Tiger Woods Blackface Act on Japanese TV – ಠ_ಠ

On Monday night’s episode of “Sekai Maru Mie TV,” somebody thought it would be hilarious to put black paint on the face of a Japanese guy so he could apparently look like Tiger Woods:

The character called himself Taraiga Woods, a pun on the golfer’s name and the Japanese word for tub (tarai). Celebrity guests would be asked to predict what would happen next in funny home videos. If someone answered incorrectly, the blackface Taraiga would drop a tub on his/her head.

At other times when face paint is used for Japanese impersonations of Black celebrities, they actually make a serious effort to match the appearance of the celebrity. A lot of people don’t think it’s proper to categorize those acts as blackface acts.

However, this case, like the case of the Obama Onsen blackface, is so crude that I think it is totally appropriate to call it a blackface act.

—

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29 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - February 2, 2011 at 8:13 am

Categories: Discrimination, Japanese TV Tags:

Weirdo

” is so crude that I think it is totally appropriate to call it a blackface act.”
I think you mean minstrel show, blackface is associated with it, but I don’t believe it alone is the same thing.

I don’t think “black face” is really a matter of quality or effort. Most dictionaries seem to agree that it’s either (mostly) white people imitating black people or the general practice of blackening the face to play the role of a black person.

While I agree that it looks crude, I don’t agree that it is the same as a minstrel show. Since the point of this makeup seems to be mostly a (bad) attempt at making the guy look like Tiger Woods rather than mocking black people, as it was in the case of american minstrel shows. If you look at the context of the act, it’s clear that there would be no point in throwing a jab at black people, given that there are so little in Japan.

You can argue that it may be “insensitive”, but then again, Japan had nothing to do with the shows that caused the negative connotation come about in the first place. And as I said earlier, there are hardly any black people in Japan in the first place and I’ve yet to see an example of Japanese “blackface” that shows obvious negative feelings towards black people. Maybe you’re of the opinion that Japan should observe the taboos of the US because it needs to “internationalize”? In that case, do you agree that it’s right that Muslims demand that the rest of the world to not draw Muhammad?
- http://www.japanprobe.com James
  
  No, I don’t mean minstrel show.
  
  I see a difference between the following:
  
  1) genuinely trying to alter one’s appearance so one looks like a specific person (who happens to have darker skin, so you put on some make-up for that)
  
  2) throwing dark paint on your face
  
  I don’t really think it’s fair to call #1 “blackface” – it’s just an impersonation of a specific person.
  
  I see a “blackface act” as a impersonation of a generic Black person. Just putting on the same shade of dark paint will suffice when impersonating any black person.
  
  The Obama Onsen thing and this Tiger Woods are examples of #2. Neither Obama or Woods have super dark skin, and the dark paint makes the person look absolutely nothing like the people in question. One might even argue that Obama and Woods have skin tones that are far closer to the natural skin tone of Japanese people.
  
  I doubt that there is any malicious intent behind the acts, but it is nonetheless troubling to see the generic blackface guy show up when certain Japanese TV shows want to make a joke about a famous foreigner who happens to be Black.
  - Weirdo
    
    I’ve never heard of the distinction between “blackface” and “blackface act” as you describe it. But going by those definitions, the only difference would be a lack of effort/caring or lack of importance/priority for that particular occasion. It sounds like a rather arbitrary distinction.
    
    The point of “throwing dark paint on your face” is mostly just to present the image of “dark” or “black”, nobody really pays attention or seriously thinks that either people look like that, but it gets the point across that he is supposed to be a black person. Nobody thinks “black people are not worth depicting accurately,” but rather “It’s just needs to get the point across”. The fact that Tiger Woods is black is not the main point, not important. What was important in this skit was that a man dressed like another man who happened to be black was doing silly things. It just doesn’t make sense that a studio spends money on a makeup artist to do a good job when “throwing” the paint on does the same thing, especially when it only shows up in the show for a few minutes.
    
    Yes, its’ crude. But I don’t think its some new level of crudeness beyond “meticulously done” blackface, it’s just a shorthand way of doing the same thing.
    
    “I see a “blackface act” as a impersonation of a generic Black person. Just putting on the same shade of dark paint will suffice when impersonating any black person”
    I don’t see an issue here. Yes, black people tend to be of a darker tone, as whites tend to be of al ighter tone, and asians are somewhere in between. I don’t think most people need to know or care about the exact or even approximate skin tone of an individual as long as it’s sufficient to get the point across. Nobody cares if people make a “generic” asian, like the main character in the Xbox 360 game Mirror’s Edge, and nobody cares when an Indian dresses up like a generic arabic man (Colbert Report). I don’t see the point of bringing the hypersensitivity towards black americans (NOT African Americans, not all blacks are African) to Japan.
    - http://www.japanprobe.com James
      
      I’ve never heard of the distinction between “blackface” and “blackface act” as you describe it.
      
      I think you misunderstand. I feel it might not be entirely fair to use the term blackface to describe situation #1, but when they impersonate a celebrity by breaking out the generic black shoe-polish facepaint and go for a #2, it’s different.
      
      it’s just a shorthand way of doing the same thing.
      
