深窓の令嬢

"Why do women in Japan put up an umbrella on sunny days?" An American IT guy, 26, a surfer, who came to Japan 2 months ago asked me. I answered
"To prevent suntan of course." I answered rather surprised at the unexpected question.
"Then they like fair skin."
"Yes of course."
"Why? it looks unhealthy!"
"Which do you prefer a girl with suntan or with fair complexion?" I asked.
"Of course with tan."
"Even if it will turn into blemish when she turns 25 or so?"
"Yes, even so. It is far better than bluish blood vessels show through her skin." He said with a look as though he had seen a most disgusting thing. "The same question to you. Which do you prefer?"
"Well.... I like fair skin." I am Japanese.
This is one of the examples how peoples' tastes are different in different countries. Most of the Japanese, young and old, men and women alike, like fair complexion because it looks beautiful. But in US and most of the European countries tanned skin is looked upon as beautiful even if it will cost a mottled skin.
In Japan people prefer "morbid beauty" so to speak. As you can imagine from the idiom "深窓の令嬢", noble women seldom go out... to buy everyday things. Even when they go out to, say, school, they are in a car. Naturally they have less chances to pick up tan and look unhealthy. In our brain there is an equation that "Noble women = Beauty". I guess this equation is deep seated in our tastes.
I explained something to this effect to him, but he still did not seem to understand our taste, because he has another equation in his head "Healthy women = Beauty".
I wrote many times about the cultural gap. We vaguely imagine that there is a gap. But we cannot realize its depth and width until we encounter such examples. Internationalization starts from this understanding.