Hapa Japas, That's Ja As In "Jah"

Today, I met yet another half Japanese person! It just amazes me how many of us there are because gazing from a distance it appears that Japanese society is highly homogenized with very little race-mixing. Yet, at times, I feel like I know a ton of biracial Japanese people.

Hapa Japas, I like to call us. That's Ja as in Jah Rastafari!

From all the kids I grew up with on Army bases (with their Japanese warbride mothers and fathers that were either black or white Americans) to the woman I met in yoga class today, we are many.

The woman from yoga class, Cathy, has an Irish father and was born and reared in Yokohama. Her daughter's father is also Japanese. I'm really curious to know how growing up in Japan affected her. She has a very European look so maybe life wasn't as traumatic for her as it was for someone like my friend Eriko who is half Okinawan and half black. For Eriko, Okinawa instills both a sense of pride and shame because of the way she was treated for having an African American father.

Interesting, isn't it? That a country (either Japan or Okinawa) that boasts no NATIVE black people quickly built a prejudice against them...based on what, exactly? When you've never had a certain people embedded in your country, how would you know what they're capable of or not? By the same token, whites weren't always treated well by the Japanese either. But, as in most places on planet earth, they fared better than blacks.

It's been a long time since I visited Japan, but back in the 1980's when I did with my mother and sister, we were well received. But, then again, the Japanese tend to put politeness ahead of opinion, so how do I know what others really thought? Obviously, too, because my sister and I were with my mother, we were afforded a certain respect by default. Since my mom was one of "them", my sister and I were give a wide margin for error by the locals.

Because of my advocacy for mixed-race folks, over the years I've been contacted by many half Japanese people. Recently, two sisters, Cassie and Doris befriended me. It's been a real treat to share stories of our similar experiences. And, I'm looking forward to knowing more Hapa Japas, so hollah if you're out there, cuz.

Can you name some Hapa Japas? I just visited a website called Alec In Japan that showcased a dozen half Japanese celebrities--none of whom I had ever heard of.

Here's my very small list because I'm tired and it's late:

Anzu Lawson, actress/comedienne, Japanese mother

Laura Kina, painter/professor, Japanese father

Stewart David Ikeda, writer/professor, Japanese father

Terra Paley, business consultant, Japanese mother

Velina Hasu Houston, playwright/professor, Japanese mother

George Johnston, writer/publisher, Japanese mother

Add more?

That's me in a pic taken by Doug Ing right after I won third place in a citywide art contest in Seattle one year. I cut myself in half to go with my illustration's theme.

Your Hip Hapa and Hapa Japa,

Yayoi

Jero (Or, J-Lo)

Over the past few weeks, I've received emails from friends that included links to YouTube videos for a singer named Jero.

Jero, I quickly discovered, is actually Jerome White--a 26 year-old enka singer from Pittsburgh. What's enka? you might well ask. Well, it's a very traditional style of Japanese music featuring strong vocals and heavy emotional expressions. Like most things Japanese, the lyrics are focused on Mother Nature's four seasons and, of course, human love. Singing enka also requires certain voice and facial inflections that are revered by the audience when a singer produces them, and Jero seems to have them down.

Jero (who, it turns out, has a Japanese grandmother) not only sings enka but also speaks Japanese. On his YouTube videos you can watch the Japanese hosts of a television show exclaim in surprise, "Sugoi!" when he opens his mouth and spills out Japanese answers to their Japanese questions. I'm no expert in the language (I'm limited to endless nouns and a few verbs), but he sounded authentic to me. At least his pronunciations were pretty good.

So, what's all the fuss about this young man? For one, Jero is African American. Or, at least he's 3/4 since his mother is half Japanese. Dressed like a hiphop artist, Jero bursts from a graffiti decorated background, but instead of exclaiming "yo this and yo that", he croons with authority and integrity in one of the Japanese' favorite singing styles. It's to his credit that Jero could've been just another rapper, but early on felt a strong connection to his Japanese roots and embraced them. I imagine the boys in his 'hood might've laughed at him had they known what he yearned to sing. After all, don't all young black men rap?

