People | WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN? Jul 13, 2019
Aika Miyake: Film editor makes the cut in both Japan and U.S
by Kaori Shoji
There aren't many female filmmakers in Japan, making even fewer female film editors. Aika Miyake is an exception.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Apr 21, 2014
Adopting a child from Japan: one U.S. couple's story
by Ryan Masaaki Yokota
Chicago residents Mari, a Japanese national, and Jonathon, an American, considered adopting from the U.S. or South Korea, but cultural and citizenship concerns sealed their decision to adopt from Japan. The new addition is one of only a handful of children adopted from Japan ...
Film / Reviews Oct 3, 2013
by Kaori Shoji
Around one in 49 babies born in Japan today are of mixed heritage. That's a surprising figure considering that the country was closed off to foreigners for close to three centuries, way back when. Until about two decades ago ha￣fu (meaning "half-Japanese") were viewed ...
Voices | COMMUNITY CHEST Aug 19, 2013
Hapa haole celebrated in Hawaii I'm writing about an article published in your newspaper and written by Ryan Surdick with the title "There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half' "(The Foreign Element, July 29). A perspective from Hawaii where my two ...
Voices | COMMUNITY CHEST Aug 12, 2013
Confounding 'half' stereotypes Re: "There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half' " by Ryan Surdick (The Foreign Element, July 29): I'm a bicultural teenage girl and I have lived in Japan since I was 8 months old. I connected to this ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jul 29, 2013
There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half'
by Ryan Surdick
For foreign residents, having a child in Japan can be a daunting prospect. Going to the hospital and trying to figure out what the doctor is saying in complex Japanese medical terms is just one of myriad trials.