DOCSLIB.ORG

Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan's Self-Image

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan's Self-Image Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image - The New York Times 8/9/15, 5:42 PM http://nyti.ms/1HREOnS ASIA PACIFIC Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image MAY 29, 2015 The Saturday Profile By MARTIN FACKLER TOKYO — WHEN Ariana Miyamoto was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2015, participants said she stole the show with a saucy strut, an infectious smile and a calm self-confidence that belied her 21 years. But it was not just her beauty and poise that catapulted her to national attention. Ms. Miyamoto is one of only a tiny handful of “hafu,” or Japanese of mixed race, to win a major beauty pageant in proudly homogeneous Japan. And she is the first half-black woman ever to do so. Ms. Miyamoto’s victory wins her the right to represent Japan on the global stage at the international Miss Universe pageant expected in January. She said she hoped that her appearance — and better yet, a victory — would push more Japanese to accept hafu. However, she said, Japan may have a long way to go. Even after her victory in the national competition, local journalists have had a hard time accepting her as Japanese. “The reporters always ask me, ‘What part of you is most like a Japanese?’ ” said Ms. Miyamoto, who has the long legs of a foreign supermodel, but shares the http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Page 1 of 5 Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image - The New York Times 8/9/15, 5:42 PM same shy self-reserve of many other young Japanese women. “I always answer, ‘But I am a Japanese.’ ” “I had hoped winning Miss Universe Japan would make them notice that,” she added. That may yet take some time. After she won, some people posted messages online criticizing the judges for choosing someone who did not look Japanese. “Shouldn’t the Japanese Miss Universe at least have a real Japanese face?” demanded one. But even larger numbers of Japanese seemed to rally to her defense: “Why can’t a Japanese citizen, who was born and raised in Japan, just be regarded as Japanese?” asked one typical posting. The child of a short-lived marriage between an African-American sailor in the United States Navy and a local Japanese woman, Ms. Miyamoto grew up in Japan, where she says other children often shunned her because of her darker skin and tightly curled hair. That experience has driven her to use her pageant victory as a soapbox for raising awareness about the difficulties faced by mixed-race citizens in a country that still regards itself as mono-ethnic. “Even today, I am usually seen not as a Japanese but as a foreigner. At restaurants, people give me an English menu and praise me for being able to eat with chopsticks,” said Ms. Miyamoto, who spoke in her native Japanese and is an accomplished calligrapher of Japanese-Chinese characters. “I want to challenge the definition of being Japanese.” HER self-proclaimed mission has raised eyebrows at a time when race relations are receiving new scrutiny in Japan, which had long seen itself as immune to the ethnic tensions of the United States. The Fuji Television Network’s plans for a musical show featuring singers in http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Page 2 of 5 Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image - The New York Times 8/9/15, 5:42 PM blackface was canceled only after pressure from antiracism groups. A right-wing novelist and former adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also raised hackles at home and abroad for advocating apartheid-style segregation of races. However, many here see Ms. Miyamoto’s victory as proof that Japan is slowly embracing a more multicolor image of itself. With outright immigration still restricted to a trickle, much of Japan’s new diversity comes from the ethnically mixed children of marriages between Japanese and foreigners. These hafu — a term that comes from the English word “half” — have gained increasing social prominence, especially in sports and on television. Japanese of mixed race also account for a small but growing portion of the overall population: According to the Health Ministry, some 20,000 children with one non-Japanese parent are now born here annually, about 2 percent of total births. “Ariana gives us another opportunity to challenge the old assumption that you have to look Japanese to be Japanese,” said Megumi Nishikura, a half Japanese, half Irish-American filmmaker who is co-director of the 2014 documentary “Hafu.” Ms. Miyamoto said it was a personal loss that motivated her to join the Miss Universe competition last year. She said one of her friends, a half-white American who was born and raised in Japan, hanged himself because he was tired of being mocked for being unable to speak English despite having non-Japanese features. “He said there was nowhere where he felt at home,” Ms. Miyamoto said. “I thought that if I can win, I could prove that Japanese don’t all have to look the same. I could prove that this is our home, too.” Ms. Miyamoto said she also endured slurs growing up in the gritty southern naval port of Sasebo, where her mother’s family raised her after her father left Japan when she was an infant. In school, she said, other children and even parents called her “kurombo,” the http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Page 3 of 5 Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image - The New York Times 8/9/15, 5:42 PM Japanese equivalent of the N-word. Classmates did not want to hold her hand for fear her color would rub off on them. “I used to come home angry at my mother,” Ms. Miyamoto recalled. “I’d ask her, ‘Why did you make me so different?’ ” She said everything changed at age 13 when she decided to reach out to her father, who invited her to his home in Jacksonville, Ark. She said she will never forget the moment she first saw her father and his relatives. “They had the same skin and the same face as me,” she said. “For the first time, I felt normal.” She said that in the United States, she came to speak of herself as black. But here in Japan, she still calls herself hafu. As Miss Universe Japan, she has played down her African-American roots, presenting herself instead as a representative of ethnically mixed Japanese from all backgrounds. BUT experts on pageants say it is precisely because she is half black that she has gotten so much attention. They said her victory had overturned an unspoken hierarchy among hafu, in which those with lighter skin color have long been celebrated as the most beautiful. “Ariana is the most talked-about Miss Universe Japan ever,” said Stephen Diaz, the Japan-based reporter for Missosology, a website that covers pageants. He said Ms. Miyamoto dominated a contest that required contestants to show off their dance moves and don elegant evening gowns, in addition to the obligatory bikini competition. “I mean, we were all thinking, this is Japan. They’re not going to crown a black girl,” he said. “But then she was so far above the other contestants.” While Ms. Miyamoto credits her visit to the United States with making her comfortable with her black ancestry, she said her time there also taught her that she is Japanese. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Page 4 of 5 Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image - The New York Times 8/9/15, 5:42 PM She spent two years with her American family, enrolling at a local high school. But she soon faced difficulties fitting in. Frustrated by her lack of native English skills, and treated as a foreigner by white and black classmates alike, she found herself growing homesick and pining for Japanese food unavailable in rural Arkansas. “I was born and raised in Japan, so this is where I belong,” she said. SHE eventually went back to Sasebo, where she drifted for a time, never finishing high school and working instead as a bartender. She hopes that winning Miss Universe can be her break into a modeling career that could help her earn enough money to attend college in the United States. “Ariana has a personal story that other Miss Japans just don’t have,” said Maki Yamaguchi, a contestant in the 2014 Miss Universe Japan pageant who now helps advise Ms. Miyamoto. “She is a beauty queen with a mission: to eliminate discrimination.” A version of this article appears in print on May 30, 2015, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image. © 2015 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/biracial-beauty-queen-strives-for-change-in-mono-ethnic-japan.html Page 5 of 5.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dominicano Donde Sea: 60 Years of Globalization, Migration, and Integration in the Nikkei Dominican Community
    DOMINICANO DONDE SEA: 60 YEARS OF GLOBALIZATION, MIGRATION, AND INTEGRATION IN THE NIKKEI DOMINICAN COMMUNITY Omar Pineda Jr. Submitted to the Department of Asian Languages & Civilizations of Amherst College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with honors Advisor Trent E. Maxey May 5th, 2016 INDEX Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 3 Chapter 1 Birth of a Japanese Diaspora 15 and Immigration to the Dominican Republic Chapter 2 Los Que Quedaron: Nikkei Dominican Diversification, 62 Reverse Acculturation, and Internationalization Chapter 3 Migration of Work: Return to the Native Homeland 106 and Arrival in the Dominican Diaspora Chapter 4 Voy Pa’lla: Long-Term Overseas Resettlement 144 and the Next Generation of Nikkei Dominicans Afterword 182 References 185 1 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Professor Wako Tawa and the Japanese Language program for helping with translations for this project, and for also guiding me through a new language, and essentially a new world, that has been so central to my time at Amherst College. Hontou-ni osewaninarimashita. Thank you Valentina Peguero for your encouraging words during this project’s earliest planning stages. I especially want to thank Professor Trent Maxey, whose constant support, guidance, and enthusiasm for this research motivated me tremendously over these past few months. The fieldwork for this study was made possible by generous grants from Amherst’s Alpha Delta Phi and Linden Family Funds. A Five College Digital Humanities Microgrant also funded the creation of an online blog mapping past and present Nikkei Dominican migrations.1 Thank you Sharon Domier at Frost Library for connecting me with Japanese language resources and for requesting items that were shipped in from as far as Hawaii and Japan.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy of Cultural Affairs in Japan
