People like to talk about how Michael Jackson "transcended race". This is one thing he symbolized to Americans that was perhaps even more important than his music or dance moves - that he wasn't clearly a member of "the black community" or "the white community". He was pretty much a community of one.
I was trying to think of people who bridge different groups the same way in Japan - but I don't really know any. I know there are a few Korean-Japanese or Chinese-Japanese entertainers and baseball players, but they usually choose one group to affiliate with instead of standing alone. Sadaharu Oh, for example, probably doesn't like to be called "a Taiwanese baseball star" or "an international star athlete".
Maybe the younger generation has some people who are "between" groups. I wonder what Becky or Yu Darvish would say if you asked them to identify their ethnicities?
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