Most of the complaints came from Japan, but Japanese-Americans also took offense. We're really unhappy about the way the casting's been done, says John Tateishi, national director of the Japanese American Citizens League. This isn't a situation like in the 1920s, '30s or even '50s, where there were so few Asian, and Japanese, actors who could play a role. Now there are plenty of Japanese actors who can play those parts. This is typical of Hollywood.In response to attacks like these, director Rob Marshall has defended his choices, saying that Zhang, for example, was the one woman on earth who could play this role, and that he's made unusual casting decisions before, such as choosing Queen Latifah to play the prison warden in Chicago. 　　Spyglass and Buena Vista decided to do more than just offer conciliatory words. 　

The Tokyo junket in January was a sweeping effort to simultaneously spread good will and court Japanese auds. Four hundred journalists were invited to the event (650 showed up), which one attendee describes as a big love fest. The film's cast and director were trotted out, clips of the film were shown, and the pic's Japanese heartthrobs Watanabe and Yakusho were given plenty of ogle time. 　　

Although American audiences haven't been privy to such elaborate salesmanship, expect that to change once awards season sweeps in.

Source:variety