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Concept
Hāfu
Summary
"half" is a Japanese language term used to refer to a person ethnically half Japanese and half non-Japanese. A loanword from English, the term literally means "half," a reference to the individual's non-Japanese heritage. The word can also be used to describe anyone with mixed-racial ancestry in general. Japan remains one of the most homogeneous societies on the planet, which puts children of non-Japanese parents in a unique and difficult position, as they are called hāfu Japanese. Hāfu individuals are well represented in Japanese media and abroad, and recent studies in the 2010s estimate that 1 in 30 children born in Japan are born to interracial couples.
lit. child in-between – An ainoko is a Japanese person with a non-Japanese or lit. foreigner, parent. It was historically often associated with discriminating sentiment. Almost never used today in Japan.
lit. double – A daburu is an alternative to Hāfu that focuses on the positive connotations of two cultures instead of one.
lit. mixed-blood child – A konketsuji is a Japanese person with one non-Japanese parent. It is considered a derogatory term.
lit. quarter – A kwōtā is a Japanese person with one non-Japanese grandparent. The term is a loanword, based on the English word quarter and refers to an individual's 25%, or one quarter, Japanese ancestry.
Japinoy – A person of mixed Japanese and Filipino ancestry.
Afro-Asian (also Blasian) – An Afro-Asian is an individual of African and Asian ancestry. Blasian, a portmanteau of Black and Asian, is a slang term and is regularly used among English speakers in North America.
Ainoco (f. Ainoca) – An ainoco is an individual with one Japanese parent. The term is a loanword, based on the Japanese word lit. child in-between and is used by Portuguese speakers in Brazil and Pohnpeian speakers in Micronesia, both countries with a sizable Japanese populations.
Amerasian – An Amerasian is an individual of American and Asian, especially East Asian ancestry. Historically, the term referred to children born to local women and American servicemen stationed in East Asia during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Official source
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