An episode of QI, BBC's popular comedy quiz show hosted by Mr. Stephen Fry has caused an uproar in Japan. In this particular episode, Mr. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, was introduced as "the unluckiest man in the world". As it was reported that the Japanese embassy made a protest to the BBC and the production company, indignation and anger spread in Japan, as was apparent from television shows, newspaper editorials, and tweets and blogs that followed.
It might be difficult for someone outside Japan to understand the sheer horror and anger associated with the atomic bombs. After all, other nations just imagine how damaging it is. Japanese people, by the turns and twists of history, have actually experienced it. It is not just a fiction or a movie scene. It is a hard reality. In this respect, the BBC and the production company clearly lacked imagination and respect to one of the most traumatic human experiences in the 20th century.
Having said that, I would also like to point out that the outrage came perhaps from a miscommunication rather than an intentional malice. As someone who spent two years of happy and stimulating postdoc days in University of Cambridge, and who have been visiting the U.K. almost annually ever since, I deeply love and respect the British sense of humor. I know Mr. Stephen Fry to be an intelligent, loving, and liberal man. I adore the QI show, just as I admire other Stephen Fry legends like the Blackadder series. How sad that this particular episode of QI caused anger and sadness in my native land.
The British sense of humor means that you confront difficult social issues, sometimes verging on the outrageous. It is like an act of walking on a tight rope. When I met with Mr. David Walliams in Tokyo several years ago, he said that it is always difficult to strike the right code. In creating Little Britain, Mr. Walliams, together with Mr. Matt Lucas, had to seek a difficult balance between being enjoyably provocative and saddening innocent people.
Trying to be courageous in comedy making is laudable and reserves all the respect. I know Mr. Stephen Fry has been very
courageous and inspiring. Being a pioneer, however, sometimes comes with a price, a point all of us should perhaps appreciate.
I hope that this incident will start a much needed in-depth communication process between Japan and the U.K. I sincerely wish that what started with a dark cloud of anger would end in a peal of laughs.
We need sunshine, not the bomb.
43 comments:
I agree that it was a misstep to treat the bomb experience so lightly. It's typical of QI to treat shocking things lightly, but the bombs are on another level. They should have been hands-off. I hope everyone in the UK realizes this. But ... it is so hard to imagine things from other people's perspectives. (There's a similar problem when black people complain about racist imagery in Japan--without a history of slavery and so on, Japanese people find it hard to imagine the hurt that they're accidentally inflicting.)
I agree with you.It is important to seek a difficult balance between an enjoyable provocation and a disrespect.I hope this issue will turn out to be fine.
I'm not in the least surprised by the Japanese reaction to this.
It's fine for the governor of their capital city to say that "foreigners have criminal DNA", for the press and everyday people to use the word "nigger" and for deportees to be killed by the police in an "accident" but a very respectful piece by an incredibly sensitive Englishman which clearly does not mock anything other than the british rail service is unacceptable???
It's fine for the japanese to laugh at and be openly racist about "gaijin" (yes please lump all foreigners together with a catch-all word essentially better translated as 'outsider') but if any of the savages dare laugh at Japan or the Japanese the cries of "unfair" or "racist" resound from everywhere.
No, not surprised at all by the Japanese (over) reaction to this.
A fair and considered judgement amongst all the hysteria.
Of course this is highly sensitive subject (and rightly so) and perhaps the BBC/production company should have chosen a different "unlucky" example.
However, the humour the comedians generate from it is directed at their own country. If you watch the clip they are joking that whereas in Britain a few leaves on a train line cause the whole railway system to stop, even after the Bomb there were still trains running between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were not mocking Japan and the hibakusha experience, but rather the incompetence of their own country (who of course invented the railways!).
However, "getting" the joke requires familiarity with British English and British humour, both of which are rather esoteric.
William
私も早速訳してみました。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/MickieG/20110120
I also translated this entry into Japanese.
Ugh, please keep in mind that my comments weren't in the same vein as Anonymous 1's. Anonymous 2 has a better overall perspective.
The Japan Times English article is useful, too, pointing out that QI often presents tragic incidents.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110122a4.html
Very informative piece on the issue.
Have't read the first report of this incident myself, but I can easily imagine that most of the media people in this country did not mentioned what Mr.Fry's joke's real highlight was, as William above has mentioned.
One of this country's true malaise lies in "Kisha Club" oriented journalism as you touched millions of time on your twitter. Shame on them!
In order to overcome this, young people in this country should really focus on mastering English so that they can understand true meaning behind all the news coming through Kiaha Club filters.
Well,now that the Japanese embassy has forced the BBC to apologise on the matter, the BBC is bound to come up with more subtle satire ridiculing Japan. Hopefully something to do with Mr.Kan.
この問題は原爆を絡めてるから話が見えにくいですが、英国人の言い訳を総合すると原爆さえ絡まなければ大やけどをした人間を笑い者にしても良い、それが英国のユーモアだから理解して欲しい、と言っている様に感じます。
そこにはおそらく黄色い肌の人種のやけどであるから笑えるという部分が潜んでるのではないでしょうか？
そうでないのなら英国人は隣人や家族の大やけどを笑いのネタに出来得るのでしょうか？
肌の色に関係なく多くの英国人がそれが可能だというのなら英国は文明が遅れている国だと言わざるを得ないと思う。
大学院で原子核物理を勉強しています。興味が有ったので、訳してみました。
この事件自体は絶対に許されないことですが、一方で、その背景にあった「笑いの心」は大切にしていきたいですね。
http://ton2net.exblog.jp/14025887/
And thus the QI programme is now stimulating the kind of debate the programme makers would have wanted. It's more a case of, as other say, a Brit mocking Britain. Let's all have a nice cup of tea, shall we?
,,,QI called him "The Unluckiest Man in the World" which I think is a fairly accurate description exaggerated for comic effect. They weren't laughing at him. Similarly used for the American farmer struck three times by lightning or the Brazilian man who jumped into a river to escape a bee attack only to be attacked by piranhas. This media reaction reminds me of the nonsensical reaction to the scene in the latest Indiana Jones movie where he escapes a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge.
The Japanese reaction is part of their revisionists attemps to claim some uniquely awful suffering in WWII thereby bypassing the necessity of meaningful and proper atonement.
I find even the family's reaction odd. We can joke but you cannot!" All suffering is shared as is all joy or perhaps we should be denied any feelings of compassion or sympathy for others if they are in a situation we haven't personally experienced ourself.
Disclaimer: I'm a British man who has lived in japan for 10 years.
I find what QI said was quite accurate. To experience two atomic bombs.
However here in Japan, the bomb is off limits.
Simply put, if someone tells you: "I come from Hiroshima, do you know where that is?" and you reply "of course, everyone knows where Hiroshima is." the answer will be "why?".
Interesting that the Nikkei editorial appeared to take exception to Stephen Fry's Aloha shirt. It also failed to mention that even Mr. Yamaguchi's family joke about his bad luck.
I saw quite a few Japanese reactions containing the idea that the British audience can enjoy the jokes as they look down on the colored people. If one thinks that the argumentation should be applied on this issue, I must say that the person himself/herself has got the same discriminating idea somewhere and/or the person believes that the Japanese media is always anyway right.
I think that Japanese are generally not used to be picked up on the WWII issues related to Japan. The media hype looks to me that they are saying that it is so sensitive that only Japanese should know the best way to tell. It is actually a bit of abuse of freedom of speech.
This is however how I was taught at school in Tokyo on Japanese/World history. WWII and Japan part was rather vague excl. the shocking stories in Hiroshima/Nagasaki and the bombing of Tokyo.
My birthplace is next to the Hiroshima atomic bomb dome and my grandpa has been in China as a soldier for 3 times during the war. And I feel sad that WWII for Japan (as criminal/victim) is not well communicated even among Japanese nationals..
コメント見る限り、ブリッツは怒ってるねー。
イギリス人の冗談の品の無さは今に始まったことじゃないでしょ。だから、日本人も怒り狂わず落ち着いて。Ricky Gervaisの動画YOUTUBEで見たけど、むちゃくちゃだよ。
しかしながら、イギリスの鉄道の事をネタに笑ってるんだから誤解するなってのはいただけないね。そもそも、お笑い番組に取り上げる自体がおかしいし、原爆と被爆者の写真をバックに例え違うことで笑っていたとしても、見ている人は被爆の事実を軽んじてるとしか見えない。
そうそうあと、博士の英語すごい上手ですね。流石です。なんかBBCへのラブレターみたいだけど。
I was out of my country, Japan, for 24 years and from my experiences,
I feel that it is difficult for everybody to imagine and understand the feeling of people who live in the other countries.
So I do not expect that the British people understand our(Japanese)feelings but in the same time I feel it is important to show and explain our feelings to those who do not have the same experiences as we have for better understanding.
I'm impressed your attitude that try to connect Japan and the U.K. Because it is important to show Japanese citizen's thinking in English but to use English language is not common way probably so far.
Definitely we all people must not forget the tragedy of the bomb and it should not be kind of joking...
Having read through comments here and other websites, including Youtube, I'd suspect most of Japanese people who commented on this issue didn't watch the original QI episode (possibly because of they don't speak English).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dgzszWlG6c
As a matter of fact, they are not making fun of Mr Yamaguchi himself (plus, some of them look like "it is ok for us to talk about it?" when Stephen Fry mentioned Hiroshima).
Having said that, as one of Japanese living in UK, I understand nuclear bombs in WW2 are still a sensible matter for Japanese and it was not appropriate to describe Mr Yamaguchi as "unluckiest man". But I also understand how British comedy makes fun of things (and sometimes goes too far and cross the line).
So, I'd suggest what's needed now is to translate and put subtitle in the episode to understand what was actually said. I'd be happy to help translate, although I can't do any movie editing stuff. Anyone up for it?
色々な所のデータを集めました。
イギリスで、こういう放送がありました。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dgzszWlG6c
英語がわからない方用のスクリプトを作って
くださっているサイトがありました。
放送内容（日英両方記載）
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/mithrandir9/e/5d8249376ac2592288a873dcbf11e412
で、日本のニュースでこういう事がありました。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnS6rUo5lEU&feature=related
で、結局ＢＢＣが謝罪しました。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12260577
日本でのこの報道の仕方ですが、
朝日
http://www.asahi.com/international/update/0122/TKY201101220228.html
痛いニュース
http://blog.livedoor.jp/dqnplus/archives/1589582.html
茂木さんの日本語訳
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/MickieG/20110120
ジャパンタイムズは、こういう報道をしています。
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110122a4.html
上記のスクリプトを作ってくださった方の言葉を引用します。
ただ、そもそも被爆者の話題をこういう番組でこういう形で
取り上げること自体が、日本人としては「うーむ」と思います。
なので、日本人がBBCを怒るというか叱るというのは、当然と
いうか必要なことだと思います。けれどもだからといって
これが、日本の新聞各紙が書いているような
「二重被爆者を嘲笑」（時事通信）し、
「被爆者を愚弄」（日経新聞）し、
「二重被爆者を笑いのタネ」（共同通信、読売新聞）にした、
「被爆者を笑った放送」（朝日新聞）だったかどうか。
そこを各自が判断していただきたいと思います。
私は、しっかりと山口さん遺族の発言を引用したＮＨＫと
ジャパンタイムズが報道として良心があると思います。
そしてしっかり謝罪したＢＢＣも、良い報道機関だと
思います。それと、是非贖罪というわけではありませんが
誰かがツイッターで言っていましたがＢＢＣに一度
被爆者に関する番組をきっちり作ってほしいと思います。
ユーモアと中傷の綱渡りは本当に難しい知的作業だと
思います。私はLittle Britainとthe officeを所有し
ており、イギリスのこういうコメディーが好きな方です。
これはこれで、これからも果敢に挑んでほしいと思います。
中国の昔の話を引用します。
ある有能な将軍が、腹が減ったから農家から食料を
盗んだ。それが大将にバレて、軍律違反だといって
処罰されそうになった。その際に、ある家臣が言った。
「虫食いがあると言って材料全部捨てて
しまっては、もったいない。悪い所は
すてて、良い所を使うようにするべきだ。」
その将軍は重刑を免れ、心を入れ替えて
ますます国のために働くようになった。
謝罪で解決するかどうかという話は、
慰安婦問題と同じなので脇に置きます。
大人の議論が英語できちんとできる茂木さんは
とても素晴らしいと思います。
The ridiculous thing about all of this is that it's not even about differences in humor but is instead obviously a failure of translation. The simple fact is that at no point does anyone on QI insult Tsutomu Yamaguchi nor do they ever downplay nuclear weapons.
The two main gripes that some people seem to have are that:
1) The QI panel are "laughing at Mr Yamaguchi".
2) That it was rude to call him the "unluckiest man in the world".
#1 is obviously false if you can understand English and #2 is ludicrous. If we can't call him the "unluckiest man" then what was he, the "luckiest woman"?
“the BBC and the production company clearly lacked imagination and respect to one of the most traumatic human experiences in the 20th century.”
I agree with you.
One can call Mr. Tsutomu Yamaguchi the “unluckiest man in the world”, if he/she wants to.
But no one should talk about him in a comedy show.
That is just inappropriate.
BBC realizes it now.
I find there is some irony in that the debate about the subjective interpretation of how an event can be framed is taking place in a blog about qualia. The analogy between socially accepted norms and rules of communication and the intrinsic qualities of brain states interpreting the world is rather striking.
The problems of translating this show to a Japanese audience does not arise merely from the linguistic properties of a foreign language. You needed to translate the different norms of the cultures as well. The cultural paradigms that frame socially acceptable communication behavior differ greatly - so appeals to the standards of civility one has been raised to interpret as the "norm" do not carry over between two different cultures.
That being said, unlike qualia the different cultural paradigms can be made transparent and the Japanese people are very much justified in voicing their feelings of hurt. And I find that it is very sensible of English spokespeople on this incident to not dismiss those concerns, but rather address them and facilitate a dialogue of intercultural communication.
茂木さんのツイートより、コメントの和訳希望がありましたので、及ばずながら勝手に担当させていただきます。コメント投稿者の方、および茂木さん、失礼をお許しください。
Lilyさんのコメントの和訳です。
被爆経験を軽々しく扱ったのは良くなかったのわ。
ショッキングなことを軽々しく扱うのはQIがよくやる事なの。
でも原爆に関しては別の次元よ。
そういうのは扱うべきじゃなかったのよ。
アメリカの人たち全員にこれに気付いてほしいわ。
でも…他人の視点に立って、物事を考えるのって難しいのよね。
（アフリカ系の人達が日本の存在しない人種差別者に不満を言っているの、と似たような問題よ。日本では、奴隷の歴史とかそういう経験がないから、日本人には自分たちが思いもかけずに彼らを傷つけてるってなかなか気づけないのよ。）
masa ceoさんのコメントの和訳
Lilyさんに賛成だよ。楽しめる挑発と無礼の間に難しいバランスを求めるのは大切なんだよ。この問題がちゃんと解決することを望むよ。
匿名さんのコメントの和訳
日本の方々が番組に、ああいう反応しても全然不思議じゃなかったよ。
都知事からすれば「外国人には犯罪のDNAがある」なんていったり、記者や一般市民の側からすれば「nigger（黒人の差別語）」という言葉を使ったり、国外追放を受けた人にとっては「事故」で警察に殺されたりするのが、都合がいいことなんだ。
でも、自分の国の鉄道サービス以外は何も公然と嘲ったりしない大変感受性のある英国人のつくった丁重なテレビ番組が受けいられないのだろうか？
「ガイジン」に対してあからさまに差別したり中傷したりするのは日本人にとってなんだ（「よそ者」という意味になる、もっと適確に万能に訳された言葉あったら、それで、全ての外国人を一緒に扱っておいて下さい）。
でも、残忍な人の中で数人が思い切って日本や日本人の事をバカにしたら、「不公平だ」とか「人種差別だ」とかいう叫びがあちこちから聞こえて来るよ。
Williamさんのコメントの和訳
あらゆるヒステリーの中の、公平でよく考えられた判断。
もちろん、これはとっても扱うのが難しい（適確に扱うのも）問題で、おそらくBBCの製作会社は違う「不幸」な例を選ぶべきだったんだ。
