Ken Watanabe Height

Add a comment about their height

Your Comment:

MD Student says on 8/Aug/08
I love the racism, subtle or not, on this site. Let's get our facts straight. Our growth is affected by BOTH genetic and environmental factors--I'm a 5'10'' Asian male, but my dad's 6'0''. My diet during my youth and sleeping patterns were deplorable compared to his. I live in Orange County, and the average height of Asian males increase every year; better living standards, food, etc. It just means good food and sleep = good growth. IMAGINE THAT!

And yes, race is a socially constructed myth. All this garbage of innate genetic racial markers gets really tiring. Consider, Italians, Irish, and people of Southeast European ancestry weren't even considered White initially, and the arbitrary Black standards of the South meant a Black man could become White simply by crossing state borders.

And please don't refer to East Asian culture as "Oriental".

AC says on 3/Jul/08
First of all, there's no such thing as an "Asian" and a "caucasian"; race is a myth. There are just different genes spread around in different frequencies in different areas. Secondly, to group everyone on a continent (or two continents, for "caucasian", is an even sillier thing to do. Average height differs by country and ethnic group, so you're lumping everyone together where there are substantial differences.

ArchDevil says on 29/Jun/08
Don't confuse nutrition with health! Asian diet is definitely superior to Caucasian diet. Isn't this the trend everywhere? that white people finally realized all the extra calcium only made them age faster? Let's face it: Western diet is short of vegetables. Being taller looks good for sure, but other than look, being taller than 180cm is NOT healthy: shorter stamina, slower movement, faster aging... The ideal height range for a strong healthy male should be between 170-180cm (5'7"-5'11") Oh and don't even think of selling me that "Western society is more creative" ignorance! Without the Chinese inventions of compass, paper, gunpowder, printing, the whole West will still be in the Dark Age. Believing in size matters or worse, taller means stronger, is closer to stupidity than creativity. So the Dutch are the tallest people on earth now, are they doing the best as well? Last time I checked, the world's 1st and 2nd largest economies are the US and China...

Anonymous says on 6/Jun/08
I agree with Col. Really, I don't think the asians will get much taller than they are now. I'm half japanese and only 167-168 cm but apparently, I'm not considered short in Japan.I wear the medium-sized japanese clothes. I know that the japanese youth overdrinks milk to get as tall as caucasian people so I think they have already reached their potential. Plus, the japanese diet is very rich. To be honest, I feel like the young japanese guys are obsessed by their height. So they do all what they can to get as tall as possible. And I guess it's the same thing in Korea and China. A lot of young japanese guys are about 185 cm but a lot of them are 160-165 cm too.I know the celebrities are taller than that but don't judge by the celebrities. For exemple, Tom Cruise is about 5'8 and he's apparently considered midget by holywoodian standards... It's the same thing with japanese celebrities. Even with good conditions, the japanese are still relatively short compared to most people. So I think they might be naturally short.But it doesn't matter.

unholy says on 25/May/08
Sorry but the Dutch aren't the tallest in average, research has proven that he peoples of the Dinaric Alps are taller.

DTA says on 16/May/08
Looks to be 6'0" from what I've seen of him but 184cm is certainly possible.
As far as asians go he is very tall. And as much as people claim better nutrition will bridge the gap between average height of caucasian and asians there is just no way its going to happen. Caucasians are genetically bigger, just look at the rugby players Japan fields. Almost a quarter of their international side (especially the locks) are caucasian because they simply do not have enough tall local players.
I admit as far as nutrition goes it has done wonders for the Dutch however.. 184cm is the average male height between 18 and 30 years

JR says on 18/Apr/08
Thank you Ross! you hit the nail on the head nutrition, nutrition, nutrition!!! That's why my kid is gonna have a better diet than I had. Also, the creativity part I believe is more a fault of 'oriental' culture. It tends to be more restrictive and not as freely thinking as western society. In fact in an asian family, children really don't have a right to exprexx themselves freely until after 18. It's still prett medieval compared to western culture.

Ross Wigley says on 16/Feb/08
Cool Dude, Orientals clearly have more raw intellectual power, but they are vastly inferior in creative thought. This is why they become engineers and not Einsteins or Edison's. They are shorter mostly because of their inferior diet, which lacks proper protein and vitamins.

dmeyer says on 6/Feb/08
could be 6'0.5 in

Anonymous says on 23/Jan/08
Not rain on anyone's parade but the Dutch are the tallest people in the world. They have the tallest average doorway height too, which isn't really surprise.

Fonfon says on 15/Jan/08
Hello, I am French and have asian root.. I stand at 184cm..
Spend sometimes in Singapore... Was quite surprise that much youngters are actually taller or as tall as me ! Less rice more fast food maybe ...

Irishman says on 11/Dec/07
Irish people are a very tall race i was in spain and ive just turned 16 and im 6 foot and still growing but nearly most of the spanish race were 5,8 or smaller in my school alot of people are 6 foot 5 to 6 it depends on regions i think

lolwut says on 4/Dec/07
I live in the UK, but I spent a year in Japan as an exchange student. I spent most of my time in Nagoya and Kyoto but I visited to most of the major cities. I'm 6'3 and was taller than nearly everyone I saw. I did see quite a few males who looked around 6' but I saw very few people taller than me.

Anonymous says on 4/Dec/07
Japanese are among the shotest people in the world. The avg. height of a young adult is 5'7. In China, it's the same, and in Korea it is 5'8. I guess you can say Ken Watanabe is rather tall for a Japanese. I, being only 14 and 5'7, can not say he's short.

WYQ says on 2/Dec/07
16 years'old 183cm !!! for a girl is tall
when I go somewhere, everyone look at me. sometimes is ok, but sometimes I'm tired to be a target. and when I say everyone, is everyone. small kids to old people ALL

does the same thing happen to you guys too?

Cool Dude says on 30/Nov/07
Dunno...Dont care....and to people who said "Oh.....I'm 6'whatever, and asian are shorter" Hmmmm...maybe you ARE tall.....but u know what is the point???....asians are also generally smarter....i mean...look at the percentage of asians in top colleges in the US....they dominate other races....so in other words...even if u are taller...dont be an ass and think asians are short or whatever,,,,cause u know...they are usually smarter than you also...

Average??? says on 28/Nov/07
wow, that guy said "chinese are short theyre all like 5'11", haha where do you live, 5'11 is on the tall side. personally I think anyone who is not disablled from there lack of height is tall...like anything above 4'11 any shorter than that and you start to need help to do things just because things are sized for taller people...im 6'1 and i hardly meet anyone my height and when i do its wierd becuase i can actually look someone in the eye standing up, im always slouching are moving my head down because I feel like everyone is trying to talk loud so i can hear. i just turned 21 and i hope i don't grow anymore, people taller than me have a wierd proportion to their body thats not to attractive. but i would rather be shorter as long as i had a good proportion to my body then i wouldn't mind, like how johny depp or al pacino have small waste with wider shoulders, i think that looks better than looking lanky. im going to start working out though so it will help me look better proportioned

Anonymous says on 27/Nov/07
You people need to learn to read a standard normal curve - take a statisitcs course. In America the average male height is 5'9.5" for all races - 5'10" for European descent. The standard deviation of height is about 2.5". That means that only 17% of adult male Americans of all races are over 6'0" or under 5'7". Those munbers are from the National Institute of Health, a U.S. government agency. If you think every guy you meet is over 6'0", you suffer from dysmorphia.

sam says on 9/Nov/07
Dark house, I'd disagree with that. 6'1", I believe can generally be considered tall even for a man, and 6'4" is very tall. Once you're taller than more than 90% of humans, I think you can safely call yourself very tall. 6'8" is borderline giant.

Dark horse says on 8/Nov/07
I'm 6'8. Everyone is equally as short the world over. Get over it, 6'0 is not tall. Its above average. You've got to be 6'4 to start calling yourself tall.

Anonymous says on 7/Oct/07
i reckon vietnamese are the shortest of the asians, but some are getting taller now. i know a 6'4 viet guy. chinese are short, they're all like 5'11 at my school.

6'0'' says on 5/Oct/07
Yeah, I think 6'0'' or a little bit over is appropriate for Watanabe. Asian people are shorter on average then Westerners. I'm 5'10.5'', and having traveled extensively all over Asia, I can say that I'm a couple of inches taller then your average Asian man. Even in South Korea, which has the tallest average height in Asia, I am still a little bit taller then most South Korean young adults. It's weird that their are these 6'+ guys who say that there are a lot of Asian people who tower over them. Different regions, I guess?

Anonymous says on 23/Sep/07
I used to live and Japan, and even though I'm only 14 and 5'8ft, I was taller than a lot of people. Occasionally there were people (Japanese) that were 6'0 or in that ballpark, but in general people are taller in the U.S.

iROC says on 19/Aug/07
Just putting out there. Yao Ming's wife is listed at 6'1, and she's chinese.... whoa.

KYakko says on 5/Aug/07
I wouldn't say the bomb made them taller. more like the change in diet (more dairy and meat - btw which also increased balding in the population) and economics. yes, i'm chinese, but born in iowa (don't ask). i'm 5'9" which seemed above average when i was in hong kong, but normal in Taiwan. I've never been outside of the airport in japan, but i was taller than most at that airport.

bledildo says on 1/Aug/07
huhu kyakko is a chinese dude anyway i guess if nobody drop the atomic bomb in Japan,average of them would be taller in ww2.if i remember correctly the taller Northern part of china man historically are the Kazakh,Mongols,Kyrgyz or maybe the Turk which somehow interbreeding with the native so now the taller might be descendant from them and also the northern part don't speak the same as the southern.The Northern somehow sound more Mongols/Korean alike and the southern sound more like the Vietnamese

kyakko says on 28/Jul/07
sorry, i meant younger japanese with the overall chinese population

kyakko says on 28/Jul/07
smldckchin, the japanese has traditionally been regarded by the chinese as being shorter. in the pass the japanese were referred to as the short people from the east, which changed after WWII. that's why there was an uproar in china when the younger japanese population finally overtook the chinese in height, and that's comparing the younger chinese with the overall chinese population. alot of it has to do with wealth and nutrition. if you wanna compare chinese and japanese with similar economics, compare the japanese with the taiwanese. it's no contest even with the indigenous taiwanese (whom are shorter). and generally, northern chinese are taller than southerners. where did you?

last samurai says on 13/Jul/07
I agree to that, not all asians are short, I'm from Philippines..I stand proudly at 6'4" barefoot.

smldckchin says on 12/Jul/07
i'd been to china before and with my height 6'1 i tower every single chinese i'd met ...lately the chinese are more shorter than the japanese...if i remeber correctly the taller chinese are only the athete other than that they all look short and some get lucky if they giv hgh a shot..on 2006 went to Japan and it really surprise me when the average japanese man look taller than the chinese and many of them tower over me...

dmeyer says on 15/Apr/07
after loknig at pics beside clint he might be 6'0 flat since he looks a full inch under eastwood

[Editor Rob: in a lot it looks like it, some I think give clint little advantage]

Larry says on 19/Mar/07
I agree with James, asian people aren't all that small. I live in Asia for quite a long time, I'm in Taiwan for a couple of years now, and many Taiwanese guys, especially young ones, tower me even though I'm 6"1.
Problem is most people imagine all Asians look like southern Chinese (Cantonese) who are shorter, indeed. But northern Chinese are often huge, quite tall and big.

Nowadays, in China, Korea or Japan, difference between Eastern and Western guys tend to disappear. Watanabe is tall, but now that exceptionally tall even by Japanese standards.

Anthony says on 8/Jan/07
In the new "Entertainment Weekly", they say he's 6'2, but I think 6'0.25 is far more accurate. Like 6'0.5 Chow Yun Fat, Ken can occasionally appear taller in some of his films (specifically his foreign pictures), because Asians are generally small in stature. Of course, both of them are proof that that isn't 100 %.

Anonymous says on 5/Dec/06
he stood not far from me he was aleast 6 feet 184 fits him good

ShortisTall says on 8/Nov/06
I have been to Seoul and male seemed to be 5.7" - 6", people who said average S . Korean is 6.2(185) is a tale of a tub. I also have been to other asian cities like Tokyo and Beijing and people are same height as S.Korean to me. No obvious who are taller than who. But I met a North Korean guy who looked like only 160 to me. BTW, I am from Brazil living in Bangkok.

antron says on 4/Oct/06
American women are about 5'4.5" on average. White persons make up the vast majority of Americans even with the various races this country has in it. Steven is right. The Dutch women do tend to be in the 5'7" range. Although Steve, did you not notice that the men are shorter here too? haha.
Guest X, avg male height in Canada is about the same as the US, around 5'10", not nearly 6 ft.

ken_hiroshi says on 10/Sep/06
im 6ft1(186cm), saw him in real many times.. walk near him too.. he looks btw 182~183cm range only..

trueheight says on 22/Jul/06
I don't really think racial differences account for the 5'9.5 average for American Males. Granted Latinos and Asians are meanwise shorter but they only account for 13 and 3 percent of the population, respectively. So, maybe the latinos are the ones heavily influencing height average here. Blacks are typically a bit taller than comparable whites.

trueheight says on 22/Jul/06
idunno for japan exactly but the tallest ppl in asia are the northern mongoloids -- ppl mainly from Korea and Northern China, many have dispersed in japan as well. May have racial differences in japan b/c most of the guys i know from japan are rake-thin. Southern Chinese are a bit shorter. Southeastern asians(philipinos) are substantially shorter. The average height for a vietnamese male is still 5'4

Steven says on 12/Jul/06
David, I find it hard to believe that white American women are 5'6/5'7 on average because 5'7 is the average for women here in The Netherlands, and you know the Dutch are the tallest people in the world right? I've been on a roadtrip through the USA 5 or 6 years ago and I was suprised to see how short your women actually are.

kenji toyokawa says on 24/Jun/06
watanabe looks more on just 6ft(1.83m) and no more or less..

guestX says on 2/Jun/06
smoke, avg height in Canada is 180cm(5'11)? which part do you live in? cuz here in Quebec Montreal, it's more like 5'7 (which is the universal height of males in the world)
As for Koreans being the tallest asians, I have to agree (not because I'm korean myself and I'm 186cm) but all my close friends (all 6 of us)are over 180cm and we're not teenagers (actually we're all in our late20s/early30s....sad.)
Ken looks around 6'

sing says on 12/Apr/06
ken watanabe looks 5-10 or 5-11 to me compared to tom cruise.

David Cali says on 1/Mar/06
I actually think women at the gym are taller...because here in cali they wear flipflops outside the gym and the sports shoes they wear add almost an inch

TNTinCA says on 1/Mar/06
Rob made a good point. Footwear is a major factor. Heels on women can add upwards to 2 to 2 1/2 inches to a woman's height.
Rob's notion of looking in the gym is a good baseline. I workout at Golds and also at a kickboxing studio and I certainly don't see too many 'towering amazons'. There are a couple of fairly tall women (one is actually around 6'2") but for the most part, I would say the average height for women is around 5'5". At least in the gym I go too.

David Cali says on 28/Feb/06
Leonari...you should work on your reading skills, because I said that WHITE american women are 5'6/5'7 on average, whereas the statistics say it is 5'4.6" ... I know that if you include latinas the average is shorter but statistics say white women are about 5'4" which is plainly wrong!!!

leonari says on 28/Feb/06
David Cali: Nonsense my friend. Average 5'6 to 5'7...Are you out of your mind?? Where do you live?? There are so many short women in the states(many latinas)...You don't seem to understand the meaning of average,now do you?? 5'4 is AVERAGE!!

[Editor Rob: female height I guess is distorted to a certain extent by the footwear. Go to a gym where everybody is in sneakers and maybe a better average can be guessed....?]

David Cali says on 24/Feb/06
Well I am from Italy and I am 21, and I live in California. I always notice people being at least one inch taller than in italy. I think statistics are wrong because they say that italian men are on average about 5'9 1/2 and american men are 5'9 1/2 too, but men here are taller than in italy,like everyone that has been to both countries can state. I think the average height for american men 18/25 years old is around 5'11 or a lil more.

TNTinCA says on 13/Feb/06
I have to agree with 6 foot 1.5's post: he doesn't strike me as a 6 footer.
In the Last Samurai, he really only appears to be maybe 3 inches taller than Tom Cruise. I would have guessed 5'11" or so for Ken. They were barefoot for several scenes in that movie (or wearing flats) so I don't think the normal height effects were in play. Unless, of course, they resorted to camera angles.

homedogg says on 31/Dec/05
I went to Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities and all the kids of my friends are about 1.8 to 1.85 meters tall. It's the nutrition that they get nowadays.

sgman89 says on 30/Nov/05
I dunno...i just went to Beijing recently and the ppl there seemed to be around 5'9"/10ish. Even the tour bus driver was around 5'10" and i think its safe to assume he came from a less wealthy background than some others.

5'8" girl from WI says on 12/Nov/05
I went to Germany a year ago, and the people there didn't seem very tall to me. They seemed to be about average in height. I don't think i loomed over that many people, but i also don't think I was dwarfed by anyone either.

Gotxo says on 27/Oct/05
to sgman89:
Your data are outdated. A recent survey revealed that japanese are 170cm for the 18yold range. Or said in another way 1cm taller than the mean chinese.
This caused a bit of scandal in china, making them to promote the idea of that chinese can be tall people too, remarking character of NBA's Yao.
Besides, my best friend spent a whole year in Fukuoka. At least two guys in his office were taller than him @6'2". I do think the most aboundant value for 30somers is about 5'8" or maybe more. They are not as small as people thinks.

Mr. Awesome says on 20/Jul/05
It's highly unlikely that a man will grow 3 years after age 19...I've only heard of a very few cases of this happening...whether you're in the U.S.A., Europe, or Asia this is exceptionally rare...consider yourself lucky Alfonso, 'cause here in America most guys do not keep growing into their 20's like you are doing...one thing is true that is being said here...young people are definitely taller than adults...it does indeed depend on your surroundings...I'm around 5'8'', and at school I always felt pretty short for a guy...never tiny, but definitely below average...when I go out to sporting events, concerts, and other public gatherings, I never feel short; always pretty average. At those events there are always many guys shorter than me, but not a whole lot at school, simply 'cause the population is younger. The average of U.S.A. men being around 175cm is accurate, while the average of young men being nearly 5'11'' is also accurate. I found this out with a little experiment that I've been conducting. I have a pair of boots with lifts in them that bring me up to about 5'10.5''. I wore them to an all-day concert yesterday, and I felt taller or at least as tall as most men there. However, wearing the same boots at school, I felt just about average. So the average heights for America listed here previously are indeed accurate.

Alfonso Uehara says on 19/Jul/05
Kevin, I totally understand what ur sayin'. But the thing is that since you guys are only 19 you've got at least 2 or 3 more years to grow up to the fullest. I also am a German citizen but of Japanese origin. I was born in Munich and after 15 years of living in various countries I came back to Germany 2 years ago. Majority of buddies here grew more after the age of 19. Many of them who were under 180cm eventually became 185cm or taller. I myself am 187cm, yet still growing at the age of 21(turning 22 this October).I do not feel tall at all here. When I was living in America, I had to look down on people quite a lot meaning they were shorter than me. But here I don't get to look down on people, because so many of them are nearly my height and in many occasions I have to look up. I also got many female buddies who are nearly my height( 185cm or taller ).

kevin says on 19/Jul/05
im from germany. i live near dortmund. im 5ft 11in and i think that could be the average of the youth in germany now, because most of the young people my age, witch is 19, are the same height. for sure there are many who are 5ft 8in and some who are 6ft 3in. i would say the average for the youth is about 178cm-180cm but no more. and an average of 188 cm is nonsense. for example in my class the the tallest one is close to 6ft 5in and the smallest 5ft 6in. and the rest are in the range from 6ft 2in till 5ft 8in. and i have seen recently an report about the average german man and it was said that he is 177 cm.

Alfonso Uehara says on 18/Jul/05
Most of my spanish friends are over 180cm just letting u know. Btw. I am the 6'1 Japanese guy.

Gotxo says on 18/Jul/05
Ok, sorry to post about these things there but i'm just willful to know and maybe you can help me.
You say germans are about 6'2" what they do consider tall (w.out exaggerations)? What short and what average?

I dind't understood your height related to american white males? Did you meant you were tall wen you was 6'1" or that you were towered?

What do you think on 177cm for american white males? I think it's by all means short, we the spaniards aren't 1cm taller for what i've seen.

6'1 japanese guy says on 17/Jul/05
Hey col, maybe I was somewhat exaggerating the average height of Korean youths, but when I visited Korea last summer I didn't feel tall at all I swear to god dude. I saw tons of people who were taller than me, I was 185cm back then. Now I'm 187-188cm. Just to let u know I go to Korea quite a lot, because my mum is second generation Korean-Japanese. Also Westerners are not that much taller than us, not anymore. I lived in New York and Boston for 5 years, I felt I towered over most americans( of course I'M TALKING ABOUT WHITE MALES). I would say I was taller than 90 out of 100 americans, yet I didn't feel quite tall whenever I visited Korea. To me the average height for korean youths looked about 180-183cm. I don't know for sure dude, maybe I just happened to encounter the tall korean lads.I currently am living in Duesseldorf, Germany. I do not feel tall at all here. Even though the average height for young Germans could only be 180cm as you have mentioned, to me the average seems to be 188cm.

Gotxo says on 17/Jul/05
To Jap Guy:
Rob have explained the Torres issue in a way i couldn't have done better, knowing so much of football he can't be a yankee but a briton, of course!!
Yeah, i'm 180cm and i feel myself rather shortish but i can tell you i've seen a
lot of chinese about my height and over yours too!!
I'm pretty confused, we all need reliable data:
Official stats shows young japanese as 171cm on avg. That covers up to 18 y/old boys so we can assume they are 172cm when mature.
The chinese are stated to be only 1cm smaller, but chinese inmigrants on spain are not that, maybe about 3cm smaller than spaniards (178) no more.
My best friend spent one year in Fukuoka and had 2 guys taller than him in his job (he's 188 for the record).
Can a Chinese/chinese-origin guy enlighten us? please post here!

Col says on 15/Jul/05
I know many young Asian dudes and they seem pretty tall comparing to old Asian people but I don't think they will grow more taller than this. They will reach the limit in the near future. A Korean guy under there wrote someday their average height will reach 180cm mark, but no way that's gonna happen. I'm a Korean myself and the guys here not all that tall comapring to Westerners. I don't know where that guy lives, but he is certainly exaggerating the height of Korean people. I think Smoke knows exactly about the "real" height of Koreans. Most of young Koreans are about 5'9~5'11. You get taller than this, than you are a tall person in here. It's same thing with Japanese and Chinese, since they are slightly shorter than Koreans, most of young kids are in the 5'7~5'10 range and I don't think this will change in the future. BTW, as far as I know the average height of Germans are about 180cm and you know how Germans are tall,right? I don't think any of the Asian countries will reach this far, not even in the far future.

Viper652 says on 13/Jul/05
Mr. R, If you watched the All Star game intos, you can compare heights to all the players. The funniest thing was 6-2 Miguel Caberra was 2 inches taller then 6-4 Dontrelle Willis. Which means some of these guys heights might even be fudged up to 4 inches. And I find It funny dduring the Home Run Derby when they said A-rod is 6-4, when hes really 6-1, and that Miguel Cabrerra was taller then 6-4 David Ortiz. That was a funny giveaway on Ortiz's height. Which would make Ortiz 6-1???

Viper652 says on 13/Jul/05
Giambi is around 6-1, and Hidecki is 6-0. Arod is 6-1, he is the same height as Barry Bonds. Big David Ortiz is not the 6-4 that he looks sometimes, he is 6-2, just 2 inches taller then 6-0 Johnny Damon. Im fascinated with baseball players heights, because nearly all of them are fudged by 1 to 2 inches, and maybe even more

6'1 japanese guy says on 13/Jul/05
Btw. Gotxo do you know how tall Fernando Torres(Atletico Madrid footballer) is? I saw a pic. where he was standing next to Will Smith and they were nearly the same height. Big Willie looked 1-2cm taller at the most. If Torres is really 184cm, then Big Willie can't be 6'2, he's more like 186cm.

[Editor Rob: Torres is definitely 184cm and you know might have been one of those player who near 20 got a final cm and stands close to 185...]

6'1 japanese guy says on 13/Jul/05
First of all, A-Rod is not 6'3, he's more like 187-188cm. Vlad Guerrero is clearly taller than A-Rod by at least 3cm. Vlad was listed at 6'2 before,but for some reason he went up to 6'3. And Bernie Williams is 6'2 and that makes Matsui more like 185-186cm. Barry Bonds is also slightly taller than the Godzilla.

6'1 japanese guy says on 13/Jul/05
To Espanol: soy el Japones pero vivo en Duesseldorf, Alemania. Los chinos aqui son muy bajos, la mayor parte de ellos son debajo 185centimetro.OK 'nuff wit' espanol, my point is that most of chinese dudes I have met so far are short compared to the Koreans and the Japanese. BTW. I consider dudes who are under 185cm quite short. It's jus' what I think, no offence to the short ones.

Mr. R says on 12/Jul/05
Glad you raised this point Viper. When Hideki came here, they were listing him at 6-1, which was suspect. Now the Yankees are listing him at 6-2, which is more suspect. The same with Jason Giambi. When he came to the Oakland A's, he was listed at 6-2, which was also a little suspect. Now, he is listed at 6-3, but he is clearly shorter than both Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. I don't know who lies worse, actors or athletes!

Viper652 says on 12/Jul/05
Hideki isnt even 6-1, he is 6-0 at best.

Gotxo says on 12/Jul/05
To nihon-jin: The chinese inmigrants in Spain (at least where i live) are quite average, they are only a bit smaller than us, i'm talking about the guys of course. And we are on average 176-178 (depending on the generation), some groups of them are even quite tall, towering over me (i'm 5'11"). China is huge, if not a subcontinent quite close to that. There must exist chinese profiles of all condition in that sample. The average chinese is only 1cm shorter than the japanese but don't forget that it's a mean value.

6'1 japanese guy says on 12/Jul/05
Hideki Matsui is for sure not 6'2. His listed height is 186cm which is more like 6'1. Plus, I have seen him in person he looked 185-186cm. BTW. speaking of Chinese people's height, they are the shortest people in East Asia avereagewise. Koreans are the tallest people in Asia with the average height of 174cm. You would assume that the Chinese are freakishly tall because of Yao Ming but he just is one of those 1 billions in China. In reality, Chinese youths are really really short, diminutive compared to Korean youths and Japanese youths.

Tybor says on 12/Jul/05
I've heard that people from Northern Japan tend to be taller comparable to North Italians vs. Southern Italians. One example would be 6'2 slugger Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees.

peter says on 18/Apr/05
There are quite a few tall people in China too. I think the average height there is at least 173cm. In Northern China, 6 footers are like the norm.

Smoke says on 18/Apr/05
I can't agree more with you Korean guy, I think what you guys have in Korea is no different than what we have here in Canada, or what the people in the Netherlands, and many other parts of Europe are experiencing. Due to better nutrition and health care young people are growing up healthier and also taller than ever before these days. I can compare my situation to yours as well, my father stands 167.5 cm, and my mother 164 cm, and I have grown to be 185-186 cm (6'1"). I got this height from a health checkup in a doctor's office, so it is fairly accurate as well. And at only 17, you still have a little bit of growing left to do, I myself have grown nearly 5 cms after age 17. I also find that anywhere in town (or even next to celebs) that I feel quite tall, but you step on a university or college campus and all of the sudden you find that you're not towering over most people anymore. Still here in Canada, I find that Korean youths, while not the stereotypical "short" Asians, are still not quite as tall as some of the other nationalities.

17yrs old Korean guy says on 18/Apr/05
I`m a 17 year old Korea high school student(2nd grade) who lives in Seoul.I`m 6'1.5"(187cm)tall and I`m pretty sure about it cause I measured it last month at a hospital.When I walk around the streets or subways,I feel pretty tall and I feel like I tower over adults.But when I go to school or places where young kids hang out(shopping centers etc)I don`t really feel like I tower over other people.The reason our average height of males is 174cm is because my father and grand father generation couldn`t have enough food but now that Korea is the 10th in total GDP in the world the kids are getting just taller and taller.My father is only 174cm and I`m already 13cm taller than him(Almost every teenage boy is taller than his father).The seniors of my school used to imply to me that we(kids my age) are just so tall,and when I first saw the 1st graders of my school,I was kinda shocked to see some of them taller than me.The Koreans are just getting taller and taller,last year, when I walked down the through a bunch of 3rd graders(now 19years old)I really felt tall,and when I walked through 2nd graders I still felt pretty tall,I am still pretty tall among kids my age but when I pass through 1st graders,I`m often confuse if they really are only 16years old.I admit our average height is still under 175cm but I`m also sure we will definately reach 180cm.

Smoke says on 17/Apr/05
Here in Canada we have a large Korean community, as well as a Japanese community. Now I don't meet too many young Japanese, but I do know many young Koreans and I would say that they are still somewhat shorter on average than other nationalities. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the tallest of the Asians as their average height does seem somewhere around that of the english, 177 cm. But again, I wouldn't say Koreans are particularly tall people, they still don't quite measure up to the 180 cm average height here in Canada.

Smoke says on 11/Apr/05
Mr. R it has been a while since I talked about how our accounts have varied, there are many celebs who we haven't mutually met as well, but of the ones who we have both met the only one who I can think of my account varying from yours is Michael York. Again, I met him about 2-3 years ago, and I was still growing back then, but I would have to say he seamed taller than the 5'10" you gave him.

Mr. R says on 10/Apr/05
Smoke, I wanted to ask you which celebrities have we both seen that you disagree with my assessment?

JAPANESE says on 10/Apr/05
Issheuhboy is right,according to a survey done last year the average height of a Japanese teenager was only 170cm,even smaller than the 174cm average of the Koreans living next door.While the Koreans and Chinese are growing rapidly taller these day,the Japanse seem to stick around at 170cm, which means the Japanese are naturally small people.

Issheuhboy says on 9/Apr/05
I don't want to be accused of ethnic stereotyping, but 6'2 is exceptionally tall for a Japanese man - even these days, with a changed Japanese diet to a more Western style, ergo more Western height. Comparing Watanabe to the post-Kidman, post-lift-wearing Cruise (did Scientology cure his inferiority complex as well as his dyslexia?), seems an accurate measure. 6'0-1.

Smoke says on 9/Apr/05
I really think that the 184 cm given to him here is right, he just doesn't look 6'2". We saw a pic of Alex Cabrera with Tom (granted Tom wasn't in his trusty lifts) and Cabrera certainly looked taller compared to Cruise, than Watanabe does. I just can't see this guy being 6'2", 6'0"-ish seems fairly accurate.

Mr. R says on 9/Apr/05
He was listed at 6'2" when The Last Samurai came out. Maybe he used the same publicist that Tom Cruise did!