Special isssue

Guided by Freire's idea of conscientisation, this article aims to find out if the 1.5 generation Filipinos in Japan are able to articulate their understanding and construction of their identities using media and other resources available to them. Specifically, it seeks to investigate if research participants can identify their historical and socio-cultural struggles, exercise agency in making identity and cultural choices, use transmedia to counter hegemonic representations, or create spaces for transforming their current realities. The study also questions the discourse on actively reframing hafu as daburu to refer to the biethnic 1.5 generation. Online surveys, field interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted in 2018, and archival research until mid 2022. Results reveal the following: individual contexts and resources are interconnected with global and social mobility; the process of labeling oneself indicates individual reasoning and agency in projecting the self and the culture/s of choice; identity performances and cultural expressions can be utilitarian or based on potential gains that the individual can derive from performing Filipinoness, Japaneseness, or biethnicity; critical consciousness is essential for emancipatory use of transmedia; and continuous use of transmedia for expressing multiethnic identities and cultures can open dialogues or activate engagement.