
The term "Far East" originates from European geopolitical discourse in the 12th century, which split Asia into three defined "easts": the Near East, which encompassed Western Asia and has generally been replaced by the modern definition of The Middle East, the Middle East, which encompassed Central Asia and northwestern South Asia, and the Far East, which encompassed countries along the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. The term is also used in a cultural sense in addition to geographic, so Oceania is never included despite neighboring Southeast Asia and being even further east than it. Since the '60s, the term has been regarded as Eurocentric, dated, and racist. It is outright proscribed to be used in serious literature outside of certain academic circles like history, being replaced with neutral regional terms such as East Asia, North Asia, and Southeast Asia, with East and Southeast Asia (ESEA) becoming the most common term for the region in international mass media outlets. Only Russia still uses that term, but only for its own Far Eastern region in Northeast Asia.
Please do not mistake all East Asians as looking the same or see them as sharing the same, vaguely Chinese/Japanese culture. While the inhabitants of the different countries may look similar to outsiders (which is something hypocritical to say, considering that Europeans and Africans each have the same "white" and "black" look to outsiders as well. It all bogs down to your experience mingling with them to be able to see the difference) and have some similar aspects in their cultures, Asia is an extremely diverse continent culturally and cannot be lumped into a single box, even regionally. To further complicate the issue, many countries in the region do not get along well with each other for historical reasons, to say the least.
For the trope, see Far East.
Countries and Territories
North Asia
Southeast Asia
- Christmas Island (administered by Australia)
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands (administered by Australia)
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Timor-Leste (East Timor)
East Asia
- Hong Kong (administered by China)
- Macau (administered by China)
- Taiwan (de facto independent country, claimed by China)
See also
- 1000 Origami Cranes
- The 47 Ronin
- Abema Best Voice Actors
- Aikido
- Ainu Mythology
- Airsoft
- All Asians Know Martial Arts
- All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats
- All Chinese People Know Kung-Fu
- Almighty Idiot
- Altaic Mythology
- Anime & Manga (included since there's also Chinese and South Korean Manga)
- Anime Chinese Girl
- Anime Fan Speak
- The Anime of the Game
- Anime Opening Parody
- Animesque
- Astro Clone
- Bara Genre
- Char Clone
- Ecchi
- Gaming and Sports Anime & Manga
- Gekiga
- Ghibli Hills
- Idol Genre
- Iyashikei
- Josei
- Kodomomuke
- Manga Effects
- Mangaka
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- Manhwa
- Names to Know in Anime
- Overtook the Manga
- Rei Ayanami Expy
- Sailor Senshi Sendup
- Seinen
- Shōnen Demographic
- Shōjo Demographic
- Shrines and Temples
- Yonkoma
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy
- Artificial Riverbank
- Asian Airhead
- Asian and Nerdy
- Asian Animation
- Asian Babymama
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- Asian Rune Chant
- Asian Speekee Engrish
- Asian Store-Owner
- Asians Eat Pets
- Ba Gua
- Banned in China
- Beam of Enlightenment
- Big Brother Is Watching This Index
- Bishōnen
- Bishōnen Line
- Bishoujo Series
- Black Belt in Origami
- Body Sushi
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine
- Bōsōzoku
- Brick Break
- Bruce Lee Clone
- Buddhism
- Lotus Position (Useful Notes)
- Mystical 108
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- China Takes Over the World
- Chinese Civil War
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- Chinese Sibling Terminology
- Why Mao changed his name (transliteration)
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- Digging to China
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- Drop the Washtub
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- The Dutch-Portuguese War
- Dynasties from Shang to Qing
- Ear Cleaning
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- Far East
- Far-East Asian Terrorists
- Feelies
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- Fighting Spirit
- First Sino-Japanese War
- Foo Fu
- Forces with Firepower
- Chinese with Chopper Support (The People's Liberation Army)
- The Dragon's Teeth (Chinese nuclear weapons)
- Filipinos with Firearms (Filipino military)
- Indonesians with Infantry (Indonesian military)
- Kaiju Defense Force (Japanese Self-Defense Force)
- Katanas of the Rising Sun (Imperial Japan)
- North Koreans with Nodongs (North Korean military)
- The Hooves of Chollima (North Korean nuclear weapons)
- The Other Chinese Army (Taiwanese military)
