Mike Havenaar (
ハーフナー・マイク) is a professional soccer player. He has represented
the JFA national team in international competition as a 194cm 86kg striker at 26 years of age. He has played for many clubs, but currently he's playing for
Netherland's SBV Vitesse Arnhem as a forward.
“I really like Arnhem as a city, and it took just six months for me to feel at home here, but Japan is where my roots are,” Mike said to FIFA.com.
"At first I had trouble acclimatizing, but since then the Dutch side in me — which I had kind of forgotten — has really come to the fore. Today I feel great, just like at home actually."
He is also a naturalized Japanese national, however unlike many White naturalized people in Japan, there may be a good chance he would tell you that he couldn't tell you what it is like
not to be Japanese. That is because he was born in Japan and was (passive tense) naturalized at the age of seven (7). Mike Havenaar is an example of the exception to the requirement that you must be an adult — by Japanese standards: twenty (20) years old — in order to naturalize. HAVENAAR Mike is an example of
naturalizing together as an entire family simultaneously. All of them had Dutch nationality and were legally citizens of the Netherlands.
"I know it sounds strange, but my [Japanese] team-mates understood very well who I was, they listened to me and regarded me as one of their own. The same thing applies today, in the [Dutch] national side. I know that I’m different, but that doesn’t prevent me from being equal to everyone else."
HAVENAAR Mike, who prefers that his fans call him "Mike", was born in Hiroshima and his native language is (Hiroshima dialect) Japanese. HAVENAAR Mike is trilingual: he went to an international school as a child where he learned English. At home his parents spoke Dutch exclusively. In daily life, he speaks Japanese. He claims he thinks in Japanese and his mother tongue that he's most comfortable with is Japanese.
"When I was little, I spoke Dutch with my parents but Japanese with all of my friends. Initially I felt somewhat torn between the two countries but as I got older, my love for the country where I was born grew. When I had to make a decision about my nationality, there was never any doubt."
Contrary to popular rumor that says that all naturalized must have "kanji names", his legal Japanese name is entirely in カタカナ (Japanese syllabet) and has no legal 当て字 — foreign words transcribed and/or translated into
漢字 (Japanese sinograms); the
中黒 (middle dot: "·") separating the two names is not part of a legal Japanese name but is a punctuation of convenience so you can tell with foreign origin words where one word ends and another begins. Because China does not use
仮名 (Japanese syllabet), his name is written as
哈維納爾 邁克 in the Chinese press.
Mike married a Japanese woman in 2011 and had his first daughter that same year (who will obviously be a natural born Japanese by either her father or mother's
jus sanguinis lineage).
"As for life in general, I can say that I prefer Japanese food, it’s the best in the world! And the girls are prettier, smaller and slimmer…wait, that might not be a good thing to say. Dutch girls are very beautiful too! [laughs]"
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| HAVENAAR Nikki and the Grampus Eight |
His brother, HAVENAAR Nikki (
ハーフナー・ニッキ), is a "natural born" (as opposed to "naturalized") Japanese citizen, being he has never been anything but Japanese. Born in 1995, two years after his father naturalized in 1993, Nikki was a natural born Japanese by virtue of
jus sanguinis: He derived his Japanese nationality by blood, or more correctly, by descent, from his born in the Netherlands but now Japanese national parents. Unlike his brother, he was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture (
愛知県名古屋市). At 197cm and 82kg and eighteen (18) years of age, he played for the
Nagoya Grampus Eight in the J1 League as a defender starting in 2013.
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"Like father, like son[s]":
Dido HAVENAAR |
His father, HAVENAAR Dido (
ハーフナー・ディド), was also a professional soccer player and was active in the J League as a goalkeeper then a coach. His name was originally written on rosters as "Dirk HAVENAAR" (
『ディルク・ハーフナー』) when he played for the Mazda
SC (
マツダサッカークラブ) — formerly known as
東洋工業 — later to become the
サンフレッチェ広島F.C (Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C) when the
Japan Professional Football League aka the "J. League" was founded in 1993. The Chinese press renders and pronounces his legal
仮名 (Japanese syllabet) name as
哈维纳尔 迪多／哈維納爾 迪多 in simplified/traditional Chinese, but this transliteration is not used in Japan.
HAVENAAR Dido immigrated to Japan with his wife (a former national heptathlon champion) at the age of 29 when soccer in Japan was just beginning to develop to professional and internationally competitive level. Originally only intending to stay for a short amount of time, the Havenaar family spent eight (8) years in Japan, having a daughter and a son born there, before deciding to naturalize their entire family.
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| limited space for a name of a seal |
When HAVENAAR Dido first naturalized, it was erroneously reported by the press that he took the
当て字 name/transcription
『浜名デレク』 as his
official Japanese name in the 官報 (the Japanese Diet's Official Gazette). The Official Gazette lists former names — in
漢字 (sinograms) or
カタカナ (syllabet) — but it does not list the name one chooses for their new Japanese identity. In fact, HAVENAAR Dido struggled for some time choosing a Japanese name for himself, as the Japanese language did not lend itself to a very accurate representation of his Dutch name. His
印鑑 (registered seal) actually does have the relatively short two (2) character
当て字 (foreign name transliterated to sinograms) of
『浜名』 on it — probably due to the length of his legal self-chosen
片仮名 name — for making his impression on official documents.
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| Actually very health & good for you |
Does HAVENAAR Dido
like everything about the his adopted country? Apparently, like many ethnic Japanese, he can't stomach
納豆 (fermented soybeans). Its smell and texture is such that it tends to polarize people: they either love it or hate it. He disliked it so much that he wagered the Serbian coach at the time,
Драган Стојковић (
ドラガン・ストイコビッチ) aka
"Pixy" (
妖精) — who loves the stuff — that if the Nagoya Grampus Eight won the championship, he'd eat it. They won. Thus, honoring his bet, after living in Japan for 25 years, he then ate Japanese
納豆 (fermented soybeans) for the first time in his life. He commented that if you mix it with a lot of mustard — a common way to eat it — it wasn't so bad.
The HAVENAAR family is the first example of
Japanese national Father-Son pro combo to have been active at the same time (
Ｊリーガー — "J Leaguer") in its history. How much influence did the father have on his sons in becoming a soccer player? According to Mike, not much:
“It isn’t at all, really – my dad doesn’t play an important part in my career choices. We often talk about football, but I wouldn’t say he has a particular influence over me.”
They are not the first example of a father-son due in Japanese soccer however; that honor would belong to the
Brazilian midfielder Arthur Antunes Coimbra Junior (アルトゥール・アントゥネス・コインブラ・ジュニオール) aka "JUNIOR" and his legendary father,
Arthur Antunes Coimbra aka "Zico" (ジーコ). "Junior" played for
サガン鳥栖 in 2003 in the
J2 League while the senior father of the same name "Zico" was the coach for the Japan national team.
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| Zico / Coimbra Senior |
