Hāfu — Mediated Wiki

'''{{Nihongo3|"half"|ハーフ|Hāfu|lead=yes}}''' is a [[Japanese language]] term used to refer to a person born in Japan with half [[Asian people|Asian]] and half non-Asian ancestry.<ref>{{cite news|last = Krieger|first = Daniel|title = The whole story on being 'hafu'|work = [[CNN]]|date = 29 November 2010|url = http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/whole-story-being-hafu-722376|access-date = 2011-04-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101203013539/http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/whole-story-being-hafu-722376|archive-date = 3 December 2010|url-status = dead|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Navidi|first = Nooshin|title = Hafu draws viewers into world of Japanese identity|work = [[Japan Times]]|date = 22 June 2010|url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20100622ev.html|access-date = 2011-04-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111201003351/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20100622ev.html|archive-date = 2011-12-01|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Yamada|first = Mio|title = Hafu focuses on whole individual|work = [[Japan Times]]|date = 28 February 2009|url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20090228a1.html|access-date = 2011-04-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111216122937/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20090228a1.html|archive-date = 2011-12-16|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Fujioka|first = Brett|title = The Other Hafu of Japan|work = [[Rafu Shimpo]]|date = 14 January 2011|url = http://rafu.com/news/2011/01/the-other-hafu-of-japan/|access-date = 2011-04-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110122004224/http://rafu.com/news/2011/01/the-other-hafu-of-japan/|archive-date = 2011-01-22|url-status = live}}</ref> The word can also be used to describe anyone with [[multiracial people|mixed-racial]] ancestry in general. As many consider Japan to be one of the most homogeneous societies on the planet,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is Japan embracing diversity? |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200131-is-japan-embracing-diversity |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CONTEMPORARY JAPAN: JAPANESE SOCIETY: Homogeneity |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at/contemp_japan/cjp_society_01.html |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Asia for Educators, Columbia University}}</ref> children who have one non-Japanese parent are called ''hāfu'' Japanese and often face prejudice and discrimination from Japanese citizens of full Japanese descent.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/22/asia/japan-mixed-roots-hafu-dst-hnk-intl/index.html | title=Japan's hafu stars are celebrated. But some mixed-race people say they feel like foreigners in their own country | date=23 September 2020 }}</ref> ''Hāfu'' individuals are well represented in Japanese media and abroad, and according to estimates from Japan’s [[Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]] in the 2010s, 1 in 30 children born in Japan are born to [[interracial marriage|interracial couples]] with one non-Japanese parent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/9/hafu-in-japan-mixed-race.html|title=Being 'hafu' in Japan: Mixed-race people face ridicule, rejection|website=America.aljazeera.com|access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref>{{DEFAULTSORT:Hafu}}As of 2023, 15,120 children (2.1%) were born in Japan to parents of whom one held foreign nationality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=人口動態調査人口動態統計確定数出生上巻 4-32 父母の国籍別にみた年次別出生数及び百分率 {{!}} 統計表・グラフ表示 |url=https://www.e-stat.go.jp/dbview?sid=0003411621 |access-date=2025-12-28 |website=政府統計の総合窓口 |language=ja}}</ref>

== In Japanese ==

* '''{{nihongo3|lit. double|ダブル|Daburu|lead=yes}}''' – A ''daburu'' is an alternative to Hāfu that focuses on the positive connotations of two cultures instead of one.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jozuka |first=Emiko |date=23 September 2020 |title="Japan's hafu stars are celebrated. But some mixed-race people say they feel like foreigners in their own country" |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/22/asia/japan-mixed-roots-hafu-dst-hnk-intl/index.html |newspaper=CNN |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Saberi |first=Roxana |date=9 September 2015 |title="Being 'hafu' in Japan: Mixed-race people face ridicule, rejection" |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/9/hafu-in-japan-mixed-race.html |newspaper=AlJazeera |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref> * '''{{nihongo3|lit. mixed-blood child|混血児|Konketsuji|lead=yes}}''' – A ''konketsuji'' is a Japanese person with one non-Japanese parent. It is considered a [[Racial slur|derogatory]] term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yabai.com/p/2337|title=Hafu's in Japan: Interesting Facts About Japan's Mixed Race Population {{!}} YABAI – The Modern, Vibrant Face of Japan|last=Writers|first=YABAI|website=YABAI|date=28 June 2017 |access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Prehistoric to feudal Japan ===

Hāfu refers to a person who has one ethnic Japanese parent and one non-ethnic Japanese parent. The term ethnic Japanese refers to the Indigenous [[Japanese people]] of the [[Japanese archipelago]]. Over the course of centuries, the minority ethnic groups such as the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] and [[Ryukyuans]] were mostly assimilated into the [[Yamato people|Yamato]] population. Mixed race couples and thus hāfu people were rare in [[History of Japan|feudal Japan]]. There were mixed Asian couples between ethnic Japanese and other East and Southeast Asian peoples.

