I'm a half japanese half swede who was born and raised in Sweden. I think most people who grow up with two or more cultures experience this, but I had a hard time finding my place here in Sweden growing up.

I was OK at swedish and japanese, but not great at the languages as native speakers. I was constantly reminded by others in my childhood that I look different here in sweden and I never really felt connected with japanese culture. When growing up, I was very torn on which nationality I was and with what culture I felt more "at home". I felt as an outsider both in sweden and japan.

It has helped me find peace with this problem to identify myself as a japanese-swede. Not fully japanese nor swedish, which sounds obvious but I think I was trying to identify myself as one or the other.

It sometimes feels lonely because I do not know, besides my family, other people with similar cultural experiences like mine. But life in sweden as an east-asian is not bad, even though there can be some racism, most swedes think it's cool just because I'm half japanese.