I was small.

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I got the best speech
award so I think people

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may have thought I had potential
to carry on Ainu culture.

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So people seem to expect
me to be better and I wanted

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to respond to them but
I couldn't always do so.

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タント ウポポ ヘネ
Today I'd like to sing while I'm sitting down

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ウパｼ クマヘネ
and talk about

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クイｴ ルスイクス
our ancestors' stories.

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ヌ ワ エンコレヤンアニー
So please listen and enjoy.

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I think I wanted to leave
everything to do with Ainu,

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so I actually left Nibutani

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to go to middle school
in a different area.

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After leaving my town,

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I realized how important Ainu is to me.

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And my parents learned
how much I love Ainu culture.

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Now I look back and think it was
a great idea to leave my town.

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But...

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When I was in middle
and high school, I was torn

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whether to live as a
regular Japanese or an Ainu.

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There was a time I was
thinking about that.

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On the opposite side of
Hokkaido is Okinawa,

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Japan's set of semi-tropical islands.

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Like Hokkaido, it wasn't
always a part of Japan.

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It was the Ryukyu Kingdom,

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and Ryukyuans, like the Ainu,

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had their own languages,
culture, and even a king.

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To this day, if you visit the islands,

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you can find remnants of
the kingdom's many castles,

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including the seat of the
former king at Shuri Castle.

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For a long period of time,

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the Ryukyu Kingdom was a
tributary state of China.

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If you're like me, and don't
know what a tributary state is,

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in the Kingdom's case, they were
allowed to remain independent,

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but had to acknowledge
China's superiority

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and send a regular token
of submission: a tribute.

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In return, they received
educational opportunities in China,

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as well as granted access
to Chinese markets.

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They had the right to trade with China,

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something Japan did not enjoy.

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In 1609, the Japanese feudal
lords of the Satsuma domain

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invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom
and made it into its vassal state.

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Alright, so I know you're asking,

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“What's the difference between
a vassal state and a tributary state.”

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A vassal state is like a puppet state,

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where the rulers are
allowed to stay in place,

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but the real power controlling
the show is the puppet master,

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in this case, the Lord of Satsuma,

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on behalf of the Shogun in Edo.

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So as to avoid conflict with China,

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as well as continue the ability
to indirectly trade with it,

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the Satsuma domain had the Ryukyu
Kingdom remain a tributary to China.

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This is all a long winded way of saying

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that while Ryukyuans
were able to retain

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their languages and culture
throughout this time,

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they were also heavily
influenced by China

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and controlled by Japan.

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This changed in 1879,

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when the king was forced
to abdicate his throne

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and the kingdom officially annexed
as the prefecture of Okinawa.

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Over time, Ryukyuans,
now called Okinawans,

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were forced to learn Japanese
and adopt Japanese ways of life.

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The Okinawa language
is called Uchināguchi.

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It’s called Uchināguchi and is
also called Shimakutuba.

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That's the everyday language.

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The Japanese language came later.

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And by the time the war was about to start,

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they were forced to speak Japanese

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in order to make them
feel they're Japanese.

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"I spoke my dialect."

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If you did that, you'd
have to wear a plaque.

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The person standing
with the plaque is the one

243
00:13:24,069 --> 00:13:26,639
who’ll find the next
student and tell the teacher.

244
00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:28,908
Because no one wants to get punishment,

245
00:13:28,908 --> 00:13:31,343
I asked what they did to avoid it.

246
00:13:31,343 --> 00:13:33,412
Everyone tried not to speak.

247
00:13:35,181 --> 00:13:39,785
When someone denies your own language,

248
00:13:39,785 --> 00:13:44,723
I bet you it must feel so awful.

249
00:13:44,723 --> 00:13:50,896
Like Japanese is correct,
Shimakutuba is wrong...

250
00:13:50,896 --> 00:13:56,268
It must have been really, really awful.

251
00:13:57,169 --> 00:14:04,276
This island where I was born

252
00:14:04,276 --> 00:14:11,183
Kind-hearted Okinawa

253
00:14:11,750 --> 00:14:18,791
Bright like the sun

254
00:14:18,791 --> 00:14:26,065
Cheerful people

255
00:14:26,932 --> 00:14:30,402
Arigatou (thank you), on the
main island of Okinawa, it’s

256
00:14:30,402 --> 00:14:32,137
Nifedebiru, that's thank you.

257
00:14:32,137 --> 00:14:36,075
On the island of Miyakojima,
it's Tandigatandi.

258
00:14:36,075 --> 00:14:38,410
On Ishigaki, it's Mifaiyu.

259
00:14:38,410 --> 00:14:42,948
Haha, it's all the same arigatou,
but the word is totally different.

260
00:14:42,948 --> 00:14:44,350
In Okinawa,

261
00:14:44,350 --> 00:14:48,854
the government makes commercials
encouraging people to speak Shimakutuba.

262
00:14:48,854 --> 00:14:49,922
Obaa-chan, are you ok?

263
00:14:49,922 --> 00:14:51,290
I have back pain.

264
00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:53,626
I want to walk but I can't.

265
00:14:53,626 --> 00:14:55,561
What happened? Are you OK?
(spoken in Shimakutuba)

266
00:14:55,561 --> 00:14:57,930
When you know the language
you can be kinder.

267
00:14:57,930 --> 00:15:02,635
But it's not really catching on.

268
00:15:02,635 --> 00:15:04,336
So Uchināguchi…

269
00:15:04,336 --> 00:15:06,906
So do you.... understand it,
do you know it, do you speak it?

270
00:15:06,906 --> 00:15:07,673
Like, what's…

271
00:15:07,673 --> 00:15:10,175
Ah... haha, I don't understand.

272
00:15:10,175 --> 00:15:10,910
Not really.

273
00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:13,345
Just a bit, phrases here and there.

274
00:15:13,345 --> 00:15:14,647
I don't understand.

275
00:15:14,647 --> 00:15:16,215
I don't really hear it.

276
00:15:16,215 --> 00:15:17,549
They don't talk to me much.

277
00:15:17,549 --> 00:15:19,919
Look at the blinking lights,
look. Do you see it?

278
00:15:19,919 --> 00:15:22,021
My obaa-chan's generation,
they use the language.

279
00:15:22,021 --> 00:15:25,491
But, when they talk with
their grandkids, they use Japanese.

280
00:15:28,327 --> 00:15:31,730
Interestingly, I met Luna
completely by chance.

281
00:15:31,730 --> 00:15:34,166
While meeting with
a local professor at a cafe,

282
00:15:34,166 --> 00:15:36,902
she happened to drop by
and share a meal with us.

283
00:15:36,902 --> 00:15:39,004
I thought she was one
of the professor's students

284
00:15:39,004 --> 00:15:40,739
who knew about my documentary

285
00:15:40,739 --> 00:15:43,709
and so I asked if she would
help find locals to interview.

286
00:15:43,709 --> 00:15:47,079
Unbeknownst to me, she was
only at the cafe looking for a job,

287
00:15:47,079 --> 00:15:49,915
but nonetheless, she kindly
helped me both interview people

288
00:15:49,915 --> 00:15:52,685
and find interviewees, like her Grandma.

289
00:15:52,685 --> 00:15:55,587
I guess that explains her
favourite Okinawan phrase.

290
00:15:55,587 --> 00:15:57,022
Ichariba chode.

291
00:15:57,022 --> 00:16:02,194
Anybody who you meet once
becomes your brother or sister.

292
00:16:02,194 --> 00:16:04,930
I always have it in my heart.

293
00:16:05,130 --> 00:16:07,700
Anyways, her grandma was incredible,

294
00:16:07,700 --> 00:16:09,535
and when asked to
introduce herself,

295
00:16:09,535 --> 00:16:13,038
went on a direct-to-camera
five minute monologue.

296
00:16:14,373 --> 00:16:16,942
My name is Kazuko Oshiro

297
00:16:17,209 --> 00:16:21,513
I'm 85 years old.

298
00:16:21,513 --> 00:16:24,216
I'm from the northern part of Okinawa.

299
00:16:24,550 --> 00:16:27,619
The northern part of
Okinawa, the very north.

300
00:16:27,619 --> 00:16:31,223
I was a teacher for 35 years.

301
00:16:31,223 --> 00:16:34,193
The work was really rewarding.

302
00:16:34,193 --> 00:16:39,331
So if I die now, I can say with confidence

303
00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:41,934
that I had an extremely great life.

304
00:16:41,934 --> 00:16:46,505
But when I was 10, I experienced the war.

305
00:16:46,505 --> 00:16:48,040
Through the mountains,

306
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,743
the very dark mountains,

307
00:16:51,043 --> 00:16:54,113
my newly born sister on my back,

308
00:16:54,113 --> 00:16:55,881
I was frantically running away.

309
00:16:55,881 --> 00:17:00,652
Running through the mountains of Yambaru.

310
00:17:00,652 --> 00:17:05,824
Then, my sister, when
she was turning 3,

311
00:17:05,824 --> 00:17:07,960
died of starvation.

312
00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,764
My grandpa got malaria and died.

313
00:17:11,764 --> 00:17:15,334
That's why I'm really
sensitive about war.

314
00:17:15,334 --> 00:17:18,103
Because I'm sensitive about war,

315
00:17:18,103 --> 00:17:22,241
when I was working as a teacher,

316
00:17:22,241 --> 00:17:27,079
I always had classes about war and peace.

317
00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:31,216
During ethics class, I always strongly

318
00:17:31,216 --> 00:17:33,318
emphasized war and peace.

319
00:17:33,318 --> 00:17:35,320
Telling students we must have peace.

320
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,591
This is very important
for all teachers in Okinawa

321
00:17:39,591 --> 00:17:43,195
to pass on and ensure
we never stop teaching.

322
00:17:43,195 --> 00:17:46,198
No war, only peace.

323
00:17:46,198 --> 00:17:51,103
Because the bases are
connected to war,

324
00:17:51,103 --> 00:17:55,808
we hate them, we don't like them.

325
00:18:05,684 --> 00:18:10,122
During World War II, Okinawa was
the only inhabited Japanese territory

326
00:18:10,122 --> 00:18:12,624
that the U.S. made landfall on.

327
00:18:12,624 --> 00:18:16,528
It's estimated that a third of
the civilian population of Okinawa

328
00:18:16,528 --> 00:18:18,330
died during the war.

329
00:18:22,167 --> 00:18:25,804
For 27 years after the
end of the war in 1945,

330
00:18:25,804 --> 00:18:28,707
Okinawa was administered by the U.S.

331
00:18:28,707 --> 00:18:33,212
During that time, Okinawans needed a
special travel permit to enter Japan,

332
00:18:33,212 --> 00:18:37,783
as they were considered neither
U.S. citizens nor Japanese citizens.

333
00:18:37,783 --> 00:18:41,420
Yukihiro told me about his
first experience traveling outside

334
00:18:41,420 --> 00:18:44,890
of what was then called the
Ryukyu Islands to visit Japan.

335
00:18:44,890 --> 00:18:48,360
When I was a kindergartener, by boat,

336
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:52,397
my mother took me to
Tokyo for the first time.

337
00:18:52,397 --> 00:18:54,633
The currency was
still U.S. dollars,

338
00:18:54,633 --> 00:18:57,269
so in Okinawa we exchanged
it to Japanese yen.

339
00:18:57,269 --> 00:19:01,306
At the port in Kagoshima, we went
to a cafeteria, and ate curry rice.

340
00:19:01,306 --> 00:19:03,575
It was like 300 yen, 300 yen.

341
00:19:03,575 --> 00:19:05,477
And my mother,

342
00:19:05,477 --> 00:19:06,879
because she didn't know yen,

343
00:19:06,879 --> 00:19:08,780
she took her purse and

344
00:19:08,780 --> 00:19:11,083
emptied all her money on the table.

345
00:19:11,083 --> 00:19:13,352
She said, "Because I don't know
the currency, take the money."

346
00:19:14,453 --> 00:19:19,024
As I was a little kid, my mom

347
00:19:19,024 --> 00:19:21,193
said, "I don't know, take the money."

348
00:19:21,193 --> 00:19:24,163
And the Kagoshima
oba-chan's surprised face...

349
00:19:24,163 --> 00:19:26,064
I'll never forget.

350
00:19:33,705 --> 00:19:38,277
On May 15, 1972, Okinawa
was reverted to Japan.

351
00:19:38,277 --> 00:19:40,579
The currency changed from dollar to yen,

352
00:19:40,579 --> 00:19:43,115
cars switched from driving
on the right to the left,

353
00:19:43,115 --> 00:19:45,884
yet the biggest change that
Okinawans were hoping for,

354
00:19:45,884 --> 00:19:49,254
the removal of military
bases, never occurred.

355
00:19:49,254 --> 00:19:54,426
Currently, U.S. military bases occupy
18% of Okinawa's total land.

356
00:19:56,361 --> 00:20:01,166
There are some good American soldiers.

357
00:20:01,166 --> 00:20:06,205
We Okinawans are not against Americans,

358
00:20:06,205 --> 00:20:10,309
rather, we're against the military itself.

359
00:20:13,345 --> 00:20:16,682
It's called 'Champuru' culture,

360
00:20:16,682 --> 00:20:19,918
those many cultures are mixed together.

361
00:20:19,918 --> 00:20:21,620
And we took the best parts.

362
00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:27,759
And live happily together,
that's what we do.

363
00:20:30,862 --> 00:20:36,935
Of course I have the
sense that I'm Japanese,

364
00:20:36,935 --> 00:20:41,073
though I deeply feel more
like I'm Okinawan.

365
00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:44,843
That's naturally from the
bottom of my heart,

366
00:20:44,843 --> 00:20:48,647
as I was born and raised on
the island. So I'm Okinawan.

367
00:20:48,647 --> 00:20:53,085
At heart I'm Okinawan.

368
00:20:53,085 --> 00:20:54,453
Okinawan.

369
00:20:54,453 --> 00:20:57,055
I'm OK being Japanese, but...

370
00:20:57,055 --> 00:20:59,958
Even though I have a Japanese passport,

371
00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:02,561
if there's an Okinawan
passport I will choose (it).

372
00:21:16,541 --> 00:21:19,678
In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan.

373
00:21:19,678 --> 00:21:24,182
Under Japanese rule, many Koreans
relocated to the main islands of Japan.

374
00:21:24,182 --> 00:21:25,917
They had Japanese nationality

375
00:21:25,917 --> 00:21:29,354
and children were compelled
to receive Japanese education.

376
00:21:29,354 --> 00:21:32,824
At the end of World War II,
Korea's territories were reverted

377
00:21:32,824 --> 00:21:35,861
and over a million Koreans
were repatriated to Korea,

378
00:21:35,861 --> 00:21:38,830
but over half a million
remained in Japan.

379
00:21:38,830 --> 00:21:42,334
When the Allied occupation
of Japan ended in 1952,

380
00:21:42,334 --> 00:21:45,237
Koreans formally lost their
Japanese nationality.

381
00:21:45,637 --> 00:21:49,474
In Japan, these people are
called Zainichi-Kankoku-jin

382
00:21:49,474 --> 00:21:51,843
or Zainichi-Korean.

383
00:21:52,611 --> 00:21:54,479
So before I could finish
filming and editing

384
00:21:54,479 --> 00:21:56,748
this section on Zainichi-Koreans,

385
00:21:56,748 --> 00:21:58,417
a strange thing happened.

386
00:21:58,417 --> 00:22:02,287
One by one, three different
people involved pulled out.

387
00:22:02,287 --> 00:22:04,056
One was helping behind-the-scenes,

388
00:22:04,056 --> 00:22:06,158
but two of them were
people I was interviewing.

389
00:22:06,158 --> 00:22:08,927
Out of the over fifty
interviewees I talked with,

390
00:22:08,927 --> 00:22:10,595
it's only Zainichi-Koreans,

391
00:22:10,595 --> 00:22:12,764
who were initially on
board with the project,

392
00:22:12,764 --> 00:22:16,168
that decided it was best to not
have their name or face attached.

393
00:22:16,168 --> 00:22:17,903
Why is that?

394
00:22:18,136 --> 00:22:20,439
I remember one day filming in Tokyo,

395
00:22:20,439 --> 00:22:21,873
near a busy train station,

396
00:22:21,873 --> 00:22:24,810
when I heard a little van with
a loud speaker that said,

397
00:22:24,810 --> 00:22:26,845
"We Japanese citizens

398
00:22:26,845 --> 00:22:28,714
and this country Japan

399
00:22:28,714 --> 00:22:31,116
will be gone one day."

400
00:22:31,116 --> 00:22:33,051
Ultra right wing groups in Japan

401
00:22:33,051 --> 00:22:36,788
are going all out with hate speech
rallys targeting ethinic Koreans

402
00:22:36,788 --> 00:22:42,194
Insults against Koreans fly across the
streets of the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

403
00:22:42,194 --> 00:22:47,332
“Let’s get rid of cockroach-like Koreans!”

404
00:22:47,332 --> 00:22:49,935
So there's this small, vocal,
number of Japanese

405
00:22:49,935 --> 00:22:52,037
that will speak out
against Zainichi-Koreans.

406
00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:53,338
But perhaps more scary,

407
00:22:53,338 --> 00:22:56,708
is the anonymous people online
who attack Zainichi-Koreans.

408
00:22:56,708 --> 00:23:00,846
I think it's this loud minority that
my interviewees are hiding from.

409
00:23:00,846 --> 00:23:03,215
Instead of cutting out their
experiences completely,

410
00:23:03,215 --> 00:23:05,283
and in order to keep
their identities hidden,

411
00:23:05,283 --> 00:23:07,586
I had someone voice what they had said.

412
00:23:07,586 --> 00:23:10,989
To be clear, while the man I
interviewed is indeed the real person,

413
00:23:10,989 --> 00:23:13,825
the woman you hear is simply
retelling the experiences

414
00:23:13,825 --> 00:23:16,261
of Zainichi-Koreans I interviewed.

415
00:23:20,966 --> 00:23:23,902
I am third generation Zainichi-Korean.

416
00:23:24,236 --> 00:23:27,472
So my grandparents came to
Japan during the war.

417
00:23:27,472 --> 00:23:31,143
Because during that time, Japan and Korea
were one country and they could come.

418
00:23:31,143 --> 00:23:36,248
My grandparents came to Japan
for work, and had kids here.

419
00:23:36,248 --> 00:23:40,519
But when the war ended,
my father's side went back

420
00:23:40,519 --> 00:23:43,588
and found out that the living conditions
were even worse in Korea.

421
00:23:43,588 --> 00:23:45,590
It was a really poor country.

422
00:23:45,590 --> 00:23:48,560
So they decided to come back to Japan.

423
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,864
But because it was already two
separate countries by that time,

424
00:23:52,864 --> 00:23:55,901
they had to secretly come by boat.

425
00:23:55,901 --> 00:23:58,970
But the boat was really crappy.

426
00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:02,207
And then they found out the boat
had a hole and it started sinking.

427
00:24:02,207 --> 00:24:07,546
And everyone was like, "Come on!"
and scooping the water out.

428
00:24:07,546 --> 00:24:13,418
My aunt saw this old man who was
just sitting still, not helping.

429
00:24:13,418 --> 00:24:16,521
And she said, "You too!

430
00:24:16,521 --> 00:24:17,856
Help us!

431
00:24:17,856 --> 00:24:19,257
What are you doing?"

432
00:24:19,257 --> 00:24:22,027
But he just sat still.

433
00:24:22,027 --> 00:24:23,929
The boat continued to sink,

434
00:24:23,929 --> 00:24:26,731
but then a Japanese fishing boat came by.

435
00:24:26,731 --> 00:24:31,102
And everyone was saying,
"Help us! Help us!"

436
00:24:31,102 --> 00:24:35,006
But the Japanese fisherman
saw that and must have thought,

437
00:24:35,006 --> 00:24:36,808
"A bunch of Koreans!”

438
00:24:36,808 --> 00:24:40,679
But then the old man suddenly stood up

439
00:24:40,679 --> 00:24:43,315
and pulled out a big bundle
of money out of his pocket.

440
00:24:43,315 --> 00:24:47,185
And the fisherman said,
"OK, everyone get on."

441
00:24:47,185 --> 00:24:54,359
And that was how I was born,
my father was born, everyone survived.

442
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:58,230
My name is Motonori Kan,
that's my Japanese name

443
00:24:58,230 --> 00:25:00,832
and I also have a Korean name, Wonduk Han.

444
00:25:00,832 --> 00:25:04,903
I'm a third generation Korean-Japanese.

445
00:25:04,903 --> 00:25:09,274
When a lot of Koreans
migrated to Japan,

446
00:25:09,274 --> 00:25:12,744
we had to come up with a Japanese name

447
00:25:12,744 --> 00:25:14,713
to live like Japanese.

448
00:25:14,713 --> 00:25:18,016
And so we came up with Nishihara.

449
00:25:18,016 --> 00:25:21,453
Nishi is west, hara is a field.

450
00:25:21,453 --> 00:25:25,891
You can say that the name represents Korea.

451
00:25:25,891 --> 00:25:30,595
Korea is geographically on
the Western part of Japan.

452
00:25:30,829 --> 00:25:32,364
For early Zainichi-Koreans,

453
00:25:32,364 --> 00:25:35,333
assimilating into Japan
was often a necessity

454
00:25:35,333 --> 00:25:37,235
in order to avoid discrimination

455
00:25:37,235 --> 00:25:39,404
and to be able to access jobs.

456
00:25:39,404 --> 00:25:41,840
This would entail
taking on Japanese names,

457
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,010
speaking Japanese, and acting Japanese.

