Composite Faces of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Women
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Image by Dienekes Pontikos
These are faces created by compositing multiple faces of Chinese, Japanese, Korean women. Can you correctly identify which one is which? The answer is over at Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog.
71 Responses to “Composite Faces of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Women”
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Euiyoung Kim says:
May 8th, 2009 at 1:06 pmjap-kor-chi
vanna says:
May 9th, 2009 at 11:41 amfrom left to right:
1. chinese
2. korean
3. japanese
hellopeople says:
May 9th, 2009 at 4:08 pmThis is too funny-without looking here, I gave my friend the same thing today! No telling, since it’d be cheating.
wesugiHolic says:
May 10th, 2009 at 6:59 amchinese
japanese
korean
mikimoto says:
May 16th, 2009 at 9:39 am1.Chinese
2.Korean
3.Japanese
hyungbina says:
May 16th, 2009 at 11:44 pm1. chinese
2. korean
3. japanese
JonKeeBong says:
May 17th, 2009 at 11:38 pmchinese korean japanese
Wai LS says:
May 20th, 2009 at 12:18 pmCertainly Chinese, Korean, Japanese.
Wai LS says:
May 20th, 2009 at 12:18 pmLeft to right, that is.
jeirin says:
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 amleft – right :
korean,chinese,japanese
mscottleonard says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:51 pmleft to right
Chinese
Korean
Japanese
for sure
Christian says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:25 pmLeft to Right: Korean, Chinese, Japanese
Ducky says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 amchinese, korean, japanese
Kendra Kaidel says:
June 6th, 2009 at 7:49 pmChinese-Korean-Japanese
A. says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:38 pmI know I can’t tell the difference.
Here is a guess.
Korean
Chinese
Japanese.
Antares-1 says:
June 8th, 2009 at 1:25 amchinese, korean, japanese =PPP
Oulare Mamady says:
June 10th, 2009 at 8:42 amThe first face is Japanese
The Second face is Chinese
And the third Face is Korean
You can call me +224-64-39-84-11
lei xu says:
June 19th, 2009 at 7:53 amchinese-korean-japanese
snowball says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:32 pmchinese, korean, japanese. >> eyebrows gave away the japanese, nose and eyes helped me distinguish between the chinese and korean. ^_^
Cindy says:
June 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pmChinese/Korean/Japanese!!
Tsuki says:
July 6th, 2009 at 5:40 pmChinese Korean and Japanese. ^^
maw says:
July 7th, 2009 at 3:21 amI got it spot on. :-p
Dawn says:
July 11th, 2009 at 4:44 amJapanese, Chinese, Korean or possibly Korean, Chinese, Japanese
mkko says:
July 13th, 2009 at 1:35 pmthe one on the right is definately japanese.
can’t really tell between the chinese and the korean
i’m guessing chinese, korean, japanese
Anita K. says:
July 14th, 2009 at 10:13 pmVery easy:
Chinese, Korean, Japanese.
Kerry says:
August 25th, 2009 at 9:05 amfrom left to right: chinese, korean, japanese
I tell from their smiles and eyes. Japanese people smile with mouth closed, Chinese with teeth showing. And Japanese people have a very unique look in their eyes.. can’t describe.
Simon says:
August 26th, 2009 at 6:54 amfrom left to right
Japanese Chinese and korean
David says:
August 29th, 2009 at 9:04 pmthis is so pointless =.=”
obviously we can’t tell Asians apart because we are of the same Mongoloid race
however unlike the racist connotation that all Asian faces look alike, our faces are very much different individually just like people of any other races
can u tell if a White person is French or Belgium? i think not =P
val says:
September 14th, 2009 at 2:42 amIt is absolutely impossible to tell whether a particular Asian of the mongoloid race is from Korea, China,
or Japan. Though there are racial characteristics, there are infinite individual differences. It is the same
with caucasians and negroes. Likewise, it would be equally impossible to differentiate between an American, a Belgian, and a French person or a Kenyan from a person from Haiti.
