Yellowface in Europe

 

Ushi Hirosaki

Yellowface in Europe


The most blatant contemporary example of Yellowface in Western European media is a character created by Dutch TV and later adopted by Danish TV called Ushi, a caricature of a Japanese woman, but played by white women. The sole gag running in these highly popular programs is the portrayal of a stereotypical Japanese female journalist, with buck teeth, thick glasses and a bad accent. Numerous examples of interviews can be found on Youtube.


In Dutch TV the character's full name is Ushi Hirosaki in Danish TV it is Ushi Heiku. Broadcasted via RTL Group, the Dutch character last appeared in the show Ushi & Dushi in December 2009. The show was criticized for being racist, but only after she appeared in blackface, portraying a woman from Curaçao. According to the Dutch wiki page for the show, the audience averages about 2 million per episode; quite a substantial number for a country with only 16 million people.


 

Yellowface -- Contents

Racist Asian Stereotypes

Legal Discrimination and Violence

Yellowface on Stage

Yellowface in Film and TV

Yellowface Whitewashing

Yellowface in Europe

Yellowface Caricatures in Politics

 

Explore the History of other
Racial and Racist Stereotypes in the Media

 

Blackface!
Black Stereotypes

Yellowface!
Asian Stereotypes

Brownface!
Hispanic Stereotypes

Redface!
Indian Stereotypes

Arabface!
Arab Stereotypes

Jewface!
Jewish Stereotypes


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