Japan diplomat: Blonds 'no good' in Mideast talks

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: Reuters/CNN

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Blond, blue-eyed Westerners probably can't be as successful at Middle East diplomacy as Japanese with their "yellow faces", Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso was quoted by media as saying on Wednesday.

"Japan is doing what Americans can't do," the Nikkei business daily quoted the gaffe-prone Aso as saying in a speech.

"Japanese are trusted. If (you have) blue eyes and blond hair, it's probably no good," he said.

"Luckily, we Japanese have yellow faces."

Foreign Ministry officials were unable to comment on the report, which said Aso elaborated by saying Japan had never exploited the Middle East, started a war there or fired a shot.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/22/japan.aso.reut/index.html

---

Wow ... this guy makes John Bolton look like a real diplomat! Do you suppose he's an old fraternity bud of Bu**sh**?

[cigsandcoffee]

1. Given attitudes in the Middle East, he's probably exactly right. n/t

[donsu]

2. agree

nt

[BluePatriot]

3. *nods*

Yeah, it is a shocking statement, but maybe attitudes in the M.E. do make them more effective diplomats. I'm not naive enough to think I would be an effective representative of my company over there as a young woman, even though I have worked with people in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia via email. Instead, I just do my job the best I can, and hope that exposure to Western women like me through the business world will do its gradual work to change perceptions in the M. E. over time.

[pampango]

4. I suppose that women and blacks should not attempt to be

diplomats in the Middle East, as well. :toast:

[AnneD]

15. And if you have red hair....

you can be stoned as witch in some remote villages.

[twiceshy]

5. Interesting.........

I've always thought Condi Rice was not a good choice for the same reason - dealing as a woman with leaders in the middle east.

[bunkerbuster1]

6. Can the GOP field this guy to run for VA Senator?

talk about your Macaca moments...

[Peace Patriot]

7. Hit piece, is my guess. It's the sort of thing that might be said casually at a dinner

or cocktail party, or among diplomats in the back rooms. There's probably some truth to it. It may not have been meant as a racist remark, but just as a "realistic" statement. I laughed when I read it--thinking more of the abiding theme of "blond women in peril" in the war profiteering corporate entertainment and news monopolies, than of "Bushites in peril" in the Middle East. The "gaffe-prone Aso." Hm-m. "Gaffes" are sometimes created or promulgated by the corporate media for ill purposes. I would suspect that the Bush Junta/Bolton/corporate media have it in for Aso, for some reason. I would look to the reason.

[peacetalksforall]

8. He has a point. Years ago, U.S. diplomats would quietly figure out

combinations of representatives and negotiators who would prove respect.

This admin has blatantly offended in many situations.

Who you send is of utmost importantance.

The guy is not crazy.

But perhaps Japan would not use him for diplomatic missions either.

When our leader doesn't know geography, hisotry, and culture and when we combine it with arrogance and superiority - we lose it.

[Blue_Tires]

9. wow...

if blonds can't be trusted, how far down in the totem pole are blacks?

[maxsolomon]

10. the japanese can be seen by the arabs as neutral

not monotheists by tradition - buddhism, shinto are not involved in the ongoing crusades.

but can they hold feet to the fire? at a certain point, you have to be assertive.

[Hosnon]

11. Man, poor Scandinavians. Aso apparently believes that Arab leaders can't

differentiate one blond, blue-eyed individual from another.

[Bucky]

12. To pronouce "Aso" properly, you emphasize the 1st syllable, then drag out the S sound

oddly appropriate

[depakid]

13. Well, the Norwegians seemed to do alright

I haven't seen Japan do much in the way of diplomacy... oh wait, they did host a whaling conference....

[mitchum]

14. Well, alliances with blue eyed blondes didn't work out so well for Japan

I'm actually not surprised to hear this. Japan is one of the most racist countries on earth.

[kskiska]

16. Blue eyes, blond hair: that's US problem, says Japanese minister

Source: Guardian

Taro Aso, Japan's foreign minister, risked upsetting his country's strongest ally by suggesting US diplomats in the Middle East would never solve the region's problems because they have "blue eyes and blond hair".

Mr Aso, a straight-talking nationalist, said the Japanese, on the other hand, were trusted because they had "yellow faces" and had "never been involved in exploitation there, or been involved in fights or fired machine guns".