The most well-regarded theory is that present-day [[Yamato people|Yamato Japanese]] are descendants of both the Indigenous [[Jōmon people]] and the immigrant [[Yayoi people]].<ref name="Kiriyama17">{{cite journal|author1=Hideaki Kanzawa-Kiriyama|author2=Kirill Kryukov|author3=Timothy A Jinam|author4=Kazuyoshi Hosomichi|author5=Aiko Saso|author6=Gen Suwa|author7=Shintaroh Ueda|author8=Minoru Yoneda|author9=Atsushi Tajima|author10=Ken-ichi Shinoda|author11=Ituro Inoue|author12=Naruya Saitou1|date=February 2017|title=A partial nuclear genome of the Jomons who lived 3000 years ago in Fukushima, Japan|journal=[[Journal of Human Genetics]]|volume=62|issue=2|pages=213–221|doi=10.1038/jhg.2016.110|pmid=27581845|pmc=5285490}}</ref> The Yayoi were an admixture (1,000 BCE–300 CE) of migrants from [[East Asia]], mostly [[China]] and the [[Korea|Korean peninsula]].

Modern mainland Yamato Japanese have less than 20% Jomon people's genomes.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A partial nuclear genome of the Jomons who lived 3000 years ago in Fukushima, Japan|journal = Journal of Human Genetics|volume = 62|issue = 2|pages = 213–221|date=2016-06-01|pmc = 5285490|last1 = Kanzawa-Kiriyama|first1 = H.|last2 = Kryukov|first2 = K.|last3 = Jinam|first3 = T. A.|last4 = Hosomichi|first4 = K.|last5 = Saso|first5 = A.|last6 = Suwa|first6 = G.|last7 = Ueda|first7 = S.|last8 = Yoneda|first8 = M.|last9 = Tajima|first9 = A.|last10 = Shinoda|first10 = K. I.|last11 = Inoue|first11 = I.|last12 = Saitou|first12 = N.|pmid = 27581845|doi = 10.1038/jhg.2016.110}}</ref> In modern Japan, the term Yamato ''minzoku'' is seen as antiquated for connoting racial notions that have been discarded in many circles since Japan's surrender in [[World War II]].<ref>Weiner 2009, xiv-xv.</ref> The term "[[Japanese people]]" or even "Japanese-Japanese" are often used instead.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Levin|first=Mark|date=February 1, 2008|title=The Wajin's Whiteness: Law and Race Privilege in Japan|journal=Hōritsu Jihō (法律時報)|volume=80|issue=2|pages=6–7|ssrn=1551462}}</ref>

Genetic and [[Anthropology|anthropological]] studies indicate that the [[Ryukyuan people|Ryukyuans]] are significantly related to the [[Ainu people]] and share the ancestry with the indigenous prehistoric [[Jōmon period]] (pre 10,000–1,000 BCE) people, who arrived from [[Southeast Asia]] and with the [[Yamato people]].<ref name="YukaSuzuki">{{cite news|author=Yuka Suzuki|title=Ryukyuan, Ainu People Genetically Similar Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine|url=http://www.asianscientist.com/2012/12/in-the-lab/ryukyuan-ainu-people-genetically-similar-2012/|date=2012-12-02|publisher=[[Asian Scientist]]|access-date=7 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{bulleted list| | {{harvnb|Hendrickx|2007|p=65}} | {{harvnb|Serafim|2008|p=98}} | {{harvnb|Robbeets|2015|p=26}} | {{cite web|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-14.html|title=日本人はるかな旅展|access-date=2017-08-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421054014/http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-14.html|archive-date=2015-04-21}} | {{cite web|url=http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news111.htm|title=Yayoi linked to Yangtze area|website=Trussel.com|access-date=2017-08-20}} | Kumar, Ann. (2009). Globalizing the Prehistory of Japan: Language, Genes and Civilisation. London and New York: [[Routledge]]. Page 79 & 88 }}</ref> During the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji period]], the [[Ryukyuans]]' distinct culture was suppressed by the [[Government of Meiji Japan|Meiji government]] and faced forced assimilation.<ref name="MasamiIto2009">{{cite news|author=Masami Ito|title=Between a rock and a hard place|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/05/12/news/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/#.WJepb4WcFMt|date=12 May 2009|publisher=[[The Japan Times]]|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519232538/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/05/12/news/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/#.WJepb4WcFMt|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Early modern period ===

