Ask John: Is There Racial Discrimination in Anime?

Question:
Why is it that in many anime blacks are represented as 70s distortions w/afros, bell-bottoms, and usually some type of aptitude at karate such as in cowboy bebop and street fighter, and in games such as Tekken 3 and more recently Shenmue? Is this due to Japan’s heavy exposure more towards 70s American culture( Jim Kelly movies, ect. ) as opposed to modern culture?

Answer:
It’s very true that black and African American characters rarely appear in anime, and are often stereotypes when they do appear, but I don’t believe that this is caused by any intentional or knowing discrimination. Japan is an extremely homogeneous country. Black citizens in Japan are essentially unheard of, and even black tourists are extremely uncommon in Japan. For this reason, as you’ve guessed, for the average Japanese citizen, exposure to people and culture of African decent is generally limited to American movies and other imports of contemporary American culture- from Jim Kelly movies and Bruce Lee’s Game of Death to American rap music and contemporary movies and their influence on Japanese pop music groups including Dragon Ash and video games like Jet Set Radio (AKA: Jet Grind Radio).

In most cases, I think black characters are left out of anime simply either because creators have no familiarity with black people and don’t know exactly how to characterize them, or creators simply never think to include racial diversity in anime. Because Japan’s population is so racially streamlined, Japan has never encountered the same sort of multiculturalism that’s second nature in America and most of the West. In many cases, anime such as Ranma, Tenchi Muyo, To Heart, Kodomo no Omocha and such are intended to be representations of contemporary Japan. Seeing as most Japanese citizens may have never met a black person, it would make sense for anime of these sort to be populated by only Japanese characters. Thus, there’s no intentional discrimination going on; it’s simply a difference in cultural awareness and experience.

Based on the personal experience of the average Japanese citizen, black characters actually seem to receive roughly the same treatment as caucasian Western characters do, just in fewer appearances: some characterizations are fair, and some are not. Some presentations of black characters in anime are realistic, and some are, by Western standards, offensively stereotypical. Black people in Cowboy Bebop are presented essentially little different than any other supporting characters. Pony of Gall Force: Eternal Story, is treated no different than any other character, and Abdul of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures is given almost shamanistic respect. On the other hand, the black squad leader in the Starship Troopers OAVs is a disturbing, offensive stereotype with very dark skin, a violent attitude and unusually large lips.

I believe that the infrequent inclusion of black characters in anime, and their wildly divergent presentations, is solely a result of a difference in culture and not an example of active, intentional discrimination. Black people, and African American culture are literally completely foreign to the Japanese, therefore also uncommon in Japanese animation.