How can you tell apart a Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese person,etc...apart from each other?

Question

WITHOUT asking them bluntly?

=)

And just for fun,...what type of asian do you think my friend is? haha:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa116/SquigglyLines59/rurl2d6a3ca9f40dc47a6bee70391a2bfb0.jpg

thanks!

Answer 1

japanese------paler eyes more horizontal

chinese-----more tanned and kind of a down ward slant almost

korean-----is a little bit like the chinese so some times its ahrd to tell the difference

vietnamese----- have sort of wider mouths than the rest, and eyes are  more squinty

and thats it. sorry if the info was not accurate as you might have expected.

and for your friend i think he might be vietnamese or japanese, i cant really see his face.

Answer 2

You know, I really don't know. I just seem to be able to identify Koreans, Japanese, etc. relatively well. I would say he's either Chinese or Taiwanese. Am I right?

Answer 3

This is an interesting question. I'm not going to comment on facial features because those tend to throw people off. I'm a Chinese descent, but I don't have a flat/slanted face, tanned skin, or small or puffy eyes. Anyone who is trying to determine anybody's ethnicity through facial features doesn't know what they're talking about. Besides, there are 56 Chinese minorities, so there is no way you can use facial features to classify them.

The easiest way to differentiate them is by the last name, language, behavior, and clothing. If you're trying to tell Asians apart in a place like the US, its pretty hard based on physical appearance.

As far as behavior, I know its common for Asians to "bow" when greeting people, so I guess you can tell by how they take a bow. Based on my observations, Japanese (women in particular) look like they bow to a 90 degree angle with their hands together in front, Koreans look like they bow to a 45, and Chinese just slightly bow their heads. As for Vietnamese...I have no idea (do they bow?).

The method I use to determine their nationality is through the accent, and to determine their ethnicity, I just observe the last name and how they behave around their own family.

As for your friend, I really don't know because I have to see him in person and observe his behavior to know.

Answer 4

You can tell from their appearance. His hairstyle is long and stylish so to me it is a Japanese haircut. Korean and Chinese men don't usually wear haircuts like that. (But I don't know about Thai, or Vietnamese).

Listen to him talking in his native language. That should give you a few clues). If he says arimasu, he's Japanese, if he says annongy haseyo he's Korean, and if he says Ni hao he's Chinese.

Answer 5

I don't know. I seem to have a good intuition about these things, lol. Mostly it's the way they speak when they're speaking their language...and some physical characteristics also. But it's hard to describe.

I'm just going to guess that your friend is Japanese ahaha.

Answer 6

This is an interesting question. You can tell easily what nationality they are by their last name. Like Lee and Kim for Korean, Li and Lau for Chinese, and Nguyen, Pham for Vietnamese.

It's funny because you'll never really know. I'm full vietnamese but I have a lot of people mistaking me for either Japanese, Korean, or Chinese.

Your friend looks Chinese from my opinion. I can't tell because the pic is blurry.

Answer 7

usually you can tell your own race like I am part korean and when I walking in the mall or something I just know who is korean and not.... I would say your friend is japanese or korean the jacket he has looks more korean to me and his hair is kind of hard to tell because japanese and korean have same still but since he has the long hair infront of his ear I am gonna say he is korean! lol please reply and tell me what he is! ^^

Answer 8

korean your friend is. usually korean peoples hair have a waveish. and thei accisents are different than chinese people. chinese people tend to also have a flatter face. many koreans dont wear glasses cuz they wear contacts to show their face features. viernamese people have darker colored skin than japanses korean and chinese people. but yeah i think your friend is korean

Answer 9

Hello, I'm a native Korean and this is a very interesting question!

Koreans, Japanese and Chinese may look the same to non-Asian people; however, we Asians can distinguish ourselves in most cases.

If there were 10 Koreans, 10 Japanese and 10 Chinese people in the same room randomly, I can match their nationalities pretty well even without hearing their languages.(Roughly 80%) This is possible by observing their appearance, facial expressions, outfits and makeup.