458
00:25:45,010 --> 00:25:47,546
This would mean, that at
some point in their lives,

459
00:25:47,546 --> 00:25:50,415
their children would find out
that they're not Japanese,

460
00:25:50,415 --> 00:25:52,784
at least nationality-wise.

461
00:25:53,585 --> 00:25:56,521
The first time my parents
told me I wasn't Japanese,

462
00:25:56,521 --> 00:25:58,990
I was Korean,

463
00:25:58,990 --> 00:26:01,793
was when my mother and I
were taking a bath together.

464
00:26:01,793 --> 00:26:02,894
My mother said,

465
00:26:02,894 --> 00:26:06,631
"If you go to kindergarten,
you'll meet a lot of Japanese kids.

466
00:26:06,631 --> 00:26:10,702
You are not Japanese."

467
00:26:10,702 --> 00:26:14,639
And I remember thinking,
"What is Japanese?"

468
00:26:14,639 --> 00:26:16,241
"I'm not them?

469
00:26:16,241 --> 00:26:17,742
We're not the same?"

470
00:26:17,742 --> 00:26:19,844
She said, "No."

471
00:26:19,844 --> 00:26:22,814
She said, "They're Japanese.

472
00:26:22,814 --> 00:26:24,416
You're not.

473
00:26:24,416 --> 00:26:27,052
You're Korean."

474
00:26:27,052 --> 00:26:29,154
I didn't understand,

475
00:26:29,154 --> 00:26:30,555
because what's the difference between us.

476
00:26:30,555 --> 00:26:32,424
We looked exactly the same.

477
00:26:32,424 --> 00:26:35,260
I put up my finger like this
and said, "Not this much?

478
00:26:35,260 --> 00:26:38,263
Maybe this much I'm the same?"

479
00:26:38,263 --> 00:26:41,199
And she said, "No, no you're not."

480
00:26:42,033 --> 00:26:47,072
My father and my mother
know very little Korean.

481
00:26:47,072 --> 00:26:52,143
My grandparents decided
to not teach them Korean.

482
00:26:52,143 --> 00:26:59,784
Their intent was so that they can
localize faster into the society.

483
00:26:59,784 --> 00:27:06,191
Being Korean back sixty, seventy years
ago was a tough time for them in Japan.

484
00:27:06,191 --> 00:27:10,462
So they probably didn't want my parents

485
00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:14,499
to experience the
same kind of situation.

486
00:27:14,933 --> 00:27:18,136
The first time I met so many
Zainichi-Koreans like me

487
00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:20,038
was when I was seventeen.

488
00:27:20,038 --> 00:27:24,209
For summer vacation,
my father sent me to this program

489
00:27:24,209 --> 00:27:29,414
for Zainichi-Korean kids to
visit Seoul for 10 days.

490
00:27:29,414 --> 00:27:32,917
At the end of the trip one of the
girls came up to me and said,

491
00:27:32,917 --> 00:27:38,023
"Do you tell your friends
that you're Korean?

492
00:27:38,023 --> 00:27:40,592
And I'm like, "Yeah sure! I never hide.

493
00:27:40,592 --> 00:27:43,261
I say it all the time."

494
00:27:43,261 --> 00:27:45,864
And she's like, "Really?

495
00:27:45,864 --> 00:27:47,699
And what do they say?"

496
00:27:47,699 --> 00:27:49,567
She was really worried.

497
00:27:49,567 --> 00:27:54,372
"I never tell anyone that I'm Korean,

498
00:27:54,372 --> 00:27:57,375
and I'm so worried everyday
that someone might find out.

499
00:27:57,375 --> 00:27:59,444
So I want to change my
nationality to Japanese,

500
00:27:59,444 --> 00:28:01,046
but my parents won't let me.

501
00:28:01,046 --> 00:28:02,847
So I'm waiting until I'm 20."

502
00:28:02,847 --> 00:28:05,150
Because if you're 20, you can change
your nationality by yourself.

503
00:28:05,150 --> 00:28:07,886
But if you're under 20, you need
your parents’ permission."

504
00:28:07,886 --> 00:28:11,956
So she said, "When I'm 20,
I'll become Japanese."

505
00:28:11,956 --> 00:28:14,292
And I'm like, "Why?"

506
00:28:14,292 --> 00:28:15,794
Because I never experienced
any discrimination

507
00:28:15,794 --> 00:28:17,729
in my life up until that point.

508
00:28:17,729 --> 00:28:20,165
So I really didn't understand why

509
00:28:20,165 --> 00:28:22,600
you have to keep it a secret.

510
00:28:23,401 --> 00:28:28,373
I don't know how but word
gets around and people find out.

511
00:28:28,373 --> 00:28:34,079
My school friends find out that I'm
actually not Japanese, I'm Korean.

512
00:28:34,079 --> 00:28:38,983
And there was a stereotype bullying phrase

513
00:28:38,983 --> 00:28:43,154
and name calling back then to Koreans,

514
00:28:43,154 --> 00:28:48,426
that we smelled like kimchi and garlic.

515
00:28:48,426 --> 00:28:52,697
When I was a child, that did hurt.

516
00:28:52,697 --> 00:28:56,534
But then again, I had lots
of good friends as well

517
00:28:56,534 --> 00:28:59,971
so it kept my spirits up.

518
00:29:06,311 --> 00:29:10,548
In 1908, the first Japanese
started emigrating to Brazil.

519
00:29:10,548 --> 00:29:13,218
There was a shortage of
labour on coffee plantations

520
00:29:13,218 --> 00:29:15,420
and so Japanese farmers
moved to work there,

521
00:29:15,420 --> 00:29:17,689
many to the state of São (Saon) Paulo.

522
00:29:17,689 --> 00:29:20,291
Currently, Brazil is the
country with the largest

523
00:29:20,291 --> 00:29:22,260
community of Japanese descendants,

524
00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:24,562
who number 1.4 million.

525
00:29:24,562 --> 00:29:28,466
Starting in the 1980's, during the
peak of Japan's Bubble economy,

526
00:29:28,466 --> 00:29:30,268
reverse migration occurred.

527
00:29:30,268 --> 00:29:33,371
Brazilians of Japanese
descent, Nikkei-Brazilians,

528
00:29:33,371 --> 00:29:35,673
started returning to Japan.

529
00:29:35,673 --> 00:29:37,942
To find out more
about Nikkei-Brazilians,

530
00:29:37,942 --> 00:29:39,844
I visited with Professor Oka,

531
00:29:39,844 --> 00:29:42,580
who teaches at the
Tokyo Gakugei University.

532
00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:45,617
He was about to take his students
on a trip to a Japanese city

533
00:29:45,617 --> 00:29:48,453
where many Nikkei-
Brazilians work and live.

534
00:29:48,453 --> 00:29:52,957
Japanese-Brazilians get priority
because they are the descendants

535
00:29:52,957 --> 00:29:56,861
of Japanese immigrants and get
Teijyusha (Long-term Resident) visas.

536
00:29:56,861 --> 00:30:04,702
Some work in car factories
or electronics factories.

537
00:30:04,702 --> 00:30:10,108
Oizumi town in Ota city, Gunma
where we are going to visit next

538
00:30:10,108 --> 00:30:15,513
is where a lot of Brazilians live because
there are electronics companies.

539
00:30:15,513 --> 00:30:21,986
Japanese-Brazilians are
here for Dekasegi.

540
00:30:21,986 --> 00:30:28,493
They are here for some years to work
and save and go back to Brazil.

541
00:30:28,493 --> 00:30:31,663
Working in a factory, they
live close to each other.

542
00:30:31,663 --> 00:30:34,232
They don't really speak Japanese there.

543
00:30:34,232 --> 00:30:40,471
They don't need to speak it in
the community. So they work there.

544
00:30:40,471 --> 00:30:45,376
I worked from 2016 until last year (2017).

545
00:30:45,376 --> 00:30:49,948
I worked at a factory
for like twelve hours a day.

546
00:30:49,948 --> 00:30:53,751
But the work itself
is not the hardest part.

547
00:30:53,751 --> 00:30:57,589
It's like you're in a different culture.

548
00:30:57,589 --> 00:31:00,859
Because even though I grew up
with a Japanese father,

549
00:31:00,859 --> 00:31:02,560
I grew up in a different environment.

550
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,698
So, you kind of think you're
Japanese, until you get there.

551
00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:10,501
Because, it's really strange.

552
00:31:10,501 --> 00:31:15,773
Here in Brazil people used to call me,
"Oh look, it's that Japanese guy."

553
00:31:15,773 --> 00:31:18,276
And then in Japan we have this problem

554
00:31:18,276 --> 00:31:22,146
because we Brazilians refer to the
Japanese as Japanese.

555
00:31:22,146 --> 00:31:23,815
Then who we are?

556
00:31:23,815 --> 00:31:25,583
It's really strange.

557
00:31:32,624 --> 00:31:34,492
Hello, my name is Erica

558
00:31:34,492 --> 00:31:36,094
and I'm from Brazil.

559
00:31:36,094 --> 00:31:40,632
My mom is Japanese, she doesn't
have a Brazilian citizenship.

560
00:31:40,632 --> 00:31:44,369
She was in Brazil since
she was eight years old,

561
00:31:44,369 --> 00:31:47,038
and also my father, he’s Japanese.

562
00:31:47,038 --> 00:31:51,509
They don't have Brazilian citizenships so
they both have Japanese passports.

563
00:31:51,976 --> 00:31:53,645
So Erica came to Japan to work,

564
00:31:53,645 --> 00:31:55,013
but unlike Tetsuo,

565
00:31:55,013 --> 00:31:58,316
who found factory work through
a temporary employment agency,

566
00:31:58,316 --> 00:31:59,884
she has a white collar job

567
00:31:59,884 --> 00:32:01,686
and transferred within her company.

568
00:32:01,686 --> 00:32:05,657
I interviewed her via video a month
before she arrived in Japan.

569
00:32:05,657 --> 00:32:11,095
Why is it you're going to Japan?

570
00:32:11,095 --> 00:32:16,801
Actually, my husband received a
job offer to work there as an engineer.

571
00:32:16,801 --> 00:32:19,938
So we thought it would
be good for his career

572
00:32:19,938 --> 00:32:21,873
and actually, he really likes Japan.

573
00:32:21,873 --> 00:32:24,609
You are nisei right?

574
00:32:24,609 --> 00:32:25,510
Yes.

575
00:32:25,510 --> 00:32:28,680
Oh right, nisei means second generation.

576
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,782
So issei would be first generation,

577
00:32:30,782 --> 00:32:32,784
nisei second generation,

578
00:32:32,784 --> 00:32:34,552
sansei third generation,

579
00:32:34,552 --> 00:32:37,689
and yonsei, you guessed it,
fourth generation.

580
00:32:38,423 --> 00:32:40,591
Ok, and so how is your Japanese?

581
00:32:41,859 --> 00:32:43,928
Nonexisting,

582
00:32:43,928 --> 00:32:47,598
because my parents came to
Brazil when they were children.

583
00:32:47,598 --> 00:32:51,035
But my mom just learned Portugese
when she was an adult,

584
00:32:51,035 --> 00:32:52,503
when she was twenty four.

585
00:32:52,503 --> 00:32:56,774
So she actually makes some mistakes.

586
00:32:56,774 --> 00:32:59,477
I think my father was afraid that we

587
00:32:59,477 --> 00:33:03,414
might learn something
incorrectly in Portugese.

588
00:33:03,414 --> 00:33:05,083
I don't know, mix up letters?

589
00:33:05,083 --> 00:33:08,753
So he said that she
shouldn't talk in Japanese.

590
00:33:08,753 --> 00:33:10,688
So that’s why we didn't learn.

591
00:33:10,688 --> 00:33:14,559
When I was a teenager, I told my father,
"So now I think it's time to learn.

592
00:33:14,559 --> 00:33:18,963
I am not really keen on
Japanese, but I think I should."

593
00:33:18,963 --> 00:33:21,499
And he said, "No, just study more English,

594
00:33:21,499 --> 00:33:23,768
because Japanese is useless,

595
00:33:23,768 --> 00:33:26,070
and it's too difficult and etcetera."

596
00:33:26,070 --> 00:33:28,106
He said it's just a waste of time.

597
00:33:28,106 --> 00:33:30,942
But it happened, that now I need Japanese.

598
00:33:30,942 --> 00:33:33,378
Like I'm very nervous because

599
00:33:33,378 --> 00:33:36,581
everything will be new, like
I don't have any friends there,

600
00:33:36,581 --> 00:33:38,750
and I don't speak Japanese and

601
00:33:38,750 --> 00:33:40,952
my friend in Tokyo,
she said just come here

602
00:33:40,952 --> 00:33:42,420
and say that you're a foreigner,

603
00:33:42,420 --> 00:33:44,288
don't say that you're learning.

604
00:33:44,288 --> 00:33:45,223
Don't say that...

605
00:33:45,223 --> 00:33:49,193
Like it's not important for them
that your parents are Japanese,

606
00:33:49,193 --> 00:33:51,529
because then you should speak Japanese.

607
00:33:51,529 --> 00:33:55,400
So they will get confused,
like you do a lot of odd things.

608
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,368
So that's my main concern,

609
00:33:57,368 --> 00:34:02,373
like being accepted,
because like it's very different.

610
00:34:02,373 --> 00:34:03,708
It's very different.

611
00:34:03,708 --> 00:34:05,109
In my first month in Japan,

612
00:34:05,109 --> 00:34:10,481
I tried to find community
Japanese language classes,

613
00:34:10,481 --> 00:34:15,286
where Japanese volunteers, mostly
seniors, would teach us Japanese.

614
00:34:15,286 --> 00:34:18,456
And they were really kind towards me,

615
00:34:18,456 --> 00:34:21,325
every time they would bring snacks,

616
00:34:21,325 --> 00:34:25,063
Most of the time, Japanese
were really kind towards me

617
00:34:25,063 --> 00:34:26,664
and accepted me.

618
00:34:26,664 --> 00:34:28,599
I don't know how they perceived me.

619
00:34:28,599 --> 00:34:31,803
If I was like someone
who can grow as a Japanese.

620
00:34:31,803 --> 00:34:33,337
Or maybe just a Brazilian

621
00:34:33,337 --> 00:34:36,307
who's really working hard to
adapt to their culture.

622
00:34:36,307 --> 00:34:38,709
If people came to me and spoke

623
00:34:38,709 --> 00:34:40,478
like, "You're not Japanese."

624
00:34:40,478 --> 00:34:44,015
I would say, "Yeah, I'm a
half Brazilian, half Japanese,

625
00:34:44,015 --> 00:34:46,884
I have both cultures so...

626
00:34:47,418 --> 00:34:49,020
deal with it.

627
00:34:54,025 --> 00:34:58,129
It often seems that being Japanese
is a yes or no thing.

628
00:34:58,129 --> 00:35:00,498
You're Japanese, or you're not.

629
00:35:00,498 --> 00:35:03,734
However, there's a term for those
that have one Japanese parent.

630
00:35:03,734 --> 00:35:06,170
Hāfu, as in half-Japanese.

631
00:35:06,170 --> 00:35:08,106
Some hāfu don't like this term,

632
00:35:08,106 --> 00:35:10,441
as it can make them feel
like they're half a person,

633
00:35:10,441 --> 00:35:14,445
so there are those that would
rather be called daburu, as in double.

634
00:35:14,445 --> 00:35:16,914
But of course, some don't
like that term either,

635
00:35:16,914 --> 00:35:20,051
since it can be taken as they're
twice as good as someone else.

636
00:35:20,051 --> 00:35:23,588
More practically, many Japanese
don't know the term daburu,

637
00:35:23,588 --> 00:35:27,425
so the term hāfu is what
most use by default.

638
00:35:37,969 --> 00:35:39,937
They marked it wrong.

639
00:35:46,878 --> 00:35:50,314
So, I was born in the
U.S. and raised there

640
00:35:50,314 --> 00:35:51,716
so all my banking information

641
00:35:51,716 --> 00:35:54,585
at the time was U.S. bank.

642
00:35:54,585 --> 00:35:58,289
So I remember having a little
bit of embarrassment

643
00:35:58,289 --> 00:36:02,293
when I would go to, like an
ATM for example at 7-Eleven,

644
00:36:02,293 --> 00:36:03,661
put my bank card in.

645
00:36:03,661 --> 00:36:05,796
You have to select the English option.

646
00:36:05,796 --> 00:36:07,798
The voice over is like, "WELCOME!"

647
00:36:07,798 --> 00:36:11,369
And everyone in the
area, I was afraid like,

648
00:36:11,369 --> 00:36:16,374
oh they can hear this and they'll
know that I'm not actually Japanese.

649
00:36:16,374 --> 00:36:20,111
It's so silly to think about it now,

650
00:36:20,111 --> 00:36:23,714
but I wanted to just be Japanese

651
00:36:23,714 --> 00:36:28,286
or what my mind thought a
regular Japanese person was, so

652
00:36:28,286 --> 00:36:32,924
I didn't like the fact that
everyone could hear that.

653
00:36:32,924 --> 00:36:35,927
It's so silly when I think
about it now because

654
00:36:35,927 --> 00:36:39,096
I do speak Japanese
and I do speak English.

655
00:36:39,096 --> 00:36:44,602
I am from America, I don't really have
to be embarrassed about any of this.

656
00:36:44,602 --> 00:36:48,739
So I don't really worry about
it now because I am both.

657
00:36:48,739 --> 00:36:51,309
My name is...

658
00:36:51,309 --> 00:36:53,511
My name is...

659
00:36:53,911 --> 00:36:55,846
My name is...

660
00:36:55,846 --> 00:36:57,381
Naomi!

661
00:36:57,381 --> 00:37:01,619
I'm Naomi Iwazawa.
I'm half Japanese and Czech.

662
00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:07,825
I help people understand
and appreciate diversity.

663
00:37:07,992 --> 00:37:11,162
My name is Naomi,

664
00:37:11,162 --> 00:37:12,530
I'm Japanese.

665
00:37:12,530 --> 00:37:15,933
My mom is from Czech Republic
and I grew up in Japan,

666
00:37:15,933 --> 00:37:17,868
Germany, and Hungary.

667
00:37:17,868 --> 00:37:21,505
I'm here in Japan working
on embracing diversity.

668
00:37:21,505 --> 00:37:23,241
I want to eat sushi.

669
00:37:23,241 --> 00:37:26,944
I realized I was Japanese

670
00:37:26,944 --> 00:37:31,983
when I first went to Hungary
when I was like 6 or 7.

671
00:37:31,983 --> 00:37:36,487
I was living in Japan like
any other Japanese child,

672
00:37:36,487 --> 00:37:42,326
I was never told I was different.

673
00:37:42,326 --> 00:37:45,730
So I'd never thought differences existed.

674
00:37:45,730 --> 00:37:49,200
When I went to an international
school in Hungary,

675
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:53,938
everyone said where they came from.

676
00:37:53,938 --> 00:38:00,311
So everyone shared their
own culture with each other there.

677
00:38:00,311 --> 00:38:04,081
I said I was Japanese, but wait,
my mother is Czech, so

678
00:38:04,081 --> 00:38:05,650
I am also Czech.

679
00:38:05,650 --> 00:38:08,986
That's how I started
to think about myself.

680
00:38:11,422 --> 00:38:13,224
After I came back to Japan,

681
00:38:13,224 --> 00:38:14,225
my classmates said,

682
00:38:14,225 --> 00:38:22,867
"You are not Japanese so
go back to your country."

683
00:38:22,867 --> 00:38:32,043
I thought I was Japanese,

684
00:38:32,043 --> 00:38:35,846
but I found mud in my shoe locker.

685
00:38:35,846 --> 00:38:38,783
I also found my gym
clothes in a garbage bin,

686
00:38:38,783 --> 00:38:40,451
some pulled my hair saying,

687
00:38:40,451 --> 00:38:43,821
"You shouldn't have brown hair
(it's against the rules)."

688
00:38:43,821 --> 00:38:46,023
Some pulled my earrings.

689
00:38:46,023 --> 00:38:55,566
I told them the reason why I
had earrings and brown hair.

690
00:38:55,566 --> 00:39:01,305
I don't know if they thought it's unfair,

691
00:39:01,305 --> 00:39:04,909
they were jealous, or hostile;

692
00:39:04,909 --> 00:39:11,282
but that's what I experienced.

693
00:39:11,282 --> 00:39:13,517
My junior high was in Germany,

694
00:39:13,517 --> 00:39:18,456
so I felt so much better
getting out of that society.

695
00:39:18,456 --> 00:39:24,495
I was in an international school,
so it was a different atmosphere,

696
00:39:24,495 --> 00:39:29,467
where I could say my identity freely.

697
00:39:31,669 --> 00:39:35,506
But something happened when Naomi
returned back to Japan for high school.

698
00:39:35,506 --> 00:39:38,576
She reunited with friends and
teachers from elementary school

699
00:39:38,576 --> 00:39:40,144
and was surprised to learn

700
00:39:40,144 --> 00:39:43,013
that many of the students were
interested in studying abroad

701
00:39:43,013 --> 00:39:45,082
or learning about overseas.

702
00:39:45,082 --> 00:39:47,284
You see, back in elementary school,

703
00:39:47,284 --> 00:39:50,454
her parents had offered workshops
about cultures around the world.

704
00:39:50,454 --> 00:39:53,624
And of course Naomi talked
about herself as well.

705
00:39:53,624 --> 00:39:56,627
She felt that the exposure to
different cultures at a young age

706
00:39:56,627 --> 00:39:59,864
helped shape the views of her
fellow students in a positive way.

707
00:39:59,864 --> 00:40:02,500
She then started an
organization called Culmony,

708
00:40:02,500 --> 00:40:04,869
combining the words culture and harmony,

709
00:40:04,869 --> 00:40:08,973
wishing to build a society where many
cultures harmonize with each other.

