Chinese vs Japanese vs Koreans

I failed a test designed to distinguish between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean faces. Readers in the comments share specific physical markers, regional differences in Northern and Southern China, and the impact of globalization on East Asian phenotypes.

Thu, 30 Aug 2001 • Links

Can you tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese and Koreans? I tried a test. My report card read “Bad”.

Comments

eastasian 30 Aug 2001 12:00 pm: acutally, im all three, japnese, chinese, korean… its funny b/c my dad’s parents were chinese/japanese, while my mom parents were korean/chinese… and im all three, but i was born in japan… its confusing… but just so you know, eyes go like this… this is general… korean smallest eyes(ever), then comes japanese, then chinese… my mom has large eyes from chinese desendants and my dad has slit eyes b/c both parents had slit eyes… face, koreans have big round faces and eyes tend to be up top, japanese and chinese eyes are in the normal possition… koreans are tall b/c my korean reletives are all well above 6ft… japanese tend to be pretty tall but not as tall as koreans… chinese it depends… some are tall some are short especially the taiwanese and HK… and btw i think i konw which test your talking about i scored a 16/18… :D the ones i got wrong were both males…
tangeee 16 Oct 2008 5:39 am: Hey I’m chinese but I LOVE everything about Japan/ Korea. I buy jap ingriedients to cook jap dishes, eat obento in school, always updating the cute stationary and study jap at school. I was wondering if the traditional Japanese breakfast consist of tea, miso soup, rice, salmon/fish and tofu. Usually for breakfast, that’s what I have and I usually get up in the morning to cook scrambled tofu with salmon or carrot with tofu and soy sauce.
Joe Swansan 3 Dec 2008 11:01 am: I believe one can differentiate between these three by looking at how at much their nose protrudes from their face. It is just a little theory of mine, but I have noticed that my Chinese friends have very small nose protrusions (sometimes in the negative!), while my jap friends have large ones. I am not exactly sure where the Korean people fit into this scale, but I will keep you guys posted if I make further progress.
pos 30 May 2010 7:28 am: from my experiences and observations..i notice that chinese’s eye are larger than korean and japanese…mostly the southern chinese has double eyelid…korean’s eyes r the smallest…and mostly monoeyelid. But korean r definetely taller than chinese and the japanese …japanese are darker..korean and chinese has lighter skin tone..but the sourthern chinese like from hong kong has darker skin tone.
aznguy 12 Aug 2010 10:35 pm: I don’t think there’s a specific way to tell…if there was, there would have been a flowchart or a checklist you can find on the web for determining which nationality an East Asian might be. Being Korean, I can tell with some accuracy what nationality some random east asian is. It’s mostly gut feeling, I think. From what I saw mostly, Chinese people have really wide faces (seriously, I have never seen a chinese person with a pointed/narrow face), Japanese guys have eyebrows that slope downwards.
sukii 25 Sep 2010 4:04 am: this is my personal experince..korean and chinese has lighter skin tone than japanese… korean are the tallest.. taller than chinese and japanese but northern chinese are even tall… southern chinese are shorter .. if u go to japan..u will find that japanese are really short.. even their guy are short. chinese has more percentage (60%) of double eyelid because most southern chinese has double eyelid.. korean and japanese tend to have mongoloid eye with single eyelid.. no offense.. u will find a lot of japanese guys with weird face structure.. i dont know how to describe.. maybe its their eyebrow and eyes which make them look mean… but japanese do has higher nose bridge than korean and chinese.
professorbill 18 Oct 2010 1:11 pm: I am afrom HK and my impression of the past (before 70’s) for the 3 following nations and mostly about men and lesser in woman is as follow. Most Korean have large round or square face but tall and well built quite similar to Mogolian, Japanese are short, hairy, mild curly hairs with bushy eye brow. Chinese is a big race and so a distinct difference between far north and far south is quite noticeble. Northerner are fairer in complexion, much taller and boarder in built, southern are shorter and darker in complexion with skin complexion less fine and high cheek bone However, this impression of mine is all changed I get form the 70’s and before. For the last 30-40 years, a much more universal diet combination, life style preference, going to the gym, fashion consiousness, education, western movie and culture, and to a certain extent cosmetic surgery plus plenty who resided in the west seem to have made of 3 of the nations becoming more and more difficult to be distingusih from each other. Defintely, evolution is at work and a lot of us could be wrongly mistaken for another nationality instead.I gathered that’s what globalization has brought to all of us, at best you can only be truly identify by your DNA and no more by your physical look very soon.
Jeff 19 Nov 2010 2:41 am: Koreans maybe tall or whatever, but Chinese will always have LONGER legs.