==== Edo period (1603–1867) ====

[[file:鄭成功畫像.jpg|thumb|254x254px|[[Koxinga]] was a Chinese monarch who was hāfu Japanese.]]

English sailor [[William Adams (sailor, born 1564)|William Adams]], a navigator for the [[Dutch East India Company]], settled in Japan in April 1600. He was ultimately granted the rank of [[samurai]], one of the few non-Japanese to do so. He wed Oyuki (お雪), a Japanese woman and together, they had two children, Joseph and Susanna, who were ''hāfu''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hiromi Rogers|title=Anjin – The Life and Times of Samurai William Adams, 1564–1620|date=2016|page=121|quote=Adams' marriage with Yuki was arranged by Mukai Shogen, authorised by the Shogun. There is no official record that Magome Kageyu had a daughter, and it is believed that he adopted Yuki, his maid, for marrying to Adams and to advance his own trading activities. Primary source Nishiyama Toshio – Aoime-no-sodanyaku, leyasu-to-Anjin.|id={{ASIN|1898823227|country=uk}}}}</ref>

Chinese military leader Chenggong Zheng, historically known as [[Koxinga]] (1624–1662), was ''hāfu'', born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Chinese father and raised there until the age of seven, known by the Japanese given name, Fukumatsu.<ref name="JansenJansen1992">{{cite book|author1= Marius B. Jansen|author2= Professor Marius B Jansen|title= China in the Tokugawa World|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=11dbNDpaxOAC&q=koxinga|year= 1992|publisher= Harvard University Press|isbn= 978-0-674-11753-2|page=26}}</ref>

=== Modern period ===

==== Meiji, Taishō and pre-war Shōwa period (1868–1945) ====

Since 1899, the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] were increasingly marginalized. During a period of only 36 years, the Ainu went from being a relatively isolated group of people to having their land, language, religion and customs assimilated into those of the Japanese.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|first=Philippa|last=Fogarty|title=Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7437244.stm|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=June 6, 2008|access-date=June 7, 2008}}</ref> Intermarriage between Japanese and Ainu was actively promoted by the Ainu to lessen the chances of discrimination against their offspring. As a result, many Ainu are indistinguishable from their Japanese neighbors, but some Ainu Japanese are interested in traditional Ainu culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/article/605230042/|title=アイヌ⇔ダブ越境！異彩を放つOKIの新作|language=ja|website=HMV Japan|date=May 23, 2006|access-date=March 26, 2011}}</ref>

The first visible usage of the term ''Hāfu'' dates to 1930, in the novel '''''Machi No Kokusai Mune''''' (街の國際娘, lit. International Girl in the City) by Japanese author '''''Touma Kitabayashi''''' (北林透馬). In the chapter '''''Minato no Sakaba no Ainoko Odoriko''''' (港の酒場の混血児踊り子, lit. The Dancing In-Between Child at the Harbour Bar) the furigana ''Hāfu'' is used as a synonym for the term "''konketsuji''" predating the appearance of ''Hāfu'' in dictionaries, which would not occur until after 1973.<ref>{{cite journal |author=岡村兵衛 (Okamura, Hyoue) | date= March 25, 2013 |title=「混血」をめぐる言説 : 近代日本語辞書に現れるその同意語を中心に | language=ja |url=https://www.academia.edu/10234172 |journal=国際文化学 |volume=26 | pages=36 |doi=10.24546/81004802 |access-date= November 30, 2023}}</ref>

