A sponsor of Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has apologised for whitening her face in one of its advertisements.
Japanese noodle giant Nissin has said it will “pay more attention to diversity issues in the future” after widespread criticism of the ad for its Cup Noodle range in which Osaka, who is half-Japanese and half-Haitian, appears to be white.
People complained that Serena was portrayed as too black to make fun of her (personally I thought it was fair game being a caricature), and now Osaka has been portrayed as not black enough (again in line with the artistic style) in order to sell more products.
This is common in advertising in Japan. And it’s also a style of cartoonery in Japan. John Rain could enlighten us more about this subject.The irony is we have been taught if it offends the individual then it’s wrong. Though I have yet to hear that Osaka or Nishikiori are offended.
Not sure what the question is, however, I will say that whitewashing is common in Japanese manga. Eyes are usually much larger & rounder as well (more Caucasian than Japanese), even though the characters themselves are typically Japanese. It is a stylistic thing, but to be honest, I have never really understood the Japanese obsession with whiteness & large, round eyes. Manga itself isn’t really politically correct.
There isn’t much diversity in terms of manga characters as well, which may reflect the fact that 98% of the populace are ethnic Japanese. That said, the number of biracial children (I dislike the word ‘Hāfu’) is increasing, as more Japanese marry foreigners. The artists could have been more respectful & represented Naomi more accurately. It’s no excuse, but there is a general ignorance/cluelessness when it comes to understanding diversity. Japan is far more socially conservative/less progressive than most Western nations. They will need to address this in time with a declining population, an influx of foreign labor, and biracial diversity on the rise.
Standard crayon and pencil sets in Japan have beige as one of the colours, which is called “hadairo”, literally meaning “skin colour”. It’s just the colour that’s always been typically used for skin tone when drawing.
This is the problem with the ad. The false concept that toxic masculinity damages men as much as women. That male suicide and violence against women have the same cause, and therefore the same solution - quotas and status for women and re-education for all boys from primary school to be more feminised.
It is not trivial, and it is not a fringe MRA issue. There is a huge split in psychology field going on - more in UK than here. A specific male psychology has journal started up that rejects the negative male model for care.
Just as feminists blocked physical preventative health services for males in the early 2000s, they are now trying to stop supportive science based mental health services for males now. Which is why they are hammering toxic masculinity so much.
Just think about it. We know there was a high suicide rate in boys abused by priests, and that a lot of them did talk about it and ask for help. They just didn’t get any help. Does anyone seriously think their suicide rates would be less if they had played with dolls and been dressed in pastel colours as toddlers.
@megz has a right to have her health care based on science and not on someone else’s belief that the best thing for her would be to have more children and spend more time in the kitchen.
LGBTI folks have a right to have their health care based on science and not on someone else’s belief that they are possessed by the devil and the solution to their problems is prayer.
And I and other men have a right to have our healthcare based on science and not on someone else’s belief that I need to be cleansed of the 7 pillars of masculinity (self-sufficiency, toughness, physical attractiveness, rigid gender roles, heterosexuality and homophobia, hypersexuality, and aggression and control over women), and then I will suddenly be healthy.
I almost made that point as well, Jez-san, but I think that colour is now called/labelled ’usudaidai’ (light orange), although I still hear the former being used.
Yeah, I actually just read an article explaining how the name change started around 2000. The same colour gets used, but the name has been getting phased out for some time.
There was a story on tv this morning about the Osaka thing, and they were discussing a palette of skin tones but I struggled to catch exactly what they were explaining. I guess just how things may need to be for artists going forward.
What did the article say? Was the change related to political correctness? I’m intrigued to know. I have noticed in my time here that words are changing in line with global political correctness trends.
I missed the whole Osaka story (sumo hangover ). I could be wrong, but I doubt that Osaka or Nishikori would have been offended by that ad. How did the issue raise its head? Social media? I reckon social media is starting to impact old-school Japan.
You will be charged with contempt and sent straight to jail.
I am not joking; I have seen those malcontents in the jury pool treated very harshly by the legal overlords.
In any case what are you trying to achieve ? If you seek to disrupt the process, better to get selected on a jury and vote opposite everyone else to ensure a dangerous criminal is freed to create social havoc, and perhaps murder/rob/rape again.
Perhaps you could just do your civic duty like the rest of us.
Article was in Japanese so hard for me to accurately get it, I believe people didn’t want to refer to it as skin tone for PC reasons. A few other websites I’ve glanced at seem to say the same.
I think this was a social media driven thing. It popped up in my Facebook feed a couple of day ago.
Anyway, back to watching Japan struggle to put Vietnam away
I’m not talking about men being “feminised”. I’m talking about men feeling they need to be a certain thing and act in a certain way (strong macho provider). This definitely comes from the same place as toxic masculinity.
Yes, men definitely need evidenced based treatment and yes the suicide rates are shocking. You also ignored the fact that whilst men are more “successful” at killing themselves women try more often.
Think it’s a bit of a grey area, which is impossible to represent in statistics. There are those who self-harm, which might appear to be a “suicide attempt” but their intention is not to die. It’s a bit hard to distinguish between the two, though one could argue women “attempt” more because it’s a cry for help, not a genuine will to die. Unfortuntely, if they don’t know what they’re doing, or count on someone finding them then they die through “misadventure” anyway. Regardless, it’s a ■■■■ place to be in.
). I could be wrong, but I doubt that Osaka or Nishikori would have been offended by that ad. How did the issue raise its head? Social media? I reckon social media is starting to impact old-school Japan.