Hi David and everyone,

Long time no see.

I'm trying to write something in English.
It's time to say something about it for me because I'm a student of that English conversation school.

When I heard a story about Mr.Yamaguchi I felt a bit strange.
I couldn’t understand.
Rather than that I can't understand the story of Japanese murder Ichikawa.
Why does he can have fans?
I can't believe that.
I can't explain it exactly but at least I hate the story of Japanese murder rather than Mr.Yamaguchi's story.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2011年2月14日 17:52

Hi David,

Funny that you should mention this story, because when I heard this news, your face popped up in mind. I mean, I was kind of expecting this entry.
To tell the truth, I had never heard of his story until that time, and I watched some part of the TV show, but I didn’t feel offensive at all. Of course I feel sorry for him about what he experienced. I just felt that Japanese people overreacted to it. This is just my opinion, though.

About “Ichihashi’s book,” I did not know he wrote a book. I sometimes find this kind of book in a book store and that makes me feel sick. I always wonder what kind of people want to read it.

Hi Kazu,

Happy to find your comment again.

Good night and sweet dreams,
amo

•  amo
• 2011年2月14日 21:40

Hi David and everyone,

As for the joke about the coincidence that Mr Yamaguchi experienced, I wouldn't find it offensive or complain about it to the BBC, but I kind of understand the people who felt uncomfortable. I didn't watch the show, so I'm not sure how the presenters talked about it, but I don't think that the tragedy of the atomic bombings is something you can make a joke about or use lightly.

I can't believe that Tatsuya Ishihashi has written a book about being on the run from the police! But he couldn't do this if there were no publishers that were interested in the idea, right? I don't like the way they try to make money like this. Now he has fans?? "Ichi-sama", "Tobo Oji"... They are crazy. They scare me.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2011年2月14日 22:19

Hi David and all,

This topic made me feel a bit down. Murderers like Ichihashi are too protected in Japan. When they are arrested, it is allowed to cover their faces without being seen in public and then they are taken to a safe place(jail) with every meal served without meeting the family of the victims to apologize directly so that they are not thrown stones directly. In my very very personal opinion, I think death sentence must be given earlier like in Singapore.

Back in the topic, I heard but didn’t watch the British TV quiz show, so I can’t judge whether it was offensive or not. Even though they just focused on other things, however, making a joke of the coincidence Mr Yamaguchi had met was not so nice. No one or nothing can fix people who lost their families especially in wars/accidents/affairs although it happened long time ago. Both publishing Ichihashi’s book and making a joke related to the war victim on TV might hurt the families again in a different way.

Besides, people who felt offensive watching the TV show and such insane people who are fans of the murderer are the same Japanese but they are not same people and they seem to have nothing in common.

It was snowing almost whole day here. It was the first time this winter. I'm going out to have some chocolate dessert now. Good night.

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月14日 22:26

Hi Tsuneko,

If my understanding is correct, Mr Yamaguchi was not killed. In fact, they said on the TV show that it was difficult to decide if he is the unluckiest man in the world because he experienced a nuclear bomb twice, or if he is the luckiest man in the world because he survived a nuclear bomb twice. As I said, they were laughing not at him, but at the incredible coincidence of his experience.

Because I live in Japan and have many Japanese friends, I often get offended by the way Japan is shown in Western media. For example, I thought the movie "Lost in Translation" was awful. So much of it was just nothing like the real Japan. For example, they had a "translator" for a big Japanese company who couldn't really speak English. I found that completely unrealistic, and very offensive.

When I watched the TV show that talked about Mr Yamaguchi, though, I didn't think it was offensive at all. I was really surprised when so many people complained about it.

•  David
• 2011年2月14日 23:28

I'm back in a warm room. It started snowing again.

Oh, did he survive a nuclear bomb twice? In that case, he must be the luckiest man in the world. Sorry, I didn't know about it. I didn't know that so many people complained about it, either. How many did you mean 'so many'? At least, people around me never talked about it. TV show was over, so nothing will happen by complaining. Take it easy. See you soon.