    Policy of Cultural Affairs in Japan Fiscal 2016 Contents I Foundations for Cultural Administration 1 The Organization of the Agency for Cultural Affairs .......................................................................................... 1 2 Fundamental Law for the Promotion of Culture and the Arts and Basic Policy on the Promotion of Culture and the Art ...... 2 3 Council for Cultural Affairs ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 4 Brief Overview of the Budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs for FY 2016 .......................... 6 5 Commending Artistic and Related Personnel Achievement ...................................................................... 11 6 Cultural Publicity ............................................................................................................................................................................... 12 7 Private-Sector Support for the Arts and Culture .................................................................................................. 13 Policy of Cultural Affairs 8 Cultural Programs for Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games .................................................. 15 9 Efforts for Cultural Programs Taking into Account Changes Surrounding Culture and Arts ... 16 in Japan II Nurturing the Dramatic Arts 1 Effective Support for the Creative Activities of Performing Arts .......................................................... 17 2
    [Show full text]
  • Fostering Learners' Intercultural Communicative Competence, Criticality and Identity for Intercultural Citizenship
    Durham E-Theses A comparative study of English education in Japan: Fostering learners' intercultural communicative competence, criticality and identity for intercultural citizenship MORIYAMA, MIYUKI How to cite: MORIYAMA, MIYUKI (2019) A comparative study of English education in Japan: Fostering learners' intercultural communicative competence, criticality and identity for intercultural citizenship , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13201/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract A comparative study of English education in Japan: Fostering learners’ intercultural communicative competence, criticality and identity for intercultural citizenship Miyuki Moriyama Foreign language teaching should be educational and contribute to learners’ full development of personality (Byram, 2008). However, English teaching in Japan has tended to focus on language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. In the recent policy of global human resource (global jinzai) development, English teaching is expected to improve the language skills for international communication although other abilities required of global jinzai can be fostered through English teaching.
    [Show full text]
  • Island Peoples Coming to Terms with Their Imperial Legacy
    Fordham University Fordham Research Commons Senior Theses International Studies Winter 2-1-2021 Japan and the United Kingdom: Island Peoples Coming to Terms with their Imperial Legacy Trisha Ann Canessa Follow this and additional works at: https://research.library.fordham.edu/international_senior Part of the Politics and Social Change Commons Japan and the United Kingdom: Island Peoples Coming to Terms with their Imperial Legacy Trisha Canessa Professor Christopher Toulouse & Professor Mariko Aratani International Studies Senior Thesis December 20, 2020 1 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Methodology 6 Literature Review 9 Japanese Minzoku and Yamato-Damashii 9 UK’s Brexit 11 Japanese Case Study 13 Japanese Nationalism: The Source for Unification and Division 13 Japanese Anti-Immigration Rhetoric 16 A New Era of Diversity in Japanese Popular Culture 21 British Case Study 25 British Nationalism: The Source for Unification and Division 25 British Anti-Immigration Rhetoric 29 Backlash to Diversity in Popular British Culture 34 Discussion and Analysis 39 Appendix 45 Bibliography 53 2 Abstract Similar to the United States, other colonial nations such as Japan and the United Kingdom hold prejudicial pasts that have impacted their current social climates. In contrast to the U.S.’s long- time racial hostilities, Japan and Britain’s traditional institutions centered their nationalist campaigns with an anti-foreigner sentiment. The nationalist campaigns within Japan and Britain were prompted by their effort to re-establish their identities after the devastations of World War II. For Japan, conservatives prioritized the preservation of their cultural roots from foreign influence. For the United Kingdom, conservatives used imperial nostalgia to call for a revitalization of the height of their past.
