Talk:Light skin in Japanese culture

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Consider expansion?[edit]

to Japanese ideals of female beauty? --Chris (クリス • フィッチュ) (talk) 14:01, 10 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not a Japanese-exclusive term[edit]

美白 is also used in Chinese. Meibai/bihaku is an example of Sino-Japanese vocabulary. Whether or not it is wasei kango does not alter the fact that it is not Japanese exclusive. -- 李博杰 | —Talk contribs email 14:36, 25 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why is this article tagged "white people"?[edit]

The term "bihaku" has nothing to do with white people.

Moved article to Light Skin in Japanese Culture[edit]

The terms white / whiteness and black / blackness have very strong racial connotations in American and British English. (For example, whiteness studies in AmE) This article is going to be read by many people who speak AmE and BrE, not just Asian Englishes. Therefore those meanings are unavoidable. I also see the term 美白 on Chinese beauty products, and I'd like to state that the literal terms "black" and "white" in Chinese and Japanese translate as "dark skin" and "light skin" in English.

For example, a typical Chinese or Japanese person might state that getting a tan made their skin black, or describe their complexion as black or white. The way one says African or European descent are a bit different. However, an African- or European-American speaking English would say that they got dark, or became pale / light. Similarly, the term skin whitening on Asian beauty products is translated as skin brightening / lightening when these products are sold in the US.

I also support avoiding a reference to "white" in the title... I sometimes hear Chinese speak of a fellow Chinese as very "black" when really they just mean relatively darker.--Brian Dell (talk) 19:16, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Causes?[edit]

It would be great if the article contained a section explaining possible causes of this preference. E.g., the article on human skin color mentions:

Before the Industrial Revolution, inhabitants of the continent of Europe preferred pale skin, which they interpreted as a sign of high social status. The poorer classes worked outdoors and got darker skin from exposure to the sun, while the upper class stayed indoors and had light skin. Hence light skin became associated with wealth and high position.
— Kruszelnicki, Karl (March 1, 2001). "News in Science: Skin Colour 1". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2014.

This is only for Europe, though. It goes on to mention that

In ancient China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, pale skin was seen as a sign of wealth.

suggesting the same explanation as for Europe above, but unfortunately there is no citation given to back this up. Still, the human skin color article actually contains more in-depth explanations than this one, so I think some parts can be lifted from there for this one here. --46.223.163.178 (talk) 20:37, 27 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]