でも、コメディアンが作り出すユーモアは直接自分の国に対して言ってるんだ。もし、爆撃の後でさえ、未だに広島と長崎に間を電車が通っていて、一方で、イギリスで、レールの上の落ち葉のせいで全運行システムがストップさせられたことを茶化しているクリップを見るとしよう。彼らは日本や被爆者の体験を馬鹿にしているんじゃなく、むしろ自分達の国（勿論、鉄道を生み出した人）の無能さを馬鹿にしているんだ。でもジョークに慣れるには英語とイギリスのユーモアに親しみがないといけないんだ。どちらもかなりかなり難解だけどね。
Joybirdさんのコメントの和訳
この問題に関して大変情報が得られる記事だね。
この問題の最初のレポートを自分で読んではないんだけど、上でWilliamさんが言ったように、この国のメディアの人間がの大半はFry氏が本当に強調したかった事に触れていないことは簡単に想像できるよ。
この国の本当の憂鬱の一つは、茂木さんがツイッターで幾度どなく触れた、ジャーナリズム志向の記者クラブの中にあるんだ。彼らを恥じるべきだ。
これを克服するためには、この国の若者が本当に英語ができるようにならなきゃいけないんだ、記者クラブのフィルターを通ってくる全てのニュースの裏に隠された真意を理解できるように。
今や日本大使がBBCにこの問題に対しての謝罪を要求しているから、BBCは日本を馬鹿にする巧みな風刺を思いつくだろう。願わくば、管首相に関すること。
Martyさんのコメントの和訳
してこのようにQIの番組は番組制作者がしたかったまさにその討論を活気づけているんだ。ほかの人が言うように、イギリス人が母国を中傷している事のひとつなんだ。みんなでお茶でもどう？
匿名さんのコメントの和訳
拒否する人「私は10年間住んでいるイギリス人だ」
QIの言ったことが全く正確であるかわかった。二つの原爆を経験すること。しかし日本のここでは、原爆のことはタブーなんだ。もし誰かが君に言う「広島から来たんだ。どこにあるかしってるか？」君は答える「もちろん。広島の位置なんてみんな知ってるさ。」これに対する答えは「なぜ」になるだろう。
Nick bennettさんのコメントの和訳
日経版はステファンフライのアロハシャツに特例を出したらしいのが面白い。山口家の不幸に対するジョークさへ述べる事に失敗した。
時間の関係でここまでです。
至らない和訳で、誤訳や不備があると思われます。
分かる方がおられましたら、ご指摘・訂正お願いします。
失礼しました。
When I listened to this news on 7pm program of NHK.
I felt sick.
I met a person who lived in Kenya for 3 years yesterday. He said that I learned history of world and people there.
The textbooks or history books don't tell truth for us.
We should not forget that we had hell during the war in all over the world. We may have devil's mind if we would be in something gross occurrence.
What's happened to this comedian?
Then I realized that how Japanese man,Mr.Tsutomu Yamaguchi had beautiful heart. I very proud of him.
I wish that some English people who watch this TV program think same as me.
And this affair makes the chance that it recognize the Japanese history and philosophy.
We need sunshine, not the bomb in the world.
I want to scream out to the world.
Travel Alert for those headed to UK where a newly discovered disease named "Nuke-Loving" has been spreading. It is highly infectious. Visit Voice of Japan via Tweeting http://voiceofjapanviatweeting.blogspot.com.
Having read through comments here and other websites, including Youtube, I'd suspect most of Japanese people who commented on this issue didn't watch the original QI episode (possibly because of they don't speak English).
After all the furore the YouTube video still has less than 100,000 views. I think it's fair to say that very few people actually watched the whole video and even fewer understood it.
To be badly burnt is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuX7mx-PIY4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_GvcQTNEJE&feature=fvw
Mr. Yamaguchi's wish is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Em2HfdUico
Any British doesn't know the truth?
There is no doubt that the BBC was culturally insensitive. I only hope they learned their lesson from this experience.