    [Show full text]
  • Miss World Contest 2015
    1 / 2 Miss World Contest 2015 This year's controversy has centered around Miss Canada 2015, Anastasia Lin, who was denied a visa to the Sanya pageant because of her .... 25, the Miss Universe 2015 Pageant took place in Miami, with Miss Colombia, Paulina Vega, taking home the title. She beat out Miss USA Nia .... 62-year-old Steve Harvey — who famously named the wrong winner at the Miss Universe pageant in 2015 — was accused of committing .... ALSO READ: From Miss Universe to Miss World: The 'Big Four' beauty ... Miss Earth 2015, Miss Universe 2015, Miss International 2016, Miss .... WORLD BEAUTY PAGEANT, in the new film GALAXY 360, which is premiering in ... PAGEANTS 2015 National competition. fbb Femina Miss India World 2019. The Trump Company owned The Miss Universe Pageant between 1996 and 2015. Running a beauty pageant in the state of Arkansas requires a $10,000 surety .... Miss Colombia was crowned Miss Universe. ... December 21, 20152:18 AM ET ... Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo before giving it to Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach at the Miss Universe pageant Sunday night in Las Vegas.. Miss World is the oldest running international beauty pageant. August 17, 2015 August 18, 2015 janpimblett Leave a comment. Long Beach, CA – Joanna .... Perez Hilton discusses the moment host Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant. — -- There was no .... Miss World contestant Carola Miller Image: Missworld.com 1.12.2015. Finland's Miss World 2015 beauty pageant competitor Carola Miller, 23, .... Sanya: Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition in the southern Chinese island resort of ...
    [Show full text]
  • Japan's Energy Conundrum
    YOSHIDA J APAN’S APAN’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA 1819 L Street NW #300 Washington, DC 20036 [email protected] JAPAN’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM A Discussion of Japan’s Energy Circumstances and U.S.-Japan Energy Relations Edited by Phyllis Genther Yoshida SASAKAWA USA SASAKAWA Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA JAPAN’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM JAPAN’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM A Discussion of Japan’s Energy Circumstances and U.S.-Japan EnergyTHE U.S. Relations MILITARY LAYDOWN ON GUAM PROGRESS AMID CHALLENGES Edited by Phyllis Genther Yoshida Jeffrey W. Hornung Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA Washington, D.C. Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA is an independent, American non-profit and non-partisan Sasakawainstitution Peacedevoted Foundation to research, USA analysis, is a 501(c)(3) and better non-profit understanding located inof theWashington, U.S.–Japan D.C. involvedrelationship. in U.S.-Japan Sasakawa USArelations, accomplishes providing its conferencesmission through and programsseminars, thatthink benefit tank analboth- ysis,nations people-to-people and the broader exchanges Asia-Pacific and coordinationregion. Our researchof high-level programs dialogue focus between on security, the two countries through our in-house and collaborative programs. diplomacy, economics, trade, and technology, and our education programs facilitate people- to-people exchange and discussion among American and Japanese policymakers, influential ISBN 978-0-692-65270-1 citizens, and the broader public in both countries. PrintedISBN 978-0-9966567-8-8 in the United States of America ©Printed 2018 byin theSasakawa United PeaceStates ofFoundation America USA Sasakawa© 2017 by USA Sasakawa does Peacenot take Foundation institutional USA positions on public policy issues; the views expressedSasakawa USAherein does are notthe takeauthors’ institutional own and positions do not on necessarily public policy reflect issues; the the views views of Sasakawa USA, its staff, or its board.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Positive and Negative Effects of Modernization: the Way Japan Has
    ON THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTSYASUHITO ISHII ON THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MODERNIZATION: THE WAY JAPAN HAS OF MODERNIZATION: THE WAY JAPAN HAS COME AND SEEMS TO BE GOING1 COME AND SEEMS TO BE GOING YASUHITO ISHII* ABSTRACT After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan modernized itself on the Western model of constitutional monarchy. The modernization made the country richer and stronger, as it planned. However, it came with negative effects as well as positive effects. The negative effects were seen in its excessive moves to defend itself from the Russian expansionism, especially its resultant occupation of Korea and China, and subsequent expansionism by itself and the Second World War. In particular, limiting the Emperor’s power as in Western monarchies and admitting the military’s autonomy led to waging wars. On the other hand, the positive effects have been observed in the post-war era, when Western-style democracy was adopted with a new pacifist constitution. The country was rebuilt economically, and until recently placed second in the world in GDP figures (now third after China). Japan has been able to contribute positively to the world in the past decades. It is sincerely hoped that the country will keep up the good work in its positive contribution and internationalization/globalization. Keywords: Modernization, constitutional monarchy, Japanese history, expansionism, democracy * Chikushi Jogakuen University, Dazaifu, Japan [email protected] 1 This paper is a revised version of the paper with the same title presented at the 8th ICAPA congress held in Isparta, Turkey on April 30-May 1, 2015, and partly based on a different, expanded version of the first section of this paper presented at the 9th Conference of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Korean and Japanese held in Gwangju, Korea on October 24, 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Society and People Deepening Their Ties with the World 366
