Being Black in Japan?

So I've always had a dream to go to Japan. and in 2007 I made that dream a reality by going there for language and culture study. Granted School was only for a month, I did end up staying the entire summer and traveling with friends.

Now Before I even paid for the ticket, my family had real concerns about Japan. They don't know too much about it but they did have to ask me, "How are black people treated in Japan?" I shrugged my shoulders and told them that I didn't know but I had a lot of Japanese friends already and well I was sure there was nothing I needed to worry about. And truth be told in my case I didn't. I had an awesome time and no problem with my race. If anything people were trying to get me to go into their stores in Hiroshima and I ended up making a handful or more friends.


So Now I'm at the point wew I want to try LIVING in Japan.. but not just for a summer or 5 months.. I want to LIVE LIVE there.. at least for a full year starting out. I have told my family thins and have been researching the idea now that I have graduated college. Of course I've come to the conclusion that I would like to teach in Japan (I have no IT skills I think? :-p ) and so when talking about this to my family (Mother to be exact) the first thing out of her mouth was


Mother: "OK BUT... WHO IS GOING TO DO YOUR HAIR?"

I couldn't do anything but laugh at this because I couldn't believe this was THE MAIN thing she was concerned about. I out it in the back of my mind and didn't really give it much thought. But after applying for jobs in Japan I started really thinking about how life would be fore myself in Japan.


AND THEN.. that question came up.."WHO WILL DO MY HAIR?" I'm no pro at styling hair and well lets be honest, black people like to have their hair looking good at all times! (shoot I know I do.. I mean if I know I'm going to be around peple).

So I began the online google searching for topics about black hair in Japan and wasn't surprised that I didn't find much. So while taking a break I browsed Japanese video blogs on youtube. Just for shits and giggles I decided to see how many black people were on the site blogging about Japan.. and BAM! that's when it happened.. I found something so helpful that I had to bookmark right away,

I share my findings with all the black readers out there (female.. but i guess works for males too :-p) who have questions about what;s it's like to live in Japan as a black woman and also WHAT TO DO ABOUT OUR HAIR!

The video is called Dear Life, and it is created by Alafia :intro2the1 (youtube name)
Visit her page now at ~~~>http://www.youtube.com/user/intro2the1

Alafia is in Japan teaching and decided to blog her entire experience over there. I think it's really helpful because she touches on topics I know I will have to face while living in Japan. Now everyone is different so I know the experience might not be the same for my but this gave me a feel for life in Japan, and it was just nice to listen to another black female and her passion for Japan.