Thread by @Yuki_Mats

THREAD: I've worked in Hollywood for 20 years, and also helped them cast "Japanese" actors for the past few years. I watched up-close how racist they are when it comes to casting Japanese characters, and I cannot stay quiet anymore. 1/

Hollywood firmly believes that "Japanese" is a race, and they insist that "Japanese characters" must look quintessentially oriental. And they're not even shy about this. The first thing they care about when they cast "Japanese" is if the actors can "pass as Japanese". 2/

As some of you may know, actual Japan is quite diverse. Mixed-race Japanese is just as Japanese as I could ever be. But for Hollywood, mixed Japanese is absolutely not Japanese. Because they want to contrast "Japan" with "racially diverse Americans", they go full-on racist. 3/

You may consider me as a Japanese actor, but in reality, even I don't look oriental enough to be their version of "Japanese". I cannot tell you how many times I was asked at auditions "Are you Japanese? But you're so tall." "Are your BOTH parents Japanese?" 4/

When I worked on Melissa and Joey, they asked if my hair was real. I said "yes", and they strait-faced said to me "But all Japanese are straight-haired." I explained to them that's not so, but nonetheless, they straightened my hair because they felt I don't look "authentic". 5/

Hollywood really needs to understand that what they have as "Japanese" is actually an extremely offensive and racist stereotype created by themselves yellowfacing Japanese for many decades. Japan is diverse, and Japanese is not a race. 6/

You cannot imagine how agonizing for me when I'm asked by young mixed Japanese actors for advice on how to make it in Hollywood. Because Hollywood has been pumping and drumming the importance of "diversity", they were tricked into believing Hollywood is inclusive. It is not. 7/

What should tell them? Should I tell them the reality that Hollywood thinks of them as "2nd-class Japanese"? or they would never ever be cast as Japanese because "they're born on the wrong parents"? Fuck you, Hollywood. You did this. And you did this them. 8/

Mixed Jpn actors have enough suffering back home bc there is absolutely no representation in the Jpn ent. industry for mixed Japanese. That's why they came to the US thinking "inclusive Hollywood" would definitely welcome them with open arms. They were tricked. 9/

Hollywood would rather cast As-Am actors than mixed Jpn bc the they look "more Japanese." and bc As-Am community is fighting Asian Hate, and they're also unaware of this horrible treatment of mixed Jpn, they praise Hollywood for being open-minded. This is f-ed up. 10/

Of course the Jpn ent. industry is to blame as well. Believe it or not, Japan has literally zero minority representation, and I'm not even being hyperbolic. Though there have been hundreds of Jpn films having a gay man as a lead, none of them has an openly gay man. None. 11/

...and here is what hurts me the most... 99% of mixed Japanese actors are registered at "international talent agencies" in Japan, and if you go to their websites, they're listed as "foreign talents". THEY ARE NOT FOREIGNERS!!!!!! THEY ARE JAPANESE!!!! 12/

Many mixed Jpn have experienced being treated as foreigners even though they were born and raised in Japan. This is what happens when there's absolutely no representation. It affects how people think of what "normal society" looks like. /13
huffingtonpost.jp/entry/mixed-ro…

At least for the past 50 years, they've been putting out there this completely fictitious version of "homogenous Japan", and Hollywood has been reminding the world how oriental they are, and in this echo chamber is where you were tricked to believe that there's no mixed Jpn. 14/

This is 2022, people!! Not the 60s or 70s. Wake up!!!! It's been more than half a century since Kurosawa or Ozu era. Do you watch Hollywood films from the 60s and go "Oh yeah, that's EXACTLY how things are now", right?? Use that same imagination to modern Japan. Please. 15/

Of course I am not going to be silent for this extremely unfair and, quite frankly, one of the most blatantly racist acts I've ever seen ...and it's coming from a guy who's been in the US for two decades as a foreigner. I know it's late, but at least let me try to fix this. 16/

In order to fix this shit show, I need to go big. I have to: 1. Pry open the minds of Japanese filmmakers and make them understand that diversity makes films better. 2. ABOLISH the racist stereotype of "Japanese" Hollywood has been regurgitating for more than half a century. 17/

...so, allow me to introduce you Mosaic Street. Mosaic Street is a Jpn/Eng crime drama set in a near-future Japan where diversity is already a norm. Starring openly transgender actress Kota Ishijima, openly lesbian actress Ami Ide, and Afro-Japanese actress Ema Grace. 18/

Please give me 10 minutes of your day so that I can update you on what "Japan" is supposed to look like. It looks like this! It is VERY diverse, and it is modern. ...just as modern as the US! Let me say once and for all that THIS IS JAPAN in 2022. 🇯🇵 19/

If you work in Hollywood, plz consider casting A MINORITY JAPANESE ACTOR for your next film. You don't need a "reason" to cast them. Just cast them for ANY of your characters. If you feel that you need to JUSTIFY since they're "Japanese", then you're doing it wrong. 20/

I know how much you love classical Kaiju films. Or yakuza films. Or samurai films. I know you dreamed of making your version of Kurosawa film. But it's just wrong to exclude mixed Jpn actors just because you want to make your film look like it was shot in Japan in the 60s. /21

SHARE this thread, and SHARE Mosaic Street with ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS so that Hollywood would stop using racist excuses such as "...I understand, but MOST AMERICANS think of Japanese as..."

Let's right the wrong once and for all. It's well overdue. /22

I'm also educating Japanese filmmakers on how "diversity" works. I'm explaining it on this thread using how Asian Americans fought and achieved their representation. If you know of any Japanese filmmakers, please share this thread with them.

https://twitter.com/Yuki_Mats/status/1497113703333855238

You wanna know how much Hollywood cares about depicting Japanese characters and its culture? They don't. Mystical oriental savages are much more convenient for their white savior characters as a plot device 'cause, you know, they're "Japanese"!
cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

If you enjoyed Mosaic Street, then you may also enjoy Locksmiths by a wonderful As-Am director James Kwon Lee. He already has a script for a feature adaptation, so if you're interested, you could contact him.
(WARNING: It's a horror film.)

And here's another extremely nuanced depiction of Asian culture called Kimchi. Directed by an As-Am director Jackson Kiyoshi Segars. Starring Jennifer Kim, Alexis Rhee, Ken Takemoto, and myself.
vimeo.com/309994583

And the last one. Othello-san, directed by Theodore A. Adams III. Starring Theo Adams IV, Kiyo Takami, and myself. I wanna see more Japanese characters like these in Hollywood films. Not those stereotypes.

And here are the stars of Mosaic Street.
Kota Ishijima @Kotaane
Ami Ide @amiidemusic
Ema Grace @ema84761077
Follow ALL of them and support them like hell to push their career forward.

Compare this to Hollywood's "Harajuku Girls" or whatever the shit they've been putting out there. Don't you wanna see them on films/TV series instead?!

and this.

and this.