Each race has certain general characteristics and infinite individual variety. To the extent that persons
of one race may have some difficulty discerning differences between members of races not their own
may be more a question of exposure – or lack of it- than racism.
Iris says:
September 21st, 2009 at 4:52 amChinese, Korean, Japanese.
Like some others here, I sort them by their composite *smiles/expressions.* The way people show tension in the mouth I think is very telling, often culturally so. Then the composite hairstyle on the 3rd pic looked like something I’ve more often seen on Japanese. Lastly, since the Korean women I’ve seen are more generally pale than the Chinese (who seem to have a more diverse range of hues), I picked the paler 2nd pic to be Korean.
To those people who say that it’s impossible to tell these things because within a certain race there are an infinite variety of characteristics, here’s what I have to say:
You forget facial expression. If you feel physical facial features are irrelevant, fine, but consider that different cultures *do often* employ the muscles of their faces differently, in expressing the same emotions. OF COURSE we’re not talking about rules here, just likelihoods. IF all of these composite pics were of faces with “dead” or blank expressions, then it could’ve been more difficult to tell. But their expressions are NOT completely blank.
Also, hairstyle is an expression that can be unique between cultures.
And THOSE kinds of differences ARE relevant. I wish people didn’t have such a knee-jerk reaction to these types of things.
Annunaki says:
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:53 amThere’s one thing I sure of this..
The right most is a Japanese woman.
Jini says:
October 7th, 2009 at 5:55 amchinese-korean-japanese (from left to right duh)
Isaac Kojima says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:18 amI don’t know how to explain, but Chinese-Korean-Japanese (from left to right).
Isaac Kojima says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:22 amJust after read the fellows comments.
Val: how do you explain most part of the people can answer this question right?
val says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pmIsaac -
I really can’t explain it – the explanations are interesting. Do Koreans have paler skin and are Japanese
eyebrows distinctive. I am at a loss.
Val
BJ says:
November 10th, 2009 at 5:12 amYou can definitely tell a person from Kenya and Haiti apart as no Kenyans were involved in the slave trade. Kenyans are from east africa, and although most Kenyans are of Bantu stock, they are very differentiable from west africans as a whole.
BJ says:
November 10th, 2009 at 5:17 amThe 3rd girl looks wealthier, better maintained so I assumed Japanesed. Koreans have wide round faces in general, so I guessed number 2 and Chinese girls have yellow complexions with highly defined boned structure, so i guessed girl number 1. Dig?
JonJon says:
November 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pmChinese-Korean-Japanese
…I bet I’m correct since I consider myself an expert in Asian women!
(for those curious I am caucasian)
JonJon says:
November 16th, 2009 at 8:29 pmWoohooo!!!
I am correct!
I’m the Mac Daddy!
Matsumoto says:
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pmRespective:
Chinese
Japanese
Koren
Here in Brasil There are a lot of Japanese Descendents…but i have never a Chinese or Korean here…my opinion is based just watching movies and searching for Asian photos on the net!
Pax Japonica says:
December 4th, 2009 at 9:06 amChinese – Korean – Japanese
because the differences in nose, eyebrows, and shape of eye (and possibly skin color)
PavelGee says:
December 7th, 2009 at 1:53 pmChinese
Korean
Japanese
(from left to right)
Inst says:
December 14th, 2009 at 9:06 amamazing how many people managed to get the composite right, whereas many people fail on alllooksame.
In any case, for the people who got Chinese right, does the composite look like northern han or southern han?
Healee says:
December 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pmI agree with the person who said “I wish people didn’t have such a knee-jerk reaction to these types of things.” We are ALL different – men and women, Chinese and Belgian, Canadians and Brazilians…instead of sticking to the same old “pc” garbage, why not acknowledge the differences? Delight in them and be PROUD of our differences?!? Different does NOT mean better or worse…it simply means different. Embrace it!
