TOKYO — From an early age, japanese children learn the importance of conforming and fitting in. “ The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, ” is a well-known proverb. But besides tied up in the estimate is Japan ’ s prevailing self-image as a mono-ethnic nation. It has hung over the heads of many biracial children growing up in Japan, normally known as “ hafu, ” meaning “ half. ” gradually, though, biracial japanese sports figures and celebrities — including Rui Hachimura of the Washington Wizards, tennis star Naomi Osaka, Olympians, rugby players and models — are beginning to show that a different, more diverse, representation of Japan is possible.

Osaka ’ s support for Black Lives Matter ruffled some feathers in Japan, but it is besides helping to open conversations about race and identity in this island nation. Professional baseball player Louis Okoye posted an essay on-line in June about the bullying he had faced as a child of a nigerian don and japanese mother. The like month, thousands of people marched in support of Black Lives Matter in Japan. Amid this growing argue on racism in Japan, we spoke with four biracial japanese people about their experiences. Their comments have been lightly edited.

Raimu Kaminashi, 23, IT professional and model

Born in Nigeria to a Japanese mother and Nigerian father, she moved to Japan as an infant and grew up in the city of Gifu. By junior high school, Kaminashi competed at a regional level as a sprinter. “ In my greenhouse school, my father was an english teacher and kids loved him, sol I felt proud of my roots in those days. But my parents divorced when I went to elementary educate and there weren ’ t any other biracial kids at that school, so the other children looked at me identical curiously. ‘ Why is the color of your skin black ? ’ ‘ Why is it different from your mother ’ second ? ’ As I learned about Africa in school, issues like slavery and poverty, lento I began to feel negative about my roots. “ As they got older, children around me would make fun of me more much. To protect myself from getting hurt, I would take it as a joke. “ I grew up with my mother and a grandma nearby, so japanese culture took deep roots in me. flush though I grew up merely like any other japanese child, people would call me ‘ gaijin ’ [ ‘foreigner ‘ ]. however well I spoke japanese, I was told, ‘ You speak good japanese ’. Going through those experiences, I had an home struggle. Was it how I looked that made it hard for me to be recognized as japanese ? “ My [ track ] teammates weren ’ t glad to see me win. They said, ‘ It ’ mho because you are foreigner. It ’ s not fair to have to compete with you. ’ They didn ’ thymine answer when I said ‘ hello, ’ they hid my spikes or hid my total bib, or boo when my name was announced. “ At times, I even felt like I didn ’ metric ton want to win. But my mother told me to greet them with a smile. Every dawn, I would look in the mirror before going to school and exercise my smile. I felt scar, knowing I would be ignored, but as I continued, I became ruffianly. “ What my mother told me has always stayed with me. She said, ‘ Be the breeze through that sticks out then high, they can ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate hammer it down. ’ She told me to get to a level where other people wouldn ’ thymine be able to hold me back. “ By the time I got to run at the national level, people stopped trying to hold me rear and started to root for me. “ I ‘ ve been volunteering in Gifu, where there are still a few children with roots in Africa, to help build a community for them. many of them are ineffective to feel positive about themselves, be it the texture of their hair or the color of their skin. I think I have been able to show them that if you work hard with a firm belief in yourself, you will be recognized for who you are. ”

Ayaka Brandy, 24, artist

Born in Congo to a Japanese mother and Congolese father, she moved to Japan as an infant. Now, she works in graphic design and illustration. “ I started to struggle with my identity at the age of 11 when I moved to a modern educate where there weren ’ t any children in my classify with roots oversea. I tried to get along with my classmates, but I felt I didn ’ thyroxine belong. “ Whoever says any, my identity nowadays is as a japanese person who has african roots and I am an embodiment of those cultures. I believe my very being will become a catalyst for others to broaden their world. “ I ’ ve seen comments like, ‘ You should assimilate to japanese culture, ’ ‘ It ’ sulfur because your hair is in braids that you face difficulties, ’ ‘ You should live more like japanese people. ’

“ But being japanese depends on your inner self, and elements like modesty and caring for others. ” “ Rather than discrimination, I largely experience indifference. I ask people what they think about Black Lives Matter, they say, ‘ It has nothing to do with me, I don ’ thymine discriminate against Black people. ’ even people who work in african fashion, most of them are not interest in Black Lives Matter and don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate mention it on their websites. “ Naomi Osaka had a significant impact on Japan. Seeing her, I thought I wanted to become like her. “ The definition of japanese hasn ’ thymine changed in the older generation. But it is changing among people in my generation. immediately, we see biracial Japanese who are active globally, including Miss Universe finalists. japanese company is changing, but in order to make it change faster we need to keep working at it. ”

Jun Soejima, 36, actor and television personality

Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an African American father, he was raised by his mother in Japan and now appears regularly on a morning show on public broadcaster NHK. “ As a boy, I beginning became mindful of discrimination after being transferred to another school in third gear grade. I experienced isolation, both verbal and at times physical ferocity, was made fun of for my hair and the color of my skin. once, person touched me and called me a ‘ source. ’ “ At foremost, I resisted. I said, ‘ I have skin of a different color, I am the same human being. ’ But the verbal violence continued. then I soon became resigned to it, and came to feel nothing. I equitable endured, like a sandbag. “ Today, I don ’ t suffer such overt discrimination. But on social media, a little count of people can be reasonably severe, saying, ‘ Don ’ triiodothyronine have a Black person on a television appearance at the beginning of the day. ’ “ I thought it was bang-up to see such a knock-down response and energy come about last in answer to Black Lives Matter in Japan. But I think in Japan a large majority of people tend to think discrimination doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate exist. I think there is a gap in perception between those who are discriminated against and those who are not, and that is what lies at the ancestor of the very discrimination. “ I was sol please to see [ Naomi Osaka ] send the message out with such impregnable determination. To see person like her to send that herculean message served as a bang-up opportunity for those who truly didn ’ t know about Black Lives Matter to know about it. I was profoundly impress. ”

Aisha Harumi Tochigi, 24, Miss Universe Japan 2020

Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Ghanaian father, she lived in Ghana between the ages of 10 and 17, but otherwise resided in Japan. She has done volunteer work in Ghana and Japan with children and in support of women’s rights. “ every time people ask me where I am from, I can ’ thyroxine just say Japan, because I know I have the ghanaian side in me. I actually prize both sides. “ My high educate was very a good environment for me, they were sol kind to me. evening though I forgot some of my japanese words, not only my teachers, but my friends helped me out. “ I know some people suffer because they are mix. My sister had a heavily fourth dimension in her japanese high school. But at the lapp time, there are good environments, and there are good people. “ My don came to Japan when he was 25, and immediately he is 55. For some of the japanese people he met, it was their first clock time to meet foreigners. so I do understand it was hard for them to accept him. When he foremost came to Japan, it was intemperate for him to rent a house, it was hard for him to get a problem because he was a foreigner. still today, every time he walks about, people call the patrol and say, ‘ There ’ s an african in front man of my sign of the zodiac, ’ and the patrol come and ask what he ’ randomness doing. “ When I became Miss Universe Japan, I heard some comments that I ’ m a mix person, possibly I don ’ thymine deserve to be Miss Universe Japan. But at the same time, there are sol many people texting me that I encouraged them because I ’ megabyte blend. That shows Japan ’ s changing and it ’ s becoming a divers state. I have so many negative comments and positive comments at the same time — that ’ second when I realized that Japan needs to change more.

“ I like how [ Naomi Osaka ] is using her position as a chopine. I very respect and admire her. But every time I open Twitter and see comments about her, there are some people who say ‘ She ’ s not japanese, ’ and ‘ She doesn ’ t have to talk about [ racism ] here in Japan, because in Japan that ’ s not happening. ’ And that ’ s when I besides realized that some people don ’ thymine know there is racism here in Japan besides. ” Akiko Kashiwagi contributed to this report. Photo editing by Olivier Laurent. Design by Emily Sabens.