John W. wrote:
> Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson wrote:
> > Taken from a post to that email group that pre-emptively banned our
Mr
> > Cash (I'm still jealous of you for that one!):
> >
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/communityinjapan/message/5543
> >
> > If you're not a member, he says about a meeting being held:
> >
> >     Please bring a native speaker, as proceedings will likely be
> >     in Japanese
> >
> > Isn't he becoming just a little _too_ Japanese?
> >
> You could point this out to him, but as some of us here can vouch you

> can be expelled from the cult if you point out too many flaws.
>
> John W.

Sorry to post this from Google, but the thread has disappeared from my
chat machine.

Check this out:

===========================================================================
"WANTED--A BLONDE WHITEY", INCITES RACIAL PREJUCICE
HTB BROADCASTING UNDER FIRE, CANCELS PROGRAM PLAN
Hokkaido Shinbun  2004/12/18  pg 32
http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/Php/kiji.php3?&d=20041218&j=0022&k=200412184078
(Translated by Arudou Debito)

"A negro, if possible macho.  A whitey, if possible blonde and
beautiful".
This email, sent by programmers at Hokkaido Television Broadcasting
(HTB) to
dozens of non-Japanese asking for people to appear on a TV show,
incurred a
backlash:  "This incites racial prejudice".  On December 17, Doshin
heard
news that the program had been cancelled.  Sources inside the company
said,
"We were trying too hard to be funny, and got careless."

The show, produced by HTB, was to be part of "FOMA presents 9!", a
late-night program broadcast on Tuesday nights.  Problematic was the
scenario where foreigners who only speak English were to make sudden
phone
calls at "tarento" professional entertainers, surprising them, with
hilarious results.  It was planned to be broadcast after January 2005.
HTB
asked foreigners who are macho (i.e. manly and muscular in stature) and
beautiful blondes to contact them in order to appear, and sent the
email to
several foreigners.

This main was aimed at foreign residents of Japan, and sent through
mailing
lists for freelancers and part-timers.

It arrived in the inbox of an American-born Japanese, Arudou Debito,
Associate Professor at Hokkaido Information University, who protested.
"Half of all domestic foreigners are Zainichi Koreans and Chinese, and
they
understand Japanese.  This program will only reinforce stereotypes that
'foreigners are blond caucasians who only speak English.'"  HTB's CEO
Furuta
Toshiaki commented, "It is as the criticism says.  This program would
only
have confirmed prejudices."

ENDS

==============================================================================

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.