710
00:40:08,973 --> 00:40:11,575
She went on to tell me about
one of her experiences,

711
00:40:11,575 --> 00:40:13,577
inviting international guest students,

712
00:40:13,577 --> 00:40:15,813
to give a workshop in a school.

713
00:40:17,348 --> 00:40:22,052
There were guest students from
Haiti, Israel, and Korea.

714
00:40:22,052 --> 00:40:25,156
We all went to this elementary school

715
00:40:25,156 --> 00:40:28,225
to learn about different cultures.

716
00:40:28,225 --> 00:40:30,661
It must have been something like

717
00:40:30,661 --> 00:40:33,097
they have never interacted
with black people.

718
00:40:33,097 --> 00:40:37,902
There was one child that ran away
crying or some other things happened.

719
00:40:37,902 --> 00:40:41,906
So we did a quiz game.

720
00:40:41,906 --> 00:40:45,242
We never imagined this
would have happened.

721
00:40:45,242 --> 00:40:49,647
"Is that true that chopsticks are
only used in Japan, yes or no? "

722
00:40:49,647 --> 00:40:51,982
The children went to the person
who had a board with 'Yes'.

723
00:40:51,982 --> 00:40:55,486
We realised the board for 'No' was
being held by the black student.

724
00:40:55,486 --> 00:41:02,660
It seemed like the children were
scared to go near the student.

725
00:41:02,660 --> 00:41:06,230
Some students who thought
the answer was no,

726
00:41:06,230 --> 00:41:10,334
stayed in the 'No' area where
it's almost in the 'Yes' area.

727
00:41:10,334 --> 00:41:12,803
I was very curious about this.

728
00:41:12,803 --> 00:41:15,706
We all knew the children
didn't intend to dislike

729
00:41:15,706 --> 00:41:18,509
or even discriminate
against the black student.

730
00:41:22,046 --> 00:41:30,054
Then that student was very good with kids.

731
00:41:30,054 --> 00:41:32,823
So after an hour and a half,

732
00:41:32,823 --> 00:41:34,525
the kids already became
good friends with him

733
00:41:34,525 --> 00:41:36,160
and some even climbed up on his back.

734
00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:38,496
Some said your hair is
nice and super curly

735
00:41:38,496 --> 00:41:40,698
and enjoyed playing with him.

736
00:41:40,698 --> 00:41:42,600
So this kind of experience,

737
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:46,237
if there are young children
like grade 1, 2, or 3,

738
00:41:46,237 --> 00:41:52,409
they can get over it soon even though
they initially cried or ran away.

739
00:41:52,409 --> 00:41:56,547
It can be accepted because
they are still young children.

740
00:41:56,547 --> 00:42:01,252
The more you have those
experiences when young,

741
00:42:01,252 --> 00:42:09,360
the less you feel fear of differences
or different cultures.

742
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,263
I really learned from that event.

743
00:42:13,998 --> 00:42:16,033
Mei, where is Japan?

744
00:42:17,067 --> 00:42:18,302
Yes.

745
00:42:18,302 --> 00:42:21,038
And Kota, where is Canada?

746
00:42:21,705 --> 00:42:22,573
I know!

747
00:42:22,573 --> 00:42:23,340
Yes.

748
00:42:26,744 --> 00:42:28,879
My name is Tetsuro Miyazaki.

749
00:42:28,879 --> 00:42:33,183
I am a Belgian-Japanese photographer.

750
00:42:38,255 --> 00:42:41,759
Internet connection here sucks.

751
00:42:45,596 --> 00:42:46,397
Meri-san?

752
00:42:46,397 --> 00:42:46,931
I'm Meri.

753
00:42:46,931 --> 00:42:48,332
- Hello!
- Hello!

754
00:42:48,332 --> 00:42:49,533
I'm Tetsuro.

755
00:42:49,533 --> 00:42:50,401
I'm Meri.

756
00:42:50,401 --> 00:42:52,536
- Nice to meet you!
- Nice to meet you!

757
00:42:52,536 --> 00:42:56,640
I'm the photographer of a
photo project called Hāfu2Hāfu,

758
00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:01,011
which is about mixed race
Japanese identity worldwide.

759
00:43:01,011 --> 00:43:02,613
And as a matter of coincidence,

760
00:43:02,613 --> 00:43:05,382
Naomi was pictured as
part of Tetsuro's project.

761
00:43:05,382 --> 00:43:07,851
He's taken 120 photos from Hāfu

762
00:43:07,851 --> 00:43:11,288
from almost 100 different
countries combined with Japan.

763
00:43:11,288 --> 00:43:12,690
So I meet people,

764
00:43:12,690 --> 00:43:16,860
we have a one hour discussion,
its a very open talk about

765
00:43:16,860 --> 00:43:21,198
who we are, where we come
from, what issues we face.

766
00:43:21,198 --> 00:43:23,901
What we have in common is what we discuss

767
00:43:23,901 --> 00:43:28,272
and what separates us, what makes
us different from each other.

768
00:43:28,272 --> 00:43:33,811
At the end of this conversation,
we try to distill, if you want,

769
00:43:33,811 --> 00:43:35,546
one single question,

770
00:43:35,546 --> 00:43:38,782
that kind of summarizes
the whole conversation

771
00:43:38,782 --> 00:43:41,285
or the main topic of the conversation.

772
00:43:41,285 --> 00:43:45,389
What do you think ‘a hāfu’ looks like?

773
00:43:46,223 --> 00:43:48,726
And that's what I put in the book.

774
00:43:48,726 --> 00:43:52,529
Most commonly, when we
talk about hāfu in Japan,

775
00:43:52,529 --> 00:43:57,501
we talk about white, Japanese,

776
00:43:57,501 --> 00:43:59,603
bicultural people,

777
00:43:59,603 --> 00:44:03,007
who speak two languages,
maybe three or four.

778
00:44:03,007 --> 00:44:04,842
That's the common image we have.

779
00:44:04,842 --> 00:44:07,544
Some people who are half
black and half Japanese

780
00:44:07,544 --> 00:44:09,980
do not identify as hāfu,

781
00:44:09,980 --> 00:44:12,616
because the rest of the world
does not see them like that.

782
00:44:12,616 --> 00:44:16,720
I want to redefine the image

783
00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:18,722
that we have of what is

784
00:44:18,722 --> 00:44:21,959
a half Japanese person and
what does he or she look like.

785
00:44:25,195 --> 00:44:28,065
Hi, I'm Monique, I was born
and raised in Japan.

786
00:44:28,065 --> 00:44:30,167
My dad's African-American from Tennessee,

787
00:44:30,167 --> 00:44:32,436
and my mom is from Tochigi in Japan.

788
00:44:32,436 --> 00:44:35,372
So my high school is right over there

789
00:44:35,372 --> 00:44:39,009
and then that area, that building
there is the food court

790
00:44:39,009 --> 00:44:41,278
everybody can eat there.

791
00:44:41,278 --> 00:44:44,715
That tower over there
is the nanaban tower,

792
00:44:44,715 --> 00:44:48,218
I was there until, I was like, maybe, ten?

793
00:44:51,488 --> 00:44:55,292
I was born off-base here in Yokosuka

794
00:44:55,292 --> 00:44:58,962
and I was able to get my American
citizenship through my father,

795
00:44:58,962 --> 00:45:00,431
since he was already American,

796
00:45:00,431 --> 00:45:03,834
and then my Japanese
citizenship through my mom.

797
00:45:04,535 --> 00:45:05,969
You know looking back

798
00:45:05,969 --> 00:45:08,906
I guess it was a very
unique sort of experience,

799
00:45:08,906 --> 00:45:11,275
I didn't know because it was
all I knew during the time.

800
00:45:11,275 --> 00:45:16,146
Constant, like, literal transition
from one community to the other,

801
00:45:16,146 --> 00:45:18,515
one language, one culture to the other.

802
00:45:18,515 --> 00:45:21,618
Generally, needing to be ready to bridge

803
00:45:21,618 --> 00:45:23,520
connections between people or

804
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:27,257
whether it be incidents,
or just kind of opportunities,

805
00:45:27,257 --> 00:45:28,692
that was kind of my role.

806
00:45:28,692 --> 00:45:30,928
So I always found myself
being the translator

807
00:45:30,928 --> 00:45:33,297
like even for field trips in third grade.

808
00:45:35,265 --> 00:45:38,469
The Yokosuka community is very
used to having the military around.

809
00:45:38,469 --> 00:45:41,105
It's been around since World War II,

810
00:45:41,105 --> 00:45:44,875
so when they see someone who
looks like me speaking Japanese,

811
00:45:44,875 --> 00:45:48,078
they assume it's because my
mom’s probably Japanese.

812
00:45:48,078 --> 00:45:50,647
You know being here was kind
of like being in a bubble,

813
00:45:50,647 --> 00:45:53,317
people are used to people like me.

814
00:45:54,084 --> 00:45:56,386
And I imagined when I moved to New York,

815
00:45:56,386 --> 00:46:00,691
that perhaps I would
just get to be myself,

816
00:46:00,691 --> 00:46:01,859
whatever that meant,

817
00:46:01,859 --> 00:46:05,596
but it turned out that wasn't

818
00:46:05,596 --> 00:46:09,066
necessarily so, it became a little
bit more complicated I guess.

819
00:46:09,066 --> 00:46:12,102
And when I first moved to New York
when I was eighteen,

820
00:46:12,102 --> 00:46:14,905
my hair was stick straight,
and at that time,

821
00:46:14,905 --> 00:46:16,540
I was very attached to that.

822
00:46:16,540 --> 00:46:20,511
and I felt like, if I
didn't have that hair,

823
00:46:20,511 --> 00:46:23,313
people wouldn't imagine
that  I was Japanese,

824
00:46:23,313 --> 00:46:25,115
like they wouldn't think that I was

825
00:46:25,115 --> 00:46:27,684
and that was very important
to me at the time.

826
00:46:27,684 --> 00:46:29,686
People though I was Polynesian,

827
00:46:29,686 --> 00:46:31,221
people thought I was Indian,

828
00:46:31,221 --> 00:46:34,358
and then some people who were
also half Asian and half black

829
00:46:34,358 --> 00:46:36,660
would find me on the street
and we would look at each other.

830
00:46:36,660 --> 00:46:39,363
We would be like, "Oh, are you
half black and half Asian?”

831
00:46:39,363 --> 00:46:40,831
we would get really excited.

832
00:46:42,232 --> 00:46:46,036
Monique had so many interesting stories
about her interactions in the U.S.,

833
00:46:46,036 --> 00:46:48,305
but this one with a visiting
Japanese student

834
00:46:48,305 --> 00:46:51,108
at an education conference,
was surprising to hear.

835
00:46:51,108 --> 00:46:53,477
When I started speaking
to him in Japanese,

836
00:46:53,477 --> 00:46:55,612
he was honestly creeped out.

837
00:46:55,612 --> 00:46:58,916
And he literally used the word gurotesuku.

838
00:46:59,283 --> 00:47:01,084
Yeah, poor choice of words

839
00:47:01,084 --> 00:47:04,221
but that was really, like woah.

840
00:47:04,221 --> 00:47:08,292
But watching Japanese
television, I could see how

841
00:47:08,292 --> 00:47:10,027
I'm Atsugiri Jason!

842
00:47:10,027 --> 00:47:13,197
I came to Japan from the U.S. 4 years ago.

843
00:47:13,197 --> 00:47:17,267
Japanese people might
be led to sort of

844
00:47:17,267 --> 00:47:21,338
imagine people who don't look Japanese,

845
00:47:21,338 --> 00:47:24,741
who speak Japanese to be curious creatures.

846
00:47:24,741 --> 00:47:26,376
Or just kind of like

847
00:47:26,376 --> 00:47:29,112
something fun to look at, sort of.

848
00:47:29,112 --> 00:47:30,981
Why Japanese people?

849
00:47:30,981 --> 00:47:31,949
Why?

850
00:47:31,949 --> 00:47:34,251
Are you doing this on purpose?

851
00:47:34,718 --> 00:47:36,920
Kanji are so hard!

852
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:37,821
Next!

853
00:47:37,821 --> 00:47:41,124
So I really hope that more Japanese people

854
00:47:41,124 --> 00:47:44,294
can become familiar with, you know,

855
00:47:44,294 --> 00:47:47,531
Japanese speakers can look very different,

856
00:47:47,531 --> 00:47:50,601
whether or not they have
Japanese blood in them or not.

857
00:47:53,570 --> 00:47:55,606
My name is Joe Oliver.

858
00:47:56,139 --> 00:47:57,841
My father is American.

859
00:47:57,841 --> 00:48:01,612
He was in the military and
my mother was Japanese.

860
00:48:01,612 --> 00:48:04,848
I was raised in Japan for 37 years.

861
00:48:04,848 --> 00:48:07,251
If I had to categorize myself,

862
00:48:07,251 --> 00:48:10,254
I would be an earthling.

863
00:48:10,254 --> 00:48:13,924
In Japan, no one thinks I am Japanese.

864
00:48:13,924 --> 00:48:15,859
Other people, especially Western people,

865
00:48:15,859 --> 00:48:18,028
think I'm Japanese.

866
00:48:18,028 --> 00:48:20,464
So others determine who I am,

867
00:48:20,464 --> 00:48:23,166
so I can only say I am an earthling.

868
00:48:23,166 --> 00:48:24,801
So you go ahead and decide who I am.

869
00:48:24,801 --> 00:48:26,770
I say I am an earthling.

870
00:48:27,070 --> 00:48:29,473
Joe was incredibly
fascinating to speak with,

871
00:48:29,473 --> 00:48:31,308
as he grew up in Yokosuka,

872
00:48:31,308 --> 00:48:32,809
the same area as Monique,

873
00:48:32,809 --> 00:48:35,712
although she lived on
base while he lived off.

874
00:48:35,712 --> 00:48:36,947
Their experiences,

875
00:48:36,947 --> 00:48:40,017
while only separated by a few
years and a number of blocks,

876
00:48:40,017 --> 00:48:41,952
were drastically different.

877
00:48:42,619 --> 00:48:48,759
By the time I was born,
they were separated.

878
00:48:48,759 --> 00:48:53,130
So I was raised by my
mother since I was young.

879
00:48:53,130 --> 00:48:57,034
I was happy until I went
to elementary school.

880
00:48:57,034 --> 00:49:00,637
I went to a Japanese daycare
where there was no discrimination.

881
00:49:00,637 --> 00:49:04,341
So happiness until 6 years old.

882
00:49:04,341 --> 00:49:09,579
Hell started from age 7 until grade 12.

883
00:49:09,579 --> 00:49:11,615
That very long 12 years.

884
00:49:11,615 --> 00:49:15,585
From grade 1 to grade 3,

885
00:49:15,585 --> 00:49:24,528
I was intermittently abused quite
badly by some random adults.

886
00:49:24,528 --> 00:49:26,863
They punched me, even peed on me.

887
00:49:26,863 --> 00:49:28,966
I had a very rough time then.

888
00:49:28,966 --> 00:49:35,305
Not only me but my mother
was hurt by others.

889
00:49:35,305 --> 00:49:39,376
She was almost physically abused.

890
00:49:39,376 --> 00:49:44,348
They told her, "You like black penis?"

891
00:49:44,348 --> 00:49:46,650
or something much worse than that.

892
00:49:46,650 --> 00:49:54,958
Even elementary school kids said,
"Your mom likes black guys."

893
00:49:54,958 --> 00:50:01,465
When I was in grade 2, grade 6
kids attacked me in public.

894
00:50:01,465 --> 00:50:04,101
Someone put his arms around me

895
00:50:04,101 --> 00:50:07,404
and held my back while
a few people punched me.

896
00:50:07,404 --> 00:50:12,309
They peed on me, spilt milk on me.

897
00:50:12,309 --> 00:50:16,580
Some coloured me with
chalk all over my body.

898
00:50:16,580 --> 00:50:19,916
I wonder if the teachers
really understood

899
00:50:19,916 --> 00:50:22,953
mixed raced kids like me back then.

900
00:50:22,953 --> 00:50:25,422
I kind of doubt they did.

901
00:50:25,422 --> 00:50:30,060
I actually went to talk to the
police with my mother.

902
00:50:30,060 --> 00:50:31,695
Then what they told us was that,

903
00:50:31,695 --> 00:50:35,265
you are a child of an
American guy, so live with it.

904
00:50:35,265 --> 00:50:38,068
You gave birth to a child
of an American guy.

905
00:50:38,068 --> 00:50:40,637
We were only helped by American soldiers.

906
00:50:40,637 --> 00:50:41,638
Only them.

907
00:50:41,638 --> 00:50:45,609
When I was being punched by adults

908
00:50:45,609 --> 00:50:47,677
and those soldiers
happened to be passing by,

909
00:50:47,677 --> 00:50:50,180
they were just there by
chance but they rescued me.

910
00:50:50,180 --> 00:50:54,484
They were sometimes
caucasian or black soldiers.

911
00:50:54,484 --> 00:50:57,320
Some caucasian soldiers cried for me.

912
00:50:57,320 --> 00:51:00,857
It was only soldiers who helped me.

913
00:51:00,857 --> 00:51:07,230
If I was living in Tokyo where
there were lots of foreigners,

914
00:51:07,230 --> 00:51:13,537
I may not have experienced
the racism I did in Yokosuka.

915
00:51:13,537 --> 00:51:16,773
I think I would have
had a different life here.

916
00:51:16,773 --> 00:51:21,445
The reason why I think that, is I have
been working here since I was 17.

917
00:51:21,445 --> 00:51:24,781
I have never experienced
any racism at all in Tokyo.

918
00:51:24,781 --> 00:51:29,853
I have told my story to people
from other prefectures.

919
00:51:29,853 --> 00:51:31,588
Everyone said they couldn't believe it.

920
00:51:31,588 --> 00:51:33,356
I was relieved when I heard it.

921
00:51:33,356 --> 00:51:39,629
What I have been through
was very rare I'd say.

922
00:51:39,629 --> 00:51:43,133
Every Japanese who
heard it said it’s crazy.

923
00:51:43,133 --> 00:51:45,735
So I was extremely unlucky.

924
00:51:50,841 --> 00:51:52,509
So for model shots,

925
00:51:52,509 --> 00:51:54,144
do you always have to be serious?

926
00:51:54,144 --> 00:51:55,912
Or do you like...

927
00:51:57,380 --> 00:51:58,882
I don't think so.

928
00:51:58,882 --> 00:52:01,918
Haha, okay.

929
00:52:02,219 --> 00:52:04,087
Right, so at the age of 17,

930
00:52:04,087 --> 00:52:05,455
Joe became a model.

931
00:52:05,455 --> 00:52:07,457
He started working in Tokyo,

932
00:52:07,457 --> 00:52:09,025
found a more international scene,

933
00:52:09,025 --> 00:52:11,728
and his life changed for the better.

934
00:52:17,667 --> 00:52:20,971
The next group of Japanese
I'll introduce is Kikokushijo,

935
00:52:20,971 --> 00:52:23,273
or in English, returnees.

936
00:52:23,273 --> 00:52:27,644
These are Japanese that spent part
of their childhood outside of Japan.

937
00:52:27,644 --> 00:52:29,946
In many ways they have a lot of similarities

938
00:52:29,946 --> 00:52:31,748
to the hāfu I interviewed,

939
00:52:31,748 --> 00:52:34,217
as they too are living between cultures.

940
00:52:34,217 --> 00:52:37,721
While they have two Japanese
parents and look typically Japanese,

941
00:52:37,721 --> 00:52:41,892
they often have difficulty
feeling completely Japanese.

942
00:52:44,928 --> 00:52:47,130
I'm Minoru Kiuchi.

943
00:52:47,130 --> 00:52:49,065
I'm a Japanese Diet Member,

944
00:52:49,065 --> 00:52:52,536
and currently the Deputy Chairperson
of the Diet Affairs Committee.

945
00:52:52,536 --> 00:52:55,105
I'm fifty four years old.

946
00:52:55,105 --> 00:53:00,277
I lived in West Germany from 1971 to 1975.

947
00:53:00,277 --> 00:53:04,247
So when I came back to
Japan at the age of ten,

948
00:53:04,247 --> 00:53:08,451
I had trouble with Japanese
writing at elementary school,

949
00:53:08,451 --> 00:53:12,489
and I also had trouble fitting in because

950
00:53:12,489 --> 00:53:17,627
five years in Germany made
me more assertive than

951
00:53:17,627 --> 00:53:19,462
my classmates.

952
00:53:19,462 --> 00:53:23,233
I felt I am half Japanese and half German.

953
00:53:23,233 --> 00:53:26,436
But now I am 88% Japanese

954
00:53:26,436 --> 00:53:29,272
and 12% German.

955
00:53:29,272 --> 00:53:32,442
So I think naturalized Japanese citizens

956
00:53:32,442 --> 00:53:34,611
are really Japanese just like me.

957
00:53:34,611 --> 00:53:37,514
I'm fairly sure that the 88% Japanese

958
00:53:37,514 --> 00:53:39,549
12% German bit was a joke

959
00:53:39,549 --> 00:53:42,519
about the precision of both
Germans and Japanese,

960
00:53:42,519 --> 00:53:44,221
but who knows?

961
00:53:45,188 --> 00:53:47,958
This record was made in the 1930s.

962
00:53:47,958 --> 00:53:48,792
Oh!

963
00:53:48,792 --> 00:53:49,993
In Japan.

964
00:53:49,993 --> 00:53:50,493
Really?

965
00:53:50,493 --> 00:53:52,696
Before World War II.

