Japan is diversifying. In Japan, 1 in 49 marriages are international
marriages. If you look further at the
data, you can find a significant number of marriages between Japanese and
Chinese, Japanese and Filipino(a), Japanese and Korean, and more. Whatever the roots, the children who come
from these international marriages are known as “haafu” (although some prefer
the term “double” to emphasize the presence of two different cultures).
This documentary movie follows the lives of
several individuals whose parents are of different cultural backgrounds. They each struggle with their own individual circumstances
and come out with their own personal accomplishments, and this is where this movie
shines. The interviewees come alive
through their own individual stories. One
cannot help but cheer on David as we see him connecting with his immediate
Japanese community to build a school in his mother’s country. One cannot help feeling for Alex, the older
son of the Oi family, who experiences adjustment difficulties at school because
of bullying. These are individuals who
we truly can empathize with, and it is likely that one finds oneself relating
to one of their stories.
Taking a wider perspective, this movie encourages
us to think of the big picture, as well.
If we were in their shoes, how would we navigate our own background with
that of the larger society? How can we
foster greater inclusion in our own society?
I highly recommend Haafu. The film challenges certain assumptions of Japanese
society and thereby forces us to think more critically about modern-day
challenges. Rather than painting Japan
in a simplistic light, we are shown up close through the five interviewees the
rich value that can come with diversity.
The language is both in Japanese with English
subtitles and English in Japanese subtitles (depending on what the speaker is
comfortable with). The movie length is
85 minutes.
Related videos and links:
“Haafu” movie trailer:
Japan is Diversifying (also appears at end of
movie):
Haafu website:
http://hafufilm.com/en/about/resources/
(official site provides list of resources)
Miss Japan debate:
Discussion questions for the classroom and beyond:
-What is your own cultural background? How strongly do you identify with different
aspects of your background? How do you
think it influences your perspective in society?
-Provide students with
some data on international marriages (Hint: Okayama University’s survey results
can easily be used in the language classroom by showing students its tables: http://ousar.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/files/public/5/53309/20160528121303965789/hss_039_037_056.pdf). What can we observe from this data?
-What do you think it means to be “Japanese”?
-In response to the first video above which
describes Japan as diversifying, one person says: “Japan is disappearing.” Do you agree or disagree? How would you respond to this comment?
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