Casey says:
December 30th, 2009 at 3:19 amleft to right: korean, chinese, japanese.
idk.
well....... says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:22 amI don’t think average Chinese face makes any sense. Chinese are full of different DNAs. Chinese in Hong Kong and Chinese in Beijing look as much different from Japanese and Korean. In my view, Koreans are more like Mongolians with whiter skin and plain face.
Vitalka says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 6:37 amFrom left to right: korean, japanese, chinese?
Shanti says:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:46 pmIt is clear that the Japanese have the most distinctive look from the answers above.
yuri says:
January 13th, 2010 at 2:29 pmChinese – because of her more angular shape of face & nose – I think they have the best shape of face.
Korean – white skin, Rounder face compared to other two. – I think they have the best looking skin
Japanese – shape of her eyebrows, smile and nose. – I think they have the best looking eyes & nose
Xiah says:
February 6th, 2010 at 4:58 pmCHINO
KOREANO
JAPONES
Vlad says:
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:57 pmSomehow, it was easy for me to tell who is Japanese. I explain this by the nose shape, which the Japanese have, I’d say, “the least Asian”. Was more confused with the other too, because many of my Korean friends are darker, “tan”-skinned. I agree with someone else’s statement here that Chinese features seem more “angular”.
I sincerely believe there is nothing wrong or impossible in seeing and discussing such differences. I am white, a Russian, living in a major metro area in the US. I know that I can tell a fellow Russian quite (not 100% of course) accurately just by looks. Similarly, because I have many friends and colleagues who are German, I often can guess I German person. Or a Swede. Or a Spanish person from an Italian.
Jalen says:
February 24th, 2010 at 8:13 pmfrom left to right: chinese, korean, japonese
I think the Japonese girl is the prettiest, followed by the chinese.
i also think the Chinese one is southern han.
sulian says:
February 27th, 2010 at 11:03 amkorean
ch
japanese
Len says:
February 27th, 2010 at 10:58 pmChinese, Korean, Japanese.
Seri says:
April 19th, 2010 at 11:28 pmChinese-Korean-Japanese
Rightmost is Japanese definitely… they are mixed with their Caucasian indigenous peoples, like the Ainu.
Middle is Korean… Koreans have a distinctive look.
Chinese is generally harder to identify because they are multi-ethnic. If I met the leftmost on the street, I would not know for sure that they are Chinese, because the Chinese are just so diverse.
Seri says:
April 19th, 2010 at 11:30 pmAlso, Koreans are paler and taller than other Asians, so that’s another way to tell them apart.
Thiago Biquiba says:
April 19th, 2010 at 11:48 pmwow, this is a tough one for me. I scoredonly 3, in the faces exam room. But here we go. From left to right: Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
Thiago Biquiba says:
April 19th, 2010 at 11:48 pm*scored only
Thiago Biquiba says:
April 20th, 2010 at 12:03 am“obviously we can’t tell Asians apart because we are of the same Mongoloid race
however unlike the racist connotation that all Asian faces look alike, our faces are very much different individually just like people of any other races”
- I quite agree wih you bro. I like to play saying to me, that as I can’t to distinguish them, I also can’t to distinguish someone among Norwegian, Swedish or Finnish. Hoping when the chance to appear, to say it to any Asian/Asian descendant. Meaning that, if I think that they look alike, it don’t means that I’m racist/prejudiced or ignorant
Thiago Biquiba says:
April 20th, 2010 at 12:10 am@Iris
I chose the the one in middle as Korean because she’s pale too. The one in the right side I choose as Japanese, but I can’t explain why 
I just think that she looks like others Japaneses 
The one in the right side, I chose as Chinese because I only had this left option 
“Like some others here, I sort them by their composite *smiles/expressions.* The way people show tension in the mouth I think is very telling, often culturally so.”
-Wow, you are good at it. But I’m very bad, I only scored 3 in the faces exam room, despite I know Koreans, Chineses and Japaneses
Vlad says:
April 20th, 2010 at 10:58 amLook what those politicians, have done to us! We are wondering/afraid whether or not our comment may would sound “racist”, politically incorrect… “Oh, it may be racist to think they look same…” “oh, it may be racist if I look for ethnic-based difference in faces…” What a BS.