      I disagree entirely. It’s not even close to the same thing.
      
      One method actually tries to mimic the appearance of a specific human being. The other method treats he/she as just another Black to be thrown into the generic Mr. Darksy Blackface mold.
      
      If anything, their “shorthand way” of using facepaint made this guy look far less like Tiger Woods. Tiger woods does not have skin that is as dark as his Nike cap.
      
      Nobody thinks “black people are not worth depicting accurately,”
      
      They might not consciously think that, but that is in effect the decision that they have made. If a famous person is Black, just skip over any distinguishing features, skip over brown facepaint that is available: throw some dark black paint on that face.
      
      Generic Mr. Blackface will “get the point across” that this man has some African heritage.
      
      Nobody cares if people make a “generic” asian, like the main character in the Xbox 360 game Mirror’s Edge, and nobody cares when an Indian dresses up like a generic arabic man (Colbert Report).
      
      I’m pretty sure those different from the Tiger Woods and Obama parodies. Those examples are likely not impersonations a specific famous person who exists.
      
      I don’t expect Japan to conform to hypersensitive American notions of political correctness, nor do I expect Japanese people to go read history books about blackface in America. I don’t even think that the use of facepaint should necessarily stop.
      
      I’d just prefer to see crude racial representations like “any famous Black person = DARK BLACK FACEPAINT” go away.
    - Tony D
      
      “Nobody cares if people make a “generic” asian, like the main character in the Xbox 360 game Mirror’s Edge”
      
      Actually…
      
      http://kotaku.com/5062933/faith-from-mirrors-edge-fan+designed-for-asian-tastes
      
      That picture kicked off months, if not years worth of discussions, ranging from the depiction of women in video games to how white people view Asian beauty (eg her impossibly ‘slanty’ eyes).
  - himokun
    
    You are really grasping as straws…
ponta

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番組名　世界まる見え！テレビ
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世界まる見え！テレビの一場面についてです。

http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/02/02/tiger-woods-blackface-act-on-japanese-tv/

顔を黒く塗って黒人を真似ることは米国などでは激しく非難される行為であり、国際化し、多様な人々がいる日本で、安易にこうしたテレビ放映をするのは文化的、また、人種的に無神経な行為です。

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Simon

OH MY GOD SOMEBODY SIC DEBITO ONTO THEM STAT!
- ponta
  
  Debito just would laugh it off, saying that “there is a strong case that can be made for nontransferability of humor…… across cultures”
  - Guy Jean
    
    Like for example:
    
    http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/01/22/bbc-apologizes-for-a-bomb-jokes/#respond
    
    the BBC shouldn’t have even considered an apology (they made no negative comments on the man nor about the bomb) someone from Japan simply saw mushroom clouds and heard laughter and deemed it insensitive.
    
    The Japanese shouldn’t have to stop their apparent love for black face paint either but, at the same time, can’t get their panties in a knot when other cultures do the equivalent.
    - ponta
      
      Guy Jean
      So you think this is not insensitive, huh?
    - marek
      
      I don’t think this nor the Obama thing was insensitive. In America, when they want to joke about black celebrities, they just have a black guy that sorta looks like them do the part and it’s ok. In Japan, they don’t really have it that easy so they just use black paint…no big deal I would say.
    - Guy Jean
      
      I do think it’s insensitive to some and not so much to others. The Japanese fall into the later because they live in relative isolation (I live in the inaka and sometimes wonder if the locals really believe the outside world they see on TV really exists. Then they see me walking down the street and their brain explodes). They have no idea what blackface means to westerners. Honestly, I doubt they care if it’s off putting because they really don’t have to answer to anyone. No one in this society will make much of a fuss. No one will get angry and protest. There will be no boycotts. The gaijin are 1% and the Japanese are 99%. So when westerners complain about gaijin costumes with big noses or black face, what do they care? It’s funny to them. It gets ratings. Air that Sh*t!
      
      My complaint is when the reverse happens. It DOES get noticed here. An apology is expected and, in the case of the BBC, is granted even when it’s not warranted. So, again, if they want to do blackface that’s fine but if another country makes light of something culturally/historically significant to them… Too bad
    - ponta
      
      @ Guy Jean
      
      I am sorry but I think your comment is confused.
      
      “The Japanese fall into..”
      →There is no monothetic Japanese.
      
      ”
      They have no idea what blackface means to westerners.”
      →
      Most of them don’t know how black people have been made fun of by black face by some westerners.
      
      ” No one in this society will make much of a fuss. No one will get angry and protest. ”
      →
      There are protests, let’s read Japanese newspapers.
      And you know there is a protest because you mentioned BBC case.
      
      “So when westerners complain about gaijin costumes with big noses”
      →Few westerners complained about gajijn cosutume with big noses.
      Some Japanese and perhaps some foreigners , with the help of Japan Probe, complained.
      
      “or black face”
      →black face is a tricky case.
      I don’t think trying to look like a specific black person or some unknown black person is necessarily offensive nor insensitive;you can even show respect to her/him by impersonating a black person.
      Malice intention and/or the context make black face offensive and/or insensitive to a specific black person or black people in general.
      
