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Toyota CEO appears on Letterman to apologize

Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota, appears on the “Late Show With David Letterman” to comment on the safety of the vehicles his company produces [skip to the 1 minute mark if you don't want to listen to Letterman's intro]:

Also worth watching: Toyoda comments on Letterman’s treatment of Conan O’Brien.

[via JapanSoc]

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67 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - March 12, 2010 at 10:58 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

http://www.hormel.com Vonskippy

Wow, if I squinted really really hard, that almost looked like him.
Hamachiman

That was pretty funny.

And kudos to Letterman and producers for picking a guy that acutally SPEAKS fluent Japanese with OUT an accent!

Craig

I’m sure that was their top priority.
helical

Actually, there are little quirks in his pronunciation, rhythm, and word choice in his lines. I’m guessing he’s an ex-native speaker who’s spent a long time (decades) overseas who hasn’t used his Japanese too much over the years. … but ah well, that’s nitpicking way too much.
It’s much better than what I would have expected on American television. I agree, kudos to the producers!

Hanzo’

This is off topic for which I apologies but this has been on my mind lately. Just a question, are you full Japanese or have a degree in Japanese languages/linguistics or something similar?

Karisu

No, he’s just great at pulling shit out of his ass.
Ap

Fully agreed with Karisu.
helical

Thanks guys, I feel so welcome now. Feel free to share your insights too.

Hanzo’,

I don’t think who I am should affect the validity (or I guess the bullshitty-ness according to Karisu or Ap) of what I say, but for the record I grew up in a Japanese language-only household to Japanese parents in North America, and am living in Japan right now. I don’t know if that counts as “full Japanese”.
http://www.hormel.com Vonskippy

Just curious, Karisu, where do you pull shit from?

I’ve lived in Germany, France, and the States, and have worked in/visited a dozen or so other Countries (including Japan), and pretty much every place I’ve been to, ALL people shit out of their ass.

I guess maybe it’s the “pull” part that’s special?
James Bong

“I grew up in a Japanese language-only household to Japanese parents in North America, and am living in Japan right now. I don’t know if that counts as “full Japanese.”

Sounds Japanese to me – but it isn’t Japanese enough for the sumo kyoukai anymore. You’re a “foreigner” to them. Sucks, huh?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/news/20100223-OYT1T01095.htm
helical

“but it isn’t Japanese enough for the sumo kyoukai anymore.”

Well shucks, that’s too bad. Because I was SO dreaming of being a sumo wrestler. I’d always thought I could slap them around with my engineering degree diploma all the way up to Yokozuna-hood.
But seriously, why are you bringing this up now directed at me?
Hanzo’

Thanks helical for your reply, just wanted to know. Seem like every site I go to has a guy that seems to know what he/she talking about ending up talking shit. lol not saying that im refering to you tho.

toro

dude not again
racism

LB

Did someone have their funnybone surgically removed?

toro

regardless of what is being said here it is still racism and racism is just not funny basically.

LB

How is a Japanese-speaking Japanese man making a joke about Americans and driving “racist”?

toro

Certain portions of the video were disagreeable because some of it has racist or discriminatory elements in it.
The kamikaze part is definitely not necessary at all
The guy is not even Japanese to begin with, though yes he speaks good Japanese however.
I’m sorry but this may help add fuel to the flames of hate that is out there, that is the issue.

LB

The kamikaze part is definitely not necessary at all
Very little in humor is “necessary”. That is part of what makes it “humor”. In the context of the whole rant about “drive aggressive, like dogs, go fast! Speed!” it fit perfectly. I will say, though, that I thought the hara-kiri part was perhaps a bit much, but then again Letterman’s show has a long history of being edgy.

The guy is not even Japanese to begin with
You know who he is, then? Care to share?

I’m sorry but this may help add fuel to the flames of hate that is out there
Oh, then you must have turned the video off before people started laughing. Well, news flash for you: it is not going to do as you think it is going to.
Karisu

If by adding hate, you mean towards you? Then you are absolutely right, sir.

fg

I’m just curious.

What real life situation did some Americans encounter, where a grown Japanese man unexpectedly starts shouting in frenzy to another person in public, then suddenly becomes courteous. Is it that common? Are any other races or ethnicities depicted this way over and over in the media? Just curious.

gilgamesh

I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a racial thing, it was a comedy thing. Being belligerent, loud and angry and then suddenly becoming completely calm as if nothing had happened is a pretty classic staple of comedy.

currysuki~

Racist skit? Dude if that was racist to you, you are the one with the problem. And the kamikaze, hara-kiri portions were used because they are somewhat familiar to foreign audiences. Just look up Kyu Sakamoto “Sukiyaki”. People just have to know that what the guy is saying is something that they know or else there would be no humor. So either laugh or shut the fuck up and move on. Fail sauce.

crayonmonkey

…the kamikaze, hara-kiri portions were used because they are somewhat familiar to foreign audiences.

They were familiar to my Grandfather’s generation! That these are identifiable stock Japanese phrases to a modern day American audience really surprised me.

afsfasadf

What? If you are no way interested in japan you at least know kamikaze, sushi, ninjas and samurais. That’s about it.

crayonmonkey

afsfasadf: I don’t understand your point? But you forgot karaoke.

Yes, some people think that sushi is raw fish, all Italians exclaim “Mamma mia!” as they consume plate after plate of spaghetti, all French women are immaculately dressed as they pick delicately at a plate of frog’s legs, and that all disabled people are confined to a wheelchair.

‘Kamikaze’ and ‘hara-kiri’ evokes an outdated notion of the Japanese, one that perhaps still holds. Otherwise, why shout “kamikaze”? Why not “sushi”? Why is one funnier than the other?

Ignorance is only bliss for the ignorant, after all.
Karisu

Your ignorance is certainly showing.
tokyojesusfist

crayonmonkey, obviously “sushi” would not have made any sense whatsoever in the context of what he was saying. He urged Americans to drive like kamikaze pilots.
crayonmonkey

true… but I couldn’t think of a more ‘friendly’ comparison . I was replying to the comment that suggested that these words were familiar to US audiences.

Karisu

I’m in my 20′s and it’s perfectly familiar to me.

lovely

i thought it was hysterical!!! good job whoever that was.
helical

I found it pretty damn funny.
I personally believe stereotypes regarding race and ethnicity will always happen. Though they might have actually been meant to be be offensive and derogatory in the past, they’ll sooner or later will probably be reduced to (somewhat) harmless jokes and cliches in a multicultural society as the target demographic integrates into the fabric of the society … but they won’t go away completely. Off the top of my head, Stingy Jews, the Drunk Irish, or the Thrifty Indians are other things I can think of. And in that “tradition”, it seems the Japanese have earned the title of Polite But Insane in American eyes.
I guess one could go around being insulted at every passing remark, and people are free to do so if they want, but I think it’s best if people chill out and have the confidence to laugh at themselves.

This skit, I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be making fun of Americans who can be regarded as all of a sudden becoming hypersensitive to ANY fault Toyota cars are having, or the Japanese manufacturers who can be regarded as being in denial of faults in their product and blaming it on the Americans. Maybe both.

And what the hell is up with hara-kiri being written as hari-kari in the subtitles? I see it everywhere — so much that it’s making me wonder if that mistaken spelling has become so widespread that it’s somehow gained “official” status in the English language.
appi

Whoever calls this racist needs to get that stick out of their ass asap.
You realize the biggest problem in the world is people who have no sense of humor or ability to not laugh along with jokes at their own expens. It obviously is all in good fun here. This type of sense of humor is what many daily shows have in the US, and it’s aimed it anybody and everybody, so just shut up and enjoy the show or switch channels.
People who go around shouting racism are the ones who create conflict more than anyone nowadays because they create oversensitive climate.
toro

If you have ever experienced direct racism and hatred in your face you would understand, because it’s can be much more painful mentally than physically…don’t ever want this to happen to anybody.

appi

are you making the assumption that i haven’t been in contact with racism? in fact, i have a lot. from early age. I’m an immigrant’s son and I’ve had my encounters with a lot of haters and ugliness. I eventually came to gripes with the fact that it will always exist in people who are ignorant, or just blinded by bitterness or hatred or just somehow mentally challenged often too.

