Figure skater Mao Asada at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club: Let’s ask her about Abe’s history views!

Here’s a scenario for you: You’re a member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. 16-year-old figure skater Mao Asada is visiting the club and you have a chance to ask her a question. What do you ask?

While I’m sure some correspondents asked her questions about figure skating, the off-topic questions were the ones that made the Japanese TV news. Here are the questions totally unrelated to figure skating featured in this video and a crude translation of her answers:

Q: Red Sox or Yankees?
A: I don’t really know anything about baseball.

Q: Do you have a boyfriend? If not, who would you want to be your boyfriend?
A: I am too busy skating to think about stuff like that.

Q: A question about whether she has been asked while training in the U.S. about the bad things Japan did in the past and Prime Minister Abe’s statements.
A: Everyone in America has been very friendly to her.

Q: What is your long term target/goal?
A: I want to be able to speak English.

Was the reporter seriously expecting her to comment on the history issue?