American?

Hello,

I asked a Japanese person if he had any American friends. He said he didn't, but then a few weeks later he mentioned that he had a Taiwanese-American friend (his friend's parents are from Taiwan, but his friend was born in the USA).

Do Japanese people regard Asian-Americans as "American" or...? Maybe the person I asked just forgot that he had a Taiwanese-American friend when I asked him?

Yes, maybe he just forgot, or maybe he thinks of his friend as Taiwanese rather than American. Sometimes Asian people in Japan emphasise their ethnicity rather than their nationality, others don't. Different Japanese people will have different ways of thinking on this topic- you can't generalise about it and say that Japanese people think in a particular way.

I totally agree with Sira, and also if you're dealing with a Taiwanese-American friend while in Japan, you tend to forget his nationality, especially if you're dealing in Japanese language. And sometimes you might think he's a Taiwanese who's only been living in the U.S. for a while or even Canada or something.

As a matter of fact, the stereotypical Japanese would assume that all foreign-looking people are "American." But those who are fair enough aren't really conscious about nationality. We're all just "humans" :)

I'm Asian-American most Japanese I know see me and refer to me as an American, I never heard them say otherwise. Though I know many Americans myself who even though they were born in America often do not refer to themselves as Americans.

Thank you for answering!

I think I understand what you're saying.

I myself am an Asian-American, but when Japanese people ask me about my culture, they tend to ask about my Asian side more than my American side (for example, "Asian" food like different kinds of noodles and not "American" food like different types of sandwiches)

That's true that it depends on the person.

I'm just wondering because when Japanese peoople meet me for the first time,they generally think that I'm half-Japanese, so they tend to act more friendlier towards me than to someone else who is Caucasian.

hellopanda,

Regarding to your last post, I can relate to that. I think that people tend to imagine that they have more in common with people in the order of Japanese, half-Japanese, other Asian-Americans, Americans who are non-Asian. And then when they realize they don't, then they need to pause and think of what topic to talk about, because they might not be watching the same TV shows as the Japanese are.

On the other hand, Japanese people tend to think there aren't much variety when it comes to sandwiches but that there is variety when it comes to noodles.

I don't think it's just a Japanese thing. As I said I am Asian-American, I was born and grew up in the US, but when another non Asian American is talking to me, somehow the subject is always about my Asian side, even though I don't know much about it to begin with. I actually like hamburgers, football etc. Though they can't seem to understand (the other non asian american) that I can be american too (even though America is a mixed country).

Which brings up to another subject, when I talk to Japanese people, it is different from you, they know I am American so the subject of the differences between "american food" (whatever american food is I don't know), and Japanese food, eg I often talk about how hot dogs in Japan do not taste the same, and they usually relate to me stories of their trips and how Japanese food in America doesn't taste like real japanese food.

Entirely depends on the people you run into I guess.