Let me tell you the brief general impressions on each ethnic groups.

1. Koreans

Most Koreans are descendants of Northern Asians.

Koreans generally have smaller eyes without double eyelid with higher cheekbones and noses.

Koreans are generally taller than Southern Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. (Actually, South Koreans are the tallest in Asia!)

A typical Korean-looking male can be found here:

http://www.hankyung.com/photo/200802/200...

2. Japanese

Japanese generally have larger eyes and many of them have snaggle-teeth. Japanese women tend to put on thick makeup so that they look palely white.

Their behavior is different as well. They are more reserved and avoid physical contacts.

A typical Japanese-looking female can be found here:

http://www.sportsseoul.com/news2/enterta...

3. Chinese

China is a huge country and it is not a single-ethnic(ethnically homogenous) country as they are in Korea and Japan. Northern Chinese and Southern Chinese look quite different and they speak different languages which are not mutally intelligible.

Southern Chinese are definitely shorter than Northern Chinese and they have larger eyes and darker skin colors. Southern Chinese look more like Southeast Asians.

Mainland Chinese people don't dress well and less fashionable than Taiwanese, Koreans or Japanese.

4. Vietnamese

Vietnamese people are noticeably different from Koreans, Japanese and Northern Chinese because they are Southeast Asians. They are generally shorter and darker. They've got larger eyes too.

http://image.mtstarnews.com/indexlink_im...

PS. It is not easy to tell one's nationality(ethnic origin) by seeing a single side-shot picture but I guess he's either Korean or Chinese.

Answer 10

Really I think the easiest way to tell is by listening to the way that they talk. I think that your friend looks Japanese.

Answer 11

Do a little research on google of character traits of each race.

Answer 12

I can't I know it sounds racist but they really do generally all look the same.

I think chinese and Japanese people have different shaped eyes though.

Answer 13

I would say your friend is maybe Korean? I don't really know how to explain but sometimes I can just tell. But I think white, black, and hispanic people might seem similar to some asians also. It's because your used to seeing less of that race.

Answer 14

Chinese people generally have puffier eyes I think, and a flatter face, while Japanese's eyes are bigger and more almond like.

Your friend looks Japanese or Korean.

Sorry to anybody if it sounded racist, I wasn't tryign to be.

Answer 15

I can tell he is definetly not Korean. First hairstyle tells you that his either Chinese or very slight chance of Japanese.

I can't clearly see his face but he looks more Chinese to me. Finally, can you see the thing he is wearing in his wrist? Koreans never wear those type of accessories. I know my filo friends wear them though. Possibly filo? chinese or viet I'd go.

muahhaha. just my thoughts~

EDIT: Hoho, got it right =P you can definitely tell he isn't Korean~

EDIT2: to those who says korean and chinese look same -_-;

Answer 16

Trick question, he's Hawaiian!

Answer 17

You ask them politely, and not bluntly

Answer 18

i'm northern chinese/korean in singapore. my dad's korean, my mum's korean-chinese. i can differentiate chinese-japanese, korean-japanese, but it's really hard to differentiate chinese and koreans in my opinion. vietnamese look similar too. but you really gotta live in an asian society to tell the difference. sometimes, you can't tell by facial features. you just KNOW.

1) by the way, chinese and koreans have simliar surnames. SAME SPELLING. my surname is lee and i'm korean-chinese but my chinese friends' surnames are also lee.

there's the chinese 'han' and the korean'han' . so it's hard to tell also.

p.s. southeast asians are fashionable too! just because we're a region which is more undeveloped, don't judge!

Answer 19

he's chinese.

simply cause i can tell, im asian myself. so i know .

Answer 20

im asian and is it just me cause if i just look at their faces i can sort of tell if they are korean/chinese/japanese. o _o;;

he looks korean/chinese. cant really decdie cause his eyes are closed and its side view

Answer 21

omg wat a interesting question!!!! :DDD

you kno i have no idea but im

japanese

slash mexican!!! :D

i kno how to speak spanish but not japanese

~kitty

Ps: ama give you a star ^_^