
A beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself - RobAley
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32957610
======
hudstew
There are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Ariana Miyamoto was chosen as Miss Japan by Japanese people.

2) The critics of Miyamoto are an extreme, vocal minority on Twitter and
2chan.

3) Although Japanese contestants often perform well at the international
level, beauty pageants of this sort do not receive much attention within the
country regardless of the contestant.

4) "Hafu" is a Japanese word derived from the English "half". It is used to
refer to biracial people, but there is no connotation that they are "half" a
person. I cannot understand the logic of the author who says that the word
sounds derogatory in English -- it's a Japanese word, after all, and is not
derogatory in Japanese.

The author uses point (2) as well as his short personal experience in Japan to
make broad statements to the effect that Japanese people in general do not
accept those whose appearance differs from their own. Japan makes an easy
target in this regard because of the well-known (outside Japan, at least)
concept of Nihonjinron, as well as the persisting sense that Japan is an
isolated country where outsiders will never be accepted into the "in group".
Due to this, there is an expectation (particularly in foreign media) that
Japanese are racist, and any proof, even that of an extreme minority on
Twitter, is taken as evidence in support of this.

Of course, living in Japan, I remember hearing similar broad statements about
racism in the United States concerning the backlash against electing a black
president in 2008.

The real lesson here is that we should not be basing our impressions of an
entire society on a vocal minority, no matter how much their opinions conform
to our expectations.

~~~
kstenerud
Yes, let's forget about all the nightclubs I couldn't go into, being
physically barred by guards outside holding their crossed arms, saying "gaijin
dame!".

Let's forget about the complete lack of upward mobility in any office I worked
in.

Let's forget about the neighbors who completely shunned me until it was my
turn as the block representative, at which point they criticized my lack of
understanding of the bureaucracy.

Let's forget about the countless times people would cross to the other side of
the street as soon as they saw me coming.

I just thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't Brazilian. They have it the worst.

Now, I had lots of nice experiences there, especially in the countryside where
people are a lot friendlier, but by no means can you say that racism does not
permeate their entire society.

~~~
Nadya
Strange how much our experiences differ.

People in the countryside were far more 'racist' to me. I went to parts of the
country where they rarely, if ever, see an 'outsider'. I would be stared at by
wide-eyed children and shocked elders alike. I would be pointed at and
_noticed_ because I was different. In the city, I experienced none of this. I
put 'racist' in quotes because, although I felt like an attraction, it wasn't
a bad or biased opinion of me. It was simply "That's a rare sight! Look over
there, a foreigner!"

"Gaijin" don't tend to know social norms. That's a fact. Some do, most don't.
It's easier to ban them all then have to kick out 95% of them. They cause
problems because of said lack of knowledge of social norms. Why deal with
problems? It might lose you customers. It's much easier to ban any and all
foreigners.

Same reason you can't go to many bathhouses if you have a tattoo. Having a
tattoo is seen as being part of the Yakuza and Yakuza are nothing but trouble.
So instead of kicking out Yakuza, they don't allow people with tattoos. Are
you Yakuza because you have a tattoo? Of course not. It's just easier to ban
tattoos preemptively to prevent problems.

~~~
kstenerud
Yeah, my experience was similar in the countryside. But I don't consider being
regarded as a curiosity as racism. They had no real preconceived notions as to
how I would behave, and so our interactions were always cordial (though it
helped that I was familiar with Japanese customs). I'd get invited to the
local izakaya and we'd have a grand old time shooting the shit over sports,
politics, etc. They'd want to know what I thought about pretty much everything
(as would be expected when someone from an area you'd never seen before comes
to town).

~~~
Nadya
If your Japanese is near-perfect you can tell them to let you enter the "no
foreigners" nightclubs and bars claiming you were born and raised in Japan.
Just pick a place as your hometown.

If it were for racist reasons, they wouldn't let you enter simply because you
don't "look Japanese".

Not to say the issue doesn't exist at all. Just that it isn't prevalent. If it
didn't exist, there wouldn't be this comedy sketch about it:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLt5qSm9U80](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLt5qSm9U80)

Although the scenario I experienced was that the waitress asked my Japanese
friend what I wanted to order rather than asking me. Assuming I didn't speak
Japanese.

At most places I ordered food at - they would ask me what I wanted directly.
So I wouldn't say it's a common experience either. Just that it does happen
and it's because few foreigners speak Japanese! It's a habitual thing, not a
racist thing. It happened more in the touristy parts of Tokyo than anywhere
else (even in the touristy parts of Kyoto!)

~~~
un_
>claiming you were born and raised in Japan. Just pick a place as your
hometown.

I can't say I have not considered this, but it requires "faking" yourself,
even for just a minute. It also demands that you have a high degree of
Japanese language.

I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to expect people who do not look as
though they know the language in a virtually homogeneous society to not know
the language. I've heard that the people who encounter this "get around" it by
demonstrating that they do know at least something.

I read a blog post once that language is one of the biggest barriers;
seriously dedicating one's time to learning the language is something that
many, many non-native speakers simply miss out on - and, in some cases, go
onto assume that this response is because of xenophobia or racism.

I haven't been in Japan long enough to give my own anecdotal experience,
though.

------
jpatokal
> _There is no word like hafu outside Japan, but I think we need it here._

Welp, she's Japanese alright, she's even mastered _nihonjinron_ :
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron)

But more or less the same concept elsewhere:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa)
(Hawaiian, and another loan from the English "half")

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luk_khrueng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luk_khrueng)
(Thai for "half child")

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%BAnxu%C4%9Br](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%BAnxu%C4%9Br)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo)

~~~
jboy
Here in Sydney, Australia, the term "halvie" seems to be relatively common
amongst those who discuss such things. It's not considered derogatory or
offensive; at worst, slightly unsubtle or socially inept (like any labelling
of a person by their race). Friends use the term lightly or playfully.

