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This article is from the American misconceptions about Japan FAQ, by Tanaka Tomoyuki ez074520@dilbert.ucdavis.edu with numerous contributions by others.

MYTH: Japanese (Asians) have slanted eyes

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        an entry from                           --- --- |
            Tom Burnam.                          \   /  |
            "The Dictionary of Misinformation".        (|    U    |)
            (Crowell, 1975):                      ___   |

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slanted eyes of Orientals.
Although they may seem to, the eyes of Chinese, Japanese,
and other Orientals do not slant; they are, in fact, closer
to the horizontal than those of non-Orientals. The *effect*
is produced by a low nose bridge and the Mongolian, or
epicanthic, fold of the upper eyelid --- one of the very few
genuine "racial" characteristics, incidentally. Children of
Caucasian parents often show the apparent Mongolian slant
until the nasal bridge develops.

the author Burnam writes as though for EVERYONE Asians seem to have slanted eyes. even after becoming familiar with American cartoons, I have never felt Asians to have slanted eyes. I suspect that this is an illusion produced by the strong belief that "Asians have slanted eyes."

this indoctrination of "slant-eye Asians" begins very early on.
in children's book "The Badger and the Magic Fan" ("A Japanese Folktale adapted by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Tomie dePaola", published by G.P.Putnams's Sons, 1990), all humans (13 persons) and animals (a badger and a pigeon) have eyes that are narrow (slit-like) and slanted. I just sent
letters to the publisher and the illustrator (who's American).

I remember the surprise when I first learned that in the USA it
is common to draw Asian cartoon characters with slanted eyes.
it surprised me because (i) like most Japanese I have never
noticed Asians to have slanted eyes compared to whites or
blacks; and hence (ii) cartoonists in Japan never use the slant
of the eyes to mark the differences in races.
(an exception is when OTOMO Katsuhiro (of "Akira")
draws faces parodying American cartoons.)

unfortunately the author (Tom Burnam) does not provide his
sources in most cases. would you please let me know if you have some good information on this subject, like a magazine article claiming that Asians don't have slanted eyes?
(I'll check anthropology textbooks soon.)

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"Sign Language Reflects Changing Sensibilities"
(The New York Times, January 3, 1994)
---------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 --- Perhaps as recently as two or three
years ago, a deaf person would sign the word "Japanese" simply by twisting the little finger next to the eye.
But today, many of the more than 200,000 people who use
American Sign Language avoid using this sign because it is a
graphic reference to a stereotypical physical feature, slanted
eyes.
Instead, many deaf people here are adopting the Japanese's
sign for themselves: pressing the thumbs and index fingers of
both hands together and then pulling them apart, carving the
silhouette of Japan into the air.

[the article describes other offensive signs and their new
proposed alternates; for Chinese, Koreans, African-Americans,
homosexuals, "stingy", Jewish, ... . the previous Russian sign for "American" was to suggest a big belly with one hand and simultaneously mouth the word "capitalism"].