966
00:53:52,696 --> 00:53:55,198
Did you know that at that time

967
00:53:55,198 --> 00:53:57,133
many Japanese people loved

968
00:53:57,133 --> 00:54:00,770
American movies and jazz.

969
00:54:01,938 --> 00:54:03,607
Western style.

970
00:54:06,009 --> 00:54:08,979
This is my friend who's a jazz pianist.

971
00:54:18,355 --> 00:54:19,990
Hi everyone, my name is Kiyoto Tsuji.

972
00:54:19,990 --> 00:54:24,094
I am currently a third
term Diet member

973
00:54:24,094 --> 00:54:26,129
of the Japanese House
of Representatives.

974
00:54:26,129 --> 00:54:28,965
Tsuji-san, was of
particular interest to me,

975
00:54:28,965 --> 00:54:31,835
as he grew up for most of
his childhood in Vancouver,

976
00:54:31,835 --> 00:54:33,603
where my family and I used to live.

977
00:54:33,603 --> 00:54:35,338
We're actually both the same age,

978
00:54:35,338 --> 00:54:37,707
and his English name in Canada, Andrew,

979
00:54:37,707 --> 00:54:39,442
is in fact my middle name.

980
00:54:39,442 --> 00:54:44,180
At the age of four our family emigrated to

981
00:54:44,180 --> 00:54:47,684
Canada because my father,
who was a Japanese Canadian,

982
00:54:47,684 --> 00:54:51,955
wanted the kids to grow up
elsewhere, not Japan.

983
00:54:51,955 --> 00:54:55,825
From junior high, a lot
of my friends became

984
00:54:55,825 --> 00:55:00,463
non-native Canadians who immigrated
from Hong Kong and elsewhere

985
00:55:00,463 --> 00:55:05,568
to Canada to study and eventually
go on to good universities.

986
00:55:05,568 --> 00:55:11,308
And these kids taught me
that I was Asian and Japanese.

987
00:55:11,308 --> 00:55:12,976
They're good friends but

988
00:55:12,976 --> 00:55:15,145
these colleagues, students,

989
00:55:15,145 --> 00:55:18,348
would expose me to Japanese comic books,

990
00:55:18,348 --> 00:55:21,017
Japanese movies that I didn't know.

991
00:55:21,017 --> 00:55:23,453
And they would say, "Hey, you're Japanese!"

992
00:55:23,453 --> 00:55:25,755
"Why do you act Canadian?"

993
00:55:25,755 --> 00:55:27,123
"You're Asian."

994
00:55:27,123 --> 00:55:30,160
We're Chinese and we know

995
00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:33,430
your culture better than you and
you should be ashamed of yourself.

996
00:55:33,430 --> 00:55:37,033
So that's when I

997
00:55:37,033 --> 00:55:42,138
entered a very, very big

998
00:55:42,138 --> 00:55:44,374
identity crisis, a dilemma.

999
00:55:44,374 --> 00:55:47,644
Some of these Asian kids
would call me 'banana'.

1000
00:55:48,111 --> 00:55:49,946
In case you never heard it before,

1001
00:55:49,946 --> 00:55:54,050
'banana' is a term used to describe
someone who's yellow on the outside,

1002
00:55:54,050 --> 00:55:56,019
but white on the inside...

1003
00:55:56,019 --> 00:55:57,821
like a banana.

1004
00:55:57,954 --> 00:56:01,624
I started thinking to myself,
"Hey, how about Japan?"

1005
00:56:01,624 --> 00:56:04,861
Maybe that's an option
that I never thought of.

1006
00:56:04,861 --> 00:56:07,130
And I consulted my mother,

1007
00:56:07,130 --> 00:56:11,334
and she never thought I
would ever return to Japan.

1008
00:56:11,334 --> 00:56:13,303
So she said,

1009
00:56:13,303 --> 00:56:15,105
"You probably won't make it

1010
00:56:15,105 --> 00:56:19,442
because they'll probably alienate you,

1011
00:56:19,442 --> 00:56:22,445
because you look Japanese
but you're not Japanese.

1012
00:56:22,445 --> 00:56:27,050
If you look different, maybe
they would treat you better but

1013
00:56:27,050 --> 00:56:29,586
I don't want you to go through hell."

1014
00:56:29,586 --> 00:56:31,988
That was literally what my mother told me.

1015
00:56:31,988 --> 00:56:34,424
And I told her, hey

1016
00:56:35,358 --> 00:56:37,060
you'll see what I can do

1017
00:56:37,060 --> 00:56:41,064
because I never wanted
to give up on something.

1018
00:56:41,064 --> 00:56:45,001
I didn't even initially think of
climbing that mountain but

1019
00:56:45,001 --> 00:56:48,037
if they told me I cannot do it

1020
00:56:48,037 --> 00:56:49,406
then I was like, hey I'll do it.

1021
00:56:49,773 --> 00:56:52,442
So Tsuji-san returned to Japan for college

1022
00:56:52,442 --> 00:56:55,345
and said it was his first
exposure to Japanese culture.

1023
00:56:55,345 --> 00:56:57,080
His main difficulty was that:

1024
00:56:57,080 --> 00:56:59,916
Other Japanese people

1025
00:56:59,916 --> 00:57:02,318
didn't realize my differences.

1026
00:57:02,318 --> 00:57:03,820
I was like a

1027
00:57:03,820 --> 00:57:06,623
English book with a Japanese cover.

1028
00:57:06,623 --> 00:57:09,025
So many people judged
the book by its cover.

1029
00:57:09,426 --> 00:57:14,564
And initially they would say,
"Oh, he's interesting!" but

1030
00:57:14,564 --> 00:57:18,001
after a few weeks they realized

1031
00:57:18,001 --> 00:57:20,537
this person doesn't... has not

1032
00:57:20,537 --> 00:57:22,071
read the same things,

1033
00:57:22,071 --> 00:57:26,676
has not spent the childhood that
these people can relate to.

1034
00:57:26,676 --> 00:57:29,312
So gradually, your

1035
00:57:29,312 --> 00:57:30,780
phone stops ringing.

1036
00:57:30,947 --> 00:57:32,549
No one would bully me.

1037
00:57:32,549 --> 00:57:37,120
No one would treat me in that way
but they would just, you know,

1038
00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:38,955
Every time I smile, they smile

1039
00:57:38,955 --> 00:57:41,591
that's it, I couldn't relate deeper.

1040
00:57:41,591 --> 00:57:43,827
It was very modest,

1041
00:57:43,827 --> 00:57:46,930
but you see, you feel that difference.

1042
00:57:46,930 --> 00:57:49,199
In a way, it's very racist.

1043
00:57:49,199 --> 00:57:50,567
Very racist.

1044
00:57:51,301 --> 00:57:55,438
And every culture has
its own racism, I feel.

1045
00:57:55,438 --> 00:57:58,174
I don't want my kids to
experience what I did,

1046
00:57:58,174 --> 00:58:00,910
you know, it's just too tough.

1047
00:58:00,910 --> 00:58:02,345
But...

1048
00:58:03,513 --> 00:58:05,181
No pain, no gain, kind of, you know.

1049
00:58:08,485 --> 00:58:11,154
Hi! My name is Honomi Ijima,

1050
00:58:11,154 --> 00:58:12,522
I'm Japanese.

1051
00:58:12,822 --> 00:58:15,225
I was born in Kanagawa Prefecture

1052
00:58:15,225 --> 00:58:18,495
and I basically grew up in the same area,

1053
00:58:18,495 --> 00:58:19,929
until I was thirteen.

1054
00:58:21,664 --> 00:58:24,200
So, I have to cut in and
say that I filmed Honomi

1055
00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:26,769
next to a busy train
line, and it was noisy.

1056
00:58:26,769 --> 00:58:28,505
So I'll tell part of her story.

1057
00:58:29,005 --> 00:58:31,641
Like happened to many
Japanese kikokushijo,

1058
00:58:31,641 --> 00:58:33,977
her father got transferred
out of country for work,

1059
00:58:33,977 --> 00:58:36,613
and her family ended up
in the bay area of California.

1060
00:58:36,613 --> 00:58:37,814
She attended local schools,

1061
00:58:37,814 --> 00:58:40,783
and said she got the complete
American experience.

1062
00:58:40,783 --> 00:58:43,186
Part of that, was having
to introduce herself,

1063
00:58:43,186 --> 00:58:44,988
to which she always said,

1064
00:58:44,988 --> 00:58:47,624
"I'm so and so and I'm from Japan."

1065
00:58:47,624 --> 00:58:51,528
It drilled into her that, yeah,
she was a Japanese person.

1066
00:58:51,528 --> 00:58:54,230
So it's in America where she realized

1067
00:58:54,230 --> 00:58:56,766
that being Japanese was part of her identity.

1068
00:58:56,766 --> 00:58:59,168
After 3 years at the age of 16,

1069
00:58:59,168 --> 00:59:02,605
she returned to Japan,
and went to a regular high school.

1070
00:59:02,605 --> 00:59:07,944
And in a way, that was a
bigger culture shock for me.

1071
00:59:07,944 --> 00:59:11,514
Because, here I was,
coming back to Japan,

1072
00:59:11,514 --> 00:59:14,017
feeling more like a Japanese person.

1073
00:59:14,017 --> 00:59:18,688
Like more aware of that kind of
cultural and ethnic identity.

1074
00:59:18,688 --> 00:59:22,926
And then here I was
back in the usual

1075
00:59:22,926 --> 00:59:26,362
old stomping grounds
and then feeling so...

1076
00:59:26,362 --> 00:59:31,000
like isolated in a way and
feeling so disconnected.

1077
00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:33,002
And it's like what is this feeling?

1078
00:59:33,002 --> 00:59:36,639
Like I feel like I'm here,
I'm back "home",

1079
00:59:36,639 --> 00:59:39,676
but I don't feel like I'm back home.

1080
00:59:39,676 --> 00:59:42,579
And that's when I started to think about

1081
00:59:42,579 --> 00:59:45,949
what does it mean to be a Japanese person?

1082
00:59:45,949 --> 00:59:48,918
Like what makes me Japanese?

1083
00:59:48,918 --> 00:59:53,323
Is it because I'm born here and I
grew up here for a certain time?

1084
00:59:53,323 --> 00:59:55,758
Is it because my parents are Japanese?

1085
00:59:55,758 --> 00:59:59,562
But then how do I feel so out of place?

1086
00:59:59,562 --> 01:00:04,267
Like Honomi, I think everyone I
interviewed asked that same question,

1087
01:00:04,267 --> 01:00:07,704
"Who am I? What is being Japanese?"

1088
01:00:15,445 --> 01:00:18,381
My first real memory of not knowing

1089
01:00:18,715 --> 01:00:20,850
who I am came with football.

1090
01:00:20,850 --> 01:00:23,720
The World Cup, when I was a kid,
football.

1091
01:00:23,720 --> 01:00:26,122
They asked me, "Who are you for?"

1092
01:00:27,256 --> 01:00:28,825
Belgium, right?

1093
01:00:28,825 --> 01:00:32,662
He said, "Nah, yeah, but,
you know, you're Japanese, no?"

1094
01:00:32,662 --> 01:00:36,299
Yeah, but, you know, Japan doesn't
even participate back then.

1095
01:00:36,299 --> 01:00:39,402
Japan was not a football nation.

1096
01:00:39,402 --> 01:00:41,270
So I'm like,
"No, I'm Belgium, of course not!"

1097
01:00:41,270 --> 01:00:43,706
And then the kid said,
"No, you cannot be Belgium.

1098
01:00:43,706 --> 01:00:44,941
You have to be Japan.

1099
01:00:44,941 --> 01:00:46,909
And then with other people,
the next person asked me,

1100
01:00:46,909 --> 01:00:49,445
"Who are you for?" I said, "Japan."

1101
01:00:49,445 --> 01:00:51,080
Because I thought that's
the right answer.

1102
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:53,950
And they said,
"No, but aren't you Belgian?"

1103
01:00:53,950 --> 01:00:57,186
So whatever answer I gave
to that question,

1104
01:00:57,186 --> 01:01:01,257
it was always questioned
again, and again, and again.

1105
01:01:01,257 --> 01:01:03,026
So I always had to argue.

1106
01:01:03,026 --> 01:01:06,629
And I realized that this type of question

1107
01:01:06,629 --> 01:01:11,467
is a question that people from
mixed origin get all the time.

1108
01:01:11,467 --> 01:01:14,003
And it's because we get
these questions

1109
01:01:14,003 --> 01:01:16,406
that we doubt where we come from.

1110
01:01:16,406 --> 01:01:19,609
It's not because deeply rooted
in me there's

1111
01:01:19,609 --> 01:01:22,745
there's a soul search,
or a search for identity.

1112
01:01:22,745 --> 01:01:25,948
It's because the rest of the world wants
to know who I cheer for,

1113
01:01:25,948 --> 01:01:27,717
what kind of food I want to eat,

1114
01:01:27,717 --> 01:01:30,386
that I doubt what the
correct answer is.

1115
01:01:30,653 --> 01:01:33,890
And throughout the years,
I learned to answer.

1116
01:01:33,890 --> 01:01:36,959
And that answer's a mix between

1117
01:01:36,959 --> 01:01:38,895
how I feel,

1118
01:01:38,895 --> 01:01:43,566
and what I think people
want to know from me

1119
01:01:43,866 --> 01:01:46,602
What do people expect
to be the correct answer.

1120
01:01:51,607 --> 01:01:54,977
Hi, I am Yamato Saito. Call me Bobby.

1121
01:01:54,977 --> 01:01:59,048
I was born in Japan, raised in the U.S.,
and am living in Japan.

1122
01:01:59,048 --> 01:02:00,216
I think

1123
01:02:00,216 --> 01:02:02,652
in terms of Japanese identity

1124
01:02:02,652 --> 01:02:06,522
people want a yes or no,
black and white answer.

1125
01:02:06,522 --> 01:02:09,125
I remember back when
I was a, you know,

1126
01:02:09,125 --> 01:02:12,562
God, like a snot nosed brat
and thinking like,

1127
01:02:12,562 --> 01:02:15,331
really judging other Japanese-Americans

1128
01:02:15,331 --> 01:02:17,967
because they couldn't speak Japanese.

1129
01:02:17,967 --> 01:02:19,502
But they would still
call themselves Japanese

1130
01:02:19,502 --> 01:02:22,605
and I would be like, "You're not Japanese.
You don't even speak Japanese."

1131
01:02:22,605 --> 01:02:24,440
And I really cringe

1132
01:02:25,108 --> 01:02:27,243
at my past self because

1133
01:02:27,243 --> 01:02:30,480
that kind of mentality is
really dangerous,  and I think

1134
01:02:30,480 --> 01:02:32,482
when you get to that level,
you're like,

1135
01:02:32,482 --> 01:02:35,785
"Well, my family is from samurai lineage.

1136
01:02:35,785 --> 01:02:38,855
And like, you know, "my family is,"
you know, ladidadida.

1137
01:02:38,855 --> 01:02:40,289
And it's like,

1138
01:02:40,289 --> 01:02:41,424
that doesn't matter.

1139
01:02:41,424 --> 01:02:43,593
This question is...

1140
01:02:43,593 --> 01:02:45,528
super simple.

1141
01:02:45,528 --> 01:02:47,530
What is being Japanese?

1142
01:02:47,530 --> 01:02:50,399
That is a very difficult
question to answer,

1143
01:02:50,399 --> 01:02:53,903
although Japan is an island nation,

1144
01:02:53,903 --> 01:02:56,873
it has always had a lot of interaction

1145
01:02:56,873 --> 01:03:00,843
with the Asian mainland and beyond.

1146
01:03:00,843 --> 01:03:03,880
As a result, Japanese people

1147
01:03:03,880 --> 01:03:06,482
have a lot of different ancestries.

1148
01:03:06,482 --> 01:03:09,318
And Japanese people from Hokkaido

1149
01:03:09,318 --> 01:03:11,154
are different from that

1150
01:03:11,154 --> 01:03:13,923
from Honshu or Okinawa.

1151
01:03:14,257 --> 01:03:16,559
But they are all Japanese.

1152
01:03:16,559 --> 01:03:18,728
If I wanted to give a definition

1153
01:03:18,728 --> 01:03:21,397
it would be something like this.

1154
01:03:21,397 --> 01:03:23,566
People who live in Japan,

1155
01:03:23,566 --> 01:03:26,302
speak Japanese to some extent,

1156
01:03:26,302 --> 01:03:29,305
and think of Japan as their home,

1157
01:03:29,305 --> 01:03:30,840
are Japanese.

1158
01:03:31,274 --> 01:03:33,876
It's easy to determine
what's not Japanese,

1159
01:03:33,876 --> 01:03:37,446
but it's harder to
determine what's really...

1160
01:03:37,446 --> 01:03:40,082
what is Japanese, so what's left?

1161
01:03:40,082 --> 01:03:43,719
And the more I talk about this,

1162
01:03:43,719 --> 01:03:47,423
and the more I think about this question...

1163
01:03:47,423 --> 01:03:49,859
the simpler my answer gets.

1164
01:03:49,859 --> 01:03:51,794
And that is...

1165
01:03:51,794 --> 01:03:53,863
it's what's on your passport.

1166
01:03:53,863 --> 01:03:56,399
And it could be as simple as that.

1167
01:03:56,399 --> 01:03:58,234
Do you have a Japanese passport?

1168
01:03:58,234 --> 01:03:59,635
Then you're Japanese.

1169
01:03:59,635 --> 01:04:02,638
You can compete in the Olympics for Japan,

1170
01:04:02,638 --> 01:04:04,473
you can play tennis for Japan,

1171
01:04:04,473 --> 01:04:06,809
then you're Japanese.

1172
01:04:11,914 --> 01:04:14,317
After talking with
so many Japanese people,

1173
01:04:14,317 --> 01:04:16,786
they started to suggest
a lot of similar ways

1174
01:04:16,786 --> 01:04:18,888
to determine one's Japaneseness.

1175
01:04:18,888 --> 01:04:20,723
Are your parents Japanese?

1176
01:04:20,723 --> 01:04:22,859
Do you have Japanese nationality?

1177
01:04:22,859 --> 01:04:24,460
Can you speak Japanese?

1178
01:04:24,460 --> 01:04:25,761
Where did you grow up?

1179
01:04:25,761 --> 01:04:27,897
And then I came across an academic

1180
01:04:27,897 --> 01:04:29,265
framework that listed it out:

1181
01:04:29,265 --> 01:04:32,034
It proposed seven aspects of Japaneseness:

1182
01:04:32,501 --> 01:04:34,470
Nationality or citizenship

1183
01:04:34,470 --> 01:04:36,906
'Pure Japanese genes'

1184
01:04:36,906 --> 01:04:38,341
Language competence

1185
01:04:38,341 --> 01:04:39,442
Place of birth

1186
01:04:39,442 --> 01:04:40,610
Current residence

1187
01:04:40,610 --> 01:04:42,411
Level of cultural literacy

1188
01:04:42,411 --> 01:04:43,779
Subjective identity

1189
01:04:44,013 --> 01:04:48,017
In this framework, my wife would
fall under 'most Japanese',

1190
01:04:48,017 --> 01:04:50,453
because she ticks off all the boxes.

1191
01:04:50,920 --> 01:04:52,822
On the other hand, my kids,

1192
01:04:52,822 --> 01:04:55,258
who are half Canadian,
differ in a couple ways.

1193
01:04:55,258 --> 01:04:58,060
They don't have
‘pure Japanese genes’,

1194
01:04:58,060 --> 01:04:59,328
sorry about that.

1195
01:04:59,328 --> 01:05:01,197
They also weren't born in Japan.

1196
01:05:01,197 --> 01:05:05,668
But otherwise, they'd be able to claim
all other aspects of Japaneseness.

1197
01:05:05,668 --> 01:05:10,273
In Japan, people who don't fit
the framework for being Japanese,

1198
01:05:10,273 --> 01:05:12,909
even though you've
been living as Japanese,

1199
01:05:12,909 --> 01:05:16,646
can be a target of discrimination.

1200
01:05:16,646 --> 01:05:20,283
Second generation Japanese
can be considered weird Japanese.

1201
01:05:20,283 --> 01:05:24,287
Returnees can also be a target.

1202
01:05:24,287 --> 01:05:26,255
So, people who aren't in the framework,

1203
01:05:26,255 --> 01:05:29,125
as well as people who are in
but have something else,

1204
01:05:29,125 --> 01:05:31,360
can be targeted in Japan.

1205
01:05:31,360 --> 01:05:32,962
People say, "They're a bit weird!"

1206
01:05:32,962 --> 01:05:35,564
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1207
01:05:35,564 --> 01:05:40,536
There is often this hate speech like
there are no more pure Ainu.

1208
01:05:40,536 --> 01:05:42,872
I am extremely tired of hearing it.

1209
01:05:42,872 --> 01:05:46,876
There are no such things as pure people.

1210
01:05:46,876 --> 01:05:50,012
So at which point were they 100% pure?

1211
01:05:50,012 --> 01:05:53,916
Are there any pure Wajin?

1212
01:05:53,916 --> 01:05:56,686
Can you prove it?

1213
01:05:56,953 --> 01:05:58,187
As it so happens,

1214
01:05:58,187 --> 01:06:00,423
some people have started taking DNA tests

1215
01:06:00,423 --> 01:06:02,591
to see how much Japanese
they have in them,

1216
01:06:02,591 --> 01:06:03,693
like Max Capo,

1217
01:06:03,693 --> 01:06:07,463
who recorded his real-time reaction
to his test results on YouTube.

1218
01:06:08,431 --> 01:06:09,765
Woah! Hehe.

