Around one in 49 babies born in Japan today are of mixed heritage. That¡¯s a surprising figure considering that the country was closed off to foreigners for close to three centuries, way back when.
Until about two decades ago h²¹£þfu (meaning ¡°half-Japanese¡°) were viewed with a mixture of awe, envy, a bit of suspicion and a barrage of other emotions, some positive and some not. Now, mixed-race people are no longer that rare, and Japan has become more open about the whole thing. But have things really improved? Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi¡¯s documentary ¡°Hafu¡± takes the bull by the horns and the results are intriguing.
The directors themselves are both of mixed cultures ¡ª and together they have a boatload of experience when it comes to looking, acting and feeling different on the archipelago. This is reflected in the questions they put to their subjects, from 10-year-old Alex whose mother is Mexican to 35-year-old Fusae whose Korean mother didn¡¯t tell her daughter about her heritage until she turned 18. Each interviewee has a story to tell, rich with emotion and observation.
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