Third culture kid is a concept that I learned recently. In Japan, I am called a kikokusijo which is directly translated as “returning boys and girls” or sometimes called as returnees. It is a term used for a Japanese children who grew up in other countries mainly because of their parents’ occupation. I spent part of my childhood in the United States and went to school with other American kids. I’ve always wondered how this word would be translated into English, but the closest would be “third culture kid”.

The main struggles of third culture kids are how their values don’t match with their parents. I was sometimes jealous of ha-fu kids who had both Japanese and American parents.
In a country where they accept many immigrants, third culture kids are very common. However, in a homogeneous country like Japan, being a third culture kid can easily become a target of bullying. I have heard a million times from my kikokusijo friends about how they receive disrespectful comments on their lack of Japanese language skills. Some told me that the English teachers who were Japanese mistreated them because of their English proficiency. Many found it difficult to adapt to Japanese schools. These mistreatments are underlooked because it’s not the typical type of racism where you treat someone differently because of skin color. I hope the situation changes as Japan becomes more globalized and less homogeneous.