While waiting for the news conference to begin for "Sayuri" at the Imperial Hotel on Nov. 28, two Japanese women were discussing Zhang Ziyi, the Chinese actress who plays the title role of a geisha during the years leading up to and immediately following World War II.
Neither seemed particularly bothered by the casting choice; certainly not as bothered as some Japanese are reported to be. Both had just attended the preview screening in Shinbashi. "She was good," one of them said. " 'Asian Beauty,' right?"
Her friend laughed. By "Asian Beauty," the woman was referring to the catch copy of a television commercial for hair-care products that features Zhang. In the ad, the actress receives some sort of beauty pageant award and the Western white women in attendance look at her with undisguised envy and resentment. It's an awful commercial in more ways than one, referencing Japanese women's supposed long-standing feeling of inferiority toward Western women. Inevitably, you wonder why the ad company didn't use a Japanese actress in the commercial.