Do Japanese people consider themselves to be Asian?

Question

I heard that some Japanese people don't think of themselves as Asians.

Answer 1

of course they do.look where japan is located.japanese people look different from any other asian because their features.japan for a large part of its history it was isolated.and by the nature.japan is mountainous and the weather is a little cooler.which usually they have very pasty skin.and most of asia well it was influenced by one culture.japanese culture is preserved usually.

Answer 2

yes they do

Answer 3

LOL How old are you. Japan is an Asian country. People from asia are asian.

Answer 4

uh... I don't understand why some Japanese people would say

"No way, I'm not asian!"...

Yes, Japanese people consider themselves to be asian.

I mean, if not, then who are they?

Are they hispanic??

Answer 5

Uh yes, but they don't like to be confused with Chinese, Koreans or Phillipines.  It'll p**s them off.

Answer 6

Yes.........but others prefer pacific islanders or just japanese

Answer 7

I think you heard wrong.

Answer 8

Yes, they do. I think what you may have heard is that they don't typically refer to themselves as "Asians". If you ask them if they are Asians, of course, they will know that they are, but when you are in Asia, people don't view each other as being "the same", so Japanese will say they are Japanese, Koreans will say they are Korean, Chinese will say they are Chinese (or they will go even further to say their ethnicity), etc. In America and many nations outside of Asia, it is enough to simply call them all "Asians", but in Asia, the term "Asian" is much less common than the use of nationality/ethnicity.

Answer 9

I am not sure, but I never heard of this topic. Maybe you are thinking of Filipinos in America. A lot of idiotic morons here dont want to be called Asian, but Pacific islander. They are all just retarded, uneducated, and ignorant.

Answer 10

Yes.  Maybe you talked with people who didn't understand your English?  Japan is part of East Asia, so whatelse?  Some people use the word, 'Oriental', but I don't like the word as much.  I don't know why, though.  

Answer 11

The concept "Asia" is originally something Europeans invented. It makes little difference whether we think of ourselves as Asian or not. Yes we are Asian, so are Iranians, Iraqi, Arabs, Indians, Pakistani.  Saying we are Asian doesn't mean anything. The only area where it matters is in the world of sports. As one of the Asian countries, we play those countries in elimination games for the soccer World Cup. Speaking of soccer, Australia has entered the Asian group. So are they also Asian? By the way, it's a good thing that Turkey is in the European group. Otherwise we won't be able to take part in the World Cup anymore!　

Answer 12

I'm white but born in Asia. Does that make me Asian? Depends. Do you mean Asian as "ethnicity" or a place of origin?