A friend of a friend once was interviewed on TV in Korea for being a foreigner (apparently not unusual), and the interviewer was very excited to find that he had found a Jewish guest. The host was apparently obsessed with the concept of "Jewish bar mitzvah", which he believed was key to Jewish success in business. In the host's understanding, the bar mitzvah was a special coming-of-age ritual in which an extended family donated angel funds for a young man to found his first startup.
Since hearing this story, I've really enjoyed anecdotes about the charmingly offensive "business Jews" meme in China, Korea, and Japan. Anyone got some?
Fascinating read. Although I don't have any anecdotes pertaining to Jews, in one of the Korean variety shows I used to watch (a problem-solving type of thing) there was a running joke that one of the dudes who was good at math was an Indian. In another there was a joke that a tanned guy was Maori. Foreigners are all the rage in Korea these days, shows like Abnormal Summit where foreigners make up the fixed cast are very popular.