Being a mixed-race Japanese person isn’t easy, and that’s especially true for Kazumi Mandanda Yoneyama and her brother. Despite being born and raised in the Land of the Rising Sun and having a Japanese mother, the siblings, who share a Black French father, are treated as outsiders. But knowing they have as much right to belong as anyone else, they and their mixed-race friends search for ways to cope and find wholeness in their half-Japanese identities.
When being mixed-race makes you an outsider in your own country, feeling rooted can seem impossible. Side-eyes. Confusion. Whispers. Giggles. Being a mixed-race Japanese person isn’t easy, and that’s especially...