    Chapter 4 Japan’s Diplomacy Open to the Public Section 1 Japanese Society and People Deepening Their Ties with the World 366 Section 2 Supporting Japanese Nationals Overseas 391 Section 3 Diplomacy with the Support of the Public 406 外交青書-英語版30-4-1.indd 365 2018/09/07 13:04:54 Chapter 4 Japan’s Diplomacy Open to the Public Section 1 Japanese Society and People Deepening Their Ties with the World the wealthy class, repeat visitors, and the Overview young generations. (Tapping the Power of Foreign Nationals In order to further vitalize the for the Growth of Japan) Japanese economy and increase Japan’s Increasing the number of people traveling competitiveness, it is critical to secure between Japan and other countries capable human resources irrespective of stimulates the economy and promotes their nationality. The “Investments for the mutual understanding among different Future Strategy 2017” set forth utilization cultures. Based on this view, the Ministry of foreign human resources. To realize it, of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) takes steps to MOFA works with relevant ministries and facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into agencies to ensure the effective policy and Japan and also their stay in the country. measures for accepting foreign human The Government of Japan attaches resources taking into account human rights. importance to promoting Japan as a Moreover, MOFA encourages national tourism-oriented country based on the debate on the challenges arising from the recognition that “Tourism is a main pillar acceptance of foreign nationals and their for Japan’s growth strategy and regional integration into Japanese society, as well as revitalization.” To this end, MOFA has appropriate measures to be taken.
    [Show full text]
  • Japan- Canada Academic Consortium Student Forum
    Japan‐ Canada Academic Consortium Student Forum on Immigration Policies and National Borders: Integration and Exclusion February 18‐26, 2017 Co‐hosted by University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and Prince Takamado Japan Centre for Teaching and Research University of Alberta in cooperation with Kwansei Gakuin University FINAL REPORT Published: May 2017 Published: May 2017 0 MESSAGE FROM THE ORGANIZER ........................................................................ 2 ABOUT THE FORUM ................................................................................................. 4 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE ..................................................................................... 5 JACAC MEMBER UNIVERSITIES ............................................................................ 6 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS ........................................................................................... 7 FORUM PROGRAM .................................................................................................... 8 ACADEMIC REPORT ............................................................................................... 10 STUDENT GROUP PRESENTATIONS ................................................................... 16 GROUP 1 ...................................................................................................................16 GROUP 2 ...................................................................................................................17 GROUP 3 ...................................................................................................................20
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4 Japan's Diplomacy Open to the Public
    Chapter 4 Japan’s Diplomacy Open to the Public Section 1 Japanese Society and People Deepening Their Ties with the World … 318 Section 2 Supporting Japanese Nationals Overseas ……………………………… 337 Section 3 Diplomacy with the Support of the Public ……………………………… 351 Chapter 4 Japan’s Diplomacy Open to the Public Section 1 Japanese Society and People Deepening Their Ties with the World Overview Tapping the Power of Foreign Nationals from home and abroad. In the Japan for the Growth of Japan Revitalization Strategy (revised in 2014), the Increasing the number of people traveling policy is set forth that the government between Japan and other countries stimulates promote further utilization of foreign nationals. the economy and promotes mutual MOFA works with relevant ministries and understanding among different cultures. Based agencies to ensure that the system of on this view, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepting foreign nationals is well in line with (MOFA) takes steps to facilitate the entry of the principle of respect for human rights. foreign nationals to Japan and their stay in the MOFA encourages lively debates among country. people regarding the concrete challenges and The Government of Japan attaches measures arising from the acceptance of importance to promoting Japan as a tourism- foreign nationals and their integration into oriented country and regional vitalization in Japanese society. Japan. In this regard, in 2014, following on from International Organizations and Japanese the previous year, MOFA relaxed visa Nationals requirements, mainly for the Association of At international organizations, staff from all Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) member over the countries capitalize on their respective states.
