Hāfu

Hāfu (ハーフ, "half") is a Japanese language term used to refer to a person of half Japanese and half non-Japanese ancestry. A loanword from English, the term literally means "half," a reference to the individual's non-Japanese heritage. The word can also be used to describe anyone with mixed-racial ancestry in general. As Japan is considered one of the most homogeneous societies on the planet, children who have one non-Japanese parent are called hāfu Japanese and often face prejudice and discrimination from Japanese citizens of full Japanese descent. Hāfu individuals are well represented in Japanese media and abroad, and recent studies in the 2010s estimate that 1 in 30 children born in Japan are born to interracial couples.