When I studied abroad in Japan years ago, I remember being struck by how many people in my program came because of a love for anime.

I also remember how many of those same individuals were anxious to date a Japanese girl ¡ª a phenomenon not uncommon to language schools and foreign exchange programs.

¡°Some of my guy friends at school have admitted that they¡¯ve got a bit of an Asian fetish,¡± says Emily Brown, a 25-year-old student at a language school in Fukuoka. ¡°They¡¯ll openly admit that they like Asian girls, and there¡¯s also a fetish for foreign guys among Japanese women.¡±