The biggest loser at the Olympics? Japanese racism
A glaring omission from this media conversation is the importance of the games in combating racism, specifically the host country’s 'hafu' issue.
There has been a lot of concerned talk about proceeding with the first “pandemic Olympics” in Tokyo. But one glaring omission from this media conversation has been the importance of the Summer Games in combating racism, specifically the host country's “hafu” issue.
Hafu literally means half, but it’s used as a derisive term meaning “half-breed," someone born to one ethnically Japanese and one non-Japanese parent. Japan remains one of the most racially insular developed nations, and those considered less than pure Japanese have long faced bullying and discrimination.
Discrimination based on race in Japan
The latest 2018 census identified 98% of citizens as ethnically Japanese, and while we are used to forms asking our ethnicity from a dozen choices, in Japan most paperwork offers only two options: Japanese or foreigner.