By Kurt Romero, Christine Lee, & Angela Nguyen
Click here to view our infographic online
Artist Statement:
In relation to mixed-race issues, due to the increasing percentage of the mixed-race community living in Japan, Japanese politicians have raised concerns about the future of Japan and its potential political, social, and economical changes. In efforts of preventing the mixed-race community from affecting the dominant, full-blood Japanese society, many steps have been taken by the government. For example, though implicit, articles of the Nationality Law in Japan was enacted to make most mixed-race people (known as Hafus) outsiders by taking away their Japanese citizenship if they choose to be a citizen of another country. Without Japanese citizenship, this population of Hafus are outcasted by the Japanese society.
In our infographic, we used a browser-based design application to present our information while being visually stylish. We chose to put statistics first to give the viewers a general idea of the mixed-race population, governmental ramifications second to show how conservative and powerful the Japanese government is, and challenges brought about in the Hafu community third to show how their is a notion among the Japanese community that non-fullblood Japanese are deviants.
As artists, we wanted to shine light onto the Hafu population in Japan due to their invisibility within one of their own ethnic communities. While the mixed-race population in America is prevalent, we wanted to raise awareness about global contemporary mixed-race issues and challenges in Japan.
Extra Information about Japan: While Japan’s economy is currently the third largest in the world, it had one of the worst economies prior to World War 2. Through strong governmental planning especially in the area of industrial policies, Japan was able to rise to the top of the world in 1973. One of the key components that led to the ‘miracle economy’ was that Japan kept foreign businesses and industries out to foster competition amongst its own firms. To this day, Japan is still not very open to globalization due to their previous inclusive strategies that helped them become a successful country. In explaining why Japan is not so open to mixed-race people, history might be the answer to Japan’s conservative views.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting and current example of how multiracial people are still not completely accepted and considered "outsiders" in certain parts of the world. The artist statement supports the infograph really well and I don't think it needs to be improved.
ReplyDeleteThe statistics presented were helpful in giving me an idea of the mixed-race population within Japan. I had not heard of Hafus before this infograph so I was glad that you incorporated people that deal with the social pressures of choosing one identity over another. Presentation is very good! Artist statement could have connected the infograph more directly to the week's themes.
ReplyDeleteThe statistics presented were helpful in giving me an idea of the mixed-race population within Japan. I had not heard of Hafus before this infograph so I was glad that you incorporated people that deal with the social pressures of choosing one identity over another. Presentation is very good! Artist statement could have connected the infograph more directly to the week's themes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how it provides detailed information and data on a certain type of mixed race that we haven't talk about too much in class. The tables and data gives us more insight on the group itself. The info-graph itself is very well made. Artist statement explained the purpose very well, however the subject can be more tied into the theme of criminal and deviant parts, along with our readings this week.
ReplyDeleteA job well done in moving away from the mixed population experience in the U.S. and introducing another population in Japan. The artists statement was well written and reflected what your group presented in the infograph. The infograph looked clean and concise. The visuals matched with the text. I like how you placed the text in a way that the chart looked easy to read. There is not need to fix your statement.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your infograph. The presentation and the statistics give valuable information. I think that the wrist statement could have been connected with the readings and topics for this week a little more. But over all great job.
ReplyDeleteI like that you all decided to focus on a specific country and even provided real life examples to the infographic's statement in order to get the point across. There was a lot of information but it was presented well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how detailed your infograph was while staying simple, easy to read, and visually appealing. In terms of visuals, my favorite part was the "hafus and government" section where symbols shadowed the short captions that went along with it. I liked that you guys focused on one specific "type" of mixed race and went on to point out that japan is doing so much to weed out the mixed race in their country. It's very interesting because these people grew up in Japan, are japanese, and want to be able to assimilate into their own culture, but the only thing stopping them is the government.
ReplyDeleteI thought the piece was good, and I appreciated the idea to focus on a specific group of people. I thought the artist statement did a good job adding information and background that wasn't in the piece, that made the overall piece a lot stronger.
ReplyDeleteThis piece was really good! My favorite thing about it is how aesthetically pleasing and concise it is. Good job on including case studies of certain individuals. The statement also adds to the piece with the background and intent of the creators. Good job with your project!
ReplyDeleteThis infographic was detailed and easy to follow, and good design! The statement was very thorough and helped me walk through the infographic to understand the mixed race population in Japan, overall great piece of art and no need for improvement!
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