Actually Being Mixed-Race in Japan (interview with 'Half-Japanese' People ft Farouq)

hey guys it's Utah so I did this experiment where I approached people who didn't look like East Asian in Shibuya and spoke Japanese and it turned out some of them were actually mixed Japanese people and I remembered many of you guys were interested in their stories so I decided to do some mini interviews on the spot check this out local character the world to me actually this my guess hi big oopsie ah tell me because it - no no I said you know I saw this idea catch a nice today nobody subjected to more I think I've got money who was a classical diameter about it ah so this the mantra cookie no yapanese hongo Sabbath teratogenic Anika whoa Katara no egg Odessa Betty green a historic a lapis I saw suit I mean natto Keiko ego de Kamp arigato depakote eonni hongo sibility Stara more eco service to green eyes captain ear tag actually ha yeah ok ok can evolve kakuni come Athenian were savage at the mall it was a heist occurred my gamma degree Derek I smash - classic Escudo what that's shown you want to use hospitals like a harp understand constant constant a circular back there morado yondu mallet my name is very much from the homies ke kanaka - der stop there is energetic City Michigan one night is near dynamo will cause it to international school in coyote travel day something near might eat a hearty let's talk about the era do you come but if we don't know when or when it is your circuits in the pad a shuttle down car am I not good so it's secure oh no no so this is so solid sticking no economy some secret on a commercial a desk a dog hears the ticking of our conscience none so beautiful do you need a killer already opening like Pokemon in Europe tell KOCO Amory walk up nitride tonight mmm wow in Ghana you know country where did you go to International School Yokohama why like I've heard yeah I really enjoyed my time there although it's a little expensive thinking back it's extremely expensive but I guess to pursue American school it isn't little cheaper that's true that is true the American International says and it's what I created Susan you're not funny and even the local system analytical are you know something you ain't so state those students up to solve a stickiness Cayuga tactic isometric people swing out the door do the more swoop or the car washer so you had a little there thank God it did say let's get longer mom Bakken is not a very thin oil party marceline show aquaculture photo a guy tokyo re muslim he might not less economic do it this I think is connected architect under uh got the killer hard Weaver on your kill each other a always you I don't know you do there he also will displace do whatever turns kiddo no Adam okay so Kentucky knee careful end of Annie landed some have a Kronos Edina foto para para toga so I said you know what if I didn't have enough of course in Santa in greater are ok I'm how do you register that tipped about that sorry you're not conscious nobody good anymore sui autonomous only we do more terekhov steady guys salsa de tomate de toboggan I took we need to go your tickets right totally coming ideas engine I thought hi mr. Kevin you don't wait on us anymore hurry nobody asked the cream again the water you can't amazing so not Gardens ah ah kaizoku sentai we'll start on ginger that ever s 1940 knee-high puts in our agenda second eat right dangers are even selling myself oh gee window Vega okay cool looks like a table - oh God see you in there you have a menu - come on then the egg or the key master Shi hoo audience alright is the back door evil minute okay master shadow land alone huh Laura sort of high character kamijo they can add a little very much I love it a little it's not an inevitable you guys that are right Santa Monica Cerreta moose iridium on Alpha Gamma see ya younggu the cast oh I mean wha Karim Donato what 1001 ikazuchi autopano Yokosuka America they focus on yo ariados am i well but some innovative are is your head to people jack even jump you know joke young chap we won't tell ya my got Jeff tell without Jack Jack Jack JD TK Jack Jack Jack egos keep that was so cool because I hey guys it's you two again well if you want to learn authentic spoken Japanese just like how those guys stick in my video you should click the link and subscribe to my list Japanese with yuta also if you want to see the entire uncut video you should check out my patreon page alright see you guys soon ciao ciao

Channel: That Japanese Man Yuta

Views: 3,129,907

Rating: 4.9300261 out of 5

Keywords: farouq, interview, culture of japan, mixed-race, blasian, japanese people, race, ethnicity

Id: MpDF_uV_J1M

Length: 6min 14sec (374 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 16 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/JEZTURNER]

The last guy who seriously seemed to speak hardly any English,that especially threw me.

