Job Discussion Forums

[matador]

There is a long background to this but to cut a looooong story short: Are foreigners depicted in a positive light on Japanese TV?

[PAULH]

[Nismo]

I can't stand most of them. They are clowns that play into existing stereotypes.

[fluffyhamster]

Interesting that you should mention C.W. Nicol, Paul. In his earlier days in Japan (which he relates in his book Moving Zen), he appeared on a "Guess who the real Nicol-san is" kind of TV show. I can't recall how much he was pushed into appearing by his karate sensei (for the purposes of disseminating karate-do's message, "advertising" for the Shotokan etc), but I do seem to remember him being somewhat bemused by it all...probably that is just a reflection of his modesty rather than any contempt for Japan...which leads me to thinking that not all foreigners who play along with "stereotypes" (and even the foreigner who studies karate is or has at least become a kind of stereotype) are clowns.

[abufletcher]

I heard about a TV show in Hong Kong where foreigners were brought on and asked to say things in Cantonese so that the audience could laugh at them.

Now there's an enlightened entertainment concept!

[Sherri]

One of the things that I dislike is when a non-Japanese person speaks Japanese on TV, they subtitle it using katakana. It is like they can't be speaking real Japanese.

[matador]

...the best thing is just to get CNN, Fox or BBC, etc by satellite or cable and watch that ! Are there people out there who only have Japanese TV They must be going nuts-bonkers.

[Zzonkmiles]

[Rorschach]

I agree. I try watch the news everynight in Japanese and I have my favourite Japanese shows (my general understanding of the news would be around 30-40%, too many words I just don't know). In two years I have never had cable TV. Plus my TV is monoaural (came with the apartment) so no bilingual movies for me. It does help if you are studying the language. NHK does acutually some good programmes you can watch without completely understanding, especially their travel shows at 3am in the morning.

[gaijinalways]

I agree with Zonk, it could be interesting, though I am not sure how many food shows I can stand (or dramas). But it is good for testing your Japanese listening skills, and picking up some slang here and there.

I think about the worse show featuring foreigners is Takeshi Kitano's show 'Strange habits of the Japanese'. Basically, the show's format is to get Japanese speaking foreigners on the show, have them argue with each other, and then also have them sometimes get into arguements with the Japanese guests who are invited on to ask the foreigners questions.

The low point for me was when fifth grade japanese students were invited on, and they told the foreigners they should go home if they wanted to complain about Japan (seems like if you want to complain, you must have a permit first)!

[PAULH]

[Anne0]

That sounds like the same thing that goes on in the US. They have this show on Spkie TV where they show this Japanese game show that's dubbed in English but it's not a translation of what's actually being said. They make up stuff that make the hosts and players look stupid so everyone can laugh at how silly those Japanese people are.
And I admit, I do laugh when a Japanese person speaks funny English. So I think it goes both ways. It's funny when it's not your people being made fun of but when the shoe is on the other foot then it's like "well that's racist. That's not fair. I don't like this". Everyone is guilty of it.
Yes, yes two wrongs don't make a right. I'm just saying it's not like the Japanese poeple are the only ones who do this kind of thing. I know it's in the US I waws just watching 60 minutes the other day and at the end the guy read some headlines of newspapers around the world. Only it was the SILLIEST headlines he could find. Now I read foreign papers so I KNOW they're not all garbage but he sure made it seem that way. Plus at the end of it he said "now why do I read these newspapers you ask? Well it makes me appreciate being an American." and I wondered. How can he say that with a straight face?
so anyways, it's everywhere. There's not much anyone can do about it so might as well move on. There are much more important things to get upset about.

[Glenski]

[PAULH]

[Rorschach]