Although it is no longer unusual to see athletes who have their roots in other countries represent Japan in the sports world, there are still those who say they feel “uncomfortable” with their appearance. 

Who are the “Japanese” then?

The Asahi Shimbun asked Cameroon-born manga artist Rene Hoshino, a self-proclaimed “African Kansai-jin” who has explored such a question in his works, about his thoughts on the subject.

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Excerpts of the interview follow:

I was born in Cameroon. My mother married a Japanese researcher when I was very young. From just before turning 4, I grew up in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture.

All my younger brothers and sisters are Japanese citizens, and I am the only Cameroonian national. It was a hassle to get Japanese citizenship because of the paperwork and so on. That’s all. It doesn’t mean anything in particular. I am not often conscious of what I am. Suffice to say, I am an “African Kansai-jin.”

Japanese people don’t say “Asian” very often, but in Africa, there is a rather strong sense of solidarity and a sense of being “African.” Being Kansai-jin is a way of thinking and values that I base myself on.

There is a culture of sublimating hardships and painful experiences into laughter. My comic “Manga: Afurika shonen ga nihon de sodatta kekka” (Manga: The result of an African boy growing up in Japan), which depicts my experiences, is a testament to how I overcame those difficulties.

Everything I portray in the comic is a true story. People think that just because I am of African descent, I can speak English and am fast on my feet. Even when I say, “I went to schools in Japan from elementary to senior high,” people say, “You also know about Shinsengumi? That’s amazing!” Preconceptions based on appearance are hard to change.

But young people are completely different. My childhood friends think I am Japanese. But if they had not met me, their concept of “Japanese” might have been different.

When the tennis player Naomi Osaka was chosen as the final torchbearer for the Tokyo Olympics, or when a woman whose parents are Ukrainian was chosen as Miss Japan, there are people who give a knee-jerk criticism.

But there are already many Japanese people from all walks of life. So, I think they should meet these people, see their lives and then talk about “what it means to be Japanese.”

My comic “Manga: The result of an African boy growing up in Japan,” ends with my father telling me that “culture is the work of all human beings living in that time and age.”

Just when I was thinking about how to end the book, I was chatting with a childhood friend at my parents’ house about Japanese culture. And my father spoke to me. I thought, “This is it.”

I am the only one of my siblings who is not related to my father by blood, but there are a number of areas where I agree with him the most.

I became my father’s child by visiting his parents’ home in Tokyo, spending time with my grandparents there, and visiting his family’s grave. I have met my Cameroonian father after I became an adult.

But when I am asked who my father is, I immediately think of my Japanese father. I felt that my father encouraged me to “live my life with confidence and pride that I am a member of Japan.”

I think there are things that people can gain beyond their place of birth and lineage. I want to tell my own story to people who have never imagined such things. I think I can offer the possibility of expanding the image of the Japanese people.

In the first place, you, and you, and all of you are “Miss Japan” and “Mr. Japan.” There is meaning in the mentality itself of liking Japan, wanting to improve its environment and being proud of it. There are many ways to care about Japan, not only by protecting the land by living there for generations.

I want people to have more adventures in being “Japanese.” Meet more and more Japanese people you don’t know. After that, let’s talk about it. That’s how I feel.

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Rene Hoshino is a cartoonist and TV personality. He was born in Cameroon in 1984. He came to Japan in 1988 and grew up in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, until graduating from high school. The manga he published on social media attracted attention and he released “Manga: Afurika shonen ga nihon de sodatta kekka” in 2018. In February this year, he published “Afurika to Amerika, futatsu no shiten: Omoimoyoranai nihon no mikata” (Africa and America, two views: Unexpected ways of looking at Japan), co-authored with Jason Morgan.