[u/notsonerdy]

nippon 'jerk'

[u/dla26]

In case anyone was wondering, the first guy had ok Japanese, but not great. It seemed like he was struggling to say what he wanted to say and misunderstood the interviewer's questions.

The second guy was very good but you could tell it wasn't his primary language.

The third guy sounded like a native speaker as far as I could tell.

[u/[deleted]]

When I visited Japan as a bright-eyed teen fresh out of highschool, I was actually surprised at how many folks spoke perfect English. My 4 years of Japanese were nothing when compared to my travel companion simply asking in English. Lots of people were excited to practice in English on a native speaker. Maybe that's why some people get spoken to in English?

That being said, people seemed to appreciate the effort someone from abroad put into speaking Japanese. I had great conversations in bars, restaurants, and many other places that went somewhere unexpected due to translation or how we were trying to communicate. Most flattering was when someone asked how long since I'd moved to Japan; I think he was buttering me up to sell something.

I wouldn't have my best story if it wasn't for a Japanese fellow bending over backwards to accomodate my trying to speak Japanese; I was looking for a blue bridge and so wandered into a small shop with thousands of tiny shelves in the walls and on all the counters. I asked after an "aoi hashi" (which I intended to be blue bridge), and after puttering into the back and reappearing with a tiny box, I say "aoi no hashi" (which was perhaps farther from what I intended) and he drops the box to disappear again. I open the small box which has some fine, blue chopsticks inside. He comes back out and produces another box, gingerly opening it to reveal lacquered wood chopsticks, with just the tips painted blue. I realized my mistake as you probably already did, and said aloud in English "fuck, how else can I say bridge?" to which the man chimes "bridge?" as I nod my head up and down like a cartoon character. I got a chuckled point in the right direction and a lesson to go with what you know.

TL;DR I asked a man who knew the word for bridge in English where a certain one was, but asked in Japanese. Bridge, chopstick, and tip are pronounced the same in Japanese. The man I asked ran a chopstick store.

[u/mrTosh]

as a white man living in Japan with an acceptable level of spoken japanese I often find myself in the same situation of trying to explain myself in japanese and getting answers in broken english, or english menus in restaurants....

this situation happens more often than you think...

[u/BioGenx2b]

Man, that was cool!

It's a weird culture clash seeing your language expectations just crumble so suddenly. I get this all the time when I meet some of my sister's black friends. I was in Georgia one time and didn't realize her friends were also Dominican (as we are). They spoke primarily Spanish and some English.

It's all about exposure. :v

[u/lookslikewitch]

I wasn't born here but I live in the Japanese countryside, which is a little less used to foreigners, or even foreign looking individuals. I'm half-Japanese, half-caucasian and I feel I'm pretty much 50/50 when it comes to appearances. One of the craziest stories I have is sitting at a party and talking to an older Japanese gentleman, and when I started talking about growing up in America, he stopped me because he hadn't realized I was American and simply thought I was Japanese. About five minutes later, I was talking to an older Japanese woman and my background came up and she couldn't believe that I my father was Japanese and I was half. A lot of it though I've found (just like everything else in life) is that views and opinions on mixed race really vary from person to person.

I agree with the people in this video though, once I start speaking Japanese, they tend to switch to only speaking Japanese! One frustrating thing though is if I'm with friends who are caucasian (even if my friends speak really good Japanese!), they'll just completely stop talking to them because they've chosen to speak only in Japanese from that point on.

Also, I live in a city with a high Brazilian population and a lot of them have mixed kids here. My school is really great about helping those who have weaker Japanese (they have a teacher that can teach Portuguese come in twice a week, and the vice principal will teach them math using simpler Japanese). They have a great set of friends, too, so they seem very happy! I don't know what their life is like outside of school, however.

[u/[deleted]]

Like me!

[u/[deleted]]

It does not sound like it is as bad as Reddit has had me believe.