What Stereotypes Do Europeans Have of Japan? Google Autocomplete Offers a Clue · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Google autocomplete suggestions for “Europe.”
Nick Kapur is back with a new series of “stereotype maps” based on search engine autocomplete results. Notably, he has created a map showing “European stereotypes of Japan and the Japanese, based on each nation's search engine autocomplete results.”
Previously, Kapur, a United States-based professional historian specializing in Japan, made a map of Japanese stereotypes of European countries, based on Japanese Google autocomplete suggestions.
Here's Kapur's newer map of “European stereotypes” of Japan:
I made a map of European stereotypes of Japan/Japanese, based on each nation's search engine autocomplete results. pic.twitter.com/QbZEDXBc9m
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 5, 2016
To create this map, Kapur says he used anonymized searches in the local language using localized versions of Google, as well as yandex.ru for Russia.
In terms of common European stereotypes about Japan, based on Google autocomplete results, Kapur notes:
By far the top result in most languages was “wear surgical masks.” The second most common was “do not shave their pubic hair.”
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 5, 2016
The “European stereotype map of Japan” and the original “Japanese stereotype map of Europe” are not Kapur's only maps based on Google autocomplete suggestions. He also has a map of Japanese stereotypes of the United States:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete knows about every US state (plus DC). pic.twitter.com/8O1zFWGYCx
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 16, 2016
He's also created a map that shows what Japanese people supposedly think of Latin America and the Caribbean (if you take Google's search autocomplete suggestions at face value):
I made a map of Japanese stereotypes of Latin American/Caribbean countries, based on Japanese Google autocomplete. pic.twitter.com/nXrnrF4Pdo
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 3, 2016
There's a map of Japanese autocomplete suggestions for the Middle East and Central Asia too:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete thinks about Middle East and Central Asian countries. pic.twitter.com/GBJJQKp191
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 23, 2016
One of Kapur's latest maps is Japanese Google autocomplete suggestions for different regions of Asia:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete thinks of various places in East, Southeast, and South Asia. pic.twitter.com/tvXoRZg0yK
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) June 9, 2016
Some Twitter users had questions about Kapur's methodology:
@nick_kapur Isn't Google autocomplete always individualized, based on your region, search history, browser, etc.?
— Morgan Pitelka (@mpitelka) May 23, 2016
Kapur responded by saying:
@mpitelka While my English autocomplete results definitely seem tailored to my location and past searches, these Japanese searches don't.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 23, 2016
Kapur is a professor of Japanese and East Asian History at Rutgers University in the United States, and has studied and taught at Harvard University and Stanford University.