From: underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe)
Subject: Re: Not a Myth at All
Organization: Miners for a Heart of Gold
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 92 05:39:18 GMT

In article <RHB.92Dec12221421@world.std.com> rhb@world.std.com
(Robert H Brueckner) writes:
>...
>I think you hit the nail on the head with your last point. Judging
>from your last name, I presume you're of Chinese ethnicity, which for
>many Japanese is close enough (although -- and I don't mean this in a
>racist way -- I can usually tell Japanese from Korean from Chinese
>(North & South, although there are more divisions than that, of
>course)

Most of the times, I've also been able to distinguish a Japanese-ge
(one who is ethnically Japanese) from a Chinese-ge.

Around this area, there are a number of "Japanese-cu" (culturally Japanese
but note the quotes) restaurants which are owned and manned by Chinese-cu
Chinese-ge.  I dined at a number of them and noticed that there was a slight
difference (i.e. different from the Japanese-cu Japanese-ge) in the physical
features and in the manner with which the employees carried themselves.

>, and I always thought Japanese could too; but I've been fooled
>by Chinese sushi chefs who don't speak Japanese and wonder what I'm
>saying to them).

I've never been fooled.  Whenever I suspect that something is amiss
in one those restaurants, I ask the waitress if she can speak any Japanese-cu.
So far, 100% of the time, I have been right in that she is not Japanese-ge.

Based only on physical features[1], I've been able to achieve only an accuracy
rate of about 75%, but I keep trying.  I should be able to get up to
about a 85%-90% accuracy rate, the theoretical maximum in my opinion.
In actuality, only a very small percentage of Chinese-ge look like Japanese-ge
(and vice versa).  Merely having Oriental-eyes and dark air does not
constitute "sameness".

As a little side note, I can't quite agree with comments by some Americans
(who've never lived in the Orient for any significant period of time)
to the effect that "because I prefer the Oriental look, I would like to date
any Oriental since they all look alike".  I don't think that Korean-ge
ladies, Chinese-ge ladies, and Japanese-ge ladies look alike.

I personally find that Korean-ge ladies and Japanese-ge ladies are much
prettier than Chinese-ge ladies.  I.e. I find the Korean-ge look and the
Japanese-ge look to be far more pleasing.

[1] For example, one can only use physical features to distinguish
between an American-cu Korean-ge and and American-cu Chinese-ge since
they both carry themselves in very much the same both (both being from
the same American-cu culture).  On the other hand, distinguishing
between Korean-cu Korean-ge and Chinese-cu Chinese-ge is much easier.

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Jinsei no imi wa nan desu ka.                Sister, can you      |   \|  |`
Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.           spare a coin?        |    | -+-
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Copyright 1992.  Disclaimer:  1 + 1 = 3                           |
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan