This issue comes up for two reasons. One is a local TV ad for a casino not far from San Francisco.
The ad emphasizes that the Chief Financial Officer is Randy Takamoto. Most local gamblers are Chinese. His name is Japanese. In fact Japanese are not much into gambling. Their gamble of choice is pachinko; a relative of pinball.
It looks to me like some advertising creative type is confused about Asians. He thinks promoting a Japanese named Financial Officer to Chinese gamblers will look positive to them.
It is also possible that Chinese think that Japanese are scrupulously honest. Something I know is true but I’ve never encountered among my Chinese or Chinese-American friends.
This just looks like pan-Asian prejudice to me.
The second instance was when Peet’s Coffee opened several coffee shops in Tokyo. I went to the first one and found many marketing errors. Many such as wooden stirrers. Japanese use wooden, often bamboo, chopsticks to eat with; never to stir their hot drinks. Since I love Peet’s coffee, I sought out the manager to offer help.
The manager for the multiple coffee shops turned out to be Chinese. Which is why Peet’s got so many details wrong. Someone in management must have thought one Asian could handle the new shops in Japan, Korea and China. A potential big savings in personal. A gigantic mistake in cultural misunderstanding. Peet's in Tokyo closed a few months later.
Asians are not alike anymore than Europeans.