Ishihara Wins Trial Against French
A French language school in Japan has sued Tokyo Gov. Ishihara over anti-French statements, and the results are in:
Outspoken Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and his capital government were cleared of a claim Friday filed by 91 French and Japanese citizens, who were demanding an apology and damages for his 2004 remarks that were taken by the group as insulting the French language.
At the Tokyo District Court, Presiding Judge Katsuhiko Kasai said, “What he said is not true, but it was not targeting any individual either. His remarks surely lack consideration to the feelings of people associated with the French language, but it cannot be immediately concluded that the remarks hurt their sense of honor.”
According to the ruling, Ishihara said in October 2004, while attending a meeting of a support group for Tokyo Metropolitan University, “French is disqualified as an international language because it is a language which cannot count numbers.”
Ishihara said after the ruling, “The court made a logical conclusion. People cannot sue me just because they don’t like what I say.”
The number 91 may literally be “4X20+11″ in French, but simple memorization shouldn’t make it too hard for a foreigner learner of French to remember how to count. Maybe Ishihara would have preferred the French adopt the 10,000-based numbering system used in the Japanese language (100,000= “ten ten thousands”).
Ishihara’s statements about the French language were stupid, but is it realistic for the defendant to demand millions of yen in damages?
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Is Shintaro Ishihara the same guy who said racial comments about Foreigners, and wasn’t he the same guy who dissed Mickey mouse. I’m not sure if this is the guy or not.(‘_’?)
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Isn’t it just his personal opinion?
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Hmm, isn’t there some crazy language somewhere in East Asia which uses two or three sets of vocabulary in its numbering system and where there’s often a very arbitrary relationship between the written form of numbers and their actual pronunciation (particularly in proper names)?
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The whole world has turned into a bunch of cry babies.
Can’t people just say whatever stupid thing they want without someone taking it too seriously and either suing them or punching them in the face?
People call me “Kraut” all the time, and I don’t get my knickers in a knot over it.
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I think it was a bit of a silly thing to say considering France was/is much more of an international language spoken by many more people than Japanese is likely to achieve. Whilst I think it was silly thing to say, I don’t think it’s cause for a lawsuit. But when these things get taken to court, I suppose judges have no choice but to favour the plaintiff because it could be said to have hurt the French language school’s business.
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Woops, misread the article and thought the French school won. (>_<)
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91 is 4×20+11 in France only. In Belgium we say 90+1…
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Waaaiiit, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did he say “French” and “sense of honor” in the same sentence?
…buhahahaaaaaaaahahahaaaaa Oh man, now that’s funny!
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I remember when he said this… At the time I thought he was stupid, but I’ve been shown the light, there are even stupider people than Ishihara; those that sued him for this.
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I’m sure they first had a rally to get media attention, only to find out that their group was sparser than a 7-11 at 6am and got totally ignored. But yeah, I’m sure you would’ve thought (and joined) of something better for them to do…
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i’m french and i dont feel insulted by this , i dont care what some stupid person says about a language that i’m sure he isnt even able to speak or pronounce correctly… so wayne
but asking millions of yen is also damn stupid an excuse would had been enough, and even if he would not excuse i dont give a ****
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edit: what some “stupid” person
would fit better ^^ i dont know Shintaro Ishihara so i cant say that he is stupid
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As long as I know, he is an admirer of the French Literature, while he hate some japanese francophiles. It was japanese (left-leaning) profs of the French Literature that were the most opposed to his reform plan of the Tokyo Metropolitan University. Some say that this incident is the direct cause of his stupidity.
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Well, what he said is rather hypocritical, especially considering the complexity of the Japanese numbering system (different counting-word depending on what you’re counting??), or the Japanese language in general…
Also the difference in length between “kyuu-juu-ichi”, and “quatre-vingt-onze” isn’t really big anyways, and even though the French literal translation is a bit weird, it still adds up :p
But then again, it isn’t anything important enough to sue someone.
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Yah, I have to say, learning the Japanese way of counting, telling time, and other number related things is currently giving me trouble in my Japanese studies! It’s more complex than I thought it would be.
Now, I took French in high school and I don’t recall it being nearly as difficult. So, I think the guys a bit off to complain much about French numbering.
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Like all people, what he grew up with is the logical way, so he probably never stops to think about the insanity of: 一匹、一本、一枚、一個、一人、一組、一歩、一杯 etc. I agree though that the French system does seem funny. But then Ishihara likes making controversial non-PC remarks about ridiculous things and watching the fur fly.
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yaeh i agree french counting is weird from belgium or switzerland is more logic, but in the end i cant understand why he says that, in half of the african countrys you can speak french and canada and it is second offical language in the European council too (and even in the UNO its an offical language japanese is not) so why does he says that french is not an international language i’m sure is much more international then japanaese…
maybe he had a bad ay and wanted some tv appearance^^
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That is pretty ridiculous – suing someone for ‘insulting’ a language. In my French classes, people are always ‘insulting’ French and none of those people deserve to be sued. The French love their language, but this is a step too far.
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VIVE LE FRANCE ET VIVE LE JAPON^^et puis voila!!
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