As for the uproar that followed in this country, did Japan learn any lessons? At the very least, Japan needs to make a more concerted effort at English-language learning (and at a cultural level, as well) so that: 1) the debate is not about whether or not the anger was caused by misunderstandings and 2) there is a better appreciation of the cultural and social developments in that country (that may give rise to phenomena such as this show).
Clearly, had the BBC been more culturally aware, they would not have taken up the atomic bomb on the comedy show in the first place. But from another perspective, they (albeit thoughtlessly) presented Japan an opportunity to let the world know a little more of the pain she still feels.
Cultural appreciation would have diffused this debate early on; perhaps it would not have become an issue at all.
Sorry for my late comment.
I love a comedy " THE FACE OF JIZO " written by Hisashi Inoue.
I like especially the details of usual life in Hiroshima.
The phantom father cooks and watches raindrops from the leaky roof. He is active in many directions for his surviving daughter.
When we want to catch the reality of tragedy, yes, we need deep love, that is sunshine.
Thank you for your awareness of the issue.
I wish the Japanese would look in the mirror. I particularly remember the last scene of "hyokinnzoku" when the comedians had to confess their sins to another comedian who was dressed in a white robe and hung on a cross as if he were Jesus Christ. What do you think we felt about that? Luckily, Japanese shows rarely get translated into English nor to Japanese commentaries make it to International press. I felt that all the anger of the Japanese was strange, considering the insensitivity of Japan's popular media concerning other people's cultures.
I am a Japanese citizen and I love Stephen Fry. He is a very intelligent and gentle soul. Besides he is bipolar and gay (true), which make him more likable, not less. Ad hominem attack on Stephen Fry does not make any sense to me. BBC could express concern over the situation, but he himself does not have to apologize for his handling of his comedy show.
It seems to me that most of the Japanese readers who claim that atomic bombs are a taboo and sensitive subject in Japan know no shame. The true core of hypocrisy is in the Japanese nuclear policy, which is far more scandalous and obscene than the 5 minutes video of BBC. Japan pretends to seek a world free of nuclear weapons, but at the same time, they hide behind the nuclear umbrella of USA. And they do not talk about the true nature of geopolitical reality. It does not exist, at least until the next nuclear massacre.
>Nick bennettさんのコメントの和訳
Interesting that the Nikkei editorial appeared to take exception to Stephen Fry's Aloha shirt. It also failed to mention that even Mr. Yamaguchi's family joke about his bad luck.
>日経版はステファンフライのアロハ
>シャツに特例を出したらしいのが面
>白い。山口家の不幸に対するジョーク
>さへ述べる事に失敗した。
これ、こういう意味ではありません。
だいたい、こんな意味です。
フムフム、日経社説はスティーブン•フライのアロハシャツがお嫌いらしい（苦笑い）。しかも、山口さんの家族ですら『あなた運が悪いね』と冗談をいうことも書いていない。
この司会をしていたスティーブン•フライはコメディアンですが、躁鬱病でもあります。日本ではありえないかもしれませんが、BBCで自分の躁鬱病のドキュメンタリーをとっています。躁の時にはいくらでも言葉が出てくる、鬱の時には自殺したくなる、それを乗り越えて仕事をしている人です。弱い立場の人を攻撃するタイプのコメディアンではありません。スティーブン•フライに対して被害者意識をもっている日本人がいるとすれば、とんでもない間違いです。
スティーブン•フライはゲイでもあります。クリストファー•ヒチンズやカトリックの司教などと討論した、『カトリックは世の中のためになるのか』という番組で（これもBBCです）、カトリックを批判していますが、その批判も非常にやさしいやり方をしています。クリストファー•ヒチンズも丁寧ではありますが、スティーブン•フライなどより、はるかに攻撃的です。ちなみに、このBBCの番組自体、アメリカでPBSが作るのはとても無理な番組であるという点で、BBCを評価せざるをえないでしょう。
