The reality of being a mixed artist in Japan

Meet Shala, a singer, dancer, and musician who was born in Nagoya and grew up in London. She sits down to talk to us about her career across the 2 countries, and her identity as a biracial and bicultural artist.--0:00 Intro0:44 Meet Shala4:03 Interest in music6:54 Interest in dancing11:09 Growing up mixed in London13:16 Moving back to Japan15:48 Dance career in London25:53 How being Asian affected her career35:46 Finding her own path as an artist39:55 Shala's first viral hit45:03 Writing an album48:10 Whitewashing and cultural homogenization53:25 The importance of an album58:33 Writing a bilingual album1:01:41 Japanese music industry vs. multiculturalism1:04:45 Shala's new single--Follow Shala:https://www.wabisabishala.com/ @wabisabishala  https://www.tiktok.com/@wabisabishalahttps://www.instagram.com/wabisabishalahttps://x.com/wabisabishalahttps://soundcloud.com/wabisabishalaFollow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/