=== Contemporary period ===

==== Shōwa period (post-war) (1945–1989) ====

The presence of the [[United States Armed Forces]] in Japan and Asia saw the birth of many children born to American fathers; these children were called [[Amerasian]]s. It's estimated that by 1952, anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 Japanese children were fathered by American servicemen, with many of the children placed for adoption by their Japanese mothers due to the stigma of [[Legitimacy (family law)|out-of-wedlock]] pregnancy and [[miscegenation]] and the struggles of supporting a child alone in post-war Japan.<ref name="児童養護施設聖母愛児園">{{cite web|url=http://seiboaijien.com/|title=児童養護施設聖母愛児園|website=児童養護施設聖母愛児園|language=ja|access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref><ref name="translate – Google Search">{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=translate|title=translate – Google Search|website=Google.com|access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref>

One orphanage, '''{{nihongo3|''Seibo Aijien'', ''Our Lady of Lourdes Orphanage''|聖母愛児園|Seibo Aijien|lead=Our Lady of Lourdes Baby Home}}''', in [[Yokohama]], run by [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] nuns, opened in 1946. By 1948, staff members were caring for 126 children fathered by American servicemen, and 136 children by 1950.<ref name="児童養護施設聖母愛児園"/><ref name="translate – Google Search"/> A letter, dated 1948, detailed an incident of a malnourished infant born to a Japanese teenager whose American father refused to support for fear his wife would learn of his [[Affair|extramarital affair]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/09/10/national/mixed-race-babies-in-lurch/|title=Mixed-race babies in lurch|last=Yoshida|first=Reiji|date=2008-09-10|work=The Japan Times Online|access-date=2019-01-24|language=en-US|issn=0447-5763}}</ref> The [[Elizabeth Saunders Home]] opened in [[Ōiso]] by a Japanese woman named [[Miki Sawada]], cared for more than 700 Amerasian children, none of whom were visited or supported by their American fathers.<ref name="auto"/> The [[Kure Project]] operated in the city of [[Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture]], between 1960 and 1977 providing long-term assistance to over 100 families with mixed-race children.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hamilton, Walter|title="Children of the Occupation: Japan's Untold Story"|publisher=Sydney: NewSouth Books; New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press|year=2012|pages=181-94, 206-220|isbn=978-1-74224-140-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3l51Qm2ol8UC}}</ref>

==== Heisei period (1989–2019) ====

Fashionable images of the half Japanese people have become prominent especially with the increased appearance of ''hāfu'' in the Japanese media.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/02/news/adfg-halflife2/2|title=Growing Up Different but Never Alienated|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2012-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230190044/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/oct/02/news/adfg-halflife2/2|archive-date=2014-12-30|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Hāfu'' models are now seen on television or fill the pages of fashion magazines such as ''[[Non-no]]'', ''[[CanCam]]'' and ''[[Vivi (magazine)|Vivi]]'' as often as newsreaders or celebrities. The appearance of ''hāfu'' in the media has provided the basis for such a vivid representation of them in the culture.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcmIayq35osC&q=golden+haafu&pg=PA213|title=Japan and Global Migration: Foreign Workers and the Advent of a ... – Mike Douglass, Glenda Susan Roberts – Google Books|access-date=2012-07-26|isbn=9780824827427|last1=Douglass|first1=Mike|last2=Roberts|first2=Glenda Susan|year=2003|publisher=University of Hawaii Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9vLpONQLXMC&q=golden+half+haafu&pg=PA82|title=American Mixed Race: The Culture of Microdiversity - Naomi Zack – Google Books|access-date=2012-07-26|isbn=9780847680139|last1=Zack|first1=Naomi|year=1995|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> As of 2018, it is estimated that 30% to 40% of runway models in Japanese fashion shows identify as hafu.<ref name="models"/> Most top models in their 20s of popular Japanese fashion magazines are hafu.<ref name="models"/>

===== ''Ainoko'' ===== One of the earliest terms referring to half Japanese was ''ainoko'', meaning a child born of a relationship between two races. It is still used in [[Latin America]], most prominently [[Brazil]] (where spellings such as ''ainoco'', ''ainoca'' (f.) and ''ainocô'' may be found), to refer to ''[[mestizo]]'' (broader term in Hispanic America for mixed race in general) or ''mestiço'' people of some Japanese ancestry. In Brazil, ''amarela'' (yellow) is used as a census categogy for people of mixed East Asian origin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Powell |first=Brenna Marea |last2=Silva |first2=Graziella Moraes |date=2018 |title=Technocrats’ Compromises: Defining Race and the Struggle for Equality in Brazil, 1970–2010 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26799345 |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=87–115 |issn=0022-216X}}</ref>

