Japan angered by French TV host's nuclear joke
Reuters - Tuesday 16 October 2012, 07:37
Japan
has reacted angrily to a French television host who showed a composite
picture of national team goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima with four arms and
made a joke about the "Fukushima effect".
Praising
Kawashima's performance in Japan's surprise 1-0 victory over France in a
friendly in Paris last Friday, Laurent Ruquier's wisecrack drew
laughter and applause in the studio.
However,
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on Tuesday called
Ruquier's remark - a reference to last year's nuclear crisis in
Fukushima - "inappropriate".
He added that the Japanese Embassy in France had sent a letter of protest to the TV station France 2.
The
letter said the remark "hurts the feelings of people affected by the
disaster and hinders efforts for reconstruction," Fujimura added.
The
nuclear disaster was triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and
resulting tsunami in March last year. More than 15,000 people died and
almost 3,000 are still unaccounted for.
Japan's education minister Makiko Tanaka, whose portfolio also includes sports, was far from amused.
"If
it's true [he said it] it is behaviour which lacks sensitivity," she
said. "Many people were hurt in the nuclear crisis. I don't know how
people can make fun of it."
The Japan Football Association (JFA) also expressed its concern about the bad-taste gag.
"It's
very sad something like this happens just when people's lives are
finally starting to get back to normal," JFA vice president Kozo Tashima
said.
"This cannot be dismissed simply as a joke."
Belgian-based
keeper Kawashima suffered sick abuse by fans during a game last year
when opposition fans chanted "Kawashima, Fukushima!"
He
protested to the referee, who stopped the game to restore order.
Kawashima was reduced to tears after the match.