>is almost entirely paying for what someone looks like.

No, not nearly. There may be some aspect of that, but no, people aren't looking for long-term commitments here. Anecdotally, I've known people who will not mind dating westerners but would never commit nor have any intention of marrying them (Social conventions).

That said, my point was more about the dominant society (Japan) where men express preference superficially based on "race" over another where the compared ethnicities include non-native. But I'm saying this preference may not be based on perceived racial ranking, but rather on other reasons, rarity (exoticism) a social signal (more disposable income), etc. And so I'm saying I don't think it's certain that the (preferential) treatment of "whites" in Africa can be strictly assigned to some racial ranking.

I'm also interested to see how Chinese might come to be viewed in the coming decades in Asia as they become known for their economic prowess and as their power and influence is felt in the African continent.