The former term evolved to be an umbrella term for Eurasian or mixed East Asian/mestizo, East Asian/African, East Asian/Arab and East Asian/indigenous heritage in general. At the same time it is possible for people with little Japanese or other East Asian ancestry to be perceivable just by their phenotype to identify mostly as black, white or mestizo/pardo instead of ''ainoko'', while people with about a quarter or less of non-East Asian ancestry may identify on the Brazilian census as being ''amarela'' ("yellow" or East Asian).

Soon this too became a taboo term due to its derogatory connotations such as illegitimacy and discrimination. What were central to these labels were the emphasis on "blood impurity" and the obvious separation of the half Japanese from the majority of Japanese. Some English-speaking parents of children of mixed ethnicity use the word "double."<ref name="japantimes1">{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20090127zg.html|title=Half, bi or double? One family's trouble|last=Kosaka|first=Kristy|date=2009-01-27|publisher=[[Japan Times]]|access-date=2011-11-20}}</ref> [[Amerasian]] is another term for children of mixed ancestry, especially those born to Japanese mothers and U.S. military fathers.

Of the one million children born in Japan in 2013, 2.2% had one or more non-Japanese parent.[[Marriage in Japan#cite note-70|[70]]] According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, one in forty-nine babies born in Japan today are born into families with one non-Japanese parent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hafufilm.com/en/about/|title=About the film {{!}} Hafu|website=hafufilm.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015121235/http://hafufilm.com/en/about/|archive-date=2016-10-15|url-status=live|access-date=2016-09-14}}</ref> Most intermarriages in Japan are between Japanese men and women from other Asian countries, including China, the Philippines and South Korea.<ref name="hafu-in-japan">{{cite web|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/9/hafu-in-japan-mixed-race.html|title=Being 'hafu' in Japan: Mixed-race people face ridicule, rejection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520110100/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/9/hafu-in-japan-mixed-race.html|archive-date=2017-05-20|url-status=live|access-date=2017-05-01}}</ref> Southeast Asia also has significant populations of people with half Japanese ancestry, particularly in the [[Japanese in the Philippines|Philippines]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Agnote |first=Dario |date=October 11, 2017 |title=A glimmer of hope for castoffs |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061011f1.html |newspaper=The Japan Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607035509/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061011f1.html |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |access-date=August 9, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/01/d7589c80f13f-japanese-descendants-on-philippine-island-lighten-up-from-solar-power.html |title=Japanese descendants on Philippine island lighten up from solar power }}</ref>

In the 21st century, stereotyping and discrimination against hāfu occurs based on how different their identity, behavior and appearance is from a typical Japanese person.<ref name="models">{{cite web |title=What it means to be a mixed-race model in Japan |date=October 25, 2018 |website=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/rina-fukushi-japanese-hafu-models/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505191001/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/rina-fukushi-japanese-hafu-models/index.html |archive-date=May 5, 2022}}</ref> Some experience negative treatment such as being teased or [[Bullying|bullied]] in junior high school, treated like foreigners or stereotyped as bilingual and models.<ref name="models"/> However, being mixed has been increasingly seen more positively.<ref name="models"/> The hafu of international marriages between Japanese and other Asians tend to blend in easier in Japanese society. They can have a [[bicultural identity]]. Their foreign side could be suppressed in Japan's homogeneous culture.

{{nihongo|'''''Smile'''''|スマイル|Sumairu}} is a [[Japanese television drama|television drama series]], broadcast by [[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]] from April to June 2009. [[Jun Matsumoto]] plays the lead role of Vito, a half-Filipino, half-Japanese man who always smiles despite all of the problems and difficulties he faces. The series focused on foreigners and mixed race children who suffered from racism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=333541|title=スマイル(2009)|publisher=AllCinema|language=Japanese|accessdate=2015-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/64156/|title=椎名林檎、5年半ぶりのソロ新曲は松潤主演ドラマ主題歌 |date=16 March 2009 |publisher=Oricon Style|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422050533/http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/64156/|archivedate=2009-04-22|language=Japanese|accessdate=2015-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/showbiz/nikkan/NIK200902120016.html|title=松潤フィリピンとのハーフ役でドラマ主演|publisher=Nikkan Sports|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213104738/http://www.asahi.com/showbiz/nikkan/NIK200902120016.html|archivedate=2009-02-13 |language=Japanese|accessdate=2015-06-23}}</ref>