1219
01:06:10,366 --> 01:06:14,203
I'm 48%! I'm actually less
half Japanese than I thought.

1220
01:06:14,203 --> 01:06:17,573
I'm 48% Northern Japan.

1221
01:06:17,573 --> 01:06:19,976
What is Northern Japan, it's circled.

1222
01:06:19,976 --> 01:06:22,678
Uh! Oh! Ah!

1223
01:06:25,114 --> 01:06:27,883
I'm a little bit surprised because my mom

1224
01:06:27,883 --> 01:06:30,486
is Japanese but she
actually has been told

1225
01:06:30,486 --> 01:06:33,055
she looks a lot more like an Inca-Indian,

1226
01:06:33,055 --> 01:06:35,224
which is like South American I think.

1227
01:06:35,224 --> 01:06:36,826
That's more related to the

1228
01:06:36,826 --> 01:06:38,928
Ainu people in Northern Japan.

1229
01:06:38,928 --> 01:06:41,464
So the fact that...

1230
01:06:41,998 --> 01:06:45,201
I'm 48%...

1231
01:06:45,201 --> 01:06:47,703
does that mean my mom is Ainu?

1232
01:06:49,505 --> 01:06:51,574
If you go back to that academic framework,

1233
01:06:51,574 --> 01:06:54,777
you'll see that ‘Pure Japanese
genes’ is in quotation marks.

1234
01:06:54,777 --> 01:06:56,545
Even though it was published before

1235
01:06:56,545 --> 01:06:59,348
DNA ancestry tests were
available to the public,

1236
01:06:59,348 --> 01:07:00,950
it's been clear for a while

1237
01:07:00,950 --> 01:07:04,253
that using genetics to determine
whether you belong or not is,

1238
01:07:04,253 --> 01:07:07,556
‘problematic’ to say the least.

1239
01:07:07,890 --> 01:07:10,593
Other criteria can also be dicey to judge.

1240
01:07:10,593 --> 01:07:12,228
Take cultural literacy.

1241
01:07:12,228 --> 01:07:15,598
Is the naturalized Japanese who
visits a Shinto shrine every day

1242
01:07:15,598 --> 01:07:18,434
more culturally literate than
the born and raised Japanese

1243
01:07:18,434 --> 01:07:20,669
who visits once a year for hatsumōde?

1244
01:07:20,669 --> 01:07:22,805
Does practicing budō, martial arts,

1245
01:07:22,805 --> 01:07:25,374
like karate make you more Japanese?

1246
01:07:26,142 --> 01:07:28,377
The Pew Research Center did a global study,

1247
01:07:28,377 --> 01:07:30,346
and of the 14 countries they polled,

1248
01:07:30,346 --> 01:07:31,914
they concluded that language was

1249
01:07:31,914 --> 01:07:34,450
the cornerstone of national identity.

1250
01:07:34,450 --> 01:07:35,785
Interestingly enough,

1251
01:07:35,785 --> 01:07:37,353
both the U.S. and Japan

1252
01:07:37,353 --> 01:07:40,156
had 70% of its citizens answering that

1253
01:07:40,156 --> 01:07:42,558
"Being able to speak our national language

1254
01:07:42,558 --> 01:07:44,326
is very important for being

1255
01:07:44,326 --> 01:07:47,196
truly American or truly Japanese."

1256
01:07:47,196 --> 01:07:50,332
If you throw in the additional
22% in both countries

1257
01:07:50,332 --> 01:07:52,101
that I think it's somewhat important,

1258
01:07:52,101 --> 01:07:54,437
it's clearly seen as the
most important trait

1259
01:07:54,437 --> 01:07:57,173
for belonging to each respective country.

1260
01:07:57,506 --> 01:07:59,742
For Japan, If you go back in time,

1261
01:07:59,742 --> 01:08:02,945
in the mid-19th century
before the Meiji Restoration,

1262
01:08:02,945 --> 01:08:05,881
people of different feudal domains
could communicate with each other

1263
01:08:05,881 --> 01:08:08,784
only by writing in Chinese characters.

1264
01:08:08,984 --> 01:08:12,521
Even nowadays, language
competency can vary so greatly,

1265
01:08:12,521 --> 01:08:15,091
from local dialects
to the ability to speak

1266
01:08:15,091 --> 01:08:18,227
the formal style of Japanese called keigo.

1267
01:08:23,399 --> 01:08:25,935
Nice to meet you, I’m Eimy.

1268
01:08:25,935 --> 01:08:27,837
I'm from Mexico.

1269
01:08:27,837 --> 01:08:31,574
My full name is Eimy Sofia Castañeda Kato.

1270
01:08:31,574 --> 01:08:34,310
Yes, I have both, in Mexico we use

1271
01:08:34,310 --> 01:08:37,079
the dad's last name and
the mom's last name.

1272
01:08:37,079 --> 01:08:38,581
She was in born in Mexico

1273
01:08:38,581 --> 01:08:41,917
and attended a bi-cultural
Japanese-Mexican school there,

1274
01:08:41,917 --> 01:08:44,854
but she recently moved
to Japan for university.

1275
01:08:44,854 --> 01:08:47,723
Did you learn Japanese
growing up or in school?

1276
01:08:47,723 --> 01:08:52,061
Yes, my mom taught me a
little bit when I was a little kid.

1277
01:08:52,061 --> 01:08:54,730
But it was really basic stuff.

1278
01:08:54,730 --> 01:09:00,002
In school I had Japanese classes
for one hour everyday.

1279
01:09:00,002 --> 01:09:03,439
And Japanese was more like a class,
kind of like maths.

1280
01:09:03,439 --> 01:09:07,076
You know it's a class you have to take
and you have to pass.

1281
01:09:07,076 --> 01:09:10,779
So you end up not liking that class.

1282
01:09:11,113 --> 01:09:12,715
They're divided into levels

1283
01:09:12,715 --> 01:09:14,683
so very basic and

1284
01:09:14,683 --> 01:09:17,553
number five, level five,
which was the highest one,

1285
01:09:17,920 --> 01:09:19,822
and I was always in the highest one.

1286
01:09:20,156 --> 01:09:24,193
But coming here to Japan
I realized it was not enough.

1287
01:09:24,193 --> 01:09:26,228
I love living in Japan,

1288
01:09:26,228 --> 01:09:28,831
I love their culture, I love being here.

1289
01:09:28,831 --> 01:09:30,799
I love being Japanese.

1290
01:09:30,799 --> 01:09:32,835
But I don't like the language.

1291
01:09:34,670 --> 01:09:36,105
I don't like the language,

1292
01:09:36,105 --> 01:09:39,508
I hate studying it,
I don't like talking with it.

1293
01:09:39,508 --> 01:09:41,777
I don't like using Japanese.

1294
01:09:42,912 --> 01:09:45,114
Hello, my name is Eido Inoue.

1295
01:09:45,114 --> 01:09:49,718
I am an American born Japanese citizen.

1296
01:09:49,718 --> 01:09:55,824
What is the one thing
that Japanese in Japan

1297
01:09:56,125 --> 01:10:02,498
have in common, that is common
to like 99.9% of the population?

1298
01:10:02,498 --> 01:10:07,036
I would argue that it's probably

1299
01:10:07,036 --> 01:10:11,607
speaking the Japanese
language morning to night.

1300
01:10:11,607 --> 01:10:13,409
Like it or not,

1301
01:10:13,409 --> 01:10:15,244
Japanese is not my first language

1302
01:10:15,244 --> 01:10:16,745
so I speak it with an accent,

1303
01:10:16,745 --> 01:10:19,181
and I say things that are
grammatically incorrect.

1304
01:10:19,181 --> 01:10:21,116
I've passed JLPT 1.

1305
01:10:21,217 --> 01:10:22,851
For those of you that don't know,

1306
01:10:22,851 --> 01:10:26,155
JLPT stands for Japanese
Language Proficiency Test,

1307
01:10:26,155 --> 01:10:29,725
and JLPT N1 is the highest
level you can achieve.

1308
01:10:29,725 --> 01:10:32,461
In English, the equivalent
test might be TOEIC,

1309
01:10:32,461 --> 01:10:33,662
or Test of English for

1310
01:10:33,662 --> 01:10:35,764
International Communication.

1311
01:10:35,764 --> 01:10:38,133
To achieve JLPT N1 status,

1312
01:10:38,133 --> 01:10:42,538
online estimates vary from 2,000 to
5,000 hours of study required.

1313
01:10:43,005 --> 01:10:45,741
But anybody that has passed

1314
01:10:45,741 --> 01:10:48,210
will tell you that once
you've passed it, they'll say

1315
01:10:48,210 --> 01:10:51,046
"Congratulations, you've
hit the starting point."

1316
01:10:51,213 --> 01:10:52,881
And that's where it begins,

1317
01:10:52,881 --> 01:10:54,483
it doesn't mean you're fluent,

1318
01:10:54,483 --> 01:10:56,085
it doesn't mean you're native.

1319
01:10:56,085 --> 01:10:58,587
It's far, far, far, far from that.

1320
01:10:58,754 --> 01:11:01,724
I realize that the Japanese language,

1321
01:11:01,724 --> 01:11:03,959
because I can't speak it perfectly,

1322
01:11:03,959 --> 01:11:06,829
is a career handicap

1323
01:11:06,829 --> 01:11:11,734
and it's something that I will
always have to overcome.

1324
01:11:12,067 --> 01:11:15,404
People that can't speak
Japanese very well,

1325
01:11:15,404 --> 01:11:18,674
they look at me and say,
"Oh, but you speak it so fluently!"

1326
01:11:18,674 --> 01:11:20,843
and "you speak it perfectly!"

1327
01:11:20,843 --> 01:11:25,514
and I say, "Well if your Japanese was
better you would know that it's not."

1328
01:11:27,349 --> 01:11:33,022
When they complimented my Japanese,
I really appreciated it at first.

1329
01:11:33,022 --> 01:11:37,359
But when I understood the reason behind it.

1330
01:11:37,359 --> 01:11:44,133
Like it's not necessarily because
they like or respect me.

1331
01:11:44,133 --> 01:11:49,004
It's more like "For a half,
your Japanese is good.

1332
01:11:49,004 --> 01:11:52,408
For a foreigner,
your Japanese is good."

1333
01:11:52,675 --> 01:11:54,943
Even for those born and raised in Japan,

1334
01:11:54,943 --> 01:11:58,247
the Japanese you speak may
not be standard Japanese,

1335
01:11:58,247 --> 01:11:59,782
which is the kind of Japanese

1336
01:11:59,782 --> 01:12:01,984
that you would hear tv announcers speak.

1337
01:12:01,984 --> 01:12:06,121
For example, while this announcer is
originally from Kumamoto in the south,

1338
01:12:06,121 --> 01:12:08,057
he doesn't use his local dialect.

1339
01:12:08,057 --> 01:12:10,159
"After studying for one year in Hiroshima,

1340
01:12:10,159 --> 01:12:12,695
students prayed at the
atomic bomb memorial

1341
01:12:12,695 --> 01:12:14,096
in the Hiroshima
Peace Memorial Park."

1342
01:12:14,096 --> 01:12:16,265
So if you didn't grow up
in the Tokyo area,

1343
01:12:16,265 --> 01:12:19,568
you may appear uneducated
or unsophisticated.

1344
01:12:23,539 --> 01:12:25,307
Hi, my name is Anne Kuninaka,

1345
01:12:25,307 --> 01:12:27,076
I'm from Okinawa, Japan.

1346
01:12:27,076 --> 01:12:30,312
I consider myself Okinawan and Japanese.

1347
01:12:30,312 --> 01:12:33,215
When I talk to people from Okinawa,

1348
01:12:33,215 --> 01:12:34,750
I talk like them like

1349
01:12:34,750 --> 01:12:36,251
Okinawan namari (accent).

1350
01:12:36,251 --> 01:12:39,254
But in Tokyo, I talk to a lot of people

1351
01:12:39,254 --> 01:12:40,823
who are not from Okinawa.

1352
01:12:40,823 --> 01:12:44,760
So, I try to speak like
the "normal" people

1353
01:12:44,760 --> 01:12:47,429
not from Okinawa,
you know what I'm saying?

1354
01:12:47,429 --> 01:12:48,630
So yeah that's...

1355
01:12:48,630 --> 01:12:52,334
kind of hard to like change,
like time to time.

1356
01:12:52,334 --> 01:12:55,270
There are moments where I

1357
01:12:55,270 --> 01:12:57,906
have struggled a lot with

1358
01:12:58,407 --> 01:13:01,477
what I need to do to be Japanese enough.

1359
01:13:01,477 --> 01:13:03,078
Before I moved to the States,

1360
01:13:03,078 --> 01:13:06,548
I wanted to gear up and
take all the exams I could,

1361
01:13:06,548 --> 01:13:09,718
so that I could prove paper how
proficient I was in Japanese,

1362
01:13:09,718 --> 01:13:11,487
because I felt like

1363
01:13:11,487 --> 01:13:12,855
I would be challenged.

1364
01:13:12,855 --> 01:13:14,089
Because of how I looked,

1365
01:13:14,089 --> 01:13:17,459
how much Japanese I was able
to speak, or read or write.

1366
01:13:17,760 --> 01:13:20,629
And so there are moments in
time where I get frustrated

1367
01:13:20,629 --> 01:13:22,798
because I've been in
the States for so long

1368
01:13:22,798 --> 01:13:26,502
where I lose my Japanese touch
and I might do something

1369
01:13:26,502 --> 01:13:30,339
that I might not have
otherwise if I had been here

1370
01:13:30,339 --> 01:13:32,007
the whole time, you know?

1371
01:13:32,341 --> 01:13:34,410
One last point I'd like
to make on language,

1372
01:13:34,410 --> 01:13:36,011
is that many of the interviewees

1373
01:13:36,011 --> 01:13:39,214
chose to be interviewed in
English rather than Japanese,

1374
01:13:39,214 --> 01:13:41,583
even though their Japanese was stronger.

1375
01:13:41,583 --> 01:13:43,452
The reason I was given by some

1376
01:13:43,452 --> 01:13:46,822
is that they felt they could
speak more freely in English.

1377
01:13:51,960 --> 01:13:55,297
Now a group of people who often
struggle with the Japanese language

1378
01:13:55,297 --> 01:13:58,767
are the Nikkei, which is the term
for Japanese who emigrated from Japan

1379
01:13:58,767 --> 01:14:00,669
to live in a different country.

1380
01:14:00,669 --> 01:14:03,539
If you go to the Japanese
Overseas Migration Museum,

1381
01:14:03,539 --> 01:14:07,509
it's fascinating to see where the
majority of Nikkei originated from.

1382
01:14:07,509 --> 01:14:09,511
I actually went there
with a couple members

1383
01:14:09,511 --> 01:14:11,747
of a group called Nikkei in Japan.

1384
01:14:12,648 --> 01:14:15,384
Hi everyone, I'm Elena.

1385
01:14:15,384 --> 01:14:20,389
So my story is, I'm half fourth
generation Japanese-American.

1386
01:14:20,389 --> 01:14:24,927
Originally, it was started
to make people like me,

1387
01:14:24,927 --> 01:14:27,029
who are of Japanese descent,

1388
01:14:27,029 --> 01:14:29,198
like give them a home in Japan.

1389
01:14:29,198 --> 01:14:31,300
Because a lot of us,
we come here and we feel

1390
01:14:31,300 --> 01:14:33,869
like people don't really understand us.

1391
01:14:33,869 --> 01:14:37,506
'Cause we look kind of Japanese but...

1392
01:14:37,506 --> 01:14:38,974
kind of not

1393
01:14:38,974 --> 01:14:41,643
and we don't really
speak Japanese often.

1394
01:14:41,643 --> 01:14:46,582
But as this group has evolved
it's kind of become more

1395
01:14:46,582 --> 01:14:49,051
just anyone who is of Japanese descent

1396
01:14:49,051 --> 01:14:52,287
but doesn't really necessarily feel that

1397
01:14:52,287 --> 01:14:54,089
they are full Japanese

1398
01:14:54,089 --> 01:14:56,725
Like they fit in with the homogenous
kind of culture here.

1399
01:14:57,092 --> 01:14:59,127
Hi, my name is Nina.

1400
01:14:59,127 --> 01:15:01,763
I was born in Japan

1401
01:15:01,763 --> 01:15:05,467
and lived here until I was eight
and then I moved to the U.S.

1402
01:15:05,467 --> 01:15:08,470
My mom's Japanese and
my dad's American.

1403
01:15:08,470 --> 01:15:10,205
Coming back here

1404
01:15:10,205 --> 01:15:12,941
to work as an adult has been

1405
01:15:12,941 --> 01:15:16,512
a lot more of a challenge
with my identity.

1406
01:15:17,179 --> 01:15:20,315
Because I speak Japanese and

1407
01:15:20,315 --> 01:15:23,118
I know all the customs,
or most of the customs,

1408
01:15:23,118 --> 01:15:26,555
and the way to get around,
and speak keigo and everything.

1409
01:15:26,555 --> 01:15:27,823
Yes, keigo.

1410
01:15:27,823 --> 01:15:29,057
I mentioned this earlier,

1411
01:15:29,057 --> 01:15:31,293
but keigo is the formal
version of Japanese,

1412
01:15:31,293 --> 01:15:34,062
and you can find it used
in Japanese workplaces.

1413
01:15:34,062 --> 01:15:35,097
Carrying on...

1414
01:15:35,097 --> 01:15:37,666
But no matter how hard I try

1415
01:15:37,666 --> 01:15:40,502
to fit in situations where
I should be Japanese,

1416
01:15:40,502 --> 01:15:42,804
people don't look at me as Japanese.

1417
01:15:42,804 --> 01:15:47,109
And I get very frustrated with how

1418
01:15:47,109 --> 01:15:50,379
people get really surprised
by how I speak Japanese

1419
01:15:50,379 --> 01:15:54,116
or the fact that I can
use keigo, and be like,

1420
01:15:54,116 --> 01:15:57,386
"Oh it's so embarrassing, I'm Japanese
and I can't use keigo like you."

1421
01:15:57,386 --> 01:15:59,988
It's like, "Well I'm Japanese too but..."

1422
01:15:59,988 --> 01:16:02,291
It's never Japanese enough.

1423
01:16:02,291 --> 01:16:06,128
When you want to be Japanese, I think

1424
01:16:06,128 --> 01:16:10,365
others consider it to be very, very
important that you actually speak it...

1425
01:16:10,365 --> 01:16:11,600
flawlessly.

1426
01:16:11,600 --> 01:16:14,636
I find that a lot of non-native,

1427
01:16:14,636 --> 01:16:17,839
often try to catch up

1428
01:16:17,839 --> 01:16:19,741
and learn Japanese

1429
01:16:20,409 --> 01:16:23,445
because they think that then,
they will fit in better.

1430
01:16:23,445 --> 01:16:25,447
But it doesn't...

1431
01:16:25,447 --> 01:16:28,083
it doesn't help enough.

1432
01:16:28,083 --> 01:16:30,752
It's not enough to speak Japanese

1433
01:16:31,753 --> 01:16:33,689
to be considered,

1434
01:16:33,689 --> 01:16:37,392
to be as Japanese
as you'd want to be.

1435
01:16:37,392 --> 01:16:38,727
I tried to join

1436
01:16:38,727 --> 01:16:42,497
our Nikkei student union
as well at UCLA

1437
01:16:42,497 --> 01:16:47,202
and there was a large group
of people who spoke Japanese.

1438
01:16:47,202 --> 01:16:48,937
And I got asked the question,

1439
01:16:48,937 --> 01:16:52,107
"Oh, so you're Japanese, right?"
and I'm like, "Yeah!"

1440
01:16:52,107 --> 01:16:53,942
And then they're,
"So you speak Japanese?"

1441
01:16:53,942 --> 01:16:55,777
And I'm like, "Umm. No."

1442
01:16:55,777 --> 01:16:57,746
And then they're like,
"Oh, so you're not really Japanese."

1443
01:16:57,746 --> 01:17:01,650
So that was like the epitome
of my college existence, I think.

1444
01:17:01,650 --> 01:17:04,419
My family only knows English.

1445
01:17:04,419 --> 01:17:06,755
I think it's because of our unique

1446
01:17:06,755 --> 01:17:09,858
experiences as Japanese-Americans
going through World War II

1447
01:17:09,858 --> 01:17:11,593
and just having that

1448
01:17:11,593 --> 01:17:13,762
traumatic past.

1449
01:17:15,564 --> 01:17:18,734
My mom taught me about my history
as a JA because I'm fourth gen.

1450
01:17:18,734 --> 01:17:21,303
So that means my family
went through internment,

1451
01:17:21,303 --> 01:17:22,738
my grandparents went through internment,

1452
01:17:22,738 --> 01:17:24,806
that was really, really painful for them.

1453
01:17:24,806 --> 01:17:27,809
Especially my grandfather,
he lost friends, people...

1454
01:17:27,809 --> 01:17:30,545
during the war he lost his best friend.

1455
01:17:30,545 --> 01:17:34,116
Wouldn't talk to him anymore just
because he had a Japanese face.

1456
01:17:35,017 --> 01:17:36,451
They had things stolen from them,

1457
01:17:36,451 --> 01:17:38,654
they had bricks thrown at them.

1458
01:17:38,654 --> 01:17:41,690
You know, just really, really bad things and

1459
01:17:41,690 --> 01:17:44,726
my mom was always like,
"You need to remember that."

1460
01:18:01,109 --> 01:18:04,980
All persons of Japanese descent
were required to register.

1461
01:18:05,547 --> 01:18:09,951
The army provided fleets of vans
to transport household belongings.

1462
01:18:10,919 --> 01:18:13,789
And buses to move the people
to assembly centers.

