Wikipedia has a little more on the program, called Koko ga hen da yo, nihonjin, though the article isn't that informative:
It consisted to two panels: One was a group of Japanese celebrities notably consisting of Takeshi Kitano, Konishiki, Rui Ramos, and Terry Itō. The other panel was a pool of 100 Japanese-speaking expatriates from around the world voicing, in Japanese, their grievances about their treatment in Japan. From this panel Zomahoun Idossou Rufin or "Number 68" as he was called on the show because of his designated panel number, became a popular foreign celebrity due to his anger on a number of subjects that caused him to talk much faster than native Japanese speakers. The show was unique as it was a departure from the way foreigners are traditionally used on Japanese television that instead of being glorified non-talking set pieces, they could converse and articulate in conjunction with Japanese tarento. articulate in conjunction with Japanese tarento.
Said one commentor on the Japan Probe post:
Oh gawd – not this train wreck of a “show”… someone actually saved the video? All copies should have been burned in a bonfire.
And then Beat Takeshi and anyone else associated with the program should have been thrown in as well. This show made Jery Springer look like a Mensa gathering.
5 comments:
I love the Korean woman from the video - the best way to deal with a dumb fuck ajosshi by far.
Last time I was in Japan (February-ish), I was watching another foreigner talk show. Quite a bit more laid back, and talking about serious issues in a calm and serious manner.
Korean comedian Cho Hye-ryeon (the woman who does the Gollum impersonation) was on the show. She actually speaks Japanese quite well. One topic they talked about was the burning of Namdaemun. The way Cho described it had everyone crying by the end of her story.
Used to watch this show all the time in Japan. Tons of fun. This video is probably from around 2000 or 2001. The most interesting character was a guy from Benin called Zoumahon who used to get angry at everybody and throw his hat on the ground. He saved up a lot of money from his appearances and his book though (Zoumahon no hon) and used it to start two Japanese schools back in Benin.
Yeah, Korean shows are pretty tame compared to this.
Spelling correction: Zomahoun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomahoun_Idossou_Rufin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhAdfogOAjE
Mithridates' comment has me thinking that maybe some of the participants are deliberately going over-the-top so as to increase their visibility, potentially leading to fame and fortune. That's an option that the guests on the Jerry Springer show don't have.
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