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9/12/12 The whole story on being 'hafu' | CNNGo.com 1/4 www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/whole-story-being-hafu-722376 CNN International Register Sign In Like 279k Follow Follow The whole story on being 'hafu' The movie 'Hafu' explores the limbo world of people who are halfJapanese and half something else, as they try to find their place in society By Daniel Krieger (/node/47093) 29 November, 2010 Like Send Marcia Yumi Lise, Nanci Lissa Miyagasako and 400 others like this. David Yano, a GhanaianJapanese who is one of the subjects of the film. Private video You are logged into Vimeo and have permission to watch this video. What does it mean to be halfJapanese in 21stcentury Japan? This is what filmmakers Megumi Nishikura and Lara Takagi set out to explore in their documentary film, "Hafu (http://www.hafufilm.com/) ," of which they showed a preview screening last month at the Kansai FrancoJapanese Institute (http://www.ifjk.jp/) in Kyoto. The film, which is not yet completed, is an offshoot of the Hafu Project (http://www.hafujapanese.org/) , which was set up in London two years ago by sociologist Marcia Yume Lise and photographer Natalie Maya Willer, both halfJapanese. The project profiles hafus with photos and interviews that shed light on the experience of living between two cultures. "We wanted to create an opportunity to discuss contemporary Japan through the lens of half Japanese," says Lise. Breaking the homogeny In the summer of 2009, Lise and Willer brought the project to Tokyo. Nishikura, a Japanese American, and Takagi, who is JapaneseSpanish, met at one of the photo shoots. Inspired by the Hafu Project, which went to the core of their own bicultural and biracial identities, they teamed up with Lise, who would serve in an advisory capacity. Filming got underway a year ago. Nishikura and Takagi expect to finish by late 2011, after which they aim to have it aired on Japanese television, shown at international film festivals and distributed on DVD. "We want to show that Japanese society is not homogenous," says Takagi, who hopes to awaken Japanese to the diversity within their own country. That diversity includes not only hafus, but minorities such as Zainichi, native Okinawan and Ainu ?subject=The whole story on being p://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/whole- u-722376) LATEST DESTINATIONS SPECIALS iREPORT CONTESTS MOBILE TV Tweet Tweet 103 0

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Page 1: The whole story on being 'hafu' - Hafu Filmhafufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-whole-story-on-being … · The whole story on being 'hafu' The movie 'Hafu' explores the limbo

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Thewholestoryonbeing'hafu'The movie 'Hafu' explores the limbo world of people who are half­Japanese and half somethingelse, as they try to find their place in societyBy Daniel Krieger (/node/47093) 29 November, 2010

Like Send Marcia Yumi Lise, Nanci Lissa Miyagasako and 400 otherslike this.

David Yano, a Ghanaian­Japanese who is one of the subjects of the film.

Private video

You are logged into Vimeo and have permission to watch this video.

What does it mean to be half­Japanese in 21st­century Japan?

This is what filmmakers Megumi Nishikura and Lara Takagi set out to explore in their documentaryfilm, "Hafu (http://www.hafufilm.com/) ," of which they showed a preview screening last month at theKansai Franco­Japanese Institute (http://www.ifjk.jp/) in Kyoto.

The film, which is not yet completed, is an offshoot of the Hafu Project (http://www.hafujapanese.org/) ,which was set up in London two years ago by sociologist Marcia Yume Lise and photographerNatalie Maya Willer, both half­Japanese.

The project profiles hafus with photos and interviews that shed light on the experience of livingbetween two cultures.

"We wanted to create an opportunity to discuss contemporary Japan through the lens of halfJapanese," says Lise.

Breaking thehomogeny

In the summer of 2009, Lise andWiller brought the project toTokyo. Nishikura, a Japanese­American, and Takagi, who isJapanese­Spanish, met at oneof the photo shoots.

Inspired by the Hafu Project,which went to the core of theirown bicultural and biracialidentities, they teamed up withLise, who would serve in anadvisory capacity. Filming gotunderway a year ago.