    [Show full text]
  • Projecting Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]
    PROJECTING SELF AND OTHER THROUGH AKOGARE [DESIRE] AMONG JAPANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN A CHANGING JAPAN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE EDUCATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION MAY 2017 By Chisato Nonaka Dissertation Committee: Phan Le Ha, Chairperson David Ericson Xu Di Michael Salzman Ruth Hsu Keywords: English, akogare, desire, identity, internationalization [kokusaika], Japan, higher education, TESOL © Copyright 2017 By Chisato Nonaka ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank my committee chair, Professor Phan Le Ha for guiding me through my Ph.D. journey. If I had not taken your EDEF 762 course back in Spring 2014, I would not have been here with this dissertation in hand. You will forever be the greatest scholar and mentor in my heart. I am also grateful to my other committee members: Professors David Ericson, Xu Di (Di Di), Michael Salzman, and Ruth Hsu. Thank you for being the best committee anyone could ever hope for. I sincerely appreciate your encouragement and inspiration throughout my studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. A very special gratitude goes out to Aaron Levine, Rosela Balinbin Santos, Pamela Chun, Adam Tanare, and Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer. Thank you for the great professional and personal relationship over the years. I have learned so much from all of you and I appreciate you for always being there for me. I could not have come this far without the support of my colleagues, friends, and professors at the College of Education.
    [Show full text]
  • Universal Beauty Adoption in Japan the Heart of Japanese Culture
    MAY 2015 Japan’s number one English language magazine UNIVERSAL BEAUTY Ariana Miyamoto Strikes a Blow for Racial Diversity ADOPTION IN JAPAN The Poor State of a Broken Institution THE HEART OF JAPANESE CULTURE Modern Kabuki and the Omotenashi Experience ALSO: Lessons Learned Outside the Classroom Walls, People, Parties, and Places, Events around Town, www.tokyoweekender.comMovies, and More MAY 2015 MAY 2015 www.tokyoweekender.com MAY 2015 CONTENTS 12 ICHIKAWA EBIZO The “Crown Prince” of kabuki prepares to dazzle the crowds at Bunkamura 10 14 16 ADOPTION IN JAPAN NIHONBASHI OMOTENASHI ARIANA MIYAMOTO The story of the children who are being Experience the best of Japanese culture at Miss Japan 2015 shows the world a new face left behind to languish in institutions this former hub of Edo period commerce of the island nation 6 The Guide 20 British School in Tokyo 24 People, Parties, Places Concocting a perfect dirty Martini, and tips A well rounded approach to education The busy wives of Tokyo’s Embassies and on looking—and smelling!—your very best leads to a “best business” award opening a new club in Omotesando 8 Art Around Town 21 An International Summer at Aoba 28 Previews A master of modern Japanese painting Bringing the world a little closer through South African Sci-fi and an undead vs. and a Cy Twombly retrospective activities, field trips, and more underworld showdown 19 Walk, Don’t Run 22 Lakeland College 30 Agenda The lessons you can learn from an amble Discovering an American liberal arts college Design Festa returns again, Yoyogi gets at a leisurely pace experience in the middle of Shinjuku Thai’d up, and a very wild matsuri www.tokyoweekender.com MAY 2015 THIS MONTH IN THE WEEKENDER MAY 2015 and hear her speak in native Japanese.
    [Show full text]