Japanese and Chinese women: a comparison of appearance. How to distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese, and a Japanese from a Korean. A simple system that solves the eternal question

When planning a trip to Asia, you can’t just dismiss this question, they say, they all look the same. Firstly, for some reason they are offended if they are confused, and secondly, there are still differences, and now we will try to figure out what they are.

Residents of Western countries, to which we reckon ourselves, are accustomed to consider all "narrow-eyed" Chinese by default. Probably because there are more of them, and not only in China, but in almost all countries. Sometimes this leads to incidents, and even scandals, as happened, for example, with the film "Memoirs of a Geisha", where Chinese actresses were invited to play the roles of Japanese women.

We will not deny, at first glance, the differences between the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans are insignificant. However, delving into their culture, you will be surprised that even within one country (especially in the case of China) there are many regions whose inhabitants differ in appearance from others.

The Japanese are generally shorter than other Asians. Their skin is lighter, the shape of the face is more elongated, the size of the mouth is smaller, and the noses, on the contrary, are larger. The eyes are slightly protruding, and the distance between them and the eyebrows is minimal. A Japanese with a mustache is very rare, they simply do not grow with them.

The Chinese are taller than the Japanese and have the darkest skin tone. The faces are almost round, with pronounced cheekbones. More arched eyebrows give their eyes an almond shape.

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Koreans are distinguished by coarser facial features, with almost square cheekbones and the narrowest eyes. Against this background, their small and thin noses clearly stand out. They also have small hands. The catch is that right now South Korea is going through a “plastic boom” and a lot of women are making baby doll faces for themselves, which makes them look more like Japanese women.

Psychological features

The Chinese can be distinguished by the noise they make. They speak loudly and laugh even louder. No wonder Mandarin is considered the most "voiced" of all Asian languages.
The Japanese are a more "quiet" nation. These are modest quiet people, not prone to violent manifestations of feelings. When they eat, you never know if they like the dish served. A feature of Korean pronunciation is the rise in tone at the end of a phrase, which makes it possible to distinguish them even without knowing the language.

External signs

Fashion and make-up is another factor that helps distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese and a Korean. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun are the most conservative in terms of clothing. They prefer a restrained style, take care of themselves. Japanese women even use make-up at home, often whiten their skin and love false eyelashes.

The Chinese dress more in the western style. It doesn't always work out well, but they don't really care. Women here almost never use cosmetics, and men prefer locally produced tracksuits.

Korean women do not abuse makeup, preferring natural looks. Koreans love practical clothes, jeans and sneakers - almost like a local uniform.

This is how things work in theory. But in practice, you can learn to accurately distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese or Korean only by traveling through these countries.

It is very difficult for us to distinguish the nationality of an Asian, because they all seem very similar. But in fact, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have significant differences: using knowledge about them, you can understand who is in front of you and avoid an awkward situation.

Phenotype difference

The Chinese nation is multi-ethnic, 56 different nationalities live there, and some of them are not at all like the Chinese in our view. For example, Uighurs are more like Tajiks. Therefore, it is simply impossible to derive some average Chinese phenotype. However, there are basic principles that will help distinguish the Chinese from the Japanese and Koreans:

• The faces of the Chinese are rounder than the Japanese and Koreans, while the Chinese usually have the widest cheekbones.
• The Chinese are endowed with the darkest skin, so they prefer not to sunbathe.
• The faces of the Japanese are elongated and oval, the nose is more pronounced, the eyes are large with a wide slit. It is also believed that the Japanese have larger heads.
• Japanese and Japanese women are the whitest among Asians.
• Korean faces tend to be flat, with high, square cheekbones. Koreans also tend to have thinner noses.

Plastic

One of the distinguishing features of Korean women and men is often "doll" faces. Plastic surgery in Korea is one of the main trends, according to statistics, this country is the leader in the number of plastic surgeries performed (not only for women, but also for men).

Language

The Chinese have a tonal language regardless of dialect, and Koreans like to put characteristic sound markers of politeness at the end of phrases: this can be learned to distinguish with some experience. The language of the Japanese is without accents and raising tones, monotonously polite, they speak in a muffled voice.

Behavior

Asians can also be distinguished by their behavior. The most impulsive and loud among them are the Chinese. They speak a little strange to our ears, they can spit on the ground even in a public place. The Japanese, on the contrary, are very restrained and delicate, so in Japan, even in public places, it is always quiet.

Fashion style

The Japanese most often wear clothes of world brands and are distinguished by good taste. The Chinese, on the other hand, can “miss” a little with a combination of clothes. For example, a Chinese woman can easily be met in the evening on the street in pajamas. But the Japanese will never do that. Chinese men allow themselves to walk around in cheap sportswear. The Koreans are somewhere in the middle in terms of clothing style: ahead of the Chinese, but not yet caught up with the Japanese.

