A happy new year to all!
Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Well, I’ve had mine just as the calendar was flipping. What would you do with your 15 minutes, should the occasion ever present itself? Best ask yourself now, and I pray you’re prepared for it should such an opportunity come along.
What did I do with mine? Well, I gave it to Japan — by imploring them to stop blackface before the country attains a stigma it may not be able to recover from. It was the least I could do for all the wonderful things this country has given me over the past 13 years.
How was my gift received? Well, depends on who you ask.
Here’s a brief overview of how it went down from my perspective: I was watching the New Year’s Eve edition of variety show “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!” like most of the country when Masatoshi Hamada emerged from a cabinet in blackface. People say he was supposed to be Eddie Murphy. All I saw was, for the third time in a week, a Japanese man using blackface to get laughs, and once again I didn’t see the humor.
I took a few screenshots and hopped on Twitter. It was already a hot topic, so I added some kerosene. Think my exact words were: “This makes 3 times this week and 2 nights in a row! This time on the number 1 viewed program of the year, the super bowl of comedy! Japan … you’re making it really hard to love you these days … you gotta do better than this! #BlackfaceisBad #StopBlackFaceJapan.”
I followed that with this tweet:
“Note to japanese performing in #BlackFace: #Blackness is not a punchline nor a prop. Need jokes? Get better writers. Need a black character, get a black actor that speaks Japanese. There are several! But please #StopBlackfaceJapan”
A couple of more tweets and retweets and I thought I was done with this. But the internet wasn’t done with me. My tweets and Facebook posts had caught fire, and the story had gone global on the strength of them and the provocative nature of the visuals, apparently. When all was said and done, I’d been interviewed by HuffPost Japan (which exploded on Yahoo Japan), then BBC Skyped me twice, then the New York Times! So, yeah, it was a seven-day-long 15 minutes.
So, you might be wondering, what did Japan think of its image being in the hands of someone whose race Japanese comedians are prone to disparage for giggles?
Well, here’s what they thought, in a series of messages I received on the subject:
Ignorance is no excuse
Hello, I’m sorry for this sudden message. I’m Naruto Komatsu.
I’m just a normal Japanese college student. I’m messaging you now because I wanted to thank you for spreading across Japan the fact that blackface is generally considered racist in the U.S. and the West.
As you probably know, the Japanese are not racist against black people per se but are ridiculously ignorant about racial issues. But ignorance cannot be an excuse, as you said on Twitter.
I strongly support your ideas. Japan is not yet recognized as a nation that accepts immigrants, but the country will accept more immigrants in the future to compensate for the decrease of its population and domestic demand. When that happens, I think the Japanese should make an effort to avoid misunderstandings on issues not only related to race (like this time) but also culture and religion.
However, I think it’s best they be taught by foreigners who have been living in Japan for a long time, like you, instead of trying to learn on their own. So, thank you so much for being a teacher to those Japanese who are ignorant and indifferent about race.
In the future when there is another misunderstanding, please teach them. Again, thank you very much.
NARUTO KOMATSU
Saving Japan from itself
I think that this is a wonderful campaign. Japan must take the global issue of blackface seriously.
I think that this campaign is an effort to save Japan itself. Blackface should be stopped immediately. There is no need to do blackface, and it should not be permissible to slander or hurt anyone.
People with diverse backgrounds live in Japan. I feel strongly that it is the mission of Japan, and everyone who lives in Japan, to prepare an environment without discrimination, where no one feels uncomfortable.
It is sad that such a slanderous act is occurring in Japan, and it is embarrassing to me as a Japanese person.
NORIHIRO TOGASAKI
No way to show respect
I think finally the time has come for Japan to discuss this issue. I believe that 99 percent of Japanese people truly don’t know that blackface is wrong. However, we must realize that Westerners (or non-Japanese) are disgusted with it. And we can’t ignore the fact that it is not only black people who are disgusted by this but white people too. Regardless of whether it’s discrimination or not, it is viewed as such in much of the world.
Japanese should stop doing blackface right away. Many Japanese say this is how we show respect for black people. Then why don’t they listen to the black people they respect who are disgusted with it?
Most Japanese say this is not racism, just jokes, but a great number of people in the world say it’s taboo and they hate it. Why can’t we just listen to them? Japanese are well-known as being kind and polite, so in this case why aren’t we?
KAZZ TAKAHASHI
Have color in your heart
I do not want blackface to continue in Japan or in any other country, because it is an inseparable problem from racism. Many different races is one of the factors that makes this world happier, but blackface is portraying a simplified image of black people, so it is a discriminatory action. Even though I am not a black person, as someone who hopes for racial integration, I wish blackface would become a thing of the past.
Most blackface performers are not conscious of discrimination on their part. Rather, they think they are showing respect for black people and black culture and doing them a service. But unfortunately, their inner intent is not coming across they way they meant it to. So, in order to show respect, please have color in your heart, rather than in your appearance.
MADOKA YANAGISAWA
It’s about action, not intent
The response “He did not intend discrimination or any bias-based offense” is logically irrelevant. At issue is the effect of the action (blackface), not the actor’s intent.
Why is it an issue? Because it reinforces implicit bias, and although each little instance of stereotyping may not have a tangible effect, in aggregate it does have adverse effects. While it is not a legal issue, it is a civic issue.
Recently, a YouTuber named Logan Paul posted videos where he and his friends ridiculed, in rapid-fire English, unsuspecting Japanese citizens during their trip to Japan. He may not have “intended” any harm, let alone discrimination. Perhaps he was just joking. But many Japanese and Japanophiles felt disgust and anger. Mr. Paul’s actions are not criminal and, again, may not be “intentionally” harmful, but it is also indisputable that damage has been done, at least on the receiving end.
Japanese culture offers sophistication and civility in various aspects, and much of that comes from a great degree of consideration given to other people’s feelings. So why not take a balanced look at whether a “joke” or “homage” such as blackface is having a positive or negative impact in the global context? Why not bring Japan’s sophistication to the next level?
YO W. SHIINA
I really don’t have much to add to what our Japanese brothers and sisters have said. But I do want to point out that the overwhelming show of support I have received from Japanese people since the moment I dropped those tweets has brought me even closer to this country. I feel embraced by her like never before.
I do want to single out one person, though.
Out of the blue, Yo Shiina, a Japanese lawyer and author, hits me up on Twitter and says she’s taken the liberty of translating all my tweets into appropriate Japanese so that they can reach the people who need to hear this the most.
We became fast friends, and very little of this would have been possible without her volunteering her advice and assistance. This was truly a joint Japanese-American effort. And this from a Japanese person living in New York, no less! Talk about serendipitous symmetry. Nothing but love, Yo-chan!
Anyway, Nippon TV responded to this international rebuke of blackface by re-airing the show since then, so I guess we know where they stand. So be it. Like Curtis Mayfield once sang so eloquently, we just gotta “keep on pushing”!
Watch Baye McNeil discuss this issue with other panelists on the Japan Times YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pf8M9F-IAw. The original Japanese letters are published below. McNeil is the author of two books on life in Japan. See www.bayemcneil.com. We welcome Community story ideas and comments on this issue for possible publication: community@japantimes.co.jp
Naruto Komatsu
突然のメッセージで申し訳ないです。私は小松成人と申します。
今回メッセージを差し上げたのは、お礼を言いたかったからです。
日本はまだ移民を受け入れる国としての認識は得ていませんが、
しかし、そのためには日本人が自ら動くというよりは、
Norihiro Togasaki
素晴らしいキャンペーンだと思います。
ブラックフェイスはすぐに止めるべきです。
Kazz Takahashi
ついに日本でもこの事について話し会う時が来たという感じです。
日本人は今すぐブラックフェイスを止めるべきです。
Madoka Yanagisawa (freelance writer)
黒塗りと呼ばれる「ブラックフェイス」は日本だけでなく、
大抵ブラックフェイスをしている側に差別の意識はなく、
Yo W. Shiina
「差別や偏見の意図はなかったと思う」
先日、ローガン・ポールというユーチューバーが、日本に旅行し、
日本の文化は様々な点で、洗練され、礼節を重んじるものです。
Fine with blackface
When I solicited opinions of Japanese people for this piece, I expected some to be in favor of blackface, but either no one held that opinion or they decided not to speak up. However, obviously, there are loads of people in favor of the Japanese media continuing the practice of airing blackface. Here are some samples of those comments:
“He was imitating Eddie Murphy, so I don’t see what the problem is.”
“We (America) don’t need to be imposing our PC madness on Japan. MYOB (mind your own business).”
“This black man that’s living in Japan is ‘using’ Japan for politics in the U.S. Method: Using the race card against us — not effective.”
“You dug a deep gap between black people and Japanese people, and made a narrow bridge on it. Beautiful.”
And my favorites come from some black people who say, “This is a non-issue raised by oversensitive whiny-ass black people looking to make something out of nothing. I thought he was funny!”
Anyway, thought y’all ought to know it wasn’t all love by any means.
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