I was always proud to be Hapa but my mother who is also Hapa was never proud to admit she was anything but Italian.

I grew up always being told to just say that I’m Italian or Spanish; never Japanese. As I got older and started making friends who were full Asian or Hapa it became easier for me to admit that I was Japanese and I became so proud of who I am.

It was very hard to be Hapa because most of my friends were either 100% Spanish or 100% white… I felt like I didnt really fit in.

One day I came across kpop and jpop and got so into the Asian culture that I even got my friends who weren’t Hapa into it. Most people do not believe me when I say I am Japanese because they just don’t see it.

When people ask what part of my family do I look like it is hard to answer… I don’t look 100% Italian or 100% Japanese or Spanish, I look like me. I look Hapa and im proud to be this way.

My mother is of Micronesian (more specifically from the island of Pohnpei) decent, with ancestors from England, Germany, Japan, and France.

And my father is of Puerto Rican decent, with ancestors from Spain and Africa. My parents met on the Micronesian island of Guam (though I am not technically Chamorro), and I was born in the town of Tamuning. Though we are not technically Chamorro, I embrace it as if it is my own.

Learning the language and customs have been a blast. I am fortunate enough to know a lot about my heritage, but throughout my life I have struggled with others figuring it out.

Now, I don’t want to go into a whole history lesson here, but Puerto Rican’s are descendants of Taino natives and for the longest time people thought I was just straight up Native American.

Then when I got to middle school, I was known as the “Hawaiian” chick. I wasn’t offended, I was more annoyed at the fact that people were so ignorant. I have never once felt down about who I am, but with the way I look now, all people think is that I am Hispanic. I try to embrace my Islander heritage as much as possible, because I feel if I don’t I will just become lost.

Though I have met other Pacific Islanders and other Puerto Rican people, I have never met someone with the combination of both. But I have become content with that, and have learned to embrace my cultures as well as others.

I wasn’t always proud of my Japanese heritage because my dad never liked the fact that his first son was mixed and looked more Japanese. Lots of people thought I was Thai or South East Asian.

One day I got very upset because some guy was making fun of me because my dad was not living with me and I was not as racially ‘pure’ as him. But then came a Sri Lankan boy named Karnan and he asked me why I was upset, I told him everything. Karnan told me you should always be  proud of your heritage and that nothing was wrong with me at all. That was four years ago, and we’ve been best friends since.

I have not gone to Japan because I dont speak good Japanese but I am still learning. Hopefully I’ll make it in the next ten years.

While I was growing up almost everyone identified me as Asian. No one ever had any doubts. I had the eyes, the face, and the straight hair. Growing older the lines blurred though.

My hair became more curly and my face became more of the structure of a white person. If people ask I’ll tell them all the things I am, but usually I mostly go by Korean since it’s the most obvious in my features.

I use to always wish I was white like all the other kids in school, but now I’ve really embraced who I am, and what I am because it’s very unique and awesome to be all the things I am.

My boyfriend has red hair so we’re a very unique looking couple. He loves the way I look. The only other person who has the same ethnicity as me is my brother.

My older sister has always been a little embarrassed by our heritage – she hates being mistaken for Chinese or Japanese because of some of the negative stereotypes associated with them – but I’m really proud.

Being Hapa can make you feel like you don’t belong anywhere, but it also allows you to transcend racial divisions.

I don’t know what it’s like for other people, but I genuinely don’t see colour, I just see people. I really believe there is only one race: the human race.

The only thing I don’t like about being Hapa is being hit on all the time by those guys who have preconceived ideas about what Asian girls are like (‘mysterious’, ‘exotic’, ‘ladylike’, ‘submissive’, etc.) I hate when they randomly ask me where I’m from – on the train, in the street, at work – partly because it’s none of their business, and partly because I really don’t think it should matter.

My dad is Scottish, Irish, German and my mother is Japanese, and I constantly get asked “What are you?”

I identify with both my white and Asian side. My brothers and I speak Japanese and have visited Japan many times. We celebrate Japanese holidays such as boys’/girls’ day and on New Year’s, we go to Little Tokyo in Downtown L.A. to be part of the Japanese celebration.

I feel like at my core, however, I have more of a Japanese influence because of the way my mother raised me with Japanese rituals and behaviors.

I’ve had some problems in middle school where I felt like I didn’t fit in, and I even tried to look and act more “white” than “Asian.”

Now, I embrace my ethnicity because it’s unique, and it’s been amazing being part of two very different cultures at once.  I love being Hapa.

My father is Chinese-Filipino and my mother is Spanish-Austrian. But I am 100% Filipina at heart. It’s fascinating to see other Hapas like me. In my opinion, Hapas are exotic and beautiful people.

When I was a kid, many, including my friends referred to calling me as the “curly haired german girl.” It’s pretty cool that I can also be mistaken as deutsche.

Growing up, I’ve not had any difficulty being multiracial. I took it as an advantage.
Here in the Philippines, Hapas tend to be popular in their communities and praised upon for their looks. Although, I’m not popular (in any way) because I’m more of the quiet and shy type halfie, I still tend to grab other’s attention without even trying.

I love to read the stories and experiences here from other Hapas around the globe. It’s inspiring and motivating that they are proud of their heritage and appreciate cultural differences. I love being Hapa!

For the most part I look mixed but no one can tell what I’m mixed with. I look nowhere near Asian, most of the time I’m told I look part Latina. (Dominican, Puertorican, Cuban.)

It sucks cause I wish I could speak Japanese. My great-grandma never taught us her culture, encouraged us to meet our family, learn Japanese, call her grandma in Japanese. From what I’ve asked about, she’s from the island of Okinawa, Japan and our family is pretty much all older.

Well, thanks Hapa Voice for letting me share my story, hopefully there’s someone out there like me ? (:

I’ve been called Hapa my whole life and it has been a source of pride and problem for me.

Pride because most local people see my Asian heritage as something to connect to. Problem because there were more than a few Japanese kids who didn’t view me as Japanese. Haole (white) kids didn’t see me as Haole because I wasn’t. Not culturally. Not even heritage wise as I later found out.

I embraced my Japanese heritage fully but because my mother was adopted I didn’t know I was Jewish until she told me when I was dating a Jewish boy in college. Suddenly there was a huge space filled where there was just a void before. And things began to make sense. For example, I’m my mother’s little bubala. Her mother giving her up for adoption was a source of personal pain which is why I think she never told me my heritage.

I would say though that as far as culture goes I am local Hawaiian and Japanese. I go to Obon dances and wear a yukata. Both of my parents surf. I hunt pigs with a compound bow. I like to fish and scrap opihis off of rocks and eat them raw. I do hula. I am a supporter of Hawaiian sovereignty. I am passionate about Native Hawaiian rights.

I am also a member of the gothic culture which local Hawaiian culture has no particular opinion on except, “Tita! You look hot! Arn’t you hot?”

I would say that my biggest struggle is the frustration I feel when the media refuses to put someone like me in it. I had a barbie once called “Oriental Barbie” produced from Mattel and my dad was just proud that they had made an Asian barbie at all.

I’m moving to the south soon and I’ve already come to the startling realization of how “exotic” I must look to mainland people because in Hawai’i everyone is Hapa like me. It’s weird but hopefully they’ll move past it and just see me as me.

My Dad’s side of the family is from Hawaii, and as you can imagine being hapa over there is not uncommon.

My Mother’s side of the family is from the Philadelphia region, so culturally I am all over the place.

Usually people who are one hundred percent Asian have a hard time believing that I am part Korean, while others can usually tell.

I get asked the famous “What are you?” question quite often, and this does not bother me at all.  I love my mixed heritage!