Ema Grace was excited when she learned about the role she was auditioning for a few years ago.

It wasn’t just that the film was based on the globally acclaimed manga “Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!”—it was also the character's representation in the story that drew her in.

"It was the first time I saw a relatable black female character in a Japanese manga," said Grace, now 18.

She was auditioning for the role of Sowande Sakaki, the student council secretary in the school drama. Although her appearance and name suggest African ancestry, the narrative doesn’t emphasize her nationality or race.

Born and raised in Chiba Prefecture to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother, Grace was frustrated with the stereotypes of black individuals often depicted in Japanese entertainment circles. 

WHERE’S THE NUANCE?

She rarely saw girls with skin and hair like hers in Japanese manga or TV dramas. When she did, they were usually portrayed as hip-hop dancers, athletes or other typical stereotypes of black people.

These were the last roles she wanted to play because she never wanted to help spread a form of prejudice that she herself had been subject to.

Grace had a glamorous side and had worked as a commercial model since elementary school, so the conformity a school environment demanded was stressful.

Her junior high school’s rules on hairstyles did not account for different types of hair and she was unable to conform to regulations such as having to tie her hair below her ears because of its volume.

During every break, she would wet her hair to keep it in place.

Other students with mixed heritage tried to blend in by dyeing their hair darker or straightening it.

She also found it uncomfortable when other students made innocent but insensitive remarks about her, such as, “You must be good at dancing” or “You look like a fast runner,” which they intended as compliments.

She was even more hurt by how TV programs focused only on impoverished areas of Ghana, or Africa in general, and how school lessons showcased only images of traditional tribes from these regions.

REALITIES OF JAPANESE SOCIETY

The author of “Eizouken,” Sumito Owara, 31, attended elementary and junior high schools in Kanagawa Prefecture where a number of students had international roots.

In what appears to be one of the first instances of inclusive character design in a series with mainstream popularity in Japan, he featured an African-Asian girl among the main characters of the manga to reflect the realities of modern Japanese society.

“I wanted to present her heritage as simply a part of her existence in the story, rather than making it a plot device,” Owara said.

Owara openly shares that he and his whole family live with disabilities. Reflecting on his portrayal of Sowande Sakaki, he said, “I didn’t want minority groups to feel overlooked.”

Japan's population is becoming increasingly diverse.

Individuals in Japan with immigrant backgrounds—with or without Japanese nationality—already make up 10 percent of Japan's population in their early 20s, according to an estimate by Yu Korekawa from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

By 2040, this figure is expected to exceed 17 percent among those in their early 30s.

However, Japan is still adapting to diversity and inclusion in media representation, which have become social norms in many countries with significant immigration.

Although Grace’s agent represents 1,000 performers from other countries or with a mixed heritage, they are rarely cast as typical Japanese, according to the company.

CHANGES IN SCHOOL SYSTEM

However, slowly but surely, changes are taking place in show business as well as in education.

A boy character named Nguyen Thanh An, apparently with a Vietnamese heritage, is featured in a Japanese textbook for first-graders released by Tokyo Shoseki Co. this spring.

The junior high school that Grace attended changed its hair policy to allow African braids for her brother, who enrolled this spring.

Grace appeared in the movie "Ikoku Nikki," released in June, playing the role of Nakano-san, a friend of the female high school protagonist. Here again, her skin color has no particular significance.

"I still can't say I feel 100 percent Japanese," Grace said, but she is slowly beginning to feel a change in society.