I suppose I can relate.. although I nonetheless find it odd. For my part, being a foreign-born Chinese person, undoubtedly, people back in my home-country would see me as an outsider. But Hikaru, fluent in Japanese and English, spending her time half-and-half makes her more eligeable to integrate into society. Obviously in America, she would have more of an issue: being a visible minority and being much more Japanese or even Asian than most Asian-Born-Americans.

I suppose this testifies to the xenophobic nature of the Japanese public. IMO, in this regard, their country is incredibly behind the times.