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Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

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Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#21

Post by brazzy »

byoung2 wrote: post #12
Keyframe wrote: post #9

What struck me as odd in Asia were all the skin whitening products. Even regular cosmetics had "Whitening" plastered over it.

You see a lot of that in the Philippines especially. Everyone wants to be as white as possible, so they carry umbrellas to block the sun, and use whitening lotions and soaps. Contrast that with the US, where people want to be tan, to the point of using tanning salons and spray-on tans.

Up to about 100 years ago, this was common in Europe (and probably America) as well: when 90%+ of the populace were poor agriculture workers, white skin was a status symbol. This eventually reversed when most work moved indoors, and a tan became something acquired on vacations.

The open question is why Japan, as dominated by clerical work as any other fully industrialized country, still retains the ideal of white skin. OTOH, it's a generational thing there as well: deep, fake tans are quite popular among school-age girls (and guys).

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#23

Post by ugh »

KoZeN wrote: post #2

Just out f curiosity, what kind of people are asking this question? I've been an anime fan for years and this question has legitimately never crossed my mind despite being cynical and critical of almost every single factual inaccuracy I come across. Interesting article all the same!

The funny thing is that Scott Pilgrim [+] looks Japanese to me even though he is a very Canadian hero.

[+] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pilgrim

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#24

Post by senki »

edanm wrote: post #11
KoZeN wrote: post #2

Just out f curiosity, what kind of people are asking this question? I've been an anime fan for years and this question has legitimately never crossed my mind despite being cynical and critical of almost every single factual inaccuracy I come across. Interesting article all the same!

I had the same question. I didn't think it was a big deal, since I figured that other people ask the question and it just never occurred to me. Then I came across the last sentence of the article: "Some Americans, even some scholars, will argue against this view of anime. They want to think the Japanese worship America or worship whiteness and use anime to prove it. But they seem to be driven more by their own racism…

Look at this: http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:answers.yahoo.com+J...

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#26

Post by soyelmango »

Keyframe wrote: post #9

What struck me as odd in Asia were all the skin whitening products. Even regular cosmetics had "Whitening" plastered over it.

[Edited from one of my comments ( http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/08/30/guest-post-w... ) at the article]

Many people want to show that they have the financial means to enjoy leisure - whether that be because you’re well paid enough to take holidays, or because you employ others. Most of the westernised world aims to get a tan - it shows that we have the means to go to far away sunny places and laze in the sun. Conversely, in Asia, a tanned skin is what you get from labouring outdoors (farming, for example), and so light skin is a sign of a leisurely life.

And if you can’t afford a leisure lifestyle, you can buy the appearance of one in a bottle: fake tan, or skin bleacher.

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#27

Post by patio11 »

BobbyH wrote: post #4

The post makes a good point, but it does overlook the fact that the "Godfather of Anime", Osamu Tezuka ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka ) was heavily influenced by Walt Disney and American animation. For instance, the Wikipedia article notes: "The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, drawing inspirations on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop and Walt Disney's Ba…

I agree, manga characters are as white as Bambi is.

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#28

Post by BobbyH »

Sukotto wrote: post #13
BobbyH wrote: post #4

The post makes a good point, but it does overlook the fact that the "Godfather of Anime", Osamu Tezuka ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka ) was heavily influenced by Walt Disney and American animation. For instance, the Wikipedia article notes: "The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, drawing inspirations on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop and Walt Disney's Ba…

Those characters have big eyes and foreheads for two reasons. Firstly, to make them cuter... like babies. All baby humans have proportionally big heads/eyes to the rest of their bodies and we're hardwired to think of those characteristics as simpler, cuter, and deserving of our attention. Secondly, to give the animator a face that is both simpler and larger which makes it much easier to draw expressions These two thi…

Yeah, in fact, Steven Jay Gould wrote a great article on how "As Mickey became increasingly well behaved over the years, his appearance became more youthful. Measurements of three stages in his development revealed a larger relative head size, larger eyes, and an enlarged cranium--all traits of juvenility." As he puts it, "Humans feel affection for animals with juvenile features."

full article: http://www.monmsci.net/~kbaldwin/mickey.pdf

Re: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?

#30

Post by bitwize »

This phenomenon is acknowledged enough by the Japanese to where it has a name: it's called "mukokuseki" which is Japanese for "no nationality". Basically it amounts to this: characters are drawn in an ethnically neutral way so that they have universal appeal, and it makes it easier to export these media works into foreign markets. Maybe the foreign markets thing was not a concern in Tezuka's early days, but it certainly is now.
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