Nishikura and Takagi expect to finish by late 2011, after which they aim to have it aired onJapanese television, shown at international film festivals and distributed on DVD.

"We want to show that Japanese society is not homogenous," says Takagi, who hopes to awakenJapanese to the diversity within their own country.

That diversity includes not only hafus, but minorities such as Zainichi, native Okinawan and Ainu

(mailto:?subject=The whole story on being

'hafu'&body=http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/whole-

story-being-hafu-722376)

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Japan's hafu community stick together.

Hafu co­directors, Megumi Nishikura andLara Takagi, answer audience questions ata preview of the film shown in Kyoto lastmonth.

(http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/medvedev­kuril­trip­gives­japan­another­island­headache­576779) , whostruggle to find a place in the culture, as well.

Statistics cited in the film say that one out of 30 babies in Japan are born to a family where at leastone of the parents is not Japanese and one out of 18 marriages are mixed, rising to one out of 10in Tokyo.

Gaining respect

Despite shifting demographics,hafus who have grown up inJapan as native Japanesespeakers are still consideredforeign by many, even if theyhave a Japanese passport.

For children, this can be tough,as is the case with Alex, a boy inthe film who starts getting bulliedin kindergarten.

In recent years, however, therehas been something of a "hafuboom" in entertainment andmedia.

The look has gotten popular, and hafus such as Kaela Kimura, Angela Aki and Erika Sawajiri(http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/erika­sawajiri­548777) can be seen in magazines and on TV. Those withmore foreign features are in particular demand.

Nevertheless, being seen as outsiders in their own culture can add an extra layer of frustration tothe daily life of hafus in group­oriented Japan.

"I would like to see a deeper understanding of the hafu experience," says Nishikura, explaining theimpact she hopes the film will have in Japan. "And a greater awareness that these people identifythemselves as Japanese and want to be respected and treated equally as Japanese."

The film tracks the day­to­day lives of five hafus, each illuminating another angle on what it's like tobe a hafu in Japan and the role that their hafu­ness plays at a turning point in each character'slife.

One especially poignant story is that of David Yano, a 29­year­old Ghanaian­Japanese who hastaken it upon himself to raise money to build schools in Ghana, which he visits for the first time asan adult.

Unlike Japanese, who may struggle to understand foreign cultures, Yano felt his non­Japanesehalf was beckoning.

Now his effort to help impoverished children on the other side of the planet is helping him arrive ata deeper sense of his own identity.

Internet communities

The film speaks for a growing community that has cometogether over the past decade thanks largely to theInternet.

One group, called Halvsie (http://www.halvsie.com/) , bills itselfas "the landing page for all things half­Japanese."

Founded in 2001, the site hosts a 1,600 member forumon which hafus can discuss what it's like to be half­Japanese or meet up if they're in the same city.

Postings with questions such as, "Is there such a thing asa stereotypical Halvsie? If so, what's the stereotype?" and"How are you usually identified?" get thousands of viewsand hundreds of replies.

Half Japanese (http://mixi.jp/view_community.pl?id=67336%22) ,another popular group on the networking site Mixi, has

nearly 4,000 members, and Hapa Japan (http://www.hapajapan.org/) more than 1,000 who participatein forums.

Building on the momentum of the last decade, the film is the culmination of this movement, whichremains barely understood in mainstream Japanese culture.

To tell their story, the filmmakers have ventured out onto the fringe of society to bring back smallheroic tales of daily life that would otherwise be untold. And in the telling, the half­Japaneseexperience finds expression.

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Ultimately, says Lise, "It's about giving a voice to hafus."

The Hafu Project will have an exhibit at the Kobe Center (http://www.kobe­center.jp/) for OverseasMigration and Cultural Interaction from November 27­December 5 (closed on Monday).

For more information please visit; www.hafujapanese.org (http://www.hafujapanese.org/)

Daniel Krieger writes features about Japanese culture and personalessays. He is based in Osaka.

Read more about Daniel Krieger (/node/47093)

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