      Some costume and makeup face are in the gray zone.
      
      Come fly with me BBC 1 Japanese fans
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRQAdLGKcmY
      
      Some female Japanese high school student might feel it offensive others would just laugh it off.
      
      Japan’s first transsexual geisha?
      http://www.japanprobe.com/2008/10/16/japans-first-transsexual-geisha/
      
      Some Japanese geisha might feel it offensive others would just laugh it off.
      
      Note that in the “west”, probably particularly in the U.S., because of its history and social conditions, even innocent black face tend to be presumed guilty.
      
      Now as for the black face above, I don’t think the actor and the producer had malice intention, but the way he paint his face black is crude, so I understand some black people may feel uncomfortable with it just as some Japanese people would feel uncomfortable with the yellow face crudely made up by a white person or a black person trying to impersonate a Japanese golfer.
      
      ”
      My complaint is when the reverse happens. It DOES get noticed here. An apology is expected and, in the case of the BBC, is granted even when it’s not warranted.”
      
      →
      When a Japanese girl dealt with Hitler lightly on TV program as if he was a friendly uncle, the protests came from Japanese people, and the producer and the broadcast station issued an apology.
      
      As for BBC case, I think others laughing at the cruel situation that happened for real on TV program, is insensitive. Survivors and their close family of Hiroshima, Holocaust, Nanjing massacre might laugh at their ironical situation trying to distance the the terror of the experience, and some might, with mixed feelings, smile in response to his/her laughter, but without such context, I think it is insensitive to laugh at and thereby make light of such a situation on TV program.
      So I think the BBC’s apology was due just as the Japanese broadcast’s apology was due.
      
      ” if they want to do blackface that’s fine”
      
      If it is fine with you, that’s fine.
      
      But people who feel the black face above is not okay, they should protest. Often some foreigners just don’t make their opinion known to the Japanese people. See my comment above;I wrote a comment how to do it.
    - Aceface
      
      “My complaint is when the reverse happens. It DOES get noticed here. An apology is expected and, in the case of the BBC, is granted even when it’s not warranted”
      
      Things happening over Mexican front.
      
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12361790
      
      http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110204-00000265-yom-ent
      
      My complaint is your just damn ignorant for someone being in the country.
Level3

Wearing that cap, I think sicking Nike on them might be more effective.
Piglet

This is obviously insensitive, but Japanese TV has never shown any intercultural sensitivity. Anyway, I don’t know why people would have any expectation from trash TV programs.
- http://www.billowykimono.com SenorScience
  
  It’s not like the west is any better as Guy Jean pointed out.
  - Piglet
    
    I never implied that “the west” is better. Trash TV is trash TV, whether in Japan or US.
    - andrew
      
      isnt the US to the east of Japan
      
      As for “the west” plenty of trash tv in all those countries…
moominsean

how many times do we see bad asian imitation on shows like madtv or snl? it’s comedy. it may not be particularly funny, but it’s comedy.
Hamachiman

No doubt this will be fodder for some in the black community, just another example of how racist every single Japanese person is.
- leitmotiv
  
  Yes. No doubt. They will be here any moment now. “Japan haterz” are probably all logging on en mass right this moment to coordinate their hateful vitriol on this very thread.
  
  Tell ya what. Do us a favor and rather than posting the identical straw-man drivel you always post, sit quietly, keep watching the thread, refreshing the page every 10 seconds until they show up. Then you go ahead and let us know. M’kay? Thanx.
  - ponta
    
    Talking to yourself?
andrew

of course its a BAD imitation!!!
…thats part of the COMEDY….its not a drama or documentray!
….its also not comedy at the expense of black people which is the IMPORTANT thing re any general offence to a group of people.
craig

lol you oversensitive liberal tool
lovely

that old chestnut – it really is getting old.
teemid

I think it’s very insensitive.
But I as a Japanese don’t think this came from a bad intention.
I know no excuses would be acceptable though.

But it still seems kind of strange to me, if Japanese did like this then foreigners call it racist.
It seems very different how people in the world see Africans.
We don’t know much about Africans but famous ones like pro sports players, musicians or politicians.
So They look kind of cool to me.Like I wanted my skin darker when I was a teenager, because I was into hiphop music and wanted to look like African American.

I’m not saying all of these things happens in Japan are not racism. Sometimes yes it happens.
But I don’t think it comes from bad intentions. It’s only the matter of ignorance.
And I’ve never seen any of Japanese actually taunt African people.
I want to know how African people feel about this, Because it seems no comment here from Africans.

By the way, this TV show’s one of main personalities is Mr Takeshi Kitano, and his attendant is Mr Zomahoun Rufin who is from Republic of Benin.
I’m not sure but I guess he still is. And I’m sure Mr Kitano is not insensitive about racial issues. He might have asked Mr Zomahoun if this act is acceptable or not for African people if Mr Zomahoun was with him at the moment.
yom

is it any different to this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zLuGwQyLyE

white guy dressed up as black female

Tiger Woods Blackface Act on Japanese TV – ಠ_ಠ

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