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月14日 23:53

Hi David and everyone,
About the joke of BBC, I think the reason that some Japanese people felt it offensive might be the concepy of "人の不幸を笑うべきではない” (nobody should laugh at other people's misfortune). Especially the tragedy of atomic bomb is something we can't forget, we can't forgive. Actually some people are still suffering from some diseases triggered by atomic bomb. I will feel uncomfortable if other people laugh at my or my family's misfortune
(I don't mind people laugh at my silly mistakes or minor unluckiness.) Although I didn't watch the BBC show, so I don't know how this incident were reported.

About Ichihashi's case, I can't believe some people became fans of him. He is a murderer. How could they become admire him? Unfortunately, the books written by criminals or their families sometimes sell well. I think people want to know why he/she commited such a crime or how was he/she raised to avoid their children becoming hideous criminals.

All I wrote here is just my idea, my guess. I think other Japanese people might feel differently.

How is the weather in your place? TV news said Tokyo had much snow yesterday. Be careful not to slip!

Hi Tsuneko,
You had a chocolate desert last night, it was Valentine's Day. I bought Royce chocolate for me and had it for the first time. It's delicious!

Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2011年2月15日 09:50

Hi Fumie,

I enjoyed some Royce fresh-chocolate, too. At the May seminar last year, Maki brought some Royce chocolate from Hokkaido. That was so good that I became a fan of Royce. I bought it last month for my husband, but I ate most of them myself in a couple of days. He got lots of chocolate from friends from work this week. I ate some of them quietly. To make up for it, I treated him at a family restaurant which only opened at that time last night after taking fresh-trash together.

By the way, 'desert' (accent: Oo# is a big sand place like one in Sahara\#@@#/. Don't worry, I often make this typo as well. Our favourite one is 'dessert'#oO#. I mentioned here not to forget it, and then you won't, either.

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月15日 10:40

Hi David and everyone,
I read articles about this news both in Japanese and in English. When I read them, I understood why a lot of Japanese who had viewed the program complained about it, and I didn't feel good.
It is true that"he IS either the unluckiest or the luckiest depending on which way you look at it."
As members said, there are lots of people who suffer from wars or tragedies, and I think these experiences (or incidents) should not be talked about at a comedy show not only in England but in Japan. In that sense, it was insensitive and lacked in the respect for him. There is a big difference between' he himself or his family mentioned that he was the luckiest' and 'others mentioned he was the luckiest.' I haven't watched the program, so this is my personal understanding,though.
As for "Ichihashi "topic, tons of books have been published so far by the criminals(or murderers) who were put in jail,and his book is one of those books. I'm not interested in him or his book,but I guess there are many reasons why these kinds of books have been published. One of them is that publishers want to make money. I totally agree with you ,and it is really offensive to the family.

By the way, I think we can't talk about "Yamaguchi-san's story" and "Ichihashi's story" on the same table.

>I thought the movie "Lost in Translation" was awful
→I agree with you!!

Hi Fumie and tsuneko,
I also bought Royce chocolate for me a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed myself.
Of course I bought a box of chocolates for my husband,but when he returned home yesterday, there were "大工さん" and I was a bit busy. I totally forgort to give it to him yesterday,haha!

>kazu, long time no see!

The sky is completely clear today.

Bye for now,

•  Anne
• 2011年2月15日 12:42

it's me again.

"I think we can't talk about " should be "I don't think we can talk about."

•  Anne
• 2011年2月15日 13:02

(This comment was posted in an old entry "Lost Translation 2".)

Hi , David & everyone.

I was wondering if I'd ask you a question about the sentences "It doesn't look it on the picture, but this was actually very steep." from the 27th to the 28th line in this entry.

I've never seen the expression "It doesn't look it" in the first sentence.
Does that mean the same as "It doesn't look so?"
I think that the second "it" in this expression probably implies "very steep."
Can "it" refer to an adjective like this way the same as a noun?

I'd deeply appreciate it if you'd bother to answer this.

Thanks in advance.

Bye for now.

gk2bs

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月15日 15:55

Hi Tsuneko,

Yes, it means the same as "It doesn't look so," although we don't say that in English. Another example would be "He doesn't look it, but he is actually really clever."