The documentary film ''[[Hafu (film)|Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan]]'' was released in April 2013. It is about the experiences of five hāfu living in Japan. It deals with issues of identity, multiculturalism, relationships, hardship and stereotyping that they face.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/AJ201310130049|title=Documentary shows hardships of mixed-race individuals in Japan – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun|publisher=Ajw.asahi.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013004958/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/AJ201310130049|archive-date=2013-10-13|url-status=dead|access-date=2013-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/10/03/films/double-the-trouble-twice-the-joy-for-japans-hfu/|title=Double the trouble, twice the joy for Japan's hafu|last=Shoji|first=Kaori|date=2013-10-03|publisher=The Japan Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028201442/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/10/03/films/double-the-trouble-twice-the-joy-for-japans-hfu/|archive-date=2013-10-28|url-status=live|access-date=2013-10-20}}</ref>

In September 2018, [[Naomi Osaka]] is the first [[Japanese people|Japanese]] woman and hāfu to contest a [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] singles final and the first Japanese [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] singles champion. Naomi Osaka is the winner of the [[2018 US Open (tennis)|2018 US Open]] Women's Singles.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/tennis/naomi-osaka-becomes-first-japanese-woman-to-reach-a-grand-slam-final-a3929801.html|title=Naomi Osaka becomes first Japanese woman to reach a Grand Slam final|last=Newman|first=Paul|date=September 7, 2018|work=Evening Standard|access-date=September 10, 2018}}</ref><ref name=us-open-final>{{cite web |title=Osaka stuns Serena, captures first Grand Slam title at US Open |url=http://www.wtatennis.com/news/osaka-stuns-serena-captures-first-grand-slam-title-us-open |website=WTA Tennis |access-date=November 2, 2018| first1 = David | last1 = Kane}}</ref>

==== Reiwa period (2019–) ====

Due to low birthrate, the [[Aging of Japan|population of Japan is aging]] significantly. As of 2019, the fertility rate stood at 1.36 children per woman, far below the 2.1 children per woman required to maintain the same level of population. Japan had 126.5 million people in 2018, with Japanese nationals numbering 124.8 million in January 2019.<ref name="Population-2019-124-mil">{{cite web|url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190710/p2g/00m/0dm/075000c|title=Japan population drops by record number to 124.8 mil.: gov't|date=July 10, 2019|publisher=The Mainichi|language=en|access-date=July 11, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711174837/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190710/p2g/00m/0dm/075000c |archive-date= July 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=2018|title=Japan Population|work=World Bank|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=JP|access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> Currently, 1 in 4 Japanese residents are over the age of 65, meaning that if the birthrate does not increase, one-third of the population will be above this age by 2050.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilcjapan.org/agingE/|title=Aging in Japan｜ILC-Japan|website=Ilcjapan.org|access-date=2017-03-21}}</ref>

The percentage of hāfu is increasing, but the group is still a minority in Japan. The [[Government of Japan]] regards all naturalized Japanese citizens and native-born Japanese nationals with multi-ethnic backgrounds as Japanese, with no official [[Ethnic groups of Japan|ethnicity census data]].<ref name="xvq">{{cite web|url=http://www.moj.go.jp/PRESS/090710-1/090710-1.html |title=平成20年末現在における外国人登録者統計について(Number of Foreign residents in Japan) |publisher=Moj.go.jp |access-date=2011-11-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/asia/japan-mixed-roots-hafu-dst-hnk-intl/index.html|title=Many hafu stars are celebrated in Japan. But for normal mixed-race people it can be a different story|author=Emiko Jozuka and Vivien Jones|website=CNN}}</ref>

== Statistics == === Births ===

Source: [[Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]]<ref name=":0" />

==== Live births in Japan ====

Children whose parents are both foreign nationals, children born out of wedlock to mothers of foreign nationality, and children whose parents, either both or one hold Japanese nationality but who were born overseas are not included.<ref>{{Cite web |title=厚生労働省：日本における外��人の人口動態 |url=https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/suii09/betu.html |access-date=2025-12-28 |website=www.mhlw.go.jp}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! ! Live births to mixed- nationality parents ! Live births to two Japanese parents ! Total births ! Rate of mixed- nationality births (%) |- ! 1987 | 10,022 | 1,336,636 | 1,346,658 | 0.74 |- ! 1990 | 13,686 | 1,207,899 | 1,221,585 | 1.12 |- ! 1995 | 20,254 | 1,166,810 | 1,187,064 | 1.71 |- ! 1996 | 21,064 | 1,185,491 | 1,206,555 | 1.75 |- ! 1997 | 21,525 | 1,170,140 | 1,191,665 | 1.81 |- ! 1998 | 22,021 | 1,181,126 | 1,203,147 | 1.83 |- ! 1999 | 21,464 | 1,156,205 | 1,177,669 | 1.82 |- ! 2000 | 22,337 | 1,168,210 | 1,190,547 | 1.88 |- ! 2001 | 22,176 | 1,148,486 | 1,170,662 | 1.89 |- ! 2002 | 22,251 | 1,131,604 | 1,153,855 | 1.93 |- ! 2003 | 21,522 | 1,102,088 | 1,123,610 | 1.92 |- ! 2004 | 22,173 | 1,088,548 | 1,110,721 | 2.00 |- ! 2005 | 21,873 | 1,040,657 | 1,062,530 | 2.06 |- ! 2006 | 23,463 | 1,069,211 | 1,092,674 | 2.15 |- ! 2007 | 24,177 | 1,065,641 | 1,089,818 | 2.22 |- ! 2008 | 23,956 | 1,067,200 | 1,091,156 | 2.20 |- ! 2009 | 22,511 | 1,047,525 | 1,070,036 | 2.10 |- ! 2010 | 21,966 | 1,049,339 | 1,071,305 | 2.05 |- ! 2011 | 20,311 | 1,030,496 | 1,050,807 | 1.93 |- ! 2012 | 20,536 | 1,016,696 | 1,037,232 | 1.98 |- ! 2013 | 19,532 | 1,010,285 | 1,029,817 | 1.90 |- ! 2014 | 19,649 | 983,960 | 1,003,609 | 1.96 |- ! 2015 | 19,079 | 986,642 | 1,005,721 | 1.90 |- ! 2016 | 19,124 | 958,118 | 977,242 | 1.96 |- ! 2017 | 18,135 | 928,011 | 946,146 | 1.92 |- ! 2018 | 17,878 | 900,522 | 918,400 | 1.95 |- ! 2019 | 17,403 | 847,836 | 865,239 | 2.01 |- ! 2020 | 16,807 | 824,028 | 840,835 | 2.00 |- ! 2021 | 16,225 | 795,397 | 811,622 | 2.00 |- ! 2022 | 15,271 | 755,488 | 770,759 | 1.98 |- ! 2023 | 15,120 | 712,168 | 727,288 | 2.08 |}

==== Births outside Japan ====

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare<ref>{{Cite web |title=人口動態調査人口動態統計確定数保管統計表（報告書非掲載表）別表外国における日本人 2 外国における父外国人－母日本人又は父日本人－母外国人の出生数，父母の国籍・性・出生月別 {{!}} 統計表・グラフ表示 |url=https://www.e-stat.go.jp/dbview?sid=0003412048 |access-date=2026-02-08 |website=政府統計の総合窓口 |language=ja}}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! !Live births to mixed- nationality parents |- ! 2015 |9,920 |- ! 2016 |9,747 |- ! 2017 |9,152 |- ! 2018 |8,776 |- ! 2019 |8,418 |- ! 2020 |7,697 |- ! 2021 |7,420 |- ! 2022 |7,196 |- ! 2023 |6,782 |}

== Notable hāfu individuals ==

== Hāfu in popular culture ==

{{main|List of hāfu in popular culture|l1 = List of hāfu in popular culture}}

== See also ==

{{columns-list|colwidth=250px| * [[Amerasian]] * [[Anglo-Burmese people]] * [[Anglo-Indian people]] * [[Afro-Asians]] * [[Bụi đời]] * [[Burgher people]] * [[Demography of Japan]] * [[Aging of Japan]] * [[Half-caste]] * [[Hapa]] * [[Húnxuěr]] * [[Indo people]] * [[Kristang people]] * [[Luk khrueng]] * [[Mestizo]] * [[Métis]] * [[Castizo]] }}