As a rule, when Europeans encounter representatives of the Mongoloid race, an exclamation involuntarily escapes from the chest: “Yes, they all look the same!”. And if after some time you begin to distinguish Asians from each other, then with differentiation by ethnic group the situation is more complicated. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans - they all seem similar, but this is only at first glance ...

Chinese

The inhabitants of the Celestial Empire are different from other Asians. Their faces are rounder and their cheekbones are the widest. There is also a funny observation that the Chinese are more like kittens, and the Japanese are more like fish. The darkest skin is another sign of the Chinese. These are bright representatives of their race. Knowing this feature, the Chinese are not too fond of sunbathing, but most often this does not save them much.

The behavior of the Chinese has also become a byword. Chinese tourists are noisy, arrogant, rude and very restless. According to many nationalities, it is they (and not Russians) who top the list of the most uncultured travelers.

Japanese

The shape of the face of the Japanese is more elongated, the bags under the eyes are more pronounced, the eyes are slightly protruding. By the way, their nose is more pronounced than that of the same Chinese. Chinese noses may be wider at the bridge, while Japanese ones will simply be larger. By the way, they can be identified by skin color. She looks lighter than other Asians. Japanese women and Japanese enhance this effect with whitening cosmetics.

The manners of the Japanese are extremely restrained and delicate, they behave very quietly and intelligently.

Koreans

The faces of Koreans can be distinguished by several features. First, they have a bit of puppet features. It's no secret that Korea is now a pioneer in the world in terms of the number of plastic surgeries. So, if the beauty of an Asian seems too perfect for you, then most likely it is a Korean.

Aurally

Chinese speech is subject to the tone principle, and Koreans like to put characteristic endings to phrases. These are sound markers of politeness, which, after some time, can be distinguished quite freely. The language of the Japanese is monotonous and muffled.

By clothes

The style of clothing of the Chinese is very similar to the range of Aliexpress. It is rather peculiar and disorderly. The Japanese prefer stylish and expensive clothes. They are more than the others are distinguished by good taste. For example, you can meet a Chinese woman in pajamas on the street in the evening. A resident of Japan will never leave the house like that. The Koreans in this case are somewhere in the middle: the Chinese were ahead, but the Japanese have not yet caught up.

However, don't worry. Even the representatives of these nations themselves can sometimes get confused about who is who. If you want to learn to distinguish one from the other, practice more often. So you will expand cultural ties, and hone your skills, and you will find friends for yourself!

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It's not easy to distinguish between Asians. In fact, there were cases when the Chinese spoke in their native language with Koreans or other representatives of the Mongoloid race, mistaking them for their own people.

Anthropologists have examined a number of features specific to each of these three nationalities in order to identify their distinctive features from each other.

Phenotype difference

Only enhanced practice will help to distinguish between Koreans, Chinese and Japanese.

China is considered a multi-ethnic state. About fifty-six different nationalities live inside the country. It turns out that some of them do not look like typical Chinese. For example, the Uighurs in their appearance resemble Tajiks.

Historical facts testify that a transformation took place in the Japanese ethnos associated with the migration of Koreans and Chinese at different times.

But anthropologists still managed to identify some differences in their phenotypes.

For example, the Japanese face has the shape of an elongated oval, a pronounced nose and large eyes with a fairly wide slit. The modern Japanese has a larger head than the Korean and Chinese.

Japanese women always strive to whiten their skin, so they keep special bleaching products in their cosmetic bag. But even without makeup, Japanese women and men have the whitest skin of any Asian. Chinese women do not use cosmetics as often as their Japanese neighbors.

The Chinese have the darkest skin among these three nationalities. For this reason, they try not to tan so that their skin does not become darker.

The Chinese have a round face shape and wide cheekbones.

Koreans have flat faces with high, square-shaped cheekbones. Typical Koreans have thinner noses than their Chinese and Japanese neighbors.

Quite often, the gaze of the Japanese expresses arrogance or friendliness.

Many Europeans compare the Japanese with fish, as they have big, slightly bulging eyes. And the Chinese look very much like kittens.

Among the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans, the latter have the smallest hand sizes.

Behavior

Among the representatives of these three nationalities, striking differences in behavior are highlighted. The Chinese are considered the most noisy and impulsive among them. They shout loudly in the streets without any embarrassment and backlash, they are not afraid to express their emotions in public, and they may also behave not quite culturally in public places. Residents of Japan are always very restrained, patient and polite. It is for this reason that in the land of the rising sun, public places pleasantly amaze with their silence.

plastic surgery

Korean women and men are big fans of plastic surgery. They love the doll-like appearance and often perfect themselves with the help of a plastic surgeon.