dave 3 Feb 2011 7:35 am: I agree with professorbill. In the last few decades, it’s gotten hard to tell who is from where. And in western countries, when the asians all adopt a western diet and exercise regiment…. But with extremes you can still tell. Also, fashion and hairstyles give a lot of info, especially in asia. In general Koreans are well-built. Even if you find some who are shorter than Chinese or Japanese (and there are a lot) the men still tend to be more muscular. This is in general, of course.
marcMANIAC 1 Nov 2011 12:30 pm: more info: japanese= wider yet smaller lips(like americans) chinese= the lower lips tends to be bigger than the upper lips(most asians) korean= they have sincerely small mouth..like the tadpole(joke, i mean that’s rite?)
marcMANIAC 1 Nov 2011 12:24 pm: hurmm…its like this! i can actually tell the diferences between chinese japanese and korean quite well…i mean like its that hard?! here it is…quite frankly korean have high ‘‘CHEEK BONE’’ and ‘‘FLATTER FACE’’(especially i f you notice it from their nose stalk)..which ocassionally makes their eyes small and bit distance from the nose stalk! for japanese…they have more pointy nose and like any people(with pointy nose) they tend to have more visible nose..which makes it look ‘‘BIG’’! also japanese have a ‘‘FLAT CHEEK BONE’’….then makes curve between the eyes and the cheeks! chinese??…uhh they have those natural curve cheek bone!! definately if you would pass someone like japanese korean or chinese…then if she/he is a korean(no plastic surgery) then notice the very sharp and small eyes(yet it is longer)! if chinese…notice their cheek bone(that’s the only way)…if she/he has a natural curve cheek(like many asians)…then it’s the chinese! japanese…notice she/he tends to have a very oval n pretty much like americans’ headshape(except for the extreme pointy nose of americans’)!!!…
vernon s khuzwayo 4 May 2012 11:23 am: i am a south african. from my very limited encounter with these races i have noticed that the japanese(atleast as i see them) tend to have wide faces especially around the sides, the cheek bones are more out. the chines on the other hand tend to have smaller noses. pin straight hair. and lighter skinned. i am mostly talking about women here as i am more interested in asian women(not indians).its a preference. i do have a question though: do chinese women own hair straighteners? their hair is never out of place and i like the funky look asian (not indians)women hava adopted its both cute and sexy. i would love to interact with some of you asian folks whether you be female or male. i am interested in japanese ,korean and chinese. want to know all about your countries and how you perceive the big world we live in. contact me on [email protected]
Andrew 23 Jun 2011 7:37 am: I don’t think there’s a fool-proof way you can tell one from another, unless they stand out like STAND OUT, know what I mean? All those guys who said that Koreans have small eyes and mono-eyelids, I have some pretty big eyes and natural double-eyelids, and I’m full South Korean. And there are plenty of short Korean people, I know that for sure. All these comments seem either stereotypical or misleading.. :/
Yahukio 3 Apr 2012 3:40 pm: This question … absolutely Chinese ..(becase there are so much artificial people in Korea and Japan ) ..Believe it or not,someone in J and K really has a disgusting face.
Facts 3 Oct 2012 4:48 pm: Here are some tips: Koreans in general are the tallest, pale skin, small eyes, Korean guys best built, friendly, fiesty and perhaps drink too much. Korean girls are fashionable, too obessed with beauty. Hot temper. Japanese in general shorter,pale to tan skin, small eyes, Japanese guys friendly, reserved, can be hairy. Some Japanese women are even piegon toed, don’t know if this a medical condition, mild mannered. Fashionable, obessed with beauty. Chinese in general tall (Northern Chinese) perhaps due to mixture with Altaic speaking people like Koreans, Manchus,etc to shortest (Southern Chinese), larger eyes, fair skin to tan skin. Chinese guys too skinny, doesn’t dress well and smoke too much. Perhaps due to economics. Hot tempered even ill mannered especially mainland Chinese, Love to gamble, Chinese women aren’t as fashionable as Koreans or Japanese. Loud in public.
Tiffany Cheng 18 Apr 2013 10:42 pm: I am Chinese from Indonesia, I have been traveled to several Asian countries and met several numbers of Asians from other Countries too. Here are my descriptions of the typical Chinese, Korean, and Japanese look. Chinese in the north are usually taller with single eyelids, sparse eyebrows, higher nose bridge, broader cheekbones and jaws, longer legs, and they have lighter skin colors. Chinese in the South are usually slightly shorter with double eyelids, thick eyebrows (I’m Southern Chinese with quite thick eyebrows), lower nose bridge, rounded cheekbones and jaw, and they have slightly darker skin colors. Koreans are usually taller with single eyelids, wide jaws, broad cheekbones, sparse eyebrows, higher nose bridge, lighter skin colors, longer legs, and somewhat wide lower lips. Since some Koreans undergone plasic surgeries, so the typical Korean faces are quite changed nowadays. Japanese are usually quite short in height with almond eyes, longer nose, lighter skin to medium dark, lower cheekbones, pointy jaw, thick eyebrows, somewhat hairy, shorter legs, and crooked teeth.