•  David
• 2011年2月15日 16:13

Hi David and everyone,
I didn’t watch that BBC TV quiz show, I just saw the news that some Japanese complained about the BBC program in which Mr. Yamaguchi was made a joke and called “the luckiest man in the world”. Although the joke was not about Mr. Yamaguchi himself, but about the incredible coincidence that he experienced, still as a non-Japanese, I don’t think it’s an appropriate topic that should be talked in a fun quiz show.
If I remember correctly, Japan is the only country which experienced nuclear bombs, lots of people lost their lives and many people suffered and are still suffering from secondary diseases even though they survived. We will never understand the pain those people have experienced. Such a national tragedy should never be treated as a joke for any reasons in any situations.

As for the ‘Ichikawa’s’ story, I’m afraid it’s a totally different-leveled theme. He might write a book (maybe someone wrote for him? I’m not sure), publishers might publish his books for money, but at least I am not interested in him and I won’t buy his book. About those infatuated fans, there are always some insane people who have the complete different thinking and value judgment in the world. What can we do about it? Maybe that’s why crime never disappears and normal people will never get to understand a criminal’s feeling.

Hi everyone,
We had heavy snow last night, trees and roofs were all covered in white in only a couple of hours. I made a small snow man on my balcony.
I was amazed that trains were running normally this morning^^.
Have a good evening!

•  Ling
• 2011年2月15日 16:16

Hi,

I'm not an English native, so the Japanese sentence "人の不幸を笑うべきではない"　gave me a vivid perception of Japanese ideas towards misfortune. There is an idiom, which is 他人の不幸は蜜の味. The literal translation seems to be 'the misery of others is as sweet as honey.' I cannot judge whether or not this is Japanglish though.

On the other hand, one of my UK friends told me her painful story. She just slipped on the top of stair and fell off. After I listened to her story, I really worried about her. But she said to me "You should laugh at me, UK people usually do." It blew me away.

I haven't watched the TV program, but it seems just a British normal joke, not insulting Japanese. Also, I've heard that Japanese diplomats in foreign countries are not good at the local languages. I hope this is not true, but it may.

•  Neko
• 2011年2月15日 21:32

Hi David and gk2bs,

Thank you for your quick answer and another example. Sorry, but that question was asked not by me but by 'gk2bs'. That was of course useful for me, too. Hope gk2bs notices the answer.

gk2bs, gk2bs, gk2bs, gk2bs, gk2bs, attention, please!!!

Hi Ling,

> I was amazed that trains were running normally this morning^^.

Perhaps, did you expect they would stop? I would hope so, and take a day off fairly and squarely. How big is your snowman? If you had taken his photo, hope you will upload it on fb.

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月15日 21:34

Hi Tsuneko,

I didn't realize you had posted the comment for someone else. Sorry about that.

Hi Neko,

It's true that British people make jokes about misfortune, and I definitely felt that it was just a normal British joke. That TV show introduces amazing facts that most people don't know, and as I said in my entry, the focus was not on Mr Yamaguchi personally, but rather on the amazing coincidence he suffered. Anyway, I was really surprised that any Japanese people were offended.

•  David
• 2011年2月15日 23:41

Hi Tsuneko,
Ha ha ha, you ate some of your husband's chocolates without asking him. I can't eat my husband's chocolates because he didn't have any.
Thank you for telling me my mistake. Actually I thoght 砂漠　and デザート are both spelled "desert" but different accent. So it's good to know.

Hi David and everyone,
I think that "The BBC's joke" is a good example of cultural gap.Some jokes which are took it granted or allowed in one country, might not be accepted in other countries. It's a good idea to know about the difference in concept for mutual understanding. I want to know some of our customs or way of thinking that might make foreign people offended.
ＢＢＣ　のジョークの件は文化の違いの一つの例かと思いました。ある国でふつうにジョークとして扱われることが、他の国ではタブーとなることがある。そういった考え方の違いを前もって知っておきたいと思います。知らなければ、悪気は全くないのに相手を傷つけてしまうかもしれないので。

Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2011年2月16日 06:13

Hi David and everyone,
I like people who have a sense of humor, making jokes about misfortune is also fine, but it depends on how big the matter is, sensitive and serious topics like war and nuclear bomb victims are not suitable for joking, I think.