Statistics show that South Korea occupies a leading position in the world in plastic surgery among both sexes. If you notice an unnaturally handsome Asian, then most likely it is a Korean.

Cloth

The Japanese, Koreans and Chinese have a number of distinctive features in their clothing style. For example, the Japanese are endowed with a brilliant taste. They often wear clothes from famous world designers. The Chinese are not always dressed to the nines. They have their own style, which allows them to be unique among these three peoples.

Quite often, a Chinese woman is able to put on night pajamas in the evening and go outside in it. No Japanese woman would dare to show herself in such an unsightly light.

Chinese men are comfortable walking around in cheap tracksuits, which distinguishes them from the Japanese, who prefer expensive suits.

If the Japanese wear sportswear, then usually these are things from expensive boutiques.

Koreans in their style adhere to the golden mean. They are taller than the Chinese, but so far they have not been able to catch up with the Japanese.

Language differences

There are many dialect forms in Chinese. But even despite this feature, their language is considered tonal. At the end of Korean phrases, sound notes of politeness are noticeable. There are no tones and stresses in Japanese. Their language is considered monotonous. Usually the Japanese talk to each other in a slightly hushed tone.

Each of us got into a difficult situation at the sight of an Asian, especially in a big city. Many have asked themselves, “Who is this? Chinese? Japanese? Or maybe Korean? And after all, it would be impolite to come up and ask, or look closely for a long time to find at least some clue. And what is the difference between them? Many often do not know that Chinese, Korean and Japanese are not the same. In this article we will try to lift the veil of secrecy.

We all often heard from our adult generation, or people not versed in Asian culture, "They all look the same." But they are very different from each other and not only, but in appearance. We will look at several similarities and differences between the three nationalities.

Similarities: 1. Skin

The statement that the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have different skin colors is erroneous.

Their skin color and texture is similar, it’s just that in South Korea, for example, pale (European) skin is in fashion, and therefore guys and girls empty the shelves of cosmetic stores, buying whitening products and sunblock creams, while in Japan there are some subcultures ( gyaru, kogyaru, yamamba), on the contrary, spend a lot of time in the solarium, and in general, white skin is held in high esteem. But if you look at ordinary middle-aged employees, you will notice that they have the same skin color.

2. Body structure

Many people think that all Asians are small and thin, and that they also curl up in old age. This is again not the case, Asians, like all people, can be overweight, tall, athletic, slim or short. It's just that the percentage of very obese people in Asia is much less than in America or Russia (due to the popularity of fast food and fatty foods in the latter, while Asian food is less high-calorie). In terms of height, Koreans can be called the tallest of the three, because the menu of Korean cuisine has always been nutritious meat, while in China and Japan they ate mainly fish, seafood and rice. And due to the fact that in the last 50 years, the Japanese and Chinese have begun to constantly eat meat and their average height has increased by almost 10-15 cm.

Differences: 1. Face

Here the most difficult begins, because there are differences in the structure of faces, but due to the development of plastic surgery, it is often difficult to make out where someone is. Koreans have wide and slightly square faces, pronounced cheekbones, narrow eyes with raised corners and a single eyelid, sometimes born with a double eyelid, but most often a crease above the eye is the result of surgery. The nose and mouth are mostly small. The Chinese have round, flat faces, with flattened noses and large eyes (compared to Koreans). The eyelids are mostly single. The mouth is also small, but the lower lip is plump. As for the Japanese, the faces are long, the eyes are almond-shaped and the corners are down, the noses are high and flattened, the mouths are wide and the lips are thin. These descriptions can be attributed to one or another nation, because due to mixing, the characteristic features of the face change, even if the father is Japanese and the mother is Korean, then the child will be something in between. Mestizos, on the other hand, often successfully mix European and Asian features in their appearance.

From left to right: Koreans, Chinese, Japanese

2. Hairstyle

Fashion for hairstyles in such close countries varies greatly. The Chinese pay tribute to European fashion, and shaven temples and combed sideways or back hair are popular among men. Sometimes, instead of combing, they make small ponytails or buns at the back. Or medium length hair (for men), combed back.

Chinese Japanese

Korean guys prefer bowl-like hairstyles, with bangs in front of their eyes, or combed to the side. The Koreans prefer haircuts, while the Japanese adore hairstyles, with an abundance of wax (which can be bought in any combination) and strands sticking out in different directions.

Korean

Each strand on the head of a Japanese young guy is neatly arranged, and does not sway in the wind. If you see an Asian with a hairstyle like a Final Fantasy character, you know: in front of you is a Japanese (s). Approximately the same hairstyles are loved by Japanese idols and visual performers. With women, it is more difficult, because European fashion has greatly influenced the hairstyles of Asian girls. Chinese girls love natural, straight and long hair. Of course, you can meet curly girls, and dyed, and short-haired, but most often Chinese women prefer simplicity.