Japan has healthy relations with Arab countries and Iran and imports much of its oil from the Middle East. It is a big contributor of aid to the Palestinian Authority, but also has friendly ties with Israel.

"Japan is doing what Americans can't do," local media quoted Mr Aso as saying in a speech about Japan-sponsored investment in the Middle East. "Japanese are trusted. It would probably be no good to have blue eyes and blond hair. Luckily, we Japanese have yellow faces."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2040957,00.html

[msongs]

17. gee if we say they have yellow faces we are called racist :-) nt

[Bonobo]

18. Is he wrong?

[BeyondGeography]

19. If only it were that simple...

[Kutjara]

20. One of the side-effects of traditional Japanese isolationism...

...is a peculiar brand of bigotry that is either absent or deeply submerged in Western nations. I was once told by a Japanese friend, "Americans are very bad people. You discriminate against black people just because they're not as intelligent as you. That is very immoral." No amount of pointing out the stupidity of this statement could make him see that he'd said anything wrong.

Another time, I was horrified to watch a crowd of professional people standing at an outdoor bar, all laughing hysterically at a disabled person trying to climb some nearby stairs. They were cackling like cruel schoolchildren.

I love Japan and lived there for a number of years, but there are still some aspects of Japanese society that shock me.

[noamnety]

21. As a nation, we have our own brand of bigotry

it's called our foreign policy.

I'm not sure we're in a position to knock any other government for acting like racists.

[Kutjara]

22. As a nation, we're certainly not, but as individuals...

...we should recognize bigotry whereever we see it.

[morningglory]

23. A Japanese person said to my friend "You Americans treat black people very

badly." My friend said "what about how you treat Koreans?" The Japanese person said "Koreans are dogs!"

[Kutjara]

26. Oh yes. The Koreans get very short shrift.

I heard a story about a British guy who was walking down a western Japanese beach with a Japanese friend. The beach was strewn with all sorts of rubbish. The Japanese friend was appalled by the scene and said, "all this stuff is washed in on the tide from Korea. They are very filthy people." The Brit pointed out that many of the items on the beach were Japanese food wrappers or had Japanese writing on them. The Japanese friend said, "well, we sell the Koreans most of the food they eat, and this is how they repay us." He was also immune to being told that the prevailing currents flow from Japan toward Korea, not the other way around.

[Bonobo]

29. Much more likely than the "dog" story above. Listen,

As a matter of fact, I am on an island here in Western Japan right now, and a friend said that some of the garbage that washed up was from Korea... mostly anti-constipation, one-shot enema plastic tube thingies so I didn't get close enough to examine them and see if they were made here or there...

I also don't know about prevailing currents...

One thing is true though, Korea is much more popular here in Japan now than ever. They watch Korean soap-operas, movies and have started eating lots of Korean food. So attitudes are changing quite a bit.

[Kutjara]

31. That's good to see.

Koreans (or those of Korean descent) have endured generations of discrimination. Nice to hear that's changing. Presumably it's a generational thing; as more younger Japanese travel abroad, their horizons are being broadened.

[Bonobo]

28. I call BS. Big time BS.

No Japanese person would say that. You make me laugh.

[DemBones DemBones]

33. I don't see how you can assert that

NO Japanese person would say that. You may argue that no Japanese person you have known would say that, but you can't possibly know every Japanese person alive today. Ergo, it is possible that the incident occurred as reported.

[Bonobo]

34. I bow to your logic. (but I know I'm right.)

[barb162]

24. "never been involved in exploitation there"

Yeah, they're only involved in exploitation of Asia. Read "The Rape of Nanking"

[Fresh_Start]

25. Perhaps he hasn't looked at Condi Rice

she doesnt have blond hair or blue eyes but she's probably the least effective diplomat we've ever had.

[Warpy]

27. Has he never seen people from that region?

Green eyes and golden hair are not unusual there.

He must be one of Japan's conservatives. Nobody else could be that igorant.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. It's good to know that the US doesn't have a monopoly on asshole dignitaries

I now feel less inferior.

[entanglement]

32. "Japan had never exploited the Middle East, started a war there or fired a shot"

There, that sounds more like the real reason.