The Japanese have a great, but very subtle sense of humor. I could write a book on some of the Japanized English and drawings which didn't get through.
I once met my counterpart for Sanrio at a social gathering-- he was the guy who got caught up in the vortex of the Sambo flap of the early 1990's-- a nice Canadian fellow who was actually far more sensitive about such things than me. Long story short is that the Sambo characters were developed by a very talented black artist in Jamacia. Sanrio got mau-maued because they refused a shake-down demand from a Jackson/Sharpton type group who wanted a contribution in return for a promise not to protest the product.
the sambo book was a great story when i was a little one in kindergarten..i won’t say how many years ago that was...i never as a child looked at the story being racial...even when i had grown i didn’t...its a shame that we have so many people out there destroying us and our cultures...