Whether he caught flak for his musical choice or not, Jero has the last laugh. Right now in, he's a huge hit in Japan where he currently lives.

I'd love to post a pic of him here, but the only ones I have access to are copyrighted. So, just take my word that he is one cutie-pie. Besides, you should check out his videos. Just go to YouTube and search for Jero. Anyway, the closest image I could come up with is one of me posing with singer Brian McKnight's brother, Frederick, while we were in Seattle in 2000. I know, it's a stretch, but my story needed visuals.

Hey, thanks to Michelle at the World War II War Brides Association and Eriko for sending me Jero clips. Thanks also to Derrick Holmes for providing additional information like how the Japanese call him J-Lo.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

AmerAsians, Blendies And Hapas

Speaking with a good friend tonight, I was moved by her declaration that she won't allow herself to be called hapa. That's cool. It's just not a word that she wants to identify with, and I'm okay with that.

A blend of Okinawan and African American, Eriko prefers the term AmerAsian. Again, I have no quarrel with her, but, personally, I prefer hapa because it's truly a non-word. As I've explained before, Native Hawai'ians had no concept of half of anything, but Europeans who arrived in their nation taught them the word. The way Native Hawai'ians pronounced it with their particular phonetics, half came out sounding like hapa. In Hawai'ian, every word ends with a vowel--much like in the Japanese language.

The word hapa was originally applied to the offspring of Native Hawai'ians and Europeans. Because the first Europeans landing on the islands didn't know the custom of bowing to the king and expelling their last breath, or ha, Hawai'ians felt they must not have any--breath, that is. Thus, the word haole was born. Ole means nothing, so the word ha-ole meant "he without breath". Although modern-day natives of Hawai'i (not necessarily Native Hawai'ians) mispronounce the word as "howlie" and use it derogatorily to describe a white person, it's original intention was to simply differentiate between those familiar with sacred Hawai'ian rituals and those who were not. Hapa haole then became the name Hawai'ians used to describe half European children.

Anyway, I'm repeating myself because I still feel like there should be one word that designates us as a group of multi-racially identified folks. Since hapa is a bastardized word anyway, I don't think it should belong to any one particular blend of people--like the half Asian and half white folks who mostly use it to describe themselves. In fact, I recently read an article in the LA Times where a reporter said the word hapa was Hawai'ian for half Asian and half white. Now, why would Native Hawai'ians even have a word for that particular mix of children?

It's pretty scary what passes for reporting these days. Just last week, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece written by a Jewish woman married to a Japanese American man. Her subject? What it means to be hapa. And, her expertise in the subject? Her daughter, a toddler, whose experiences as a mixed-race child provided the writer with all the insight she needed. She was, after all, her only resource. Now, I know if I wrote an op-ed piece about what it means to be Jewish, the New York Times would not only flatly refuse my article, but they'd probably ridicule me, too. Yet this writer, with no direct connection to being hapa, arrogantly told us multi-racial folks what it means to be mixed, and the paper actually published her piece--rife with errors, too, I should add.

Of course, I had to respond to that article, although I'm not confident that a newspaper printing such an inaccurate piece would even publish my rebuttal. If I don't hear anything by next week, I promise to publish my response here on this blog. And, that's a threat, New York Times!

But back to name-calling. I have another good friend who's African American and years ago, Darlene used the word "blendies" to describe some biracial people she knew. I thought that was cute.

Truthfully, I don't know what the answer is. As much as we hear the phrase "safety in numbers", I don't think we realize the power in the size of our group. If all mixed-race people worldwide came together, we'd be a force to be reckoned with.

Here's a quick quiz. I was trying to make a list earlier today of all the famous hapas--all clearly biracial people who are household names. Can you add to it?

Jimi Hendrix (Native American mother, African American father)

Bob Marley (black Jamaican mother, white British father)

August Wilson (white German father, African American mother)

Mariah Carey (white American mother, African Venezuelan father)

I'm sure there's more, but I'm off to cop some z's. There's me, above, a hip hapa Hapawood star! Join me by wearing a Hapa*Teez t-shirt claiming your identity. Go here: http://ww.cafepress.com/hapateez

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi