>>55349346Why wouldn't they? Maybe to us being Japanese is a weird thing you don't see often but if you live in Japan, are Japanese, only know Japanese people, and only speak Japanese, then Japanese is the default. I think it would make sense to expect a character in a Japanese work to be Japanese unless noted otherwise. Especially when their fictional characters tend to have different colors for hair and eyes that may not even exist in reality.
It also reminds me of this interview. The developers at Nintendo considered Mario to be Japanese. They understood the real world inspiration was Italian, but they considered him Japanese. That was surprising when I read it years ago.
https://kotaku.com/the-designer-of-the-nes-dishes-the-dirt-on-nintendos-ea-1844296906>Super Mario Bros. isn’t set in Japan, but the character’s Japanese. The name Mario sounds Italian, but he isn’t Italian.If even the obviously foreign character isn't foreign, I don't see why the ones that are supposed to be Japanese wouldn't be seen as Japanese in Japan.
