I have decided that this post is to be about half Japanese people, as that always have been a very interesting topic for me. So I figured that this was the time to ask half Japanese people about how their life really is.
I have gathered 6 different people, where everybody is half Japanese, and the other half from another part of the world.
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| Yoshi |
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Yoshi is half Japanese, and half Korean. He grew up in Japan, but speak fluently Korean and Japanese. His mother is Korean, so as far as Yoshi could tell me, his parents are quite strict compared to other Japanese parent. Aparently in Korea education is very important, so they are very strict with this. And his mother wants him to focus on studies and not on girl- as she does not want to be a grandmother yet.
Yoshi is one of the few Japanese people who still has curfew. If he get a bad score in his test, he is not allowed to hang out with his friends after school. At the moment he is having a curfew until December.
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| Yukimi | |
Yukimi is half Japanese and half Philipino. Her mother is Philipino. She could tell me that the biggest difference between Japanese and her was that inside their home, she could witness display of affection such as hugging and cuddling, that was not usual in the outside. Which was a little hard for her, since Japanese people refrain from that.
Other than that, she has other rules when it comes to boyfriends. You are not supposed to have a boyfriend, which in Japan, is normal. In the Philipines you are supposed to get married, and not have boyfriends.
Other than that, it was some small language differences, since she spoke Philipino at home.
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| Yoshiko |
Yoshiko is half Japanese, half Korean. She grew up in Japan. Yoshiko could tell me the same about Korean mothers as Yoshi did; They are stricter than the Japanese mothers and very concerned about education. This was about the only difference for Yoshiko.
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| Ray (this picture belongs to Ray) | | | |
This is Ray. He is half Japanese and half American. As far as he could tell me, he has not noticed any big differences from him and his Japanese friends. He did have the experience to live some of his years in America, with his father.
The fact that he is very good speaking English, and in addition to that is Japanese, makes him attractive for Japanese employees, as the lack of English speaking people.
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| Frode (Foto: Miina Lervik) |
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This is Frode. He is half Japanese, half Norwegian and grew up in Norway. His mother was Japanese. He has the opinion of being more Norwegian than Japanese, but he did have some other things to tend to which his fellow Norwegian friends did not have. Every Saturday he had to go to a Japanese school, to learn the Japanese language, for 9 years.
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| Tim | |
Tim is half Japanese, half German. He grew up in Germany with his family. Tim's mother, which is Japanese, tried to teach Tim and his brother Japanese when they were young, but the boys did not want to speak Japanese since the German society in the countryside did not yet accept foreigners. So to blend in with half of them selves they refused to speak Japanese and only German.
Other than that, Tim had to learn how to play the piano. He told me he hated to play the piano, but his mother made it a rule that Tim and his brother had to play the piano at least for 30 minutes everyday. Today of course, Tim and his brother are very skilled when it comes to playing the piano.
Tim's mother had and has the opinion that education is very important. So that has been a goal for Tim in his life, reaching high up, as fast as possible. In Germany, as well as in Japan it is normal to work hard, and since he is a mix of both, he really gives everything he has. Which means, working 170% in his job in addition to do his masterthesis when he gets home. Usually he goes to work around 7.30 am, and returns around 8.30 pm, then he works with his master thesis till around 11.30 pm. So you can notice the Japanese part of him here, and when it comes to being polite.
Now he is finished with his masterthesis, but I am sure of that he still is as busy as always.
And a little side note; this man is 1.98 meter. That's surprising when being half Japanese.
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So what is my conclusion about being half Japanese in all of this? Maybe it's not that special as I thought. I'm not sure what kind of answers I wanted, but it is very interesting to get to know about the differences between how the rules within the rules are. By that I mean; When Japanese people have so many rules in their homes and society, how does other cultures and foreign people affect the rules in the homes? And how is it outside Japan?
I guess it really depends from person to person, but one tendency I see is that if the mother of the half Japanese person is not Japanese, she is Asian. So the influence from Europe and the West does not seem to affect the houses of these people, as in Asia the mother seem to make the rules and not the men.
I am still questioning my self how I would raise my half Japanese kid, with Norwegian background, living in Japan, if I were to get a life here. I do not think I would be as the Japanese mothers, nor the other Asian women. So when my rules, and opinions are so different from the Japanese, how would that affect my child in a society as this?
Well, I won't know the answer to that for at least a 10 years time- I hope.
