A Japanese YouTuber tackled the question of cultural appropriation by asking his fellow countrymen what they though about white people in Kimonos. He showed them a picture from Katy Perry’s 2013 “geisha-style” performance, which caused a huge uproar in the US.
And apparently Japanese people couldn’t care less if some whitey wears their clothes — they were actually happy to see an American inspired by Japanese culture.
“I am happy that foreign people wear kimono and adopt Japanese culture like that,” one woman said.
When they were told that Perry’s performance was heavily criticized they were very confused. The interviewer explained to them it was because she did not authentically reflect their culture.
“Indian curry and Japanese curry are different even though they are both curry,” one man said. “Even if you ate the Japanese version of foreign food, knowing it’s different from the original one, it would make you interested in the original version and want to learn about their culture.”
The video illuminates one of the problem in the cultural appropriation debates: Getting offended on behalf of another culture. Most people from other countries have bigger problems to worry about than people half way across the world wearing their clothes. And many are happy to see their culture expressed in foreign countries, even if it may be a tad bastardized.