Ever notice how—in some Japanese animated films or shows—the characters
appear to be white? Why is that? There's a perception held by some
Americans that this is due to Japan's infatuation with Western
culture. Pushing against this idea is Julian Abagond, a New York blogger,
computer programmer, and self described "middle-class West Indian." He says the notion that anime
characters look Caucasian is "an American opinion, not a Japanese one."
The Japanese see anime characters as being Japanese. It is Americans who think they are white. Why? Because to them white is the Default Human Being.
If I draw a stick figure, most Americans will assume that it is a white man. Because to them that is the Default Human Being. For them to think it is a woman I have to add a dress or long hair; for Asian, I have to add slanted eyes; for black, I add kinky hair or brown skin. Etc.
The Other has to be marked. If there are no stereotyped markings of otherness, then white is assumed.
Americans apply this thinking to Japanese drawings. But to the Japanese the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their characters “look Asian”. They just have to make them look like people and everyone in Japan will assume they are Japanese – no matter how improbable their physical appearance.
You see the same thing in America: After all, why do people think Marge Simpson is white? Look at her skin: it is yellow. Look at her hair: it is a blue Afro. But the Default Human Being thing is so strong that lacking other clear, stereotyped signs of being either black or Asian she defaults to white.
[The Society Pages via Hacker News]