by Fujisaka Shunsuke

I learned about hafu in this class and I learned the situation of hafu. My opinion was changing gradually. After I read a first reading, I leaned how hafu people think. Then I saw the opinions from classmates and I thought hafu people faced more difficult situation than I thought. I will write what I learned in this writing.

First I learned hafu people do not think good to be hafu. They have something bad. For example they are bullied because they look different. In Japan people tend to do same thing as other people do and people tend to exclude different people. There is a saying “those who stand out are likely to arouse opposition”. Moreover I was surprised at the man who is a half-Japanese half-French said that he uses French name at the business. He explained that it is because if he uses his French name it is good for business. It will be forgiven if he is foreigner when he made mistake. I thought it is stereotype but it is true. It is true that there is a public tendency that foreigner tend to be forgiven because they are thought that they cannot speak Japanese. However I felt it is strange. I thought that this public tendency must be changed.

Second I knew that the hafu people do not like to be asked same question again and again. If there is a person who look different, people like to ask “where are you from?”. If the answer is not wanted answer, people will be disappointed. For example if hafu person answered that they are from Japan, people will be disappointed because they are expected hafu person is from foreign country. Moreover many Japanese believe that every hafu person have middle name. In addition many people misunderstand that hafu people or foreigners speak English. Before I learned about this I also misunderstood same thing. Even I cannot know hafu people or foreigners are from English speaking country, I thought they can speak English. I think many Japanese misunderstood because there is also public tendency that hafu person or foreigners speak English. That is why I realized that to leave public tendency and stereotype is important.

In conclusion to leave public tendency and stereotype is important. As I mentioned there are many public tendency and stereotype and these are actually wrong and old. Hafu people of course can speak Japanese fluently because they live in Japan. Moreover not all hafu people are from English speaking country. They might come from Europe or South America. Therefore to know truth is important because my thinking for hafu people was changed by knowing truth. That is why to know truth is important for leaving public tendency and stereotype in Japan. Finally to know these things I think education is important. I hope that the lecture like I had in this class will be increased.