1) That's often what people would consider colorism, but that's inarguably the capitalist aspect of racism.
2) Jesus is often depicted in art as being white, despite being described in the Bible as having "skin of brass" and "hair of wool" if I recall correctly. The idea of Jesus as white was pretty much cemented by the Renaissance, where people certainly did have a perception of race. As for Cinderella, I meant that for fictional characters, their physical appearance is often pretty malleable and up for interpretation, often dictated by the personal experiences and worldview of whoever is telling the story (ex. "Cendrillon" is a Caribbean Cinderella story with black people).
3) The idea some people have that anime characters are white by default is incredibly myopic. Please refer to what I said about appearances often being reflection of the worldview of the person telling the story. The shift in amine "style" after World War 2 doesn't change this.
4) I'm not sure what *you* mean by "so-called", but this reminds me of Raphael Bob-Waksberg (creator of Bojack Horseman) getting crap for his casting choices which he swore were meritocratic. Only after persistent nagging did he say "man, I sure did cast a lot of white people". So? Bojack Horseman has lots of white voice actors. It also has some of the best voice performances I have ever heard. Those two are not related, but race just does not matter in talent.
5) This is why I differentiated against racism and colorism. Japan and other countries' preferences for lighter skin are byproducts of colonialism. They might emphasize conformity, but the so-called "free" West is really no better. It just manifests in different ways. No country is inherently a huge proponent of individuality when you get right down to it.