Yellowface!
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.
Ushi Hirosaki
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.
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