Race is the black box at the centre of the German–Japanese alliance during the Second World War. Early Nazi racial legislation provoked speculation regarding its potential impact on Japanese German Mischlinge (individuals of mixed race), and the regime's reluctance to define its position helped to spread the rumour that they had been recognised as ‘honorary Aryans’. Although this was never more than a rumour, the ambiguous racialisation of the Japanese historically seemingly legitimised demands by Japanese Germans that the regime should recognise their rights as members of the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft (national community). This article traces how the Japanese Germans were able to negotiate concessions enabling them to function as a protected minority, albeit in contingent and arbitrarily defined ways. In effect, the Japanese Germans were able to exploit the ambiguities of Nazi racial thinking in order to carve out a place for themselves within the margins of the racial state.

种族是第二次世界大战期间德日同盟中心的黑匣子。纳粹早期的种族立法引发了人们对其对日裔德国混血儿（混血人）潜在影响的猜测，而该政权不愿明确其立场，这助长了他们被视为“荣誉雅利安人”的谣言。尽管这只不过是一个谣言，但历史上日本人的模糊种族化似乎合法化了日本德国人的要求，即政权应该承认他们作为纳粹国民议会成员的权利（民族社区）。本文追溯了日本德国人如何能够通过谈判做出让步，使他们能够作为受保护的少数群体发挥作用，尽管是以偶然和任意定义的方式。事实上，日裔德国人能够利用纳粹种族思想的模糊性，在种族国家的边缘为自己开辟一席之地。