1463
01:18:13,789 --> 01:18:16,291
Behind them they left shops and homes

1464
01:18:16,291 --> 01:18:18,694
they had occupied for many years.

1465
01:18:21,596 --> 01:18:23,932
We're setting a standard
for the rest of the world

1466
01:18:23,932 --> 01:18:25,801
in the treatment of people who may have

1467
01:18:25,801 --> 01:18:28,203
loyalties to an enemy nation.

1468
01:18:28,203 --> 01:18:29,504
We are protecting ourselves

1469
01:18:29,504 --> 01:18:33,075
without violating the principles
of Christian decency.

1470
01:18:33,709 --> 01:18:36,111
So that first video was made in 1942,

1471
01:18:36,111 --> 01:18:38,914
soon after relocation
orders were put in place.

1472
01:18:38,914 --> 01:18:42,651
In their follow-up video,
just two years later in 1944,

1473
01:18:42,651 --> 01:18:44,686
you can tell the change in tone.

1474
01:18:44,686 --> 01:18:46,655
Evacuation.

1475
01:18:46,655 --> 01:18:49,324
More than a hundred thousand
men, women, and children,

1476
01:18:49,324 --> 01:18:51,326
all of Japanese ancestry,

1477
01:18:51,326 --> 01:18:54,196
removed from their homes
in the Pacific coast states,

1478
01:18:54,196 --> 01:18:55,697
to wartime communities

1479
01:18:55,697 --> 01:18:57,999
established in out of the way places.

1480
01:18:57,999 --> 01:19:02,170
Two thirds of the evacuees are
American citizens by right of birth.

1481
01:19:02,170 --> 01:19:06,108
The rest are their Japanese born
parents and grandparents.

1482
01:19:06,108 --> 01:19:08,276
These people are not under suspicion,

1483
01:19:08,276 --> 01:19:09,644
they are not prisoners,

1484
01:19:09,644 --> 01:19:11,546
they are not internees.

1485
01:19:11,546 --> 01:19:14,116
They're merely dislocated people.

1486
01:19:14,116 --> 01:19:16,718
The unwounded casualties of war.

1487
01:19:16,718 --> 01:19:21,223
While they have many things in common
with ordinary American communities,

1488
01:19:21,223 --> 01:19:22,824
in the really important things,

1489
01:19:22,824 --> 01:19:25,494
relocation centers are not normal

1490
01:19:25,494 --> 01:19:27,696
and probably never can be.

1491
01:19:28,163 --> 01:19:30,098
Homelife is disrupted,

1492
01:19:30,098 --> 01:19:33,401
eating, living, and working
conditions are abnormal,

1493
01:19:33,702 --> 01:19:35,570
training of children is difficult.

1494
01:19:36,304 --> 01:19:37,506
Americanism,

1495
01:19:37,506 --> 01:19:41,476
taught in the schools and
churches and on the playgrounds,

1496
01:19:41,476 --> 01:19:45,747
loses much of its meaning in the
confines of a relocation center.

1497
01:19:46,081 --> 01:19:48,784
Yeah, when I was like 6 years old,

1498
01:19:48,784 --> 01:19:51,419
my mom told me like,

1499
01:19:54,422 --> 01:19:56,691
"You're Japanese-American.

1500
01:19:56,691 --> 01:19:59,694
You can't, you have to
act a certain way.

1501
01:19:59,694 --> 01:20:02,063
You can't act out in public.

1502
01:20:02,063 --> 01:20:04,399
Because your family went
through so much, you know?"

1503
01:20:04,399 --> 01:20:06,301
At the risk of over-explaining,

1504
01:20:06,301 --> 01:20:08,236
Nikkei in America and Canada,

1505
01:20:08,236 --> 01:20:10,772
who were forcibly detained
during World War II

1506
01:20:10,772 --> 01:20:13,875
and taught how to be good Americans
and Canadians at the camps,

1507
01:20:13,875 --> 01:20:16,111
naturally wanted to fit into society

1508
01:20:16,111 --> 01:20:18,380
and prove their worth when they got out.

1509
01:20:18,380 --> 01:20:21,183
This meant abandoning their
native language and culture.

1510
01:20:21,183 --> 01:20:23,819
For their children, and the
generations that followed,

1511
01:20:23,819 --> 01:20:27,322
many stopped being able to speak the
language and understand the culture.

1512
01:20:27,322 --> 01:20:29,057
This created a group of people

1513
01:20:29,057 --> 01:20:31,593
who didn't quite fit into
the country they were born in

1514
01:20:31,593 --> 01:20:34,663
or the country their
ancestors were from.

1515
01:20:34,663 --> 01:20:38,466
I don't really see myself as Japanese.

1516
01:20:38,466 --> 01:20:39,935
And...

1517
01:20:39,935 --> 01:20:42,737
People, when I came here, they try to
make me, "Oh, you're an American."

1518
01:20:42,737 --> 01:20:45,507
But I don't really see
myself as just American.

1519
01:20:45,507 --> 01:20:50,378
I see like there's Japanese and
all these different identities...

1520
01:20:51,112 --> 01:20:52,147
But I know,

1521
01:20:52,147 --> 01:20:54,950
I know I'm Japanese-American.

1522
01:20:55,750 --> 01:21:01,289
It hurts so much to not be seen
for who you see yourself...

1523
01:21:01,890 --> 01:21:02,858
to be.

1524
01:21:14,002 --> 01:21:18,039
It's easy to see how looks can be
so strongly tied to being Japanese,

1525
01:21:18,039 --> 01:21:21,076
as the vast, vast majority
of Japanese look similar.

1526
01:21:21,076 --> 01:21:22,911
Where I'm from, Canada,

1527
01:21:22,911 --> 01:21:24,212
there is no way in the world

1528
01:21:24,212 --> 01:21:26,214
that you can look at
someone on the street

1529
01:21:26,214 --> 01:21:28,183
and figure out if they're Canadian or not;

1530
01:21:28,183 --> 01:21:30,418
there's simply too much diversity.

1531
01:21:30,418 --> 01:21:31,386
But in Japan,

1532
01:21:31,386 --> 01:21:33,955
if you see someone who's
visually different from the rest,

1533
01:21:33,955 --> 01:21:36,591
then there's a very good chance
that they're not Japanese.

1534
01:21:36,591 --> 01:21:39,794
However, even when a ‘Japanese’ person

1535
01:21:39,794 --> 01:21:42,397
learns that a person is indeed Japanese,

1536
01:21:42,397 --> 01:21:45,033
their appearance can still
colour their judgement.

1537
01:21:45,033 --> 01:21:46,001
On the other hand,

1538
01:21:46,001 --> 01:21:48,036
those that do look typically Japanese,

1539
01:21:48,036 --> 01:21:50,772
but don't have the same
cultural or language proficiency,

1540
01:21:50,772 --> 01:21:52,073
can really stand out,

1541
01:21:52,073 --> 01:21:54,542
both in and outside of Japan.

1542
01:21:55,677 --> 01:21:58,980
I can't just say I'm Japanese
because I don't look

1543
01:21:58,980 --> 01:21:59,948
typical Japanese.

1544
01:21:59,948 --> 01:22:01,216
Like I have to explain.

1545
01:22:01,850 --> 01:22:03,318
I can't just say,

1546
01:22:03,318 --> 01:22:05,153
I'm Japanese.

1547
01:22:05,153 --> 01:22:06,821
because most people would be like,

1548
01:22:06,821 --> 01:22:10,025
"You don't look Japanese though?"

1549
01:22:10,025 --> 01:22:11,793
Is what people usually tell me.

1550
01:22:11,793 --> 01:22:13,261
So,

1551
01:22:14,029 --> 01:22:18,600
Actually, my dad is American,
my mom is Japanese,

1552
01:22:18,600 --> 01:22:19,734
so I'm hāfu.

1553
01:22:19,734 --> 01:22:23,638
I always need to say that
kind of self-introduction.

1554
01:22:23,638 --> 01:22:25,307
When people

1555
01:22:25,307 --> 01:22:28,543
say mixed babies are cute,
that really bothers me.

1556
01:22:28,543 --> 01:22:30,412
Like babies are cute.

1557
01:22:30,412 --> 01:22:32,647
Babies are cute. Maybe
some babies are not as cute

1558
01:22:32,647 --> 01:22:34,449
as other babies but

1559
01:22:34,449 --> 01:22:35,984
it really bothers me

1560
01:22:35,984 --> 01:22:38,486
when people say that.

1561
01:22:38,486 --> 01:22:40,922
Because I feel like it "others"

1562
01:22:40,922 --> 01:22:44,726
people of mixed roots in
a way that's unnecessary.

1563
01:22:44,726 --> 01:22:47,429
And it makes it about how they look.

1564
01:22:47,429 --> 01:22:49,631
Ethnically, we're very diverse

1565
01:22:49,631 --> 01:22:50,765
even as Asians.

1566
01:22:50,765 --> 01:22:53,568
We have Chinese, Korean, different roots,

1567
01:22:53,568 --> 01:22:55,403
to me Japanese ethnically,

1568
01:22:55,403 --> 01:22:57,072
it's difficult to define that.

1569
01:22:57,072 --> 01:22:58,540
You can look different,

1570
01:22:58,540 --> 01:23:01,509
you can be non-Asian and be Japanese.

1571
01:23:01,509 --> 01:23:05,080
Like the outside looks Japanese,

1572
01:23:05,080 --> 01:23:07,349
but I don't have a lot
of connections...

1573
01:23:07,349 --> 01:23:09,451
like inside, it's really weird.

1574
01:23:09,451 --> 01:23:10,885
Because if you don't have the language,

1575
01:23:10,885 --> 01:23:12,954
if you don't do Japanese things,

1576
01:23:12,954 --> 01:23:15,256
but you look Japanese, like what...

1577
01:23:15,824 --> 01:23:17,392
what is, how, I don't know?

1578
01:23:17,392 --> 01:23:18,994
It's a lot of questions.

1579
01:23:18,994 --> 01:23:20,628
Max, had a funny story

1580
01:23:20,628 --> 01:23:22,630
about his Japanese mother's family

1581
01:23:22,630 --> 01:23:24,499
that he would visit regularly.

1582
01:23:24,499 --> 01:23:26,534
Basically every time I would go visit them

1583
01:23:26,534 --> 01:23:30,305
my own oji-chan, my mom's brother,
would always be like,

1584
01:23:30,305 --> 01:23:33,274
"Oh Max, you're good at using chopsticks!"

1585
01:23:33,274 --> 01:23:36,311
"Oh, you like natto?
Wow, you're like a Japanese!"

1586
01:23:36,311 --> 01:23:39,114
You do know I am the son

1587
01:23:39,114 --> 01:23:41,282
of your sister?

1588
01:23:41,282 --> 01:23:43,184
I never could say it to him,

1589
01:23:43,184 --> 01:23:44,619
but I always thought it was hilarious.

1590
01:23:44,619 --> 01:23:47,822
How he treated me so much like

1591
01:23:47,822 --> 01:23:49,357
not Japanese.

1592
01:23:49,357 --> 01:23:52,160
Even though it's like,
it's your own sister's son.

1593
01:23:52,160 --> 01:23:54,095
It's a loaded question

1594
01:23:54,095 --> 01:23:56,931
if I say I'm

1595
01:23:58,299 --> 01:24:00,802
Japanese to, like, a

1596
01:24:00,802 --> 01:24:03,438
an Asian American because,

1597
01:24:03,438 --> 01:24:05,140
from my experience,

1598
01:24:05,140 --> 01:24:06,775
that will always

1599
01:24:06,775 --> 01:24:08,109
provoke an argument.

1600
01:24:08,109 --> 01:24:11,279
I remember meeting this bus driver,

1601
01:24:11,579 --> 01:24:15,183
who saw me and said,
"You Asian?"

1602
01:24:15,183 --> 01:24:16,985
and I was like, "Yes."

1603
01:24:16,985 --> 01:24:18,486
He was like, "Are you black?"

1604
01:24:18,486 --> 01:24:20,021
and I was like, "Yes."

1605
01:24:20,021 --> 01:24:22,023
He was like, "Oh, that's cool."

1606
01:24:22,023 --> 01:24:24,526
And then proceeded to

1607
01:24:24,526 --> 01:24:27,328
tell me he was going to

1608
01:24:27,328 --> 01:24:30,198
find an 'Oriental' woman.

1609
01:24:30,198 --> 01:24:32,300
He was going to quit his job in New York

1610
01:24:32,300 --> 01:24:35,270
and find an Oriental woman,

1611
01:24:35,270 --> 01:24:39,074
and he was going to make children like me.

1612
01:24:39,074 --> 01:24:40,942
Wow! That's new.

1613
01:24:40,942 --> 01:24:42,710
I didn't even know what to say.

1614
01:24:42,710 --> 01:24:44,879
When I was a high school student,

1615
01:24:44,879 --> 01:24:46,414
I worked at a sushi restaurant.

1616
01:24:46,414 --> 01:24:49,751
But I wasn’t asked to
make sushi rolls there.

1617
01:24:49,751 --> 01:24:54,989
Apparently, the reason was my
appearance wasn't appropriate

1618
01:24:54,989 --> 01:24:58,793
for a sushi maker as the
customers could see it.

1619
01:24:58,793 --> 01:25:01,863
A customer said, “Did you come
to study in Japan? That’s good.”

1620
01:25:01,863 --> 01:25:04,833
”You must like Japanese culture as
you’re working in a sushi restaurant.”

1621
01:25:04,833 --> 01:25:10,338
Because of how I look, they tend
to make up stories like that.

1622
01:25:10,338 --> 01:25:16,111
People like me who do something
to do with Japanese things,

1623
01:25:16,111 --> 01:25:20,915
they tend to think,
"Oh, this person loves Japan

1624
01:25:20,915 --> 01:25:26,521
and came all the way from home
just to learn our culture!"

1625
01:25:26,521 --> 01:25:34,462
That's how I felt they were
thinking about me.

1626
01:25:36,264 --> 01:25:38,900
Okay then, If something
happens, just call 110.

1627
01:25:38,900 --> 01:25:40,735
Okay, we will. Thank you.

1628
01:25:42,470 --> 01:25:46,107
I always get stopped
like this when filming!

1629
01:25:46,107 --> 01:25:47,775
I don't know the reason why.

1630
01:25:47,775 --> 01:25:51,880
I'm often stopped by the police.

1631
01:25:51,880 --> 01:25:55,750
But I never get physically abused.

1632
01:25:55,750 --> 01:26:00,889
I've probably been stopped more
than 300 times in my life so far.

1633
01:26:00,889 --> 01:26:04,659
But when I'm wearing
a suit I don't get stopped.

1634
01:26:04,659 --> 01:26:06,928
I never, ever, get stopped!

1635
01:26:06,928 --> 01:26:12,100
When I'm in a sweatshirt, or wearing
a hoodie, then of course I get stopped.

1636
01:26:17,205 --> 01:26:18,606
A growing group of people

1637
01:26:18,606 --> 01:26:21,643
that don't get much attention
in Japan are refugees.

1638
01:26:21,643 --> 01:26:22,977
while the number of refugees

1639
01:26:22,977 --> 01:26:23,845
coming to Japan

1640
01:26:23,845 --> 01:26:25,880
was quite low a couple decades ago,

1641
01:26:25,880 --> 01:26:27,415
easier access to travel visas

1642
01:26:27,415 --> 01:26:29,784
has caused a surge in recent years.

1643
01:26:29,784 --> 01:26:31,352
I’m Shankai.

1644
01:26:31,352 --> 01:26:35,523
I'm a born-in-Japan Burmese
that lives in Japan.

1645
01:26:35,523 --> 01:26:38,660
But I don't have citizenship
of any country.

1646
01:26:38,993 --> 01:26:43,064
When I was in elementary school,

1647
01:26:43,064 --> 01:26:46,801
I never thought of myself as a foreigner.

1648
01:26:46,801 --> 01:26:50,238
I wrote my name in katakana for the
6 years of my elementary school.

1649
01:26:50,238 --> 01:26:53,708
When other classmates wrote
theirs in Chinese characters.

1650
01:26:53,708 --> 01:26:56,945
I felt it a bit funny but no big deal.

1651
01:26:56,945 --> 01:27:03,418
I never thought I was Burmese back then.

1652
01:27:03,418 --> 01:27:10,325
When I went to middle
school, I was bullied.

1653
01:27:10,325 --> 01:27:16,364
I came to understand
that I wasn't Japanese

1654
01:27:16,364 --> 01:27:19,567
when I was being bullied.

1655
01:27:20,268 --> 01:27:25,006
I also thought I couldn't ever
become Japanese then.

1656
01:27:25,006 --> 01:27:36,517
So I thought I should be positive about
it and accept that I'm Burmese.

1657
01:27:37,819 --> 01:27:41,089
When I applied for university,

1658
01:27:41,089 --> 01:27:47,462
studying abroad was a must
at the faculty I wanted to enter.

1659
01:27:47,462 --> 01:27:54,602
I also wanted to go see foreign countries.

1660
01:27:54,602 --> 01:27:57,939
When I had to write the entrance application,

1661
01:27:57,939 --> 01:28:02,910
my parents told me how I was stateless.

1662
01:28:02,910 --> 01:28:09,350
I had no passport and it's actually
risky to leave the country.

1663
01:28:09,350 --> 01:28:23,631
Then I realized I'm neither Burmese
nor Japanese when I was about 17.

1664
01:28:23,631 --> 01:28:25,667
At this point, you might be wondering

1665
01:28:25,667 --> 01:28:27,969
how Shankai can be a citizen of no country

1666
01:28:27,969 --> 01:28:29,871
even though he was 17 years old.

1667
01:28:30,505 --> 01:28:33,875
In Japan, citizenship is
passed through jus sanguinis

1668
01:28:33,875 --> 01:28:35,009
or right of blood.

1669
01:28:35,009 --> 01:28:36,911
Which is unlike much of the Americas,

1670
01:28:36,911 --> 01:28:38,112
which is jus soli,

1671
01:28:38,112 --> 01:28:40,081
or birthright citizenship.

1672
01:28:40,081 --> 01:28:42,083
So despite being born in Japan,

1673
01:28:42,083 --> 01:28:45,386
Shankai didn't automatically
get Japanese citizenship.

1674
01:28:46,120 --> 01:28:48,623
Right now, honestly,

1675
01:28:48,623 --> 01:28:52,994
if I continue without citizenship,

1676
01:28:52,994 --> 01:28:56,597
I won't be able to go abroad easily,

1677
01:28:56,597 --> 01:28:59,634
or I won't even be able to get married.

1678
01:28:59,634 --> 01:29:03,538
There are many problems about this issue.

1679
01:29:03,538 --> 01:29:06,774
I can naturalize.

1680
01:29:06,774 --> 01:29:10,611
But then my problem is, do I want to

1681
01:29:10,611 --> 01:29:14,082
obtain a Burmese citizenship,

1682
01:29:14,082 --> 01:29:16,217
or a Japanese citizenship?

1683
01:29:16,217 --> 01:29:19,454
I'm still torn over this.

1684
01:29:19,454 --> 01:29:23,925
Japanese citizenship has a wider range of

1685
01:29:23,925 --> 01:29:33,968
benefits and is more useful,

1686
01:29:33,968 --> 01:29:41,376
so at this moment I am thinking to
apply for the Japanese citizenship.

1687
01:29:50,084 --> 01:29:53,921
In Japanese, those who have
naturalized are known as kikasha.

1688
01:29:54,222 --> 01:29:56,491
In comparison to other G7 countries,

1689
01:29:56,491 --> 01:29:58,126
the amount of people naturalizing

1690
01:29:58,126 --> 01:30:00,995
and becoming Japanese is quite low.

1691
01:30:00,995 --> 01:30:02,430
This leads many to think that

1692
01:30:02,430 --> 01:30:04,999
naturalizing is not easily possible.

1693
01:30:04,999 --> 01:30:07,101
However, the success rate of applicants

1694
01:30:07,101 --> 01:30:09,003
is incredibly high.

1695
01:30:09,003 --> 01:30:10,505
Unfortunately,

1696
01:30:10,505 --> 01:30:12,073
I have the impression

1697
01:30:12,073 --> 01:30:14,342
that a lot of foreign countries

1698
01:30:14,342 --> 01:30:18,179
see Japan as closed and unwelcoming.

1699
01:30:18,479 --> 01:30:20,181
This is really not true

1700
01:30:20,181 --> 01:30:21,682
and I would like to encourage

1701
01:30:22,049 --> 01:30:23,451
people to come

1702
01:30:23,451 --> 01:30:25,086
and see for themselves.

1703
01:30:25,086 --> 01:30:27,422
If you really like Japan and

1704
01:30:27,422 --> 01:30:28,656
want to live here,

1705
01:30:28,656 --> 01:30:30,224
that is good too.

1706
01:30:30,224 --> 01:30:31,993
You can become Japanese.

1707
01:30:32,260 --> 01:30:34,195
So Eido, who we met before,

1708
01:30:34,195 --> 01:30:35,696
not only naturalized,

1709
01:30:35,696 --> 01:30:36,731
but has a website

1710
01:30:36,731 --> 01:30:39,200
where he teaches the
ins and outs of naturalizing,

1711
01:30:39,200 --> 01:30:41,102
as well as shares the stories of others

1712
01:30:41,102 --> 01:30:43,137
who have become Japanese.

1713
01:30:43,438 --> 01:30:46,107
I'd say the top question I get asked is,

1714
01:30:46,107 --> 01:30:47,508
"Was it hard?"

1715
01:30:47,508 --> 01:30:50,511
And I'd say, "Well, it's actually...

