New link added 24 Apr 2021: Black in Japan: Shifting the Narrative This is an article about Loranzo Dacres, from Jamaica, whose Black Experience in Japan YouTube Channel feature stories that show a more diverse, and often more positive, range of experiences than we usually see in the media. Nippon.com, 3 Aug 2020. See: The Black Experience in Japan YouTube Channel
Tennis star Naomi Osaka finds new voice in anti-racism protests Rise to stardom propels Japanese-American player to action on social justice The article reprots on Osaka's view on the racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US but also her thoughts on Japan and racism. Nikkei Asia, 28 Aug 2020.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: Black Lives Matter pushes Japan to confront racism To many Japanese, racism towards black people has long been considered something that happens in the US or Europe, not at home. But Black Lives Matter protests and marches in major cities pushed a debate about racism in the country, and whether enough was being done to confront and change things. BBC News, 28 Aug 2020.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: In Japan, the Message of Anti-Racism Protests Fails to Hit Home A view that institutional racism is a faraway problem is keeping the country from more fully confronting entrenched discrimination. This article looks at anti-black and other forms of racism in Japan. New York Times, 1 Jul 2020.
Japan's NHK apologizes for offensive cartoon on US protests Japan's public broadcaster NHK apologized Tuesday for a short animation it used on a weekly news program on the background to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. following accusations it presented racist stereotypes. Kyodo, 10 June 2020.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: Japanese TV show featuring blackface actor sparks anger A Japanese TV programme has sparked accusations of racism and cultural insensitivity after a comedian painted his face to impersonate Eddie Murphy. Using makeup to lampoon black people - a practice known as blackface - is seen by many to be deeply offensive. BBC News, 4 Jan 2018.
What's it like to be black in Japan? An article about a video on YouTube in which 8 black people, mostly African-Americans, talk about their experiences of living in Japan. BBC Trending, 19 Oct 2015
Black in Japan (full documentary) A video interview of eight people on what it's like being black in Japan. 16 Sep, 2015.
Black in Japan (Short version) This is an edited version of the above video. 16 Sep, 2015.
Black Women in Japan group gears up for its first big bash This article looks at the recent formation and activities of the Black Women in Japan group and also profiles several black women of different backgrounds living in Japan. Japan Times, 19 Mar 2017.
Historically, Japan is no stranger to blacks, nor to blackface This is an article written about the history of black people in Japan and of discrimination against them, particularly the history of 'blackface', a stereotypical way of imitating black people by wearing black make-up with white lips. Japan Times, 19 Apr 2015
Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image This article looks at discrimination against black people and people of black and Japanese mixed background, following the victory of Ariana Miyamoto, a women of African-American and Japanese mixed descent, in the Miss Japan contest in 2015. New York Times, 29 May 2015.
>>> More on Hafu / Double / Hapa /Bicultural - people of mixed race/ethnicity >>>
Book is behind bullying of mixed-race children A letter by a Canadian of African descent about discrimination faced by his children who have a Japanese mother. Japan Times, April 10, 2012.
Japanese publisher defies Little Black Sambo protest Seventeen years after it was removed from bookshops for its racist content, the children's story Little Black Sambo has made a comeback in Japan. Guardian, 15 June 2005.
Japan Prejudice and Black Sambo This article looks at images and stereotypes of African-Americans in Japan: "Scholars from Japan suggest that their countrymen are not intentionally racist but are insensitive toward other peoples because of centuries of homogeneous and isolated development" Time Magazine, 24 June 2001.
African Americans In Japan Find Some Freedom From Race Many of the 5,000 African Americans living and working in that Far Eastern country have found success, despite the obstacles of race. They have experienced prejudice - and tolerance. Stereotypes - and success. This article reports on a documentary film, made in 1995, "Struggle and Success: The African American Experience In Japan," that looks at the experiences of African-Americans living in Japan and the way they are in seen by Japanese people. Seattle Times, 4 Aug, 1995.
‘Africans in Japan’ . . . not from the quill of Ishihara, thank God "Last week, The Japan Times ran a Bloomberg interview with Shintaro Ishihara in which the proudly provocative Tokyo governor followed up his contention that foreigners were behind the city’s rising crime rate...'Africans — and I don’t mean African-Americans — who don’t speak English are there doing who knows what,' he said." Japan Times, Feb 18, 2007.
Struggle and Success: The African American Experience in Japan This is the webpage to publicize this documentary film about African-Americans living in Japan. Global Film Network. You can borrow the video of this documentary from Mike. Watch a clip from the film below:
A short video about Dante Carver, the African American actor in Softbank commercials.
Black American is Japan’s top commercial star An article about Danye Carver, the African-American, who has become Japan's No. 1 TV commercial star.
Black Tokyo "Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Eric L. Robinson found himself docking in Okinawa in 1981. For the past two decades, Robinson, a Marine Corps veteran, has traveled back and forth between between Japan and the United States, gaining experiences and insights from each culture that he now shares with the readers of the blog Black Tokyo." Japan Times, Mar 25, 2009.
Black Tokyo - a website for the black community in Tokyo.
Black where they belong This article starts by describing some well-known racist comments about African Americans by Japanese politicians, but most of it looks at the experiences, often positive, of various African Americans living in Japan. Japan Times, Apr 13, 2003.
Black American is Japan’s top commercial star An article about Danye Carver, the African-American, who has become Japan's No. 1 TV commercial star.