日本人に対して攻撃しているのは、日本語もまともに読めないような、ここでいえば、３番目に匿名でレスポンスを書いている人のようなタイプの人です。例えば、『外国人には犯罪のDNAがある』など石原都知事の発言を『引用』しておりますが、本当は『（中国人の）民族的ＤＮＡを表示するような犯罪』という言葉だったのです。
http://homepage3.nifty.com/m_and_y/genron/ishihara/data/20010508sankei.htm
石原慎太郎の反中国的な排外主義もどうかと思いますが、この匿名氏は都知事の発言を『全外国人に対する日本人全体による排外主義』へ無理矢理拡張させて、それを使って逆に反日を煽動するレイシストなわけです。こういう人物に対しては遠慮なく批判しても構いません。ただ、こういう野蛮な人と、スティーブン•フライを一緒にして欲しくない。
また、日本人は黒人を『ニガー』という、と匿名氏は言っておりました。日本人なら誰でも知っていると思いますが、日本では『ニガー』という言葉は一般的ではありません。『黒人』と言います。そもそも、日本では外国人、特に黒人は少なく、米兵関連くらいしかいませんから、米国で完成されたような『皮膚の色によるレイシズム（人種差別主義）』は日本では主流になりようがない。『黒人』を『ニガー』と翻訳して良いのなら、『白人』は『ホワイティー』と翻訳すべきなのか、『ホワイト•スワイン＝白い豚』と翻訳すべきなのかと言えば、明らかに違う。こういうのは翻訳というより、違う概念を無理矢理『翻訳』と言い張って、『日本人は人種差別主義者である』と主張したいレイシストなのです。
しかも、これは読者（＝英語で読んでいる人たち）が、日本語を読めない、日本の事情に無知である、ことを悪用して行うのが悪質です。ちなみに、私見では、ジャパン•タイムズがよくやる運動です。
似たようなことは、日本人がBBCを批判している場合にもあてはまります。件のBBCのクリップを見れば、ほとんどの批判が的外れであり、司会をしていたスティーブン•フライの過去の経歴を知っていれば、全く妥当とは言い難いものであるのは明らかだと思います。批判に値するものは批判して構わないのですが、ちゃんとした事実確認や状況の把握をしないで騒いでいる（特に日本の大手メディアに代表される今回の論調）は百害あって一利なし。実際の状況を調べた上で謙虚に行動することが必要だと思います。
About age restriction in human resources.
I once asked my friend about an entrance exam for the theatrical company.
" Qualifications -18 years old and above- in the applicantion summary. But is it true? "
She was an examiner and answered,
" 35 years old and under by tacit agreement. We want to give a chance for tabula rasa."
There is age restriction even in the field of art in Japan !
We should consider great success of Saitama Gold Theater - the members 55 years old and above.
Nobody on QI was laughing at Mr Yamaguchi himself. I wouldn't expect people in Japan to understand British humour but I would have expected the Japanese Embassy in London to have reacted with more responsibility; surely an embassy should understand the culture where it is placed.
It's also important to point out that "laughing at bomb victims" is surely recognised everywhere as a terrible thing to do. So by accusing British people of doing so, many Japanese people have basically said the British are terrible people. This is somehow justified because they've never had the misfortune of having an atomic bomb dropped on them.
As a British person who has spent most of the last five years studying Japanese, learning about Japanese culture and now living in Japan, I find this particularly offensive. The offence Japan causes when making such sweeping statements seems to be completely overlooked.
I do not "laugh at bomb victims". My country doesn't "laugh at bomb victims". To do so would be terrible. But "thank you" Japan, for throwing all of my efforts to understand you back in my face.
Anyone who is serious about sunshine needs to understand that hoping the world will reach our to their culture while offending others will never succeed.
I did not find Fly's joke at QI particularly offensive. I actually found it quite funny, imo people who got overly upset by Fly's joke was misreading the context.
However I want to remind people in Europe that aftermath of atomic bomb is still on going thing in Hiroshima. This is tad more serious than just some people have been killed by awful burn 60years ago.
Can you make any joke about holocaust without upsetting anyone?
And,to Anonymous
I am living here in UK as a Gaijin,I find people here very kind, mostly, but it's impossible for people to treat foreigner completely equally. Do you really think that Japanese people treating foreigner badly? And do yourself understanding ethnic and black minority community really well?
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