Halvsie

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A halvsie is a person with half Japanese heritage.

The term was coined to replace the more general ‘hapa’. Halvsie was inspired by the Japanese ‘hafu’ used to describe the products of a mixed marriage, and derived from the English ‘halves’.

The Hawaiian Pidgin term ‘hapa’ meaning half, which in conjunction with ‘haole’, white or foreign, describes someone of mixed parentage, most usually native Hawaiian and a foreign culture, refers in most cases to half white Europeans living in Hawaii. An alternative to this is ‘hapa kepani’ or half Japanese. The word ‘hapa’ traditionally describes someone of mixed Hawaiian blood, and was originally derogatory. In recent years the term hapa has come to be used in the larger Asian American community to mean ‘half Asian’, as in “She is a hapa, her mother is Japanese.”

Halvsie was coined in deference to these Hawaiian roots, and the islands are the only location on earth in which the majority of its inhabitants are of mixed Japanese blood. Halvsie is also in deference to the more broadly applied Asian American use of the term hapa, and is specifically designed to stand alone as product of the Nikkei the west coast of the United States.

Concretized and refined on the web at halvsie.com, an online community of half Japanese, the term specifically describes what, at the present time, is the single fastest growing segment of the global Nikkei culture. The 2000 US census was the first opportunity for responders to choose more than one race, specifying combinations with amazingly detailed granularity, and resulting in new demographic communities. At present it is estimated that there are 275,000 halvsies currently living in the United States.

[edit] Famous Halvsies

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

[edit] B

  • Becky - actress/singer (½ Japanese, ½ British)
  • Miki Berenyi - singer (½ Japanese, ½ Hungarian)

[edit] C

  • Asia Carrera — porn actress (½ Japanese, ½ German)
  • Kyoko Chan Cox — kidnapping victim and daughter of Yoko Ono (1/2 Japanese, 1/2 White)
  • Zheng Chenggong - a prominent leader of the anti-Qing movement opposing the Qing Dynasty, and a general who took Taiwan from the Dutch in 1662.
  • Rina Chinen — singer-songwriter (½ Japanese, ½ White)
  • Tina Chow — actress/model (½ Japanese, ½ German)
  • Bryan Clay - won the silver medal in the 2004 decathlon and was the sport's 2005 world champion.
  • Severn Cullis-Suzuki is an environmental activist, speaker, television host and author.
  • Ella Bully-Cummings - Detroit's first female police chief. Her father was an African American serviceman raised in Detroit when he met her mother in Japan.
  • Ann Curry - Newscaster on the Today Show is an American journalist and television personality.

[edit] D

[edit] E

[edit] F

[edit] H

[edit] I

  • Juliana Imai - Brazilian model (1/2 Japanese, 1/2 Portuguese)
  • Carrie Ann Inaba - dancer, choreographer, actress, singer, and judge on Dancing with the Stars, Japanese, Chinese and Irish.

[edit] J

  • Jhene - R&B singer, African American, Japanese, Native American

[edit] K

[edit] L

[edit] M

  • Chad and Johnnie Morton - American football players. Johnnie James Morton, Jr. was the son of an African-American father and Japanese-American mother.

[edit] N

[edit] O

  • Grazielle Oganna - an Australian-born Brazilian singer
  • Sadaharu Oh - the all-time international home run king who hit 868 home runs playing in Japan
  • Apolo Anton Ohno - short track speed skater, father Japanese, mother Italian
  • Maria Ozawa - adult actress, French-Canadian and Japanese

[edit] R

  • Douglas Robb - lead singer of the band Hoobastank, white (Scottish descent) father, Japanese mother
  • Dave Roberts - professional baseball player
  • Bianca Ryan — singer, America's Got Talent winner (Irish, Japanese)

[edit] S

[edit] T

[edit] W

  • Eiji Wentz - actor, entertainer, singer (½ German-American, ½ Japanese)
  • Peter Westbrook - A six-time Olympian and 13-time U.S. national champion fencer

[edit] Y


[edit] Fictional Halvsies

  • Buckaroo Banzai is the lead character in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
  • Aya Brea is a fictional character in the Parasite Eve video game series
  • Sofie Fatale is a fictional character from Kill Bill Volume 1.
  • Hitomi (Dead or Alive) is a fictional German/Japanese character from the Dead or Alive video game series.
  • Arsène Lupin III is a fictional character in Kazuhiko Katō's (a.k.a. Monkey Punch) anime and manga series Lupin III.
  • Edna "E" Mode is a principal character from the movie The Incredibles.
  • Yomiko Readman (読子・リードマン), also known as "The Paper," is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Japanese novel series Read or Die
  • Setsuka is a fictional character designed for Soul Calibur III.
  • Hinako Shijou is a character in the King of Fighters series.
  • Momiji Sohma (草摩 紅葉 Sōma Momiji) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series entitled Fruits Basket.
  • Asuka Langley Soryu (惣流・アスカ・ラングレー, Sōryū Asuka Rangurē?) a fictional character from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion movie.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

November 29, 2006: Dwight Schrute mentioned halvsies in a list of cultural types during The Office episode called "The Convict".

[edit] External links