Why are so many Chinese actresses cast in movies about Japan?

I just watched Memoirs of a Geisha as well (popped up on Amazon Prime). I noticed that lots of the actors were Chinese as well. Gong Li, who played Hatsumomo, the "aging" geisha, that kind of made sense. People would go to a movie to see her, especially at that time (2005).

Turnabout is fair play.

OP, in the publicity photos, the images reversed and so the slants get turned around, and the casting agents get confused and pick the wrong ones. But once they've signed a contract they can't go back.

Chinese women seem more attractive to me than their Japanese sisters. I think of Miyoshi Umeki and Yoko Ono when I think of Japanese women. Hardly great beauties.

R4 is right. It’s partly due to the gigantic population disparity. When you have over six hundred million women in your country, you are just going to generate more exquisite women than when you have only 50 million.

I don't know about that but it seems the Chinese are taller and more slender and I've seen a lot of Japanese with rather short bowed legs.

Yes, Chinese people are generally taller than Japanese.

What about Juanita Hall? African-American who played Asian at least twice (Chinese in "Flower Drum Song," Polynesian in "South Pacific.")

[quote]Is there a lack of really good Japanese actresses or what?

Maybe it was also the language. Some Chinese actresses who work internationally speak English, in Japan it's less common

“You’ve seen one redwood, you’ve seen them all.”

In both countries acting is traditionally considered a demi-monde profession not quite suitable for a respectable woman, and this view remains a bit stronger in Japan.

Also, China has an established state system for recognizing then training artistic and athletic talent at an early age, while Japan doesn't.

Finally, beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but Chinese women tend to appeal more to Western notions of beauty.

Is Memoirs of a Geisha any good as a film? I've often randomly thought "oh, I might like to watch that sometime!" but still haven't. Is it very depressing though? No sexual violence in it I hope?

I lived in Sydney for a few years until very recently, and what I noticed was how smart and well-dressed the Chinese women were. It was really lovely to see, us Anglos can often look a bit slipshod, even in a more image-conscious city like Sydney. And I'm no exception.

Because Hong Kong is a movie capital of Asia

The film industry in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is huge in comparison to Japan. There are excellent actresses from Japan, but they are little known outside of the country. Obviously, the producers went with the asses in the seats value in selecting far better known actresses from China.

Probably because Hollywood was already wooing the Chinese consumer even then.

R15 Correction: Michelle Yeoh is from Malaysia.

I can't think of a current Japanese actress on the same level as Gong Li, who ranks among the best period. I guess that woman who was in Babel would be the closest.

R12 it is a rather sad movie in parts but offers a fascinating look into a very mysterious aspect of Japanese culture that almost disappeared after WWII. Beautiful cinematography. No real violence. Actually very little sex.

Speaking of, I swear I just heard that someone is developing a musical of Memoirs of a Geisha, or maybe it was Farewell My Concubine. Either one would seem too epic to be adapted.

R19, thank you. I will definitely seek it out then, I don't mind sad in parts, just don't want to feel like slashing my wrists after it. I had a check, but no streaming service I have here in Australia is running it yet, but will keep my eyes open.

Youki Kudoh and Kaori Momoi who play Pumpkin and Mother respectively, are both Japanese in real life.

R2 Jack Soo wasn't Japanese. Umeki and Shigeta were (Shigeta was Nisei: American born of Japanese immigrant parents.

Factoid: the beautiful actress who played Brando's love interest in "Sayonara" was also Nisei and had to be coached to produce the heavily Japanese inflected English the part required.

Speaking of the gorgeous Shigeta, I always assumed he was family. Anyone know?

The Japanese entertainment industry is controlled by the Yakuza. Also entertainers don't speak English or have an incentive to learn. There's enough money in entertainment and a lack of interest in expansion, I think.

There are people who speak English and could crois over obviously. Steven Seagal's daughter is a tv personality in Japan, for instance. But it doesn't happen.

Yoko ono could have played that role

^*Must correct myself - looked Soo up to check. Jack Soo WAS Japanese - he was born Goro Suzuki . His Japanese immigrant parents actually travelled back to Japan to see that he was born there as he was the eldest son but he was born in transit on an American ship before they could arrive in Japan.

He was interned with his family during WWII.

Nancy Kwan, who played Lindo Low, however, was Asian-American, a Chinese father and an American mother. She was born in Hong Kong.

Personally, I find the Japanese more attractive than the Chinese, Japanese are more fine-featured, in my opinion.