Australia is a predominantly-white country that is geographically closer to
Asia than to any other white or Western countries. We have a long history of
Chinese immigration.

Sydney, especially inner-city Sydney and the areas around the four major
universities, have large proportions of predominantly-Asian international
students, many of whom later settle here. White-Asian interracial dating is
very common in Sydney. Especially at the universities amongst students in the
Science, Engineering (including Computer Science, of course) and Business
schools. And so, there are an increasing number of "halvies" being born...

------
jpatokal
Finland, another country that's traditionally been very isolationist -- before
the EU came along, it was second only to Albania in having the fewest % of
resident foreigners -- had its own version of this in 1996, when a Finn of
half-Nigerian descent was chosen as Miss Finland:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Wallinkoski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Wallinkoski)

~~~
carlob
Italy has never been very isolationist, but there has been some debate when
Denny Méndez [1] won Miss Italia.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Méndez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Méndez)

------
CurtHagenlocher
How is this different from when Miss America 2014 was crowned?
([http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/09/first-indian-
am...](http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/09/first-indian-american-
miss-america-has-racists-very-very-confused/69439/))

------
vtlynch
This entire article is about stereotyping, and the third paragraph is rife
with the authors own stereotypes.

"My confusion lasts only until Ariana opens her mouth. Suddenly everything
about her shouts out that she is Japanese, from the soft lilting tone of her
voice, to her delicate hand gestures and demure expression."

What is this trash.

~~~
tghw
Stereotypes are shortcuts for us to more easily categorize people. The term
"stereotype" has gotten a negative connotation associated with it because
often stereotypes are used in a discriminatory manner, but the truth is that
we all stereotype to some degree to ease our mental load.

In this case, the author is identifying behaviors that are more common among
people who were raised in Japan than behaviors you might expect from someone
raised in the US. My reading was that, while she is ethnically mixed (to
whatever extent that phrase is meaningful), she is culturally Japanese through
and through.

------
Nadya
This is only just now making BBC news? This took place ages ago.

It's not uncommon for vocal minorities (ie. nationalists who take some pride
in being "pure" to their race. Not necessarily in a "nazi like" way) to speak
up when a "half" wins a contest that is supposed to represent them as a
people. If you read through the comments on this thread you'll find several
other examples from different nations about this very same problem.

How can you say a 50% Japanese person represents a 100% Japanese person? They
are not representative of a 'Japanese person' if they are not fully Japanese!

That is the logic of the nationalists. Does it sound racist? Yes. Is it
racist? To most people, probably... especially to PC-minded liberals. Do I
consider it racist? Not really, but it brings a host of its own problems
regarding these sorts of contests.

How would a ハフ compete in beauty contests? Would there be "African-Japanese"
classification? What about people who are a mix of 3 races? 4 races? Do we
have to do genetic fingerprinting? Would it be based on a majority of which
race you are?

Who cares if she was "selected by Japanese people"? A democratic vote does not
guarantee 100% of the people agree with the decision. Let's say she won with a
95% approval rating. That means 5% of the people who voted are either unhappy
or neutral that she won. If that 5% is vocal of their disapproval... that's to
be expected? Her being selected by Japanese people for the contest does not
mean there won't be a vocal minority opposed to it.

------
beachstartup
_> There is no word like hafu outside Japan,_

uh, what? how about "half", the exact word that 'hafu' is supposed to emulate?
you can't borrow a word from another language, and then claim it's unique to
yours!

i'm fairly confident nearly everyone on earth knows what it means to be
'half', or just mixed race/ethnicity in general. in fact there are even places
on earth where mixed race is the norm. try going to brazil. FUN FACT: the
largest japanese population outside of japan is there. i think they might have
a concept of hafu there. _just maybe_.

if you're paying attention, i think the above statement tells us more about
japanese culture than the entire article, on many levels.

~~~
edmccard
>where mixed race is the norm ... brazil ...the largest japanese population
outside of japan is there. i think they might have a concept of hafu there

Yes, but I'd bet that the connotations of "hafu" in a society where mixed race
is the norm are very different from those where it is unusual.

So much so that you might consider it to be a different word, even if it
happens to be spelled the same.

~~~
beachstartup
being half japanese in brazil is rare, and the brazilians have a word for it.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Brazilian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Brazilian)

------
mhogomchungu
Who exactly is a Tanzanian were questions that were also asks also when a
Tanzanian of indian descent[1] represented Tanzania in international beauty
pageants.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richa_Adhia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richa_Adhia)

------
addicted
well, at least the Japanese dont call their country's beauty pageant winners
terrorists.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Davuluri#Response_and_sign...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Davuluri#Response_and_significance)

------
gii2
Jhene Aiko is my second favorite blackanese now... :)

------
billpg
Beauty contests are still a thing?

~~~
Paul_S
Same way football matches are still a thing. Just because it doesn't entertain
you, doesn't mean it doesn't entertain millions of people who don't share your
interests.

~~~
billpg
Football matches are still a thing?

(I'm sorry.)