Hi Tsuneko,
You seem to have had a very sweet Valentine’s day. I see that you are a chocolate lover :-)
My snowman was only 20 or 30 meters tall. We had a shinning day yesterday, when I got home in the evening, it was completely gone! I will check my camera later to see if it was taken properly.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

•  Ling
• 2011年2月16日 11:33

Oh what a stupid mistake I've made! Of course it's 20 or 30 centimeters.

•  Ling
• 2011年2月16日 13:03

Hi David and everyone,

I watched the program of BBC on You Tube.
To tell the truth, it annoyed me. I understand wondering whether he was unlucky or not, but I don't think that the topic should be spoken as a joke. At any rate, hundreds years previous people, for example, Julius Caesar, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ｗilliam Shakespear and so on.There are lot of victims and 遺族, the suffering is still continuing.
うまく言えないので日本語で書くと、何百年も前の人たち、例えば、シーザーや家康やシェイクスピアなど、既に歴史上の人物になった人々のエピソードやジョークならともかく、山口さんは、去年亡くなるまで、原爆の後遺症に心身共に苦しんでおり、唯一の被爆国日本で、日本人がこのようなジョークを深刻に受け止める心情は、同じ日本人として理解出来ます。

As for Tatsuya Ichihashi, though he might insist about his position in his book, but it's just a stupid excuse. The victim's woman can't tell anything. Ｉt's unfair. I was surprised that there is his fan. I can't believe it. That is out of questions. Her parents seem to feel offensive. I feel so sorry.

Mimi

•  Mimi
• 2011年2月16日 18:59

Hi it's first time to post a comment here, but I've always enjoyed seeing this blog! (Can I use enjoy here?# About Tatsuya Ishihashi's fans, they are just stupid, and just thinking there are people like them grosses me out.
I'm a university student, and actually one of my friends asked me if the BBC's news about Tsutomu Yamaguchi is offensive or not. At that time, I couldn't undersatnd whole conversation on BBC exactly#it was too fast to me:((( ), so I thought it was kind of offensive because commentators were laughing. But after read this blog, I know what were they laughing at, and I don't think it's offensive.

•  rina
• 2011年2月17日 05:12

Hi David and everyone.

I read the article on the BBC quiz show.
http://snipurl.com/227885

The jokes below were not about Mr Yamaguchi himself, but I find them tasteless and that his family felt utterly uncomfortable, I believe.

"Bomb landed on him and bounced off?" "He never got the train again, I tell you."

"Is the glass half empty, is it half full? Either way it's radioactive. So don't drink it."

The presenter of the show said:　"Well, this man is either the unluckiest or the luckiest depending on which way you look at it." As Anne mentioned, that’s a matter that his family decides. IMO, Mr Yamaguchi had never ever been lucky, as he got a-bombed

Now that BBC realised that a-bomb is a touchy issue for the Japanese, they will never make the same mistakes.

As for the book written by the murderer of Lindsay Hawker, it' s disgusting that there are insensitive people who buy the book, let alone those infatuated women who call the murderer ‘Ichi-sama’ and ‘Tobo Oji’. They are bloody insane.

In the article of Chunichi Shinbun, he said the book was a gesture of contrition for the crime he committed and that royalties from the book would be given to the Hawkers. They have no intention of accepting the money though. I suspect he is seeking leniency.

I agree with Anne and Ling. I don’t think there is an analogy between Mr Yamguchi’s story and Ichihashi’s book.

Oh, and “Lost In Translation” is one of my favourite movies. It's not offensive, it's hilarious. I love the scene: The interpreter didn't translate exactly　what the Japanese photographer said and that Bill Murray asked with an anxious face, “Is that everything what he said?” I know that couldn't be true for a professional interpreter, however, it had me in stitches as well as the confusion of R/L pronunciation. That’s an American sense of humour, David!

Ash

•  ashmoleanmuse
• 2011年2月17日 07:50

Hi Ash,

The point you make about Mr Yamaguchi's family is the reason I was comparing this incident with Ichihashi's story. I wonder why so many Japanese people are worried about Mr Yamaguchi's family, but no one (as far as I have heard) has expressed concern for the feelings of the family of Ichihashi's victim. Mr Yamaguchi's story happened almost sixty years ago, whereas the British girl's murder is still very recent. Personally, I feel a lot more sympathy for her family, particularly as Mr Yamaguchi did not lose his life in the bombings. I was just saying I think it is strange that the media paid more attention to a joke made on TV in another country than to the fact that a murderer in Japan now has "fans," is a best-selling author, and is being treated by some people like a hero. That is deeply offensive to his victim's family, but I have not heard anyone in Japan complain about it.