== References ==

== Bibliography ==

{{refbegin|30em}} * {{cite book|last=Hendrickx|first=Katrien|title=The Origins of Banana-fibre Cloth in the Ryukyus, Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULyu8dNqS1sC|year=2007|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=978-90-5867-614-6}} * {{cite book|last=Robbeets|first=Martine|title=Diachrony of Verb Morphology: Japanese and the Transeurasian Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1u8xCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-039994-3}} * {{cite book|editor-first1=Bjarke |editor-last1=Frellesvig|editor-first2=John |editor-last2=Whitman|last=Serafim|first=Leon|author-link=Leon Serafim|chapter=The uses of Ryukyuan in understanding Japanese language history|title=Proto-Japanese: Issues and Prospects|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aun8BRHTDEAC|year=2008|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-90-272-4809-1}} {{refend}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite journal|last=Okamura|first=Hyoue|url=https://www.usfca.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/okamura_think_piece_pp91-94_final.pdf|title=The "Human Duty" to Deracialize Nationality|journal=Asia Pacific Perspectives|publisher=Center for Asia Pacific Studies, [[University of San Francisco]]|date=Spring 2017|volume=14|issue=2|pages=91–94}} * {{cite journal|last=Okamura|first=Hyoue|url=https://www.usfca.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/okamura-pp-41-79-final.pdf|title=The Language of "Racial Mixture" in Japan: How ''Ainoko'' became ''Haafu'', and the ''Haafu-gao'' Makeup Fad|journal=Asia Pacific Perspectives|publisher=Center for Asia Pacific Studies, [[University of San Francisco]]|date=Spring 2017|volume=14|issue=2|pages=41–79|access-date=2021-07-31|archive-date=2021-07-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729171115/https://www.usfca.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/okamura-pp-41-79-final.pdf|url-status=dead}} * {{cite journal|last=Mori Want|first=Kaori|url=https://www.usfca.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/center-asia-pacific_perspectives_v13n2_want_haafu-identity-in-japanese-advertisements.pdf|title=Haafu Identities Inside and Outside of Japanese Advertisements|journal=Asia Pacific Perspectives|publisher=Center for Asia Pacific Studies, [[University of San Francisco]]|date=Winter 2016|volume=13|issue=2}}

== External links ==

''List includes archived websites.'' * [https://facebook.com/groups/675441502495319 ''Elizabeth Saunders Home Reunion Facebook Page'']. The Elizabeth Saunders Home in Japan included many Japanese Amerasians (early Hafus). * [https://facebook.com/groups/HafuJapanese ''Hafu Japanese Facebook Page'']. Active Hafu group with over 7300 members. * [https://facebook.com/groups/PlanetHalfJapanese ''Planet Hafu (Half Japanese Facebook Page'']. Active Hafu group with over 2400 members. * [https://takuanamaru.com/books ''Takuan Amaru''] – Author. Son of a Black/Native American military man and a Japanese woman. * [http://amerasianworld.com ''AmerasianWorld.com's "Salaam Central Asia"''], by Kevin Miller, Jr., MPA. Calls himself a Japanese Amerasian, not a Hafu. * [https://nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image], NYT. * [http://kreuzungsstelle.com/index-en.html Die Kreuzungsstelle] – Voices of half Japanese, mixed race/multiracial or multiethnic persons. * [http://hafufilm.com Hafu Film]. * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130122127/hafujapanese.org |date=January 30, 2018 |title=The Hafu Project}}. By artist Natalie Maya Willer and researcher Marcia Yumi Lise. * [http://halvsie.com Halvsie] * [https://dornsife.usc.edu/cjrc/hapa-japan-fest-bios HAPA JAPAN FEST 2017 BIOS] – Large list of speakers to the event. * [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1533-1598.2012.01340.x/full#ss5 "“This Is Who I Am”: Jero, Young, Gifted, Polycultural"] (Fellezs 2012).

[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]] [[Category:Culture of Japan]] [[Category:Japanese people by descent]] [[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]] [[Category:Multiracial affairs in Asia]] [[Category:Race in Japan]]