British | Okinawan-Japanese
I describe myself as half British and half Okinawan-Japanese. My Mum is from Okinawa, which is a small tropical island chain off the south-west coast of Japan. My Dad is from the UK, but his Dad was born in Guyana. I’d say I first became conscious of the fact I was mixed-race when we moved back to England. I only spoke Japanese at the time, so was made to recognize my difference pretty early on! Living and working in Japan in my adult life presented a whole other set of unique challenges to what I experience here in the UK. Japan is one of the most monoethnic countries in the world and the term ‘Hafu’ is used to describe people like myself, literally meaning ‘half’ in relation to your non-Japanese parent. I think being mixed-race gives you an additional sensitivity or sensibility when it comes to an understanding and experience of people, culture, the lens through which you look at and experience the world. You’re able to occupy multiple spaces at any one time, to see and feel things from multiple perspectives. I think you become increasingly aware of yourself and the spaces you find yourself in, as well as the way your sense of identity can fluctuate and change over time. Nothing is fixed being mixed. It’s definitely impacted the kind of places I’ve wanted to work at and the types of people I want to be around, both professional and in my personal life. It’s directly informed the issues I’m passionate about, the values that I stand by. I love being able to draw from multiple cultural reference points, the ability to explore, understand and deep dive on my inheritance. You learn that the world isn’t just Black and White, it’s far more nuanced than that. If you can listen to and understand the world through that more nuanced lens, then I think you read it in a very different way. I love learning the history that came before me from the point of view of family, thinking about how different my life growing up in the UK was from my Mum’s or my Grandparents’ lives in Okinawa. There’s a lot to be inspired by and there’s a lot to feel proud of. I wouldn’t change a thing if I were to be reborn.
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