And you like "Lost in Translation"?? Well, each to his own, I guess!

I hated it partly because I thought it was just a really terrible movie, but also because it made Japanese people look stupid. Maybe Japanese people did not realize that because they thought it was a joke, and that in fact, Americans really understand that there are plenty of Japanese people who speak English perfectly. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have been watching American TV shows and movies since I was a child, so I completely understand American humour. That movie was not laughing with Japanese people, it was laughing at them.

Anyway, it's interesting that different things offend different people for different reasons. My concern about the reaction to the BBC joke was that I would hate to live in a society where people are too scared to say anything or make any jokes because they are worried about offending people. One of the reasons that English textbooks are so boring is that they are made for international markets, so they cannot mention anything that could possibly offend anyone anywhere in the world.

That TV show was made in the UK for UK audiences, and there was no bad feeling at all intended to either Mr Yamaguchi, his family, or Japanese people in general, so I think that the Japanese media completely overreacted. I actually read somewhere that Mr Yamaguchi's daughter said they often make jokes about her father's misfortune in their family!

Just my thoughts.

•  David
• 2011年2月17日 12:01

I just read that a film about Mr. Yamaguchi's experience is going to be released in July. I didn't know about that. I was also unaware that he only died last year at the age of 93. I suppose that is why he was in the news.

•  David
• 2011年2月17日 15:55

On second thought, there might be some differences between British and Japanese – maybe other nationalities too- in thinking of the atomic bombs.

There is a war memorial museum in Singapore. When I first visited in 1989, I got a real shock to see a very big picture of a giant black gray cloud in Hiroshima made by a bomb. It was not the size of the photo: There were various rooms where they showed how Japanese armies did in Singapore that I’d never learned in my school days with tons of photos, the real things, persons made from wax, videos, recorded voices, and then finally there was the picture on the wall of the last room just before the exit, seeming like a symbol of something to stop the terrible war, also looking like a big firework with their powerful joy. 写真の大きさに驚いたのではありません。シンガポールで繰り広げられた日本軍の記録（学校の歴史の授業では習わなかった）がいくつもの部屋に渡って、遺品、写真、ろう人形、ビデオ、実際の声の記録などで展示され、そして、出口に近い最後のコーナーの壁に、原爆がまるでこの悲惨な戦争に終止符を打ってくれたものの象徴のように、喜びを爆発させるように、まるで打ち上げ花火のように展示されていたことでした。

If those BBC people had visited one of museums either in Hiroshima or Nagasaki or had heard Mr. Yamaguchi speaking about his experience, they wouldn’t probably have felt like making such a joke. If I were Maehara foreign minister (I like him personally), I would talk BBC into making a new nice program to show how terrible the nuclear bombs were and appeal to many people stop the nuclear development instead of asking for their apologies. もし、あのBBCのスタッフも広島や長崎の記念館や実録や山口さんの話を聞いていたら、あのジョークは生まれなかったと思います。私が前原外務大臣（個人的に期待してる人です）だったら、BBCに謝罪を求めるより、多くの人に原爆の被害の実態を知ってもらい核を捨てたくなるようなすばらしい新番組制作を依頼します。

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月17日 17:53

Hi David and all,

When I was writing the above, I had not read David's comment, so I'm glad to know a film about his experience is going to be aired. That's very good news, isn't it?

•  tsuneko
• 2011年2月17日 17:56

Hi David and everyone,

As for Ichihasi's case, I don't think that "no one has expressed concern for the feelings of the family." Ichihashi is going to publish his book, though, lots of Japanese surely(Can I use here?) feel sympathy for her family, I believe.
Actually, I read the article that Ash showed us before reading David's entry, and I saw the video about this yesterday. I felt it offensive even though BBC didn't intend to do.

I understand each country has its own culture, and depending on each country, the way to joke is different. Yes, I am always surprised that people in England even joke about the Royal family!
I agree with you about the following part:
> I would hate to live in a society where people are too scared to say anything or make any jokes because they are worried about offending people.

