At this year’s Miss Japan contest, Ukrainian-born Karolina Shiino was selected as the Grand Prix winner, causing an uproar on social networking sites.
They were filled with slanderous posts about the new Miss Japan, such as, “No matter how you look at her, she is a foreigner,” and “What’s Japanese about her?”
The controversy cast a spotlight on illusions such as the notion of “Japanese beauty” and the expectation of straight black hair.
Marei Mentlein, a German national who works as translator and writer, has lived in Japan for 16 years.
She believes that the media has played a role in reinforcing such homogeneous illusions and stereotypes.
Mentlein said that in the past, Germany was like Japan and had a strong ethnic and "pure-blood ideology," but people’s attitudes in Germany have changed considerably.
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Excerpts of the interview follow:
Marei Mentlein: I have been living in Japan for 17 years now. I also have a permanent residence visa, so I guess my mindset is that I am half Japanese. Or, to be more precise, I am German and Japanese at the same time, I guess. However, since Japan does not allow dual nationality, I have not acquired Japanese citizenship.
I occasionally appear on TV debate shows, but the role I am asked to play is always “foreigner.” It is unavoidable because it is a fact from the point of view of my nationality, but for myself, I feel bewildered because I am aware that I am a member who is responsible for the future of this country.
So, when I say “we,” I am momentarily at a loss for words. I wonder what people will take the word to mean. I find myself wondering if I myself am included in it.
But when I don’t answer yes or no clearly or read the room, people are surprised and say, “You are just like a Japanese,” as a compliment.
Conversely, "kikoku-shijo" (students who have returned from abroad) people who are assertive are negatively labeled as “un-Japanese,” while those who have a nice figure are envied as “un-Japanese.”
Just what does “Japanese-ness” mean? Not everyone who lives in Japan likes rice, miso soup and grilled fish. Nor do they always throw beans on the Setsubun day. Not all people living in Japan are graceful in character.
What is “Japanese” has changed over time, and to begin with, it is ambiguous. It is precisely because it is ambiguous that the definitions of those with the loudest voices get away with it.
But now that the number of Japanese people with diverse roots has increased, the imposition of such “the 'nihonjin' (Japanese)” image is a microaggression. The media should not be complicit in this.
Germany used to have a strong ethnic consciousness and its nationality law was based on the principle of jus sanguinis. However, by accepting immigrants and refugees, people’s awareness had changed considerably.
And in 1999, the law was revised to incorporate an element of the birthplace-based principle.
In 2016, a public broadcaster made an interesting special program. It was about what determines a “German,” and the people on the show chose from “behavior,” “language,” “values,” “genes” and “appearance,” among other things, and they debated about it.
It was just at the time when a large number of refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries were entering the country and there was a huge debate, including criticism of then Chancellor (Angela) Merkel and exclusionary movements.
Although the program did not offer a conclusion, what was confirmed there was that “our society values democracy and gender equality.” This is because some of the immigrants were Arab men who were authoritarian and refused to shake hands with women.
We don’t force people to “assimilate,” but if they don’t abide by this, they are not one of us—it was a process of confirming what those important shared values are.
In other words, perhaps what they reaffirmed there was that commitment to the principles of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany shapes the German people.
This kind of discussion should be held in Japan as well. Rather than seeking a conclusion, the process of questioning what it means to be Japanese itself should bring about discoveries on the part of the overwhelming majority who believe themselves to be “jun-Japa" (pure Japanese)—discoveries such as unconsciously held prejudices and the fact that a Japanese identity is actually diverse ...
In Japan, the prime minister and Cabinet ministers often address the people as “kokumin no minasan" (the people of the nation). While I understand the emphasis on nationality as a member of the political community, German politicians almost never use the word.
Instead, they often use the word “Mitbürger.” The word has slightly different nuances from “citizen” and “compatriot,” and is difficult to translate. But it means “people who live together in a country.”
It includes those who are in a position like me in Japan. I hope that a concept or word that corresponds to this can be created in Japanese.
By the time that term takes root, the connotation and usage of the word “Japanese” may have changed.
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Marei Mentlein was born in Kiel, Germany, in 1983. She studied at Himeji Shikisai High School and Waseda University. She graduated from the University of Bonn. Since 2008, she has lived in Japan. From 2015, she has worked as a producer at the Tokyo Bureau of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, a German public-service television broadcaster. She has worked extensively in translation, interpretation, writing, and program production. She calls herself a “German by profession.”
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