36. "That's a weird, pretty bad article" In response to In response to 0
Basic problem is it's too one-sided... isn't there any positive press about her in Japan to report?
>Many people across the country are expressing their doubts >that a “hafu” (the term for someone who is biracial)
first off that it puts it in the romajified version of the katakana word without referencing the fact that the word is our 'half,' which may not be clear to readers immediately.
'Half' is also not (usually) a derogatory term.
'Gaijin' also means 'outside person' only in the literal sense, as in the meaning of the ideograms; in practical usage it simply means 'foreigner.' So that's a bit disingenuous/alarmist.
>Some have said that she does not “look Japanese”
I agree.
I don't know that I would say she looks like anything in particular...
Also, that shouldn't be a problem in electing her as Miss Japan, of course.
>” A >few are even complaining that Japan is not getting a >“pure-blooded Japenese” girl to represent Japan.
No surprise.
>Japan is one of the least ethnically diverse countries, with >98 percent of its people Japanese nationals,
She IS a Japanese national! Isn't she? Hmm, maybe not, the article doesn't say.
What they probably mean is 'ethnically 100% Japanese.' That's very different (though in general it is very hard to become a Japanese national if you are not of Japanese origin. unless you're a sumo rikishi.)
and there is >generally a feeling that people of mixed lineage are not fully >Japanese. Not only is Miyamoto’s father an American but he >is also an African-American, compounding the problem of >“foreign” and mixed-race negativity.
Eh, I don't know that there's increased negative perception about half-white versus half-Black. It's possible.
It's not that Japan doesn't have its set of hangups about what it means to be Japanese and/or represent Japan... it's just that the article doesn't do a good job of examining it in even the most basic terms.