Thematic advisor, Marcia Yumi Lise; executive producer, Jilann Spitzmiller; edited by Aika Miyake; music by Winton White. [Japan]: HAFU is made with the support of Japan Foundation and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), 2013. 1 DVD (87 min.) US$300.00, Institutional use; US$29.97, Personal use. URL: www.hafufilm.com.
Nowadays, mixed race/ethnic Japanese are called “hafu” (hāfu) in Japan. The word stems from an English word, “half.” Hafu generally means half Japanese and half non-Japanese. Using the term, “hafu” to denominate mixed race/ethnic Japanese is controversial because mixed race/ethnic Japanese are wholly Japanese, not partially Japanese. The term isolates mixed race/ethnic Japanese from the full membership of Japanese society. The term hafu is in circulation in Japan and mixed race/ethnic Japanese use the term to represent themselves. This review uses the term while acknowledging the problems with it.
The social position of hafu would be characterized by their hyper-visibility and invisibility. They are hyper-visible in show business. They have been popular as actors, singers, anchors, athletes, and models since the 1960s. The 1960s witnessed the emergence of many hafu stars. After the defeat of World War II in 1945, the Allied forces servicemen, mainly Americans, came to occupy Japan. Some had legitimate or illegitimate mixed race/ethnic children with Japanese women. Some of these children reached their twenties in the 1960s. Their physical difference fascinated the Japanese audience, and they became popular in show business. In fact, the term “hafu” is said to be derived from a once popular girls group, “Golden Half,” which consisted of four mixed race Japanese. The popularity of hafu entertainers still continues today. While hafu entertainers in the 1960s were marred by the negative stereotype of being the illegitimate children of Japanese women and American servicemen, contemporary hafu entertainers are not susceptible to that kind of negative stereotype. They are very visible in show business, and in demand for their beauty and talent.
Japanese people tend to associate hafu with hafu entertainers in show business and they do not pay attention to the everyday lives of ordinary hafu. Unlike ethnic minority groups such as Ainu, Korean residents in Japan, and Okinawans, hafu have never experienced institutional oppression in Japan. They are not recognized as ethnic minority people. If they have Japanese nationality, they are entitled to all the benefits Japanese nationals have. They have no difference from anyone else in a legal sense. The lives of ordinary hafu are therefore invisible in Japanese society. However, having a multiracial/ethnic heritage makes them physically and culturally different, and their difference sometimes brings difficulties to their lives. Megumi Nishikura and Lala Perez Takagi, directors of the film, “HAFU,” and who are hafu themselves, shed light on the everyday diverse lives of ordinary hafu. The film is significant in telling us of the pain and resilience of ordinary hafu, which most Japanese people do not recognize.
The film introduces the diverse lives of five hafu. The first one is Sophia Fukunishi. She has an Australian mother and a Japanese father. She was raised in Australia and cannot speak Japanese. She visited Japan to find her roots. She tried to fit in by joining many activities, but she found herself isolated from Japanese people due to her lack of Japanese language as well as cultural knowledge. She ends up leaving Japan as if escaping. The second individual featured is David Yano, whose mother is from Ghana and whose father is Japanese. His parents were separated, and he was raised in an orphanage with his two brothers. He recounts negative experiences such as being bullied by Japanese children at the orphanage, and he says he used to hate Japan. The third story featured involves the Oi family, consisting of a Mexican mother, Japanese father, their son and daughter. The film focuses on the son, Alex. He was bullied at a Japanese public school because of his physical difference. He moved to an international school where many multiracial/ethnic students like him study. Alex struggles to master three languages; Spanish, English, and Japanese. The fourth person the film focuses on is Edward Yutaka Sumoto. He was born of a Japanese mother and a Venezuelan father, but raised only by his mother. His only tie to Venezuela is his Venezuelan passport. Since Sumoto has only Venezuelan citizenship, he is legally Venezuelan. He faces a difficult decision: to get Japanese nationality and abandon his Venezuelan one, in order to keep living in Japan. The last person featured in the film is Fusae Miyako. She has a Japanese mother and a Korean father. Her parents kept her Korean heritage a secret because having a Korean heritage used to be thought of as a stigma in Japan. Miyako was shocked to know the secret, and tormented because she did not know how to accept her biethnic heritage. She was in an identity crisis.
All the stories illustrate the painful experiences of hafu. All of the subjects in the film seem to be alienated from Japanese society, and find it difficult to live in Japan. They may look very vulnerable. However, the directors show their resilience, too. For example, Sumoto launched a support group for hafu, “Mixed Roots,” and he has become an active advocate for hafu. Miyako joined the group, and has supported other hafu. After visiting Ghana, Yano determines to be a bridge between the two countries of his roots, and he has started fundraising to build schools there. Overcoming painful experiences, hafu embrace their multiracial/ethnic heritages, and have started making Japan a bearable place for them to live in. The examples of Sumoto, Miyako, and Yano look quite hopeful.
The film ends with statistics that show the increasing number of intermarriages in Japan, which suggests an increase in the number of hafu. With their rising numbers, hafu may become more visible in Japan, but whether Japan could be a comfortable place for hafu depends not only on hafu themselves but on all Japanese people. The film lacks the perspectives of Japanese people: what they think about and how they accept hafu. Without mutual efforts, Japan may continue to be an unbearable place for hafu as the escape of Fukunishi from Japan symbolizes. If the directors pursue the issues of hafu, it is expected that Japanese perspectives on hafu may be incorporated in their next film project.
Kaori Mori Want
Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
pp. 975-977