Kaoru INOUE actually noticed the fact that Japanese were treated as 'exotic beasts' as half undeveloped species judged from the appearances in Europe as he visited there many times (in fact, the early study of Japan in Europe and America fell into the categories of cultural anthropology and ethnology, and they were considered as the research object as the different race).
井上馨は度々ヨーロッパを視察して、現地では日本人が「見た目」によって半未開の人種として実は「珍獣扱い」されているという事実に気づいていた（事実、欧米での初期日本研究は文化人類学・民族学の範疇に属しており、自分たちとは違う人種として研究対象とされていたのである）。