3 ms·

Japanese is a race.

• krapp 8y ago
  No, "Asian" is a race, "Japanese" is a nationality, which doesn't necessarily require one be Asian.
  • fvdessen 8y ago
    Aren't there specific ethnic groups indigenous to Japan, that one might refer to collectively as the 'Japanese' regardless of nationality ?
  • seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    Ainu is a race, as are Yamato and Ryukyuan. Asian is a much bigger race, then we have nationalities. Sometimes Japanese is used to mean Yamato. Also, see Han (ethnicity) and Chinese (nationality), where outside of China the latter is often used to mean the former.
    • krapp 8y ago
      Fair enough, and I'm sure that when Japanese nationalists talk about Japanese as a race, they probably mean Yamato, but that doesn't make it accurate to describe "Japanese" as a singular ethnic or racial identity.
      • seanmcdirmid 8y ago
        It isn’t accurate but nor is it exactly wrong. The word is very contextual. Most nationalities can be construed into races, and many things we considered race today arose from nationalities a long time ago (in the long run they blend together).