: Re: Is it offensive for a mixed raced American of no Japanese descent to use a Japanese pseudonym, merely just because they like it? I’ve grown up on anime, and with unrelated Japanese family.

@Jamie945

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if it would be culturally offensive if I used a Japanese pen-name (Kumo Espinosa) just because I like it.

If their attitude about Westerners wearing kimono (see this interview with natives) is anything to go by, I'd say absolutely not. I've asked some natives, and they said the same thing, "don't worry".

Besides, since you said you're an aspiring mangaka, bear in mind that your target audience is extremely hostile to political correctness. I'm sure you know how many times Western fans got mad at localization teams for changing/censoring products released on the Western market. They will be the last people to complain, and the last people to care about reviews that chastise you for "cultural appropriation".

In fact, if you were to generate controversy, you'd only get your target audience interested in the product (see the popularity of Goblin Slayer and Rising Of The Shield Hero).

Of course, purists will always exist in any culture. Westerners have people who enforce political correctness, and I'm sure Japan has its share of people who think that Japanese culture is not to be watered down by those damn gaijin. But those people are the vocal minority, and the only power they have, is the power other people give them.

The only case in which it could be problematic is if you use a pen name that sounds like a genuine Japanese name, like "Fujiko Fujio". But that's more for legal reasons such as accidental impersonation, than political correctness.

Since I've never heard "Kumo" (as in "cloud" or "spider"?) being used as a given name, you should definitely be fine if you use it as a pen name. Some Japanese authors use English pen names too: Kazuhiko Katō (the creator of Lupin III) uses an English pen name, Monkey Punch.

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