But when it comes to actors, naturally the most attractive usually are what you see of any ethnicity, so it rather makes no odds.

A very beautiful South Korean actress is Claudia Kim, who played Naghini in the sequel to Fantastic Beasts. I'm surprised she didn't get more notices from the film, given that she was startlingly beautiful AND quite persuasive and touching in the role

It could be that in Japanese culture, acting is not considered respectable.

I had a Vietnamese friend point out to me that all the waiters at Japanese restaurants (in NY, anyway) are Chinese. Waiting tables is beneath the Japanese. Could be the same stigma with acting.

How common is this, really? I can't think of another good example aside from Memoirs of a Geisha.

Although, now that you mention it I can only name one Japanese actress off the top of my head: Rinko Kikuchi. She doesn't seem to act much anymore, either.

R29 As mentioned above it's not considered a particularly respectable profession in either country, but more frowned on in traditional Japan. Then there's the Yakuza/Triad involvement in the entertainment industry throughout Asia.

Middle-class parents will not be happy to hear their daughter wants to become an actress.

[quote]Nancy Kwan, who played Lindo Low, however, was Asian-American, a Chinese father and an American mother. She was born in Hong Kong.

That's not what "Asian-American" usually means. If her American mother was of European descent, she'd be considered Eurasian. Asian-American refers to someone of Asian descent (usually full Asian) who's an American citizen or resident.

Nancy Kwan was a cheap whore who couldn't even sing! Plus, even though I'm not her friend, I accuse her of having a face lift!

Ching-Chong Ching-Chong it's all the same.

R32 You're right, Eurasian would have the more appropriate term for Kwan.

I enjoyed Tamlyn Tomita (Japanese-American) in Joy Luck Club.

In Asia it is common for film producers to cast multiple nationalities to broaden the commercial appeal of a film. China is a huge market for films and casting Chinese actors assures wider acceptance of a film. Multi-racial casting helps overcome the bias that exists between certain Asian cultures - mainly negative feelings towards Japan - that exists as a result of Japan's oppression of wide swaths of Asia in the period leading up to WWII.

Per Wikipedia:

Anti-Japanese sentiment in China is an issue with modern roots (post-1868). Modern anti-Japanese sentiment in China is often rooted in nationalist or historical conflict, particularly in Japan's history textbook controversies.

Japan seized concessions in areas of China towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. Dissatisfaction with the settlement and the Twenty-One Demands by the Imperial Japanese government led to a severe boycott of Japanese products in China in 1915. Bitterness in China persists over the Second Sino-Japanese War and Japan's post-war actions. This sentiment may also be at least to some extent influenced by issues related to Chinese people in Japan.

According to a 2017 BBC World Service Poll, mainland Chinese people hold the largest anti-Japanese sentiment in the world, with 75% of Chinese people viewing Japan's influence negatively, and 22% expressing a positive view. Anti-Japanese sentiment in China was at its highest in 2014 since the poll was first conducted in 2006 and was up 16 percent over the previous year.[citation needed] However, anti-Japanese sentiment significantly decreased by 2018; a poll done in 2018 by Genron NPO showed that 42.2% of Chinese people looked positively to Japan, up from 31.5% in 2017.[1]

Japanese men are better looking than Chinese men.

Too many chinese actresses and actors now get plastic surgery...they all have similar features.

Ken Watanabe, Tadanobu Asano, James Shigeta - all totally hot. Of course, more my generation. Ditto Eiji Okada who played the married lover in Alain Resnais' "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" was also a gorgeous man.

I'm sorry the film doesn't get more mention here on DL. It was wonderful, as was the novel by Marguerite Duras, despite it being classed as one of the most influential of French New Wave cinema. "The Lover", also one of hers, was also made into a film, got far more play but that I liked less.

Might be age (mine).

slanty eyes

Chinese women are more attractive than Japanese women but, yes, Japanese men are more attractive than Chinese men.

which one love you long time?

Many? Only 3-4 roles and OP screams too many. Michelle Yeow is Malaysian by the way.

I never said "too" many R44. I have no problem with it at all. I was just curious.

R21 I watched it on Netflix, but that was a couple of months ago. Maybe it will show up on Stan at some point.

[quote] I had a Vietnamese friend point out to me that all the waiters at Japanese restaurants (in NY, anyway) are Chinese. Waiting tables is beneath the Japanese.

What? I've never heard of that. Waiting tables is a respectable job for Japanese, in Japan and outside of Japan.