Relay Column: The “Korean-Style” Trend as Viewed By Mixed-Race “Japan-Korea Hafu” (Yuna Sato)

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PROFILE

Yuna Sato

Keio University Graduate School of Sociology, PhD program. From April 2020 to September 2022, a Special Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Her specialty includes sociology and race/ethnicity studies. She researches the categorization and identity surrounding "Hafu (Half)," "Double," and "Mixed" identities. Her most recent paper, “'Others' among 'Us': Exploring Racial Misidentification of Japanese Youth,” is published in "Japanese Studies" 41 (3).
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1. Fashion as an Indicator for Judging "Non-Japanese"

“Is your country Korea? China?”

A few years ago, I received such a question from a male high school student. It was strange because we were both conversing in Japanese. Kind-heartedly, I told him, “My father is Japanese and my mother is Korean.” When I was a university undergraduate, a female classmate directly asked me, “Are you half-Korean?” When I asked her how she figured it out, she mumbled, “Because your makeup looked (Korean).”

When I am mistaken for being Chinese or Korean, I think my fashion and makeup choices are being used as a basis for judgment. Specifically, unlike a “typical Japanese woman”（1）, I don’t have bangs, which could lead people to think I’m Korean or Chinese. Alternatively, it might be because I sometimes buy my clothes and makeup products in Korea.

Fashion seems to serve as one criteria for distinguishing who is “Japanese” and who is not, who is “us” and who is “them.”

2. The “Korean-style” Fashion Trend

However, I’ve recently felt that I’m being mistaken for Korean less frequently. My forehead is still fully exposed, and my clothing preferences haven’t changed much. What has changed is society.

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