What’s wrong with Rola?



Rola is a very popular Japanese model. Her exotic Hafu looks and a sense of humor gave her more opportunities as a TV personality and she appears in various so called “variety” TV programs in Japan.

When you see Rola for the first time, you may be confused. She is extremely easy going, even sound a little crazy.

Her animated hand gestures and comments she makes on everything keep the audience laughing. She is a very special model because of her slightly tanned skin tone. She isn’t a typical Hafu model you would come across in Japanese fashion magazines.

She is hafu Bangladesh and half Japanese (quarter Russian). Apparently her Japanese mother is quarter Russian so she is from a multi racial background. She is really pretty and beside the fact that she is a bit short for a model (163 cm), she is gorgeous.

But I can’t help but wonder if Rola is acting dumb constantly in order to be funny. She doesn’t speak Keigo, meaning she continues to speak informal Japanese even with people who are seniors and older in Japan. It is a huge no no in Japanese society.

A popular TV host and comedian, Akashiya Sanma has told her repeatedly if she knows how to use Keigo. Rola has lived in Japan for 14-16 years so I am sure she knows how to use polite Japanese but choosing not to because that’s what makes her “Rola” a special unique being in Japanese entertainment.

She is cute so whatever she says is forgiven.

It is interesting how specialists in different field evaluate Rola who is appearing in this variety show as a *client* and specialists give her their analysis on Rola’s personality. Neuroscientist just tells her straight up, “It’s very abnormal.”

“Rola san, you are very pretty and I am sure your classmates were very jealous of you. You probably had to blend in and be funny to be accepted by your peers and your way of coping with the situation was to create this *strangely* funny girl.”, says Psychologist.

Rola responds to her in-depth analysis. “Oh really? I did not know that..but I don’t think so!”

It’s like..are you listening to what they are saying?

If you are not familiar with Japanese culture, you might just think Rola is weird and perhaps has some kind of developmental issues. Maybe she does have something. Who doesn’t have issues these days?

But I disagree. Being half Bangladesh must have been so tough for her and there is a popular Japanese saying: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

The psychologist’s analysis is spot on. Rola had to learn to compensate for her lack of Japanese communication skills. She moved to Japan at the age of 6 and couldn’t really speak Japanese fluently. In order to blend in, she had to use body language and hand gestures to communicate and not only that, she had to be cute and funny to gain peer acceptance.

Otherwise she would have been this odd ball that nobody wants to hang out with. When you think about it, it is pretty sad and Rola really represents the issues modern Japanese society has to own up to.

I don’t think Rola is completely acting just for TV shows but she is going to have to keep doing it. Rola recently secured a role in Resident Evil movie. Yes it’s a hollywood movie and her personality just doesn’t fly in America. People would just think she has developmental disorder that affects communication.

In Japan, girls are expected to be cute and *boke* is really appreciated in Japanese society. In fact Japanese comedy is all about Boke and Tsukkomi so Rola fits right into the Boke personality.

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