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The Country That Sees Colour But Not Race: Blackness, Media Invisibility, and Digital Resistance in Japan

Osawaru, Uwaila LU (2026) MKVM13 20261
Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
Abstract
This thesis explores the contradiction between the visibility of Black culture and the social invisibility of Black people in contemporary Japan. Black cultural forms are widely consumed in Japanese popular culture, from music and fashion to hairstyles, yet Black residents remain systematically marginalized in mainstream media and public discourse. The myth of tan'itsu minzoku sustains this contradiction; Japan's ideology of ethnic homogeneity produces a nominal absence of racial language that makes structural racism difficult to name, let alone openly discuss. This thesis argues that Japan is not a racial exception but a particularly legible case of a global tendency: the denial of race while racial hierarchy persists. This thesis... (More)
This thesis explores the contradiction between the visibility of Black culture and the social invisibility of Black people in contemporary Japan. Black cultural forms are widely consumed in Japanese popular culture, from music and fashion to hairstyles, yet Black residents remain systematically marginalized in mainstream media and public discourse. The myth of tan'itsu minzoku sustains this contradiction; Japan's ideology of ethnic homogeneity produces a nominal absence of racial language that makes structural racism difficult to name, let alone openly discuss. This thesis argues that Japan is not a racial exception but a particularly legible case of a global tendency: the denial of race while racial hierarchy persists. This thesis contributes to the underresearched field of race and media in East Asia and to wider debates about the possibilities and limits of digital counter-public formation. Taking as its empirical object the youtube channel The Black Experience Japan, specifically the interview with Tiffany Rachel, a Black American citizen born and raised in Japan, the study analyses 540 user-generated comments using Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The study finds seven discursive formations, ranging from the construction of Japan as a non-racialized safe space to admiration discourse, diasporic multiplicity, and anti-essentialism. The findings show that the comment section functions as a transnational subaltern counter-public that makes Black identity in Japan visible on a scale that
established media has not accommodated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Osawaru, Uwaila LU
supervisor
organization
course
MKVM13 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
media representation, digital counter-publics, Blackness, Youtube, Japan, Critical Discourse Analysis
language
English
id
9229365
date added to LUP
2026-06-23 15:41:31
date last changed
2026-06-23 15:41:31
@misc{9229365,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores the contradiction between the visibility of Black culture and the social invisibility of Black people in contemporary Japan. Black cultural forms are widely consumed in Japanese popular culture, from music and fashion to hairstyles, yet Black residents remain systematically marginalized in mainstream media and public discourse. The myth of tan'itsu minzoku sustains this contradiction; Japan's ideology of ethnic homogeneity produces a nominal absence of racial language that makes structural racism difficult to name, let alone openly discuss. This thesis argues that Japan is not a racial exception but a particularly legible case of a global tendency: the denial of race while racial hierarchy persists. This thesis contributes to the underresearched field of race and media in East Asia and to wider debates about the possibilities and limits of digital counter-public formation. Taking as its empirical object the youtube channel The Black Experience Japan, specifically the interview with Tiffany Rachel, a Black American citizen born and raised in Japan, the study analyses 540 user-generated comments using Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The study finds seven discursive formations, ranging from the construction of Japan as a non-racialized safe space to admiration discourse, diasporic multiplicity, and anti-essentialism. The findings show that the comment section functions as a transnational subaltern counter-public that makes Black identity in Japan visible on a scale that
established media has not accommodated.}},
  author       = {{Osawaru, Uwaila}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Country That Sees Colour But Not Race: Blackness, Media Invisibility, and Digital Resistance in Japan}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}