1716
01:30:50,511 --> 01:30:52,647
it's not easy, but...

1717
01:30:52,647 --> 01:30:56,083
it's not as hard or as impossible
as you might think.

1718
01:30:56,250 --> 01:30:58,419
There are six conditions for naturalizing,

1719
01:30:58,419 --> 01:31:00,354
which I'll briefly summarize:

1720
01:31:00,354 --> 01:31:03,157
1 - You need to live in Japan for 5 years.

1721
01:31:03,157 --> 01:31:05,593
2 - Be over twenty years old.

1722
01:31:05,593 --> 01:31:07,728
3 - Not be a criminal.

1723
01:31:07,728 --> 01:31:10,832
4 - Be able to support
yourself financially.

1724
01:31:10,832 --> 01:31:12,700
Which generally means you speak

1725
01:31:12,700 --> 01:31:15,736
elementary school level
Japanese and have a job

1726
01:31:15,736 --> 01:31:18,306
or you have a family member supporting you

1727
01:31:18,306 --> 01:31:20,608
or just have lots of money.

1728
01:31:20,975 --> 01:31:24,979
5 - That you'll give up any
citizenship in any other countries,

1729
01:31:24,979 --> 01:31:27,348
although there are some exceptions.

1730
01:31:27,348 --> 01:31:28,149
And 6 -

1731
01:31:28,149 --> 01:31:29,617
you've never tried to overthrow

1732
01:31:29,617 --> 01:31:31,486
the constitution of Japan.

1733
01:31:32,053 --> 01:31:33,721
Another common question Eido gets

1734
01:31:33,721 --> 01:31:36,390
is why he chose to become Japanese.

1735
01:31:36,390 --> 01:31:38,726
Having permanent residency,

1736
01:31:38,726 --> 01:31:40,728
that gives you

1737
01:31:40,728 --> 01:31:42,096
permission

1738
01:31:42,096 --> 01:31:44,732
to live and work here.

1739
01:31:44,732 --> 01:31:46,601
And the optimist would say,

1740
01:31:46,601 --> 01:31:49,971
"Oh, they would never, ever, ever
take that away from me."

1741
01:31:49,971 --> 01:31:53,808
But the person that looks at it
from a life insurance point of view,

1742
01:31:53,808 --> 01:31:55,710
says, "Well, I'd rather have

1743
01:31:55,710 --> 01:31:57,512
the right to live here,

1744
01:31:58,079 --> 01:32:00,014
and work here, unconditionally."

1745
01:32:00,147 --> 01:32:01,616
You know, they can

1746
01:32:01,616 --> 01:32:02,283
fine you,

1747
01:32:02,283 --> 01:32:03,518
they can jail you,

1748
01:32:03,518 --> 01:32:04,852
they can even execute you,

1749
01:32:04,852 --> 01:32:06,420
but they can't deport you.

1750
01:32:06,787 --> 01:32:09,357
And in 2020, a permanent
resident's ability

1751
01:32:09,357 --> 01:32:11,092
to leave and re-enter Japan

1752
01:32:11,092 --> 01:32:12,493
was temporarily paused,

1753
01:32:12,493 --> 01:32:15,663
as the government tried to
control the spread of coronavirus.

1754
01:32:16,097 --> 01:32:17,098
On the other hand,

1755
01:32:17,098 --> 01:32:19,834
Japanese citizens did
continue to retain their right

1756
01:32:19,834 --> 01:32:21,569
to re-enter the country.

1757
01:32:25,806 --> 01:32:27,975
I'm David Chart, I'm Japanese,

1758
01:32:27,975 --> 01:32:30,945
but I was born in the U.K.

1759
01:32:30,945 --> 01:32:33,514
I came to Japan fifteen years ago,

1760
01:32:33,514 --> 01:32:36,984
when I was thirty-one and
naturalized two years ago.

1761
01:32:42,890 --> 01:32:45,893
It's part of the reason why I feel

1762
01:32:45,893 --> 01:32:48,296
culturally Japanese in a lot of ways

1763
01:32:48,296 --> 01:32:53,134
because I do practice Shinto and that is

1764
01:32:53,134 --> 01:32:54,936
really Japanese.

1765
01:32:57,071 --> 01:33:00,608
I passed the exam that they set

1766
01:33:00,608 --> 01:33:03,711
for lay people who want to
take an exam about Shinto.

1767
01:33:03,711 --> 01:33:05,746
I passed at the highest level.

1768
01:33:05,746 --> 01:33:10,151
None of the people I have
encountered in Shinto,

1769
01:33:10,151 --> 01:33:12,587
have had any problem

1770
01:33:12,587 --> 01:33:15,823
with the fact that
I was not born in Japan.

1771
01:33:16,457 --> 01:33:18,960
The question I asked all
people who naturalized,

1772
01:33:18,960 --> 01:33:20,761
was if it was hard to do so

1773
01:33:20,761 --> 01:33:22,330
and why they chose to.

1774
01:33:22,597 --> 01:33:24,665
At the point I actually naturalized,

1775
01:33:24,665 --> 01:33:27,668
I was just switching between two jobs.

1776
01:33:27,668 --> 01:33:30,471
And so, my most recent income

1777
01:33:30,471 --> 01:33:33,040
was actually under three million yen.

1778
01:33:33,674 --> 01:33:35,476
That wasn't a problem.

1779
01:33:36,344 --> 01:33:39,480
So you don't have to be earning

1780
01:33:39,480 --> 01:33:43,250
a high amount of money, you just
have to show that you are earning

1781
01:33:43,250 --> 01:33:46,320
and that you can probably
continue earning.

1782
01:33:46,320 --> 01:33:50,057
I do know of people who are

1783
01:33:50,057 --> 01:33:53,060
Southeast Asian who work in factories

1784
01:33:53,060 --> 01:33:55,596
and who have naturalized.

1785
01:33:55,596 --> 01:33:59,667
When I'd made the decision,
I'd been in Japan for 13 years.

1786
01:33:59,667 --> 01:34:03,371
By that time, Japan felt like my country.

1787
01:34:03,638 --> 01:34:04,839
You get...

1788
01:34:04,839 --> 01:34:07,208
some Youtubers saying they
would never naturalize in Japan

1789
01:34:07,208 --> 01:34:08,876
because they always wanted
to be absolutely sure

1790
01:34:08,876 --> 01:34:11,278
they could always go back
to their own country.

1791
01:34:12,079 --> 01:34:13,714
That's why I naturalized.

1792
01:34:14,949 --> 01:34:17,652
I wanted to be sure
I could always come back here.

1793
01:34:17,918 --> 01:34:21,422
So it's kind of funny that when David
was returning to his former country,

1794
01:34:21,422 --> 01:34:24,158
the U.K., he encountered some issues.

1795
01:34:24,325 --> 01:34:25,926
I had to line up

1796
01:34:25,926 --> 01:34:29,163
in the Non-U.K., non-EU passport lane,

1797
01:34:29,163 --> 01:34:31,298
which had a much longer queue.

1798
01:34:31,999 --> 01:34:34,969
Got to the front, handed over my passport,

1799
01:34:34,969 --> 01:34:38,005
and the immigration official

1800
01:34:38,005 --> 01:34:39,273
looked at it,

1801
01:34:39,273 --> 01:34:40,675
looked at me,

1802
01:34:40,675 --> 01:34:42,710
"I didn't know they handed these out!"

1803
01:34:42,710 --> 01:34:44,812
First time I went to the U.S.,

1804
01:34:44,812 --> 01:34:47,014
because that's where my father lives,

1805
01:34:47,014 --> 01:34:50,117
the guy looks at my passport and says,

1806
01:34:50,117 --> 01:34:54,288
"Hmm... Japanese passport.
Why do you have a British accent then?"

1807
01:34:55,456 --> 01:34:57,625
My accent.

1808
01:34:59,260 --> 01:35:01,729
My only theory is that he's
had sensitivity training

1809
01:35:01,729 --> 01:35:03,664
and has been told you do not tell people

1810
01:35:03,664 --> 01:35:06,534
they do not look like their passport.

1811
01:35:06,534 --> 01:35:07,468
But hadn't been told

1812
01:35:07,468 --> 01:35:09,837
not to tell them they don't
sound like their passport.

1813
01:35:09,837 --> 01:35:11,839
Another visit to the U.K.,

1814
01:35:11,839 --> 01:35:12,807
the guy told me,

1815
01:35:12,807 --> 01:35:16,577
"Well, you don't exactly look like a
typical Japanese businessman, do you?"

1816
01:35:17,011 --> 01:35:19,146
Er... no, no.

1817
01:35:19,146 --> 01:35:20,915
"Have you been to the U.K. before?"

1818
01:35:21,882 --> 01:35:24,618
Yes! Yes, a bit.

1819
01:35:24,618 --> 01:35:26,420
"Wow, never seen this before.

1820
01:35:26,420 --> 01:35:29,523
Someone not of Japanese descent
with a Japanese passport."

1821
01:35:29,523 --> 01:35:32,560
And the guy who was
actually studying me says,

1822
01:35:32,560 --> 01:35:34,562
"Yes, but is this OK?"

1823
01:35:35,396 --> 01:35:38,032
Hang on a minute, you're
actually thinking about

1824
01:35:38,032 --> 01:35:41,268
not allowing me to enter
the U.K. because I'm

1825
01:35:41,268 --> 01:35:42,937
white on a Japanese passport,

1826
01:35:42,937 --> 01:35:44,538
that's interesting.

1827
01:35:44,538 --> 01:35:46,941
Japan has alway been

1828
01:35:47,408 --> 01:35:49,009
no reaction at all.

1829
01:35:49,009 --> 01:35:50,911
Just thank you sir.

1830
01:35:50,911 --> 01:35:54,582
Even when I had a someone
who had kenshusei trainee

1831
01:35:54,582 --> 01:35:56,484
on her badge, so,

1832
01:35:56,484 --> 01:35:59,553
it's a virtual certainty that
I was the first white person

1833
01:35:59,553 --> 01:36:01,188
with a Japanese passport she’d seen,

1834
01:36:01,188 --> 01:36:03,457
because there aren't that many of us.

1835
01:36:03,824 --> 01:36:05,493
No. Not even a flicker.

1836
01:36:05,826 --> 01:36:08,996
Even though he doesn't get any
reactions at Japanese customs,

1837
01:36:08,996 --> 01:36:12,500
that's not necessarily
the case in his everyday life.

1838
01:36:12,500 --> 01:36:15,069
I stand out visually

1839
01:36:15,069 --> 01:36:17,671
among the typical Japanese population.

1840
01:36:17,671 --> 01:36:20,975
Japanese doesn't really have

1841
01:36:21,375 --> 01:36:22,510
a word

1842
01:36:22,877 --> 01:36:24,078
for

1843
01:36:24,512 --> 01:36:28,282
Japanese people who don't
look like most Japanese people.

1844
01:36:28,282 --> 01:36:30,417
Foreigner is just wrong.

1845
01:36:30,417 --> 01:36:31,852
Legally, I am not a foreigner

1846
01:36:31,852 --> 01:36:34,355
I am a Japanese citizen,
this is my country.

1847
01:36:34,355 --> 01:36:36,323
I get to vote, I can run
for Prime Minister.

1848
01:36:36,323 --> 01:36:37,958
You want a way to talk about

1849
01:36:37,958 --> 01:36:40,461
Zainichi-Koreans who have naturalized.

1850
01:36:40,461 --> 01:36:41,428
They're Japanese.

1851
01:36:41,428 --> 01:36:42,830
They were born in Japan,
they were raised in Japan

1852
01:36:42,830 --> 01:36:43,964
their native language is Japanese,

1853
01:36:43,964 --> 01:36:45,466
their parents were born in Japan

1854
01:36:45,466 --> 01:36:48,135
thei grandparents were usually
born in Japan these days.

1855
01:36:48,135 --> 01:36:49,970
How do you describe them?

1856
01:36:49,970 --> 01:36:52,039
They're not Zainichi-Koreans anymore.

1857
01:36:52,039 --> 01:36:53,741
Alright, they're now Japanese.

1858
01:36:53,741 --> 01:36:54,542
So

1859
01:36:54,775 --> 01:36:56,043
Japan

1860
01:36:56,377 --> 01:36:59,113
doesn't yet have language

1861
01:36:59,113 --> 01:36:59,914
for this.

1862
01:37:00,214 --> 01:37:01,348
How do you pronounce your name again

1863
01:37:01,348 --> 01:37:03,417
when you introduce yourself in Japanese?

1864
01:37:03,417 --> 01:37:06,220
Gurizudeiru Bari Jyoshua

1865
01:37:07,454 --> 01:37:10,858
It's always difficult to say.
Whenever I get called everyone's always

1866
01:37:10,858 --> 01:37:12,693
"Guri, guri, guri, gurizu..."

1867
01:37:12,693 --> 01:37:14,695
So I always say, "Hai!"

1868
01:37:14,929 --> 01:37:17,565
I specifically asked Josh
the question about his name,

1869
01:37:17,565 --> 01:37:20,734
because using Western names
in Japan can have issues.

1870
01:37:20,734 --> 01:37:22,169
First, there's the length,

1871
01:37:22,169 --> 01:37:24,104
since Japanese only have two names,

1872
01:37:24,104 --> 01:37:25,372
a first and a last,

1873
01:37:25,372 --> 01:37:28,642
while other countries
can have three, four or five.

1874
01:37:28,642 --> 01:37:31,312
The second issue is converting
the name into katakana,

1875
01:37:31,312 --> 01:37:33,948
which will almost never
sound like the original name

1876
01:37:33,948 --> 01:37:36,517
and makes the already
long name even longer,

1877
01:37:36,517 --> 01:37:39,186
due to the way katakana
is written vs. kanji.

1878
01:37:39,186 --> 01:37:41,922
Now if you look at David
Chart's name in Japanese,

1879
01:37:41,922 --> 01:37:44,058
you'll notice that the
last name is in katakana,

1880
01:37:44,058 --> 01:37:46,260
and the first name is in kanji.

1881
01:37:46,260 --> 01:37:48,229
I asked him why that was?

1882
01:37:48,229 --> 01:37:51,765
I did suggest that we could go
for a kanji surname as well,

1883
01:37:51,765 --> 01:37:54,568
but my daughter strongly opposed that.

1884
01:37:54,568 --> 01:37:58,005
And because she is a half

1885
01:37:58,005 --> 01:38:01,375
and so she should have a name that is

1886
01:38:01,375 --> 01:38:04,144
half katakana and half kanji.

1887
01:38:04,144 --> 01:38:05,713
So

1888
01:38:05,713 --> 01:38:07,281
I wasn't allowed to change

1889
01:38:07,281 --> 01:38:10,150
the surname from what my wife had chosen

1890
01:38:10,150 --> 01:38:11,285
when we got married.

1891
01:38:11,852 --> 01:38:14,688
And I wanted kanji in the name

1892
01:38:14,688 --> 01:38:19,293
and so I found some kanji for David.

1893
01:38:24,632 --> 01:38:28,335
My name is Barry Joshua Grisdale,
I'm originally from Canada,

1894
01:38:28,335 --> 01:38:31,405
but I became a Japanese citizen in 2016.

1895
01:38:31,405 --> 01:38:33,941
So in my mind I expected
becoming a Japanese citizen

1896
01:38:33,941 --> 01:38:35,809
would be a very grueling procedure

1897
01:38:35,809 --> 01:38:38,178
and very difficult with maybe pushback

1898
01:38:38,178 --> 01:38:40,180
from the people at the ministry

1899
01:38:40,180 --> 01:38:42,016
but in fact everybody was very welcoming.

1900
01:38:42,016 --> 01:38:43,651
They were very encouraging

1901
01:38:43,651 --> 01:38:47,254
and they provided all the information
I needed to take the first steps.

1902
01:38:47,721 --> 01:38:49,423
I also had a home visit.

1903
01:38:49,423 --> 01:38:53,994
So the person from the
ministry came to my house.

1904
01:38:53,994 --> 01:38:56,697
It was only about five minutes,
they sort of just checked

1905
01:38:56,697 --> 01:38:59,033
and did a quick look around.

1906
01:38:59,033 --> 01:39:01,702
Checked my closet and
then that was it kind of thing.

1907
01:39:01,702 --> 01:39:03,871
There's always these stories
that they check your refrigerator

1908
01:39:03,871 --> 01:39:05,673
to see if you're eating
natto and stuff like that.

1909
01:39:05,673 --> 01:39:09,643
Unfortunately, I had put all that
natto in there for nothing.

1910
01:39:09,643 --> 01:39:11,211
In Japan,

1911
01:39:11,211 --> 01:39:15,416
you get a case worker who goes
through all of your documents with you,

1912
01:39:15,416 --> 01:39:16,750
tells you what you need,

1913
01:39:16,750 --> 01:39:18,385
makes sure you got the right things.

1914
01:39:18,385 --> 01:39:19,853
Tells you if you haven't
got the right things

1915
01:39:19,853 --> 01:39:21,055
and what you need to do to fix it.

1916
01:39:21,055 --> 01:39:22,089
And

1917
01:39:22,089 --> 01:39:25,259
sticks with you for as long as it takes
to get your application fixed.

1918
01:39:25,259 --> 01:39:26,293
And that's free.

1919
01:39:26,293 --> 01:39:27,795
Now, the reason for that is not

1920
01:39:27,795 --> 01:39:29,863
necessarily because
Japan loves immigrants.

1921
01:39:29,863 --> 01:39:33,867
It's because Japanese law says
that central government bodies

1922
01:39:33,867 --> 01:39:35,970
have to provide full help

1923
01:39:35,970 --> 01:39:38,372
to enable you to fill in applications

1924
01:39:38,372 --> 01:39:41,508
What I've experienced

1925
01:39:41,508 --> 01:39:45,045
as a pleasant shock was
that when I naturalized

1926
01:39:45,045 --> 01:39:47,715
to Japanese citizenship

1927
01:39:47,715 --> 01:39:49,316
about eight years ago

1928
01:39:49,316 --> 01:39:52,686
the Foreign Ministry (*Ministry of Justice)
personnel was very friendly,

1929
01:39:52,686 --> 01:39:54,455
they gave me a lot of hope.

1930
01:39:54,455 --> 01:39:57,157
I was alway a little
hesitant and concerned

1931
01:39:57,157 --> 01:40:00,894
that my disability would
affect my application process.

1932
01:40:01,362 --> 01:40:04,465
I've heard horror stories on
the news from other countries.

1933
01:40:05,432 --> 01:40:07,568
Stories of people who
want to immigrate from

1934
01:40:07,568 --> 01:40:09,303
the U.K. to Canada even,

1935
01:40:09,303 --> 01:40:11,739
that they have a family
member who's disabled,

1936
01:40:11,739 --> 01:40:14,208
and being rejected,
because their family member

1937
01:40:14,208 --> 01:40:15,909
would be a strain on the welfare system.

1938
01:40:15,909 --> 01:40:18,746
So I was trying to be as proactive as possible

1939
01:40:19,580 --> 01:40:22,349
to say, you know, that yes I'm...

1940
01:40:22,349 --> 01:40:23,784
I do have a disability but

1941
01:40:23,784 --> 01:40:25,185
here's my

1942
01:40:25,786 --> 01:40:27,388
contribution back to society,

1943
01:40:27,388 --> 01:40:28,956
the things I'm doing.

1944
01:40:38,265 --> 01:40:40,434
Well, I was called by the
government of Tottori

1945
01:40:40,434 --> 01:40:42,202
actually to come and check out

1946
01:40:42,202 --> 01:40:45,139
the accessibility features
of their tourist attractions.

1947
01:40:46,907 --> 01:40:48,575
So it's great that they even

1948
01:40:48,575 --> 01:40:51,245
just in the public area
have an accessible toilet.

1949
01:40:51,245 --> 01:40:53,380
It's well kept and quite nice.

1950
01:40:55,215 --> 01:40:56,683
Are you not nervous about this?

1951
01:41:05,426 --> 01:41:08,529
It's only been a few hours since
I've arrived in Tottori,

1952
01:41:08,529 --> 01:41:11,765
but I've been super impressed.

1953
01:41:11,765 --> 01:41:13,267
Everyone's really kind-hearted and

1954
01:41:13,267 --> 01:41:17,504
also they explained the
"i-support" system to me...

1955
01:41:18,405 --> 01:41:20,040
That was the biggest
thing that surprised me

1956
01:41:20,040 --> 01:41:21,375
is that it didn't have any effect.

1957
01:41:21,375 --> 01:41:24,878
They were mostly concerned about
my stability as a Japanese citizen.

1958
01:41:24,878 --> 01:41:26,980
Whether I had employment,

1959
01:41:26,980 --> 01:41:29,216
how long I've been here,

1960
01:41:29,216 --> 01:41:31,318
how many times I've left the
country, whether I was actually

1961
01:41:31,318 --> 01:41:33,787
being part of Japanese society was more

1962
01:41:33,787 --> 01:41:35,622
of an issue to the people

1963
01:41:35,622 --> 01:41:37,691
in the ministry than

1964
01:41:37,691 --> 01:41:40,060
whether I had a disability or not,

1965
01:41:40,060 --> 01:41:42,429
or whether I'd have some sort of
an effect on the welfare system.

1966
01:41:42,830 --> 01:41:45,199
Then I first saw that I
became a Japanese citizen

1967
01:41:45,199 --> 01:41:48,302
in Kanpō, which is the government gazette.

1968
01:41:48,302 --> 01:41:49,770
So everyday in the morning

1969
01:41:49,770 --> 01:41:52,039
I'd constantly be refreshing the website

1970
01:41:52,039 --> 01:41:53,841
and checking all the names.