But still, I'm afraid I have a different view towards "BBC program and related things" from yours.
Firstly, today, world is moving towards the total abolition of nuclear weapons and under this circumstance, BBC producer should not take up for A-bomb as the topic lightly.
I think there is a difference in degrees of perception towards a nuclear weapon and A-bomb between in England and in Japan.( Does this make sense? I wanted to say,"イギリスと日本とでは核兵器や原爆に対する認識に温度差がある." My sentence looks like" sentence that every word is looked up in a dictionary"!)

Secondly, I'm wondering if people in England would talk about people who experienced in concentration camp in Aushwitz or genocide comitted by Nazis on the same tone. I don't think so.

Thirdly, I also think this is not about the the matter "old" or "new."
Did you know that Mr. Yamazaki could not speak out about his experiences until his son died of cancer at the age of 56 after suffering from the effect of radiation? 56 years!

By theway, I didn't know about the movie,either.

As for "Lost in Translation", I'm not sure whether I understand the American humor or not, though, when I saw the scence Ash mentioned, I felt frustrated and said to meself"違うよー！"
Yes, Bill Murray did a good job!

Hi Neko and rina,
Nice to meet you!

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2011年2月17日 18:43

it's me again.
I suddenly remember that I bought a copy of a newspaper on Aug 15,1945 (Sun Telegraph) when I visited Guam last year.
広島を訪れた時も、原爆の悲惨さに声もありませんでした。

•  Anne
• 2011年2月17日 18:56

こっちにあった（笑）！！

Hi , David ,tsuneko & everyone.

Thank you for your immediate reply to David.
And thank you for your re-post in order not to overlook the question.
But that also prevented me from finding this reply :D!

David said , 'It means the same as "It doesn't look so," although we don't say that in English.'
That means that "it doesn't look so" is Japanese English , doesn't it?
I didn't even think of that!!

The reply is really helpful to me.

Thanks again.

Bye for now.

gk2bs

•  gk2bs
• 2011年2月17日 20:36

Hi, David. This is the first time for me to read your blog. Anyway, I heard about a news regarding Mr. Yamaguchi before reading your blog. I thought Japanese totally misunderstood what the QI intended about the incident. It was said that audiences burst into a laugh as they knew Mr. Yamaguchi went back to Nagasaki and got a bomb twice. Of course as anyone whose country got bomb, heard such situation they　got mad at the TV program. Don`t you think so? It was also said that you guys were surprised to realize that the train was running after the bomb though.
After reading your blog I do understand that you guys did not mean to. However, Japanese are much more sensitive about the nuclear weapon than you expected. I agreed with Ms. Yamaguchi (his wife) that UK, which has nuclear power, ,should have consider this topic more carefully.
By the way, I would not buy a book written by Ichihashi. Who would buy that?! I was very sad to hear about the murder. The British teacher thought that Japan was safe and love this country that made me harbor my resentment toward him. I think people, who said they were fan of Ichihashi was so crazy. I wonder how they could say that. If they were　a member of the victims could they have said same thing? They should put themselves into her family`s shoes.
I am sorry I was too excited about that. Please do not take it personally but hope you understand what I mean. Thank you.

•  hanaco
• 2011年2月17日 20:40

Correction of ↑!!

I forgot to add a phrase "to tsuneko" to the sentence "And thank you for your re-post in order not to overlook the question."

Sorry about that.

gk2bs

•  gk2bs
• 2011年2月17日 20:43

Thanks for all your comments. It's an interesting topic this, isn't it!

Anne, you say that "lots of Japanese people feel sympathy for her family," and I'm sure that is true. But have you seen any news stories about that? I haven't. For about a week, there was a story about the "terrible" BBC joke and the offence that it caused Mr Yamaguchi's family in the newspapers and on TV almost every day. I haven't seen or heard a single story in the Japanese media about the offence caused to Ichihashi's victim's family. Mind you, I don't read Japanese language newspapers, so I may have just missed the stories.

I think a big difference for me is that I know the characters of all the people who were on the BBC show because they are famous comedians, and I know that none of them would ever deliberately offend someone like Mr Yamaguchi or his family. As I said before, the joke was not about the atom bomb, but about the incredible coincidence of what happened to him.

