So to take an example, why didn't Japanese people in Japan care what was going on with Ghost in the Shell? They weren't the ones affected by it! They weren't losing parts to white people, they weren't passed over in casting because they looked "too exotic", they weren't called unrelatable by focus groups, they weren't struggling to make it in an industry IN AMERICA where they have to put up with stereotypes and white-washing and all the garbage that Asian-americans have to deal with. Japanese people aren't a minority in America if they're in Japan so Japan doesn't give a fuck what we do; they are here though so the people who are being taken advantage of are the minorities HERE.
What's this whole diatribe about? To show you that it's not inherent racial attributes that matters, it's the power dynamic and who is in the minority.
I personally see nothing wrong with an Asian-americans being annoyed that another potential role got swept from under them, but it seems clear that the problem isn't much about Scarlet Johannsson starring in a movie from Japanese culture, as much as it is a problem of general racial disparity an opportunity in America (in this specific example).
I don't see how that's a problem of appropriation, as opposed to a problem of representation and fair distribution of opportunities.
The director isn't appropriating shit from Asian-americans because the product was created in Japan, more over, GitS wasn't created "by the Japanese people", but by one specific person (who happened to be Japanese).
It may sound like semantics, but I think this is why we often end up with comical stretches of the term.
It's not that I think cultural appropriation doesn't exist of course, but I think it gets applied to any cultural exchange that seems inconvenient.
Other examples like the Kimono as a Halloween costume are more fitting, tho even there, not all examples are as equally egregious.
(Native Americans have more of a right to be protective than others for example, given their history was essentially almost erased, whereas Japan is still there).