- Russians with Rusting Rockets (Modern Russian military)
- Reds with Rockets (Soviet military)
- Russians with Rifles (Tsarist Russian military and the White Guard)
- From Russia with Nukes (Soviet/Russian nuclear weapons)
- Singaporeans with Stealth Frigates (Singaporean military)
- South Koreans with Marines (South Korean military)
- Thai Fighters (Thai military)
- Vietnamese with Kalashnikovs (Vietnamese military)
- South Vietnamese with Skyraiders (Vietnam War-era South Vietnamese military)
- Chinese with Chopper Support (The People's Liberation Army)
- Four Is Death
- The Four Gods
- Friendly Local Chinatown
- Gag Series
- Genghis Gambit
- Ghost Leg Lottery
- Go-Karting with Bowser
- Godzilla Threshold
- Goldfish Poop Gang
- Goldfish Scooping Game
- Gorgeous Gaijin
- Gratuitous Foreign Language
- Green Is Blue
- The Gulag
- Gun Fu
- Hanahaki Disease
- Happy-Ending Massage
- Harem Genre
- Henshin Hero
- Hentai
- Hikikomori
- History of the USSR
- Holiday in Cambodia
- Honorable Elephant
- The Horde
- Horse Archer
- Hot Springs Episode
- The House of I
- The House of Wang
- Hungry Jungle
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- Iaijutsu Practitioner
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- Imperial Japan
- Improbable Chopsticks Skill
- Inscrutable Oriental
- Instant Runes
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures
- Islam
- Iwo Jima Pose
- Japan Takes Over the World
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- Baka
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- Seven Is Nana
- Tohoku Regional Accent
- Japanese Mythology
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- Just Here for Godzilla
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- I Know Karate
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- Malicious Monitor Lizard
- Make the Bear Angry Again
- Maneki Neko
- Maou the Demon King
- Martial Arts Belts
- Martial Arts and Crafts
- Martial Arts Movie
- Martial Arts for Mundane Purposes
- Mascot with Attitude
- Mecha Show
- Metro Manila Film Festival
- Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow
- Military Animals
- Monkey King Lite
- Monkey Morality Pose
- Mons Series
- Moon Rabbit
- Moose Are Idiots
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong
- Muay Thai
- Muramasa and Masamune
- Mystical Jade
- Mystical Lotus
- Naginatas Are Feminine
- Names in Japanese
- Netorare
- Ninja
- No More Emperors
- Non-Nazi Swastika
- Not-So-Safe Harbor
- Not Zilla
- Nuclear Weapons Taboo
- Odango Hair
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- Opium Den
- Otaku
- Other Royal Families
- OtokonokoGenre
- Our Dragons Are Different
- Pandaing to the Audience
- Panthera Awesome
- Paper Talisman
- Paper Tiger
- Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame
- Peking Duck Christmas
- Peking Opera
- People's Republic of Tyranny
- Personal Seals
- Personality Blood Types
- Philippine Mythology
- Polar Bears and Penguins
- Polar Madness
- Police Forces
- Power of the God Hand
- Priceless Ming Vase
- Public Bathhouse Scene
- Qipao
- Ramen as Dehydrated Noodles
- Rascally Raccoon
- "Reborn as Villainess" Story
- Red Armband of Leadership
- Red Oni, Blue Oni
- Red String of Fate
- Reincarnation
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- Rent-a-Zilla
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- Rhino Rampage
- Romanovs and Revolutions
- Russia Takes Over the World
- Russian Bear
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- Ruthless Modern Pirates
- Sambo
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- Sekaikei Genre
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- Slow Life Fantasy
- Smashing Watermelons
- Snake People
- Sneeze Cut
- Socialist Realism
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- Spirit Cultivation Genre
- Standard Japanese Fantasy Setting
- Stock Wushu Weapons
- Storming the Beaches
- Sumo Wrestling (included since there's also Mongolian sumos)
- Super-Deformed
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- Tabletop Games
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- Tanabata
- Tanuki/Kitsune Contrast
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- A Taste of the Lash
- Tea and Tea Culture
- Thai Mythology
- Three Kingdoms – Shu, Wei, Wu
- Thirty Divisions of the Peninsula
- The Thirty-Six Stratagems
- Tibetan Mythology
- Toku
- The Triads and the Tongs
- Tropical Epilogue
- Tropical Island Adventure
- Tsarist Russia
- Tulpa
- Turkic Peoples
- Ultimate Life Form
- The Vietnam War
- Vietnamese Mythology
- A Villain Named Khan
- Virtual YouTuber
- Visual Kei
- Vodka Drunkenski
- Warm-Hearted Walrus
- Weird Currency
- What the Fu Are You Doing?
- Wheelchair Antics
- Wheelchair Woobie
- White Hair, Black Heart
- White-Tailed Reindeer
- Wily Walrus
- Wing Chun
- Wintry Auroral Sky
- Wok Fu
- World Tree
- Wutai
- Wuxia
- Yakuza
- Yellow Peril
- Yuri Genre
- Zen Slap