Chinese Japanese

Korean women like to dye their hair brown or dark blond, give their hair more volume and curl the ends a little. Also recently, bob and bob haircuts, ashy color and slightly careless tufts of hair at the back of the head have come into fashion.

Korean

Japanese women are the most diverse in hairstyles: here you have blond hair, and bunches, and ponytails or pigtails, and a very short bob. And on Harajuku, you can meet Japanese women with hair of all colors of the rainbow.

3. Clothing

Everyone loves to dress up fashionably, and the street fashion of South Korea, Japan and China is very rich. But you can still see some differences. The Chinese love the simplicity of style and light officialdom (jackets, shirts, almost classic trousers).

Chinese
Korean

The Japanese try to be either cute (girls wear white/pink dresses with stockings, loose warm-colored clothes and low heels or completely flat soles, while guys wear sweaters and turtlenecks and straight trousers), or vice versa brutal (girls wear men's clothes, and guys wear bloomers with large sneakers and long T-shirts).

Japanese

Well, street fashion Harajuku is a separate topic altogether, you can meet anyone there, from a fan of visual kei in leather pants with boots on an unreal platform to a cute one. Koreans, on the other hand, prefer sexuality and audacity. Girls try to wear heels, short skirts / shorts, translucent things. Guys, on the other hand, like either black-and-white-gray things, slacks, shirts or t-shirts and caps, or long sweaters / sweaters and a more informal style. Koreans also love shapeless long coats and hats.Also, in any of these countries, you can meet girls and boys in national costumes on holidays like Coming of Age Day, Lunar New Year, Chuseok, etc.

4. Makeup

This feature can only be attributed to girls, but Asian women are also painted in different ways.

Chinese Japanese

The main goal of all Asian women when applying makeup is to enlarge the eyes. Chinese women love lush eyelashes and black pencil, sometimes shades of delicate colors, and slightly thick straight eyebrows. Naturally, Chinese women, like Koreans and Japanese women, take care of their skin, trying to make it paler. They try not to use bright lipsticks.

Korean

Korean women prefer discreet makeup, tinted eyelashes, white pencil and shades of brown tones. Lips like to be painted with transparent or pink glosses, and eyebrows are painted with a house. Japanese women are the most original: they enlarge their eyes with thick (sometimes false) eyelashes from above and below, draw lines under their eyes first with a white pencil, and then even lower with black, use eyelid glue, wear magnifying lenses, and some Harajuku models sculpt their eyelashes higher or below the lash line, which also makes the eyes look bigger. Japanese women also love blush and delicate glosses to create a kawaii look.

5. Behavior

Asians can be distinguished from each other not only in appearance, but also in manners. In Japan and Korea, the culture of bowing is highly developed. In Japan, it is obligatory to bow when meeting or meeting, both in formal settings and on the street. Friends, on the other hand, are already freer in behavior, either waving their hands when they meet, or nod, as if greeting. Koreans behave the same in formal settings, but in informal settings they are more likely to simply nod to a new person as a sign of respect. With foreigners can get acquainted in our manner: handshakes or hugs. The Chinese, on the other hand, are more open and shaking hands, even at business meetings, is a common thing.

Also, when communicating in public places, Koreans and Japanese try to speak quietly so as not to disturb others: they do not talk on the phone in public transport and do not listen to music loudly in headphones for the same reason. In China, this is not the case, so Chinese tourists are quite noisy.

6. Language

Well, the last and most striking feature is, of course, languages. First, let me tell you a little about writing. In China, only hieroglyphs are used, there are no alphabets and alphabets.

Chinese letter Korean letter

In Japan, as you know, there are hieroglyphs (kanji) and a syllabary with two types of writing (hiragana and katakana). In Korea, they use the alphabet (Hangul) and, in some cases, hieroglyphs (Hanja).

Japanese letter

But let's not focus on writing, because oral speech and its sound are important to us, because you can also distinguish representatives of different nationalities from it. The Chinese language has four tones, and the meaning of the word depends on the choice of tone, so Chinese speech sounds very emotional and abrupt. Japanese speech, in turn, sounds measured and calm due to the lack of a strong semantic stress in words, and the syllabic composition of words makes the language softer. The Korean language sounds harsh due to the abundance of the letters "kh", "chh", "tx" with a strong "x". When Koreans talk, it sometimes seems to each other as if a fight is about to break out.

In this article, I tried to touch on the most striking differences, and I hope this will help you not to get into trouble. This situation happened to my sensei when he was walking on Red Square and a guy came up to him and said: Konnichiwa (Japanese), Ni Hao (Chinese), Annyonghaseyo (Korean), because he didn’t know who was in front of him, and decided get out like this.

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