I think Tsuneko's point about the museum in Singapore is also very valid. A lot of people who come to Japan from other countries feel that Japanese people are taught to see themselves as victims of WWII because of the atom bombs. Whatever the truth of the matter, that is not how history is taught in other countries. Actually, when I heard Japanese people saying in the media that Mr Yamaguchi's were offended by the joke, I couldn't help but think about the offence caused to Korean and Chinese families every year when the Japanese prime minister visits that shrine in Tokyo. (I forget its name.)

Anyway, as I said, thanks for making it an interesting discussion.

•  David
• 2011年2月17日 21:50

Hi David,

That news made me felt really strange.
I also can't believe that he murdered British girl.
That is really incredible.
However people like something unuseal things.
They might feel unuseal things from tatsuya ishihashi.
This is kind of scarely for me.

U-1

•  U-1
• 2011年2月17日 23:37

Hi David,

Yes,I did, but I'm afraid it was not the same timing with the BBC program. I saw several programs that TV media talked with her family, but I'm not sure how TV media showed the sympathy for her family concerning Ichihashi's book.

You comment about the responsibility for the war reminds me of a TV program called"白熱教室 in 東京大学" which was aired last summer. Has anyone seen it? (By the way, the name of the shrine is"Yasukuni shrine/靖国神社.")
In the program, Prof.Michael Sandel had a lecture about justice, and he asked attendees how long we need to take the responsibility for WWⅡsince it has passed 66 years now.
The debate itself was really heated and interesting.
In each country, we are taught history including the wars from the point of view of Japan. So are they.( I mean,China,Korea and the US.)

This week's discussion was interesting, but I feel like"ない知恵をふり絞ったような。。。!

*teisei:
> I saw the scence →I saw the scene
>said to meself→said to myself

Hi gk2bs,hanaco,U-1,
Nice to meet you!

Hi everyone,
What is the weather like where you are?
It rained havily last night around here.
The sky is clear and not so cold but is windy today!

See you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2011年2月18日 11:33

Hi Anne,

Thanks for that. And by the way, I forgot to mention that the BBC has done many programmes about the horrors caused by the atomic bombs.

•  David
• 2011年2月18日 12:24

Hi David,
You are welcome^^)
By the way, I'm a fan of the BBC program and website. I'm also a fan of the host of that program. I sometimes follow his twitter,haha! Did you know that his visit to Japan was cancelled due to this problem?

•  Anne
• 2011年2月18日 12:33

Hi Anne,

Yes, I heard about that. I think it was a real shame that his trip was cancelled.

•  David
• 2011年2月18日 13:05

Hi David and everyone,

>> I actually read somewhere that Mr Yamaguchi's daughter said they often make jokes about her father's misfortune in their family! > Anyway, it's interesting that different things offend different people for different reasons. > I hated it(Lost In Translation) because I thought it was just a really terrible movie, but also because it made Japanese people look stupid. Hi David and everyone,

>> I actually read somewhere that Mr Yamaguchi's daughter said they often make jokes about her father's misfortune in their family! > Anyway, it's interesting that different things offend different people for different reasons. > I hated it(Lost In Translation) because I thought it was just a really terrible movie, but also because it made Japanese people look stupid.

Why terrible? An washed-up actor and a newlywed female whose husband is too busy becomes close each other. Their relationship is not sexual but they love each other very deeply. They have to say goodbye in the end. There may be a terrible sadness inside them but it will change into bittersweet memories. Perhaps you don't have a taste for this kind of story, David.

Oh, and I laughed at the scene which pokes at the boredom of American suburban life. The wife sending him samples of the new carpet she wants.

For your info, Lost in Translation won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and it also won Golden Globes for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Musical or Comedy Actor

Ash

•  匿名
• 2011年2月18日 15:12

>> I actually read somewhere that Mr Yamaguchi's daughter said they often make jokes about her father's misfortune in their family!

Ah, she seems to have a self-deprecating sense of humour which the English take pride in.

Ash

•  匿名
• 2011年2月18日 15:15

>> Anyway, it's interesting that different things offend different people for different reasons.

Ditto. Having said that, the BBC should have been more careful not to make flippant jokes on a touchy subject like atomic bomb.

•  匿名
• 2011年2月18日 15:16

The above is from Ash.

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