Japanese is not a race.
The Japanese have are a unique race, religion (Shinto) and nationality.
I'm a big fan of the Japanese. But yes, to them, "Japanese" is a race. It's pretty much core to their culture. They know they're better than anyone else in the universe. After Commodore Perry paid them a diplomatic call in 1853 accompanied by gunships, they have learned to deal respectfully with foreigners--except for that lapse 80 years ago.
The Han Chinese--the race that runs China and enslaves the others--believe they ARE China and no one else ranks. They gave Japan their basic culture over the millennia. Except the Japanese are not currently consumed and corrupted with evil as the ChiCom rulers are.