Talking Ethnicity in Japanese

[jazzbeans]

Hello!


I just wondered, because I cannot really find a solid answer to this, how do I say I'm mixed-raced in Japanese? I've heard of some terms, but some people have commented that the ones I've come across are offensive - so I obviously don't want to use them just in case I'm offending myself.

I do know ハーフ, should I just use this? Also, if people ask what ethnicities I am.. How would I say "I'm part African, Danish, English and Irish"? Do I just say アフリカ人, etc.


Thank you very much for your help!

[Jessi]

Hi jazzbeansさん！

From my understanding, ハーフ in Japanese implies that you are half-Japanese and half-something else, when used on its own. To clarify what halves you are, you can say:

(ethnicity 1) と (ethnicity 2)のハーフです。
"I'm half (ethnicity 1) and half (ethnicity 2)".

Here it doesn't matter if you use 人, for example アメリカ or アメリカ人 would be okay.

If you are a mix of ethnicities like the ones you described, you can use the word 混血 (konketsu, mixed race), like this:

私は、アフリカ、デンマーク、イギリス、アイルランドの混血です。
Watashi wa afurika, denma-ku, igirisu, airurando no konketsu desu.
"I'm part African, Danish, English and Irish"

Here you don't need to use 人 in this case.

I hope this has helped

[jazzbeans]

Thank you very much Jessiさん,

It was a big help!!