1971
01:41:53,841 --> 01:41:57,010
So it was a stressful
couple of months for me but

1972
01:41:57,010 --> 01:41:59,813
when I saw my name
in there, I got so ecstatic.

1973
01:41:59,813 --> 01:42:02,149
I actually have it printed out,
it's on my wall at work

1974
01:42:02,149 --> 01:42:03,584
with my name highlighted on it.

1975
01:42:03,584 --> 01:42:07,221
I became a citizen on

1976
01:42:07,221 --> 01:42:10,791
August 29th in 2016

1977
01:42:10,791 --> 01:42:13,494
so I consider it my Japanese birthday.

1978
01:42:13,494 --> 01:42:15,395
So I'm four years old in Japan.

1979
01:42:15,395 --> 01:42:17,965
How does it feel to be Japanese?

1980
01:42:19,366 --> 01:42:21,735
I still wake up sometimes

1981
01:42:21,735 --> 01:42:24,938
and smile to myself, "Hey, I'm Japanese."

1982
01:42:28,408 --> 01:42:31,678
- If you slipped here, it would be really bad!
- Definitely!

1983
01:42:37,317 --> 01:42:38,886
Remember how the nationality law

1984
01:42:38,886 --> 01:42:41,455
basically doesn't allow
for dual citizenship?

1985
01:42:41,455 --> 01:42:43,023
While it's true in general,

1986
01:42:43,023 --> 01:42:44,558
there are exceptions to this,

1987
01:42:44,558 --> 01:42:45,893
and thus there are Japanese

1988
01:42:45,893 --> 01:42:47,227
with dual nationality,

1989
01:42:47,227 --> 01:42:48,162
like the children who

1990
01:42:48,162 --> 01:42:49,263
have one Japanese parent

1991
01:42:49,263 --> 01:42:51,098
and one non-Japanese parent,

1992
01:42:51,098 --> 01:42:52,533
like my children.

1993
01:42:52,533 --> 01:42:56,103
A more famous example was
the tennis star, Naomi Osaka.

1994
01:42:56,103 --> 01:42:58,839
I say was, because before
she turned twenty two,

1995
01:42:58,839 --> 01:43:02,042
she decided to keep only
her Japanese nationality.

1996
01:43:02,042 --> 01:43:04,044
But for those who aren't in the limelight,

1997
01:43:04,044 --> 01:43:06,213
the majority have actually never chosen,

1998
01:43:06,213 --> 01:43:08,815
and thus still possess dual nationality.

1999
01:43:08,815 --> 01:43:10,250
Japan

2000
01:43:10,250 --> 01:43:14,621
revised their nationality
laws in 1985 to say that

2001
01:43:14,621 --> 01:43:17,090
the big big big change back then was

2002
01:43:17,090 --> 01:43:18,725
you could inherit

2003
01:43:18,725 --> 01:43:20,594
Japanese nationality

2004
01:43:20,594 --> 01:43:23,363
by birth, not just from your father

2005
01:43:23,363 --> 01:43:25,465
but from your mother as well.

2006
01:43:25,465 --> 01:43:27,868
They created the Choice of Nationality Law

2007
01:43:27,868 --> 01:43:29,303
which says, once you become an adult

2008
01:43:29,303 --> 01:43:31,805
you then have two years
to make up your mind

2009
01:43:31,805 --> 01:43:35,509
and formally declare that you
choose Japanese nationality.

2010
01:43:35,509 --> 01:43:37,778
Now, it's on the books

2011
01:43:37,778 --> 01:43:39,413
but it's never been enforced.

2012
01:43:39,413 --> 01:43:41,748
But just because it's on the
books and never been enforced

2013
01:43:41,748 --> 01:43:44,484
doesn't mean they can't decide
to enforce it in the future.

2014
01:43:44,484 --> 01:43:46,853
I only have a Belgian passport.

2015
01:43:46,853 --> 01:43:50,824
I gave up my Japanese nationality

2016
01:43:50,824 --> 01:43:52,960
when I was about eighteen or so

2017
01:43:52,960 --> 01:43:55,862
because I was told I had to
choose at twenty-two so I thought,

2018
01:43:55,862 --> 01:43:59,032
why wait until I'm twenty-two.

2019
01:43:59,032 --> 01:44:02,135
I might as well choose now
because I live in Belgium.

2020
01:44:02,135 --> 01:44:04,137
Living in Belgium or
the Netherlands,

2021
01:44:04,137 --> 01:44:06,540
where I live now within the EU,

2022
01:44:06,540 --> 01:44:09,042
is much easier on a European passport

2023
01:44:09,042 --> 01:44:10,410
than on a Japanese one.

2024
01:44:10,410 --> 01:44:13,447
So for me, the choice was

2025
01:44:14,281 --> 01:44:18,085
not only because I identify

2026
01:44:18,085 --> 01:44:20,053
as Belgian much more

2027
01:44:20,053 --> 01:44:22,122
but also it's just easier.

2028
01:44:22,122 --> 01:44:26,159
When you have both an American
and a Japanese family,

2029
01:44:26,960 --> 01:44:32,132
and you're asked to choose one family,

2030
01:44:32,132 --> 01:44:35,202
no one can choose.

2031
01:44:35,202 --> 01:44:37,838
Because you love both...

2032
01:44:38,672 --> 01:44:40,574
It's not an easy choice.

2033
01:44:40,707 --> 01:44:43,577
It's choosing sometimes
between your parents,

2034
01:44:43,577 --> 01:44:45,879
so which one do you love most,

2035
01:44:46,346 --> 01:44:48,615
which country do you love more.

2036
01:44:49,283 --> 01:44:50,584
It can be

2037
01:44:50,584 --> 01:44:52,019
a practical choice,

2038
01:44:52,019 --> 01:44:54,187
Japanese passport is really strong.

2039
01:44:54,187 --> 01:44:57,057
But often it's also a choice of the heart.

2040
01:44:57,057 --> 01:45:01,128
It's how you feel you like most

2041
01:45:01,128 --> 01:45:02,896
and a lot of

2042
01:45:02,896 --> 01:45:05,165
half Japanese people would prefer to have

2043
01:45:05,165 --> 01:45:06,466
dual nationality

2044
01:45:06,466 --> 01:45:08,802
dual citizenship, allowed.

2045
01:45:08,802 --> 01:45:11,772
One main thing

2046
01:45:11,772 --> 01:45:15,742
against dual nationality
in my perspective

2047
01:45:15,742 --> 01:45:17,744
is military service.

2048
01:45:17,744 --> 01:45:18,912
What if there's war?

2049
01:45:18,912 --> 01:45:20,013
What do you do?

2050
01:45:20,013 --> 01:45:21,381
Who do you choose for?

2051
01:45:22,082 --> 01:45:23,850
One unique story I came across

2052
01:45:23,850 --> 01:45:25,085
was that of Jason's,

2053
01:45:25,085 --> 01:45:26,386
a fellow Canadian.

2054
01:45:26,386 --> 01:45:28,488
He always thought he was only Canadian,

2055
01:45:28,488 --> 01:45:30,290
but when he applied for a student visa

2056
01:45:30,290 --> 01:45:32,459
to study Japanese in Japan,

2057
01:45:32,459 --> 01:45:34,127
he found out otherwise.

2058
01:45:34,194 --> 01:45:36,797
Actually when I applied for my visa

2059
01:45:36,797 --> 01:45:38,965
when I got the news back they rejected it.

2060
01:45:38,965 --> 01:45:39,966
And I didn't know why

2061
01:45:39,966 --> 01:45:41,134
and they told me that,

2062
01:45:41,134 --> 01:45:43,837
they had, my name was
on the family registry.

2063
01:45:43,837 --> 01:45:46,173
Something my dad never
bothered to tell me about.

2064
01:45:46,173 --> 01:45:49,509
And so they made me go
through this whole stressful

2065
01:45:49,509 --> 01:45:53,146
process of getting my family registry
from Japan and everything.

2066
01:45:53,146 --> 01:45:54,815
By the time it was over and

2067
01:45:54,815 --> 01:45:56,950
when they handed me
a Japanese passport

2068
01:45:56,950 --> 01:45:59,219
it was kind of...

2069
01:45:59,219 --> 01:46:01,188
a weird feeling in a sense.

2070
01:46:01,188 --> 01:46:03,156
In that like I know that

2071
01:46:03,156 --> 01:46:04,524
I'm not Japanese like,

2072
01:46:04,524 --> 01:46:05,992
like everyone else who
holds this passport

2073
01:46:05,992 --> 01:46:08,261
because I grew up in Canada.

2074
01:46:08,261 --> 01:46:10,430
But in some ways it kind of felt like

2075
01:46:10,430 --> 01:46:12,699
I was validated in a sense

2076
01:46:12,699 --> 01:46:14,000
when I was handed it.

2077
01:46:17,871 --> 01:46:19,673
The embassy or consulate

2078
01:46:19,673 --> 01:46:22,042
was very persistent on me
getting the passport actually.

2079
01:46:22,042 --> 01:46:23,510
They were saying even though

2080
01:46:23,510 --> 01:46:25,011
you're above twenty-two

2081
01:46:25,011 --> 01:46:27,013
because you were born in Canada

2082
01:46:27,013 --> 01:46:28,448
they said that because you

2083
01:46:28,448 --> 01:46:30,584
got your Canadian passport
when you were born

2084
01:46:30,584 --> 01:46:31,818
through birthright,

2085
01:46:31,818 --> 01:46:35,055
that the Japanese government
cannot take that away, technically,

2086
01:46:35,055 --> 01:46:36,123
and so you

2087
01:46:36,123 --> 01:46:37,891
are okay with keeping both.

2088
01:46:38,625 --> 01:46:40,327
Which does not agree
with any of the laws

2089
01:46:40,327 --> 01:46:42,763
which are written on paper,
I will admit.

2090
01:46:44,030 --> 01:46:46,066
Upon applying for passport renewal,

2091
01:46:46,066 --> 01:46:48,435
many dual citizens will
be handed a pamphlet

2092
01:46:48,435 --> 01:46:49,403
saying that,

2093
01:46:49,403 --> 01:46:51,738
"You must make a choice of nationality!"

2094
01:46:51,738 --> 01:46:54,641
So the fact that Jason was
told to get a Japanese passport

2095
01:46:54,641 --> 01:46:58,378
and not make a choice
of nationality was surprising.

2096
01:46:58,378 --> 01:47:01,314
Yeah, in terms of Japan's laws

2097
01:47:01,314 --> 01:47:04,384
on passports and stuff
and dual nationality,

2098
01:47:04,818 --> 01:47:06,820
I don't know,
I think they are outdated.

2099
01:47:06,820 --> 01:47:10,791
Because Japan's a country,
where from the beginning,

2100
01:47:10,791 --> 01:47:13,427
people from various countries
and cultures have mixed,

2101
01:47:13,427 --> 01:47:17,230
let different people live in Japan.

2102
01:47:17,230 --> 01:47:21,001
And if they succeed,

2103
01:47:21,001 --> 01:47:25,505
they could save Japan's future.

2104
01:47:30,610 --> 01:47:31,878
A question that came up

2105
01:47:31,878 --> 01:47:34,481
over and over throughout
all the interviews,

2106
01:47:34,481 --> 01:47:37,784
was how does someone
actually be Japanese.

2107
01:47:37,784 --> 01:47:39,419
What does one have to do,

2108
01:47:39,419 --> 01:47:40,420
have to be,

2109
01:47:40,420 --> 01:47:43,123
to be considered fully Japanese?

2110
01:47:43,123 --> 01:47:44,958
Talking with Japanese-Americans,

2111
01:47:44,958 --> 01:47:48,061
I learned the terms jun japa and jun sui,

2112
01:47:48,061 --> 01:47:51,898
which translate into
pure Japanese and pure.

2113
01:47:51,898 --> 01:47:54,568
Another common term is Nihonjinron

2114
01:47:54,568 --> 01:47:56,903
which is the theory of Japaneseness.

2115
01:47:56,903 --> 01:48:00,073
More broadly, it's the idea
that Japanese are unique.

2116
01:48:00,073 --> 01:48:02,175
Believing in these kinds of ideas,

2117
01:48:02,175 --> 01:48:03,477
consequently means

2118
01:48:03,477 --> 01:48:05,745
that there are only certain individuals

2119
01:48:05,745 --> 01:48:07,380
that can be Japanese.

2120
01:48:08,014 --> 01:48:09,416
I always felt like it was an

2121
01:48:09,416 --> 01:48:11,184
insider outsider type deal.

2122
01:48:11,184 --> 01:48:13,987
So it's like, either you're Japanese
or you're not Japanese.

2123
01:48:13,987 --> 01:48:15,522
And it wasn't

2124
01:48:15,522 --> 01:48:18,024
all that relevant what exactly you were,

2125
01:48:18,024 --> 01:48:20,260
besides the fact that you
were not Japanese.

2126
01:48:20,260 --> 01:48:22,596
The best way

2127
01:48:22,596 --> 01:48:25,265
to come to terms with who you are

2128
01:48:25,265 --> 01:48:27,767
is just to accept

2129
01:48:27,767 --> 01:48:29,202
that you will

2130
01:48:29,202 --> 01:48:31,104
maybe never be

2131
01:48:31,104 --> 01:48:33,573
considered to be fully Japanese.

2132
01:48:33,573 --> 01:48:34,741
Which for me is easy

2133
01:48:34,741 --> 01:48:36,076
because I wasn't born and raised here

2134
01:48:36,076 --> 01:48:37,110
and I don't have

2135
01:48:37,110 --> 01:48:39,946
the ambition to live in Japan
for the rest of my life.

2136
01:48:40,380 --> 01:48:41,982
But if that's the case,

2137
01:48:42,883 --> 01:48:45,585
then there might not be an answer that

2138
01:48:45,585 --> 01:48:47,087
you know, you'd be happy with.

2139
01:48:47,087 --> 01:48:50,056
Saying, ah you know,
you'll never be Japanese.

2140
01:48:50,056 --> 01:48:51,691
Be fine with it.

2141
01:48:51,691 --> 01:48:53,360
So it's something that

2142
01:48:54,027 --> 01:48:55,996
needs to be discussed

2143
01:48:55,996 --> 01:48:59,432
and what is Japanese is
something that needs to be

2144
01:48:59,900 --> 01:49:02,135
rethought over and over.

2145
01:49:02,135 --> 01:49:04,804
I think my identity is

2146
01:49:04,804 --> 01:49:08,441
Zainichi-Kankoku-jin for sure, yes.

2147
01:49:08,441 --> 01:49:10,343
That is

2148
01:49:10,343 --> 01:49:12,512
where it originated and

2149
01:49:12,512 --> 01:49:15,815
and I think it's going to
remain that way, firmly.

2150
01:49:15,815 --> 01:49:18,818
But you're also Nihonjin (Japanese) as well,
are you not?

2151
01:49:18,818 --> 01:49:20,186
Well, by nationality.

2152
01:49:20,186 --> 01:49:21,755
But I don't think I'm Japanese.

2153
01:49:21,755 --> 01:49:23,023
I would like to

2154
01:49:23,023 --> 01:49:24,257
to be

2155
01:49:24,257 --> 01:49:26,092
close to the Japanese

2156
01:49:27,360 --> 01:49:29,996
society as much as possible.

2157
01:49:29,996 --> 01:49:33,667
But I probably will
never be pure Japanese.

2158
01:49:33,667 --> 01:49:36,169
I can never be, I don't think.

2159
01:49:36,169 --> 01:49:39,639
I struggled with that for a long time,
what it is to be Japanese.

2160
01:49:39,639 --> 01:49:41,875
Actually, when I say it now,

2161
01:49:41,875 --> 01:49:44,778
I don't necessarily say I'm Japanese,
I say I'm a Japanese citizen.

2162
01:49:44,778 --> 01:49:48,682
Because I don't have Japanese pass...
Japanese citizenship

2163
01:49:48,682 --> 01:49:49,883
but I grew up in Japan.

2164
01:49:49,883 --> 01:49:50,584
Yeah!

2165
01:49:50,584 --> 01:49:52,152
Yeah, you know...

2166
01:49:52,786 --> 01:49:54,087
for Western people

2167
01:49:54,721 --> 01:49:56,022
I'm Japanese.

2168
01:49:56,022 --> 01:49:58,058
I know what they mean but...

2169
01:49:59,526 --> 01:50:00,627
But for Japanese people,

2170
01:50:00,627 --> 01:50:02,529
I'm not Japanese.

2171
01:50:03,229 --> 01:50:04,431
So...

2172
01:50:04,431 --> 01:50:08,068
People choose my identity without asking me.

2173
01:50:09,202 --> 01:50:10,503
What should I say...

2174
01:50:10,503 --> 01:50:13,106
I think if the person thinks they're Japanese,

2175
01:50:13,106 --> 01:50:15,375
then they're Japanese.

2176
01:50:15,442 --> 01:50:18,311
Trying so hard to be accepted in Japan,

2177
01:50:18,311 --> 01:50:20,947
to be accepted as Japanese has not

2178
01:50:20,947 --> 01:50:23,750
become an issue to me anymore.

2179
01:50:23,750 --> 01:50:25,585
It was in the past but

2180
01:50:25,585 --> 01:50:26,987
I'm so many things.

2181
01:50:27,887 --> 01:50:29,222
And...

2182
01:50:29,222 --> 01:50:32,058
That's something I hope other people who

2183
01:50:32,058 --> 01:50:33,360
maybe feel like

2184
01:50:33,360 --> 01:50:35,328
they have an identity struggle

2185
01:50:35,328 --> 01:50:37,163
is to realize they are not just

2186
01:50:37,163 --> 01:50:39,699
their own ethnic background.

2187
01:50:39,699 --> 01:50:40,700
Like...

2188
01:50:40,700 --> 01:50:43,403
your identity is who
you make it out to be.

2189
01:50:44,270 --> 01:50:45,205
And, you know,

2190
01:50:45,205 --> 01:50:46,940
not everyone is going to accept

2191
01:50:46,940 --> 01:50:48,742
maybe the fact that

2192
01:50:48,742 --> 01:50:49,976
I'm Japanese.

2193
01:50:50,410 --> 01:50:52,979
Or maybe I'm not as Japanese

2194
01:50:52,979 --> 01:50:54,914
as somebody who is
born and raised here.

2195
01:50:54,914 --> 01:50:56,349
But to me that's just

2196
01:50:56,349 --> 01:50:59,185
it matters a lot less now because

2197
01:50:59,686 --> 01:51:01,321
I know who I am and I know

2198
01:51:01,321 --> 01:51:03,657
where I came from and
I know my background so

2199
01:51:03,657 --> 01:51:04,691
I'm...

2200
01:51:05,158 --> 01:51:06,960
I'm completely fine with

2201
01:51:06,960 --> 01:51:07,961
that as it is.

2202
01:51:07,961 --> 01:51:09,929
It is what it is.

2203
01:51:10,230 --> 01:51:11,498
That by the way,

2204
01:51:11,498 --> 01:51:13,166
was reference to Naomi Osaka's

2205
01:51:13,166 --> 01:51:14,734
one-time Twitter status,

2206
01:51:14,734 --> 01:51:16,536
where I'm guessing she was getting tired

2207
01:51:16,536 --> 01:51:18,304
of the same questions.

2208
01:51:18,304 --> 01:51:21,307
In fact, she even made an ad
with Nike where she, ah,

2209
01:51:21,307 --> 01:51:24,210
"answered" the constant questions she gets.

2210
01:51:32,419 --> 01:51:34,387
It's very unfortunate that

2211
01:51:34,387 --> 01:51:36,256
some people still

2212
01:51:36,756 --> 01:51:39,092
do not feel comfortable

2213
01:51:39,092 --> 01:51:41,127
saying you are Japanese.

2214
01:51:41,127 --> 01:51:41,861
You know,

2215
01:51:41,861 --> 01:51:43,863
from the bottom of their hearts.

2216
01:51:43,863 --> 01:51:46,066
Because there's kind of like a

2217
01:51:46,066 --> 01:51:47,233
a small needle

2218
01:51:47,233 --> 01:51:49,102
stuck somewhere in your stomach.

2219
01:51:49,102 --> 01:51:51,838
Saying, "Uh, maybe you're not...

2220
01:51:51,838 --> 01:51:53,707
Are you sure you're Japanese?"

2221
01:51:53,707 --> 01:51:54,607
But...

2222
01:51:54,607 --> 01:51:56,976
I don't mean to be kind of
Socrates or anything

2223
01:51:56,976 --> 01:51:58,078
but Japanese...

2224
01:51:58,078 --> 01:52:01,047
being Japanese is just
being Japanese.

2225
01:52:01,047 --> 01:52:02,248
Either you

2226
01:52:02,248 --> 01:52:03,850
have it or you don't, you know.

2227
01:52:03,850 --> 01:52:06,186
If you think you're Japanese,
you're Japanese.

2228
01:52:06,186 --> 01:52:07,687
I think.

2229
01:52:07,687 --> 01:52:10,423
You can go on about
being legally Japanese,

2230
01:52:10,423 --> 01:52:12,592
being blood Japanese,
being half Japanese,

2231
01:52:12,592 --> 01:52:14,461
being quarter Japanese but...

2232
01:52:15,595 --> 01:52:17,564
Japan is

2233
01:52:17,564 --> 01:52:18,865
a nation state.

2234
01:52:18,865 --> 01:52:20,633
And it's a nationality.

2235
01:52:21,067 --> 01:52:22,302
It's a culture

2236
01:52:22,302 --> 01:52:23,303
But...

2237
01:52:23,303 --> 01:52:26,139
if you're comfortable
with being Japanese,

2238
01:52:26,940 --> 01:52:28,842
you're Japanese.