News

Someone called this girl's Japanese tea party racist and then a Japanese person stepped in

Picture:
Picture:
Tumblr screengrab / Alisher Sharip on Unsplash

An old tumblr post is doing the rounds on the internet again, but the arguments surrounding it remain just as heated.

The post itself is fairly ancient in internet terms, having originally been first shared on a personal blog in 2012.

It features a young American girl girl enjoying a 'Japanese tea party' at home, complete with kimono, Origami and Asian-style cuisine.

The post is a 'how-to', written by Heidi, a Utah homemaker and mother to four children - who decided to throw the themed tea party for her daughter.

The pictures and accompanying explainer didn't remain on the 'how-to' blog long though, and was picked up by a tumblr user, who expressed concern surrounding cultural appropriation.

User ginzers shared the post and picture with the comment:

Teach children that this is not ok

What followed was a pretty heated back and forth from other users, some agreeing with the sentiment that it's not 'OK' to appropriate other people's culture, and others seeing it as simply a kid's tea party.

Then, a tumblr user identifying themselves as Japanese stepped in to share their thoughts on the matter.

The response was quickly cheered and supported by other Tumblr users, and in the years that have followed this particular post has percolated around reddit and various other forums in one form or another. Hence why it resurfaces from time-to-time.

Interestingly, one thing that doesn't crop up nearly as often is a follow up post from the original tumblr poster ginzers

After receiving quite a bit of flak for their initial anger at the tea party, they went on to share some further thoughts on tumblr

What do you think?

More: This student's message about white privilege is the most important thing you'll read today

The Conversation (0)