Folks, let’s just speak with out hearts and be good. Racism is when you wish bad to someone based on their race. If you can’t tell, that’s OK. If you want to be able to tell, that’s even better. That is interest to other people, desire to understand.
I am here because I am fascinated by Eastern Asian women. I believe they are God’s gift to all men and don’t care if someone thinks this is racist or not. I am here on this website to learn more, and I have.
Kokoro says:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:17 am1. Chinese: More angular face, im wondering if she’s slightly smiling or just has a very dry upper lip.
2. Korean: Rounded face, a common feature in both Japanese and Korean, but she’s very pale, which I see alot in Koreans, though it could be a Japanese woman from Hokkaido as well.
3. Japanese: Eyes and the nose. Smaller head -> usually smaller body -> a feature of most Japanese women.
Either way, it would still be hard to tell the difference, especially if they did plastic surgery, we would never know… @_@
RYOKU says:
May 10th, 2010 at 3:54 pm1. chinese
2. korean
3. japanese
real sure about it.
mete says:
May 15th, 2010 at 10:33 amch/ korean/ch
Dan says:
May 27th, 2010 at 4:09 pmjapanese, chinese, korean
Nose of middle one looks just like Wuhan/Red-Cliffs people to me. Eye socket structure also matches.
Left looks more Korean to me than the one on the right.
Kate says:
May 29th, 2010 at 12:04 pmThis is so easy:
Chinese, Korean, Japanese
The facial feature placements gave away the Chinese one.
The skin tone, eyes and lower face gave away the Korean one.
The nose and eyebrows gave away the Japanese one.
I just checked, and this is the correct order
Rin says:
June 11th, 2010 at 6:37 pmI agree with Vlad. I, myself am Aisan American. Korean, American to be exact. My skin tone is more of a yellow-ish/light tan color. Not exactly pale. im mixed, so my eyes arn’t as slanted as a regular Korean’s eye. I got the Japanese one right away. The farther right. But the other two were harder. I looked at both of the skin tones, eyes, and mouths of the pics compared to mine. like I said it was harder cuz the korean pic was pale and mines is not…………(sigh…)
Janice Y. says:
July 5th, 2010 at 12:31 amIt’s so funny what you people are writing. There’s no point in a page like this. Most of the people’s generalizations are stereotypical and are wrong. I am completely Han Chinese and I don’t have an “angular face”, I have a rounded one (No, I’m not fat, not in the least). My eyebrows are in a similar distinctive shape that the Japanese person here has. My skin is extremely pale and has been compared to porcelain(multiple times from multiple people), which is what some are claiming as a Korean feature. Come to Southern California, preferably an area where atleast 50% are Asians. You won’t be able to tell the difference in most women AND men since there are no true defining features.
val says:
July 5th, 2010 at 2:56 amJanice -
Thank you for your comment. I am not Asian, but after reading all the comments following my opinion
that it was simply not possible to definitively identify particular national groups, I was starting to feel
pretty stupid. I lived for 40 years in the San Francisco Bay area which has a huge Asian population and I still can’t identify with certainty the ethnic background of any particular man or woman.
I’m glad that you share the opinion that it is not as easy to identify a Chinese vs. Korean vs. Japanese as
some posters on this board would have you believe.
dawn says:
July 5th, 2010 at 6:16 amI could not correctly identify them and I am Asian. Certain nationalities have a habitual way of holding a facial expression or posture, then you have the ethnic physical features mixed with blended cultural and societal influences, and it gets even more distracting so I totally understand your confusion in San Francisco. I used to just ask people, if I was curious, if it was out of genuine curiosity to know more about the person. Which is far less insulting than having someone tell you what you are supposed to be because it tells me more about you than who I am supposed to be.
pmrcalaby says:
July 26th, 2010 at 3:45 amI’m relatively sure that the woman in the middle is Korean. Apart from that, no idea.