But i also realize the difference between real racism and satirical comedy or joking around. It’s the negative hurtful undertone that any reasonable minded person should try to learn to recognize, it makes your life better and easieer. The best weapon against racists is to show them you aren’t gonna let them stop the reasonable minded people among us to get along and joke with eachother, about eachother, without a negative undertone. I stick with my point, if you can’t laugh at your own habits and little quirks be it as an individual or as a people, that’s a sad sad thing, and actually causes many unneeded conflicts.

David

Funny my ass.
David

By the way. It’s not racist if you make fun of the facts or the company. But if you make fun of the japanese character or language, is just a fucking racist and tasteless joke.

appi

There should be laws against abuse of the word racist.
People like you devaluate the word to nothing so when there’s actually cause to make a big deal out of it people don’t take it seriously anymore.

David

Yeah i see, the american way: make another law or another amendment. Because there isn’t enough lawyers in the world, isn’t it?

When there’s a “bigger deal” as you said, i also take it seriously. If people doesn’t take it seriously, it just because they don’t care, not because the word is devaluated.

appi

i’m neither american nor am i a lawyer and wouldn’t wanna be a lawyer either. so i don’t know about that, it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously a remark anyway, the remark about making a law.

I think many people have no clue what real racism is. Notice “I think”. I might be wrong but i’ve had loads of runins with hardcore racists growing up, even going as far as with violent incidents, full blown physical and mental intimidation and hardcore bullying and discrimation. I’ll battle any form of harmful racisme but i’ll also always protect the right to make fun of eachother in a harmless fashion. Because being overly sensitive is what creates a tense situation where people have more trouble getting along. Relationships between good friends to me means you can also poke fun at eachother without going crazy about it.

I guess the fact i live in a multicultural society where most of us make fun of eachother like this too but at the same time can be best friends gives me a different perspective. And when many people where i live have social circles that resemble the united nations that does say something. There’s nothing racist about this to me. There’s no harmful intent in this. In a way this is poking fun at americans thinking in stereotypes.

tokyojesusfist

“People like you devaluate the word to nothing so when there’s actually cause to make a big deal out of it people don’t take it seriously anymore.”

The word is now used with such wild abandon that it has lost all meaning. Virtually every accusation of racism today is entirely groundless.

yom

Totally agree

anyway, I found it funny, and my Japanese wife found it funny. Thats all i care about

Karisu

It’s not racist period. People need to learn what that word means apparently.

k9

the show is a lot of fun but the rest of the story of the women who yelled at the congress “shame on toyota!” was more funny for me.

the women: my horrible experience bla bla bla…so i sold off the f** car.

second owner : the car has about 27,000 miles now but no trouble so far.

k9

ps:of course, toyota has responsibility to figure out the torouble though.

toro

I don’t deny about laughter being the best medicine, humor is needed in our lives but please understand about someone having faced direct racism and hate daily…it’s really difficult believe me.

Hope we can just realize no one’s perfect, be able to forgive ,learn from mistakes, and move on while gaining something from it.
Negatives turning to positives yes yes

appi

I feel for ya, man. I really do. But don’t let those experiences get you down. Because that’s when racists win, and we don’t want them to win.

The well willing people amongst us should be able to laugh at and with eachother and not make the other person feel bad about it. You can poke fun at my ethnicity and as long as i don’t feel hatred or intent to hurt me with it, i’ll laugh with you.

toro

true that appi
ccannon

Bottom line, did you laugh? I didn’t.

LB

Yeah, I laughed my ass off! “Americans suck at driving! If you’re gonna drive, DRIVE dammit! Not like a kitty-cat, like a DOG! Woof! Woof! GO-GO-GO! SPEEEEEEED!!!” All the funnier because the complaints about the Prius are you can’t STOP the damn things. It’s like “So that was the problem? You’re supposed to drive them like a bat out of hell?!? Why didn’t you say so sooner!”
kanoe91

I didn’t laugh at all until the hairpiece comment. That caught me off guard. The rest is pretty awful.

His accent sounds Japanese-American (Nikkei) to me.

toro

And being able to turn a wrong into a right, and always hope for the best!
Like I said before and I say it again make sure those cuts don’t become scars. A real apology can’t be just in words. They say action speaks louder than words.
zeto

For the record, I’m not american, nor japanese.

1st) It isn’t funny at all. Maybe for americans it is, I don’t know.

2nd) Yes. It’s a bit racist. Or at least, very xenophobic.

appi

you do know what xenophobic means, right?

Dan

He clearly has no idea what xenophobic means.

crayonmonkey

Why do you assume that he(?) doesn’t understand what xenophobic means?

If anyone is disturbed or offended by anything, anywhere, they have every right to feel that way. If you don’t agree, that doesn’t make either of you ‘wrong’, does it?

As to the “audience were laughing, so it’s ok” argument, I wonder what they were laughing at? Was there a translation somewhere, were they all fluent in Japanese, or did the floor manager tell them when to laugh?

James Bong

Unless you’re providing a definition for reference, you’re just being a condescending twit, I guess. Good for you.

Or maybe you’re actually asking the OP what xenophobia means? Here, I’ll help:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/xenophobia

appi

i think it’s worse to just use words with such a heavy load as racism or xenophobia when you haven’t even bothered trying to actually understand what those things mean. freedom of speech and opinion, fine, i totally 100% agree with that, but when you wanna throw around powerterms try to at least know what they mean. I wasn’t trying to be condescending at all.

buraian

It was funny (which is surprising since it was on Letterman) !

The humor is this, for us Americans who haven’t been living under a rock we’ve seen the real Akio Toyoda appear and the alphabet soup of news shows and delivering his apologies, he did it even in front of congress. So it plays on the humor of “oh here he is again to deliver an apology” then it becomes funny because its not an apology its the direct opposite.
Also it goes against the image that most Americans have of the Japanese (which is smart, but very polite, maybe even robot like people who only ever eat sushi and dress like samurais on weekends) And I’m sorry but all this talk about stereoypes gets out of control. Unfortunately not every American can travel over to Japan to experience it first hand and so they will by human nature come up with a sterotype based on their very limited experience: be it sushi, Toyotoa, Nintendo, samurai movies, crazy youtube videos. Its not ideal but its not necessarily wrong either, because when faced with meeting a real actual Japanese person so of those images fall away.
When stereotypes become bad and racist is when they held to even in the face of an actual individual from a group and when they are used to justify action or thoughts that are wrong.
JakeL168

Whoa… I saw it and soon realize it was fake… That’s not the Toyoda I saw on the conference!!! LOL…
k9

i found a funny show here but there is little doubt that will not be aired in the usa.(my guess)

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100313-00000010-jij-int
JackCrow

I did not laugh for a second, I tell you that much.
Issue itself is not funny to begin with, and the traditional way of apologizing is ridiculed at best.
Broadway show for the dumb mass, who’d laugh at just about anything.

I sincerely doubt if the Japanese TV made a similar “show” about the war in Iraq and the US soldiers dying over there, would the US audience laugh.

I say this was uncalled for, but hey if you are as boring as Letterman, these kind of stunts are to be expected.

appi

ow gawd… please get over yourself… Mister moralistic pretentious elitist snobist whatever else in that sense type of thing.

So what’s “funny” according to you? give me some examples of the elite of funny.

I feel so uneducated and stupid here with my 2 college degrees from a developed well respected nation of the world, but admittedly only middle class income… i must be so stupid and mediocre and uneducated to enjoy this.

I’d rather laugh at many things than be a dick about many things which i sorta suspect you are. I might be completely wrong about that, but i’m just part of the dumb mass, so forgive me.

JackCrow

Hello appi,

unless you are Mr. Letterman himself ; with your educational level – you just mentioned, you should have learned, to respect other opinions, even if you do not feel in accord with them.

Also you should know, being educated in such manner to address people you do not know with respect, if you want the same in return.

But if you think education and income amount have anything to do with being smart and not superficial, or simple minded, the conclusion would arise that you are young and inexperienced, at best not in much of a respect of other persons for the afford mentioned education, but the opposite.

However as you say you are forgiven, as we are not personally acquainted.

The issue we have at hand is very serious for both nations concerned, and for one it is a matter of honor and for the other a matter of trust.

For the one for whom it is a matter of honor; at least it should be no matter that the corporation has the international character; the matter of apologizing is taken deadly serious, as that is one trait deeply engraved in the peoples character ( unlike anywhere in the world ), and a matter that is not taken lightly in the Japanese culture; which by reading this blog, you should have grasped by now.

What is sad that people died, American people, many have been seriously injured, and more even paralyzed by the car malfunction, which is not something to be ridiculed; but this “amusing” and as you say “funny” video clip shows us different.
It shows us that people are driving like crazy, which is to begin with not true, but completely opposite.
It also clings on a few words deeply scarred in the minds of a wwii generation, from the war in the Pacific, where it is not applicable, even in a sketch.

So you see the memory of people that have died and have been injured across multiple generations have been portrayed as “funny” for a cheap thrill of entertainment.
Entertainment for the shallow, along the line here is a Japanese person ( in the west all perceived the same), he bows, we laugh, he shouts, we laugh, he insults us ( for an unknown reason ), we laugh, he throws a few words like divine wind and suicide, we laugh.

As you see, if you are educated, you should see through that, and if you read this blog you know there is much more than meets the eye in both cultures.

Therefor if you do not find this explanation sufficient, you are free to stay insulted, or think about what you said, to a person or auditorium you do not know or grasp.

Either way, thank you for the reply.

appi

you can type an entire essay for all i care, but what it comes down to is you straight out insulted a lot of people by calling them part of the ” dumb masses” because they giggled at this. you can try to rationalize it all you want but that’s not just an ordinary opinion, it’s namecalling and making assumptions. Is this the respect you speak of?

Next to that you sorta act as if in Japan they never make insensitive jokes. What does honor and trust have to do with a late night comedy show and this satirical joke? Get over it, it’s Letterman. It’s not even meant to be smart. Sometimes in life it’s fun to just put your mind on 0 and enjoy something without thinking too much about it. It might not be your cup of tea, but don’t just lable everyone idiots who do enjoy this, it doesn’t speak well for you, seriously. You’re putting way too much thought into this.
Being uptight about everything all your life is not good for your health.

You might not enjoy this type of humor, which is fine, but to lable everyone who does dumb masses is just name calling and making assumptions.

I stick with my previous comment.

Again, you never answered what you do find funny, name some things, so we can pick it apart here too.

JackCrow

Thanks for the reply appi,
I’ll try to keep it shorter this time round.

>”dumb masses” because they giggled at this.
>Is this the respect you speak of?

You answered your own question.
Americans laugh even if they themselves are hurt in car accidents, I’d say speaks for itself.

>Next to that you sorta act as if in Japan they never make insensitive jokes.

So how many wrongs makes ONE right?

>its fun to just put your mind on 0

This is so true, what’s more true is that by putting a mind to 0 can prevent people from putting their gear in neutral N, out of fear, even if told that it would save their life, then puling their emergency break, then turning off the ignition.

>Get over it, its Letterman. Its not even meant to be smart.

My point exactly, glad you see it the same way.

>You might not enjoy this type of humor, which is fine…

So true.

>…is just name calling and making assumptions.

Based on what I heard, saw, and know, I doubt that somehow, reserving a right to be totally wrong, which everyone is entitled to.

>I stick with my previous comment.

Good, you are welcome to.

Showing respect to other cultures, respecting and trying to understand and overcome the differences, viewing the actions trough your prism of acceptable standards, and acting accordingly, is good practice.

Be well.

AzabuSamurai

I am American living almost 20 years in Japan and I found it hilarious. Clearly extreme but funny.

Glad to see Japanese spoken on US TV not an American pretending to be a samurai like on old SNL shows. Even if that actor is nikkei, he was smooth.
Glad to see some of the US stereotypes of Japan brought out like that. It makes fun of Americans not Japanese; self-deprecating humor.
People who don’t like it can chose not to watch.

Its a comedy show and Americans like freedom of speech. That would never air in Japan but hey, its the price of doing business and being high profile in the US.

k9

ha? did jp media pick up the show and make fuss? did toyota went to law against the show? most of japanese dont know about the show except ppl in here. in fuct, its the problem that the major medias in us have made show-ize about the toyota issue. for instance, abc news aired the fabricated report about toyota.

Toyota CEO appears on Letterman to apologize

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