Japan really is superior.

[Orwell]

Japan's gaffe-prone politicians

Japan's ruling coalition is rueing the latest gaffe by one of its ministers. Kiichi Inoue, minister for disaster management, suggested that the murder of a classmate by an 11-year-old schoolgirl indicated a sign of women's progress. "Men have committed thoughtless, harsh acts but I think this is the first for a girl," Mr Inoue told reporters. "Recently the difference between men and women is shrinking." He said "vigorous" women were increasing in society.

He joins a long list of Japanese politicians who have succeeded in inflaming a painful incident by making inappropriate comments.

Gang rape shows the people who do it are still vigorous, and that is OK
Seiichi Ota

Last July, one of Mr Inoue's predecessor's drew fire when commenting on an equally shocking child murder. Yoshitada Konoike said the parents of a boy suspected of killing a small child should be beheaded as a warning to parents who do not control their children effectively. "The parents (of the 12-year-old boy) should be pulled through the streets and their heads should be chopped off," Mr Konoike told a news conference. Later that week, senior politician Takami Eto sparked complaints from China after suggesting that the Nanking massacre during World War II was a "big lie".

China says that 300,000 Chinese died at the hands of Japanese troops in Nanking, but some Japanese nationalists contest whether the massacre happened at all.

In the same month, two politicians sparked fury among female legislators by appearing to condone rape. Seiichi Ota, a lawmaker with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said at a debate on Japan's declining birth rate that at least gang rapists had a healthy appetite for sex. Then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, commenting on Mr Ota's remarks, suggested women who are raped are "asking for it" by the way they dress.

Possibly the most gaffe-prone of all Japan's politicians, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, also drew fire around the same time for suggesting childless women should be denied welfare payments in old age.

They say 40% of the voters are still undecided. Those people who aren't interested should just stay in bed. Mr Mori was infamous for such impolitic remarks during his 2000-2001 leadership.

When news broke that a ship carrying high school students had sunk after colliding with a US submarine in February 2001, Mr Mori continued with his game of golf. He became his own worst enemy, urging voters wavering before the 2000 election, to stay in bed. His Liberal Democratic Party went on to lose its simple majority in the lower house. Before he even became prime minister, he managed to insult Aids sufferers, Americans, and residents of the western port city of Osaka, which he described as "a spittoon". Mr Mori's loose tongue led to pressure on him to resign, which he eventually did in April 2001.

Many of the slips made by Japan's politicians have centred on the country's conduct during World War II. One of Mr Mori's most damaging comments, made within weeks of him taking office, was his description of Japan as a "divine country" centred on the emperor. For a nation keen to shake off the militaristic image of its past, the remark was especially insensitive. Hosei Norota, senior lawmaker and former Defence Minister, sparked controversy in 2001, when he said his country was not to blame for its entry into the war, and had been forced into action by the US. "Faced with oil and other embargoes from other countries, Japan had no choice but to venture out southward to secure natural resources. In other words, Japan had fallen prey to a scheme of the US," Mr Norota said.

In the same year, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Kajiyama Seiroku said Korean women forced into sexual servitude by Japan during World War II were no different from Japanese prostitutes who worked in government brothels for pay. "Many of [the comfort women] went for the money," Mr Seiroku said during a Japan-Korea summit meeting.



Japan gaffe minister 'must quit'

Opposition parties in Japan are pressing Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa to step down for calling women "birth-giving machines". The Democratic Party and two smaller parties are threatening to boycott budget hearings in parliament if Mr Yanagisawa, 71, does not quit. The Democratic Party called the remarks inexcusable and said they violated women's human rights.

Mr Yanagisawa has apologised for his comments, which he made at the weekend. The gaffe has caused embarrassment to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose popularity is slipping and who has already had one minister resign over political funding. Mr Abe has rebuked the health minister for his remarks, but has dismissed calls for his resignation.

Mr Yanagisawa had told a local political meeting "Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head." On Monday he told parliament he would "make every effort in the Abe government to work out measures to solve the problem of the low birth-rate."

[Arigatomina]

This is great. It's like Japan's doing their own version of Bullworth. I agree with half of what the insulting guys are saying, too.

A twelve year old killing another kid? If the parents aren't to blame for how he was raised, who is? Beheading's a little extreme, but we could leave the guilty party in public stocks for a few days each time it happens. It's amazing how far a little public humiliation will go toward making stricter parents.

Talk about killing stereotypes. So much for the easy Japanese schoolgirl image. The way they talk, you'd think Japanese females were even more liberal minded than Americans. ;p

[Orwell]

I whole heartedly agree on the public humiliation thing. Neither cruel, nor unusual, not to mention it probably saves money. However, public stocks I'm not so sure about, unless you had some sort of security staff on hand, I could see a lot of unintended consequences happening. Illustrations of such events are available as well. However something like this sounds good.

On the other hand, I think we could do with a speedy trial, in which case if a crime is committed warranting a prison sentence over a year, we grab some near by people, ask a few basic questions, and if they decided it, we send them straight to the public guillotine. Then market left overs as Soylent Green, to pay for the system. Robespierre just got a zealous, but it was a good system.

[godix]

My favorite political 'WTF' comment recently:

For those that don't know, a little while ago President Katsav of Israel was accused of raping ten women (I believe he's since been indicted but I can't recall for sure). Around that time an Israeli delegation had an official trip to Russia. Putin told them "Say hello to your president. He really surprised us." and that Katsav ""turned out to be quite a powerful man. He raped 10 women. I never expected it from him. He surprised all of us. We all envy him."

[Otohiko]

Indeed. Putin's been a goldmine of humor in the past year. I personally liked the one from last year's G8 where he retorted to Bush's long speech about democracy, Iraq, etc., by bluntly saying "I don't think we want to have democracy like in Iraq here". I may not be a fan of Putin, but I would've high-fived him for saying it then and there

[guy07]

I Japan.
Dey as crasy ass as!

[Willen]

Dammit, George W. Bush does a pretty good job of producing gaffes. He's probably pretty high up on the all-time list. Makes me both proud and sad to be an American.

[godix]

Dammit, George W. Bush does a pretty good job of producing gaffes. He's probably pretty high up on the all-time list. Makes me both proud and sad to be an American.

For being a man who doesn't speak well he doesn't produce much comedy. What little comedy he does produce is pretty much killed by Jon Stewart repeating the clip of it 20 or 30 times. I mean think about it, Bush has few absolute lala land comments like this thread is about. He doesn't have that many that turn around and bite him a new asshole like 'i am not a crook' or 'depends on what the meaning of the word is is'. Despite his horrible communication skills you can usually tell what he means, they isn't a case of him calling every soldier in Iraq an idiot for example. Bush is a bungling fool in public speaking but he isn't amusing about it. If only he'd announce he was a jelly donut or something else like that.

[x_rex30]

Don't give that man credit.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

George Bush, September 13, 2001..

"I don't know where he (Osama Bin Laden) is. I have no idea and I don't really care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

George Bush, March 13, 2002.

"We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world."

George Bush, July 30th 2004.

"I don’t think you can win [the war on terror]. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.”

George Bush, Aug. 29th, 2004.

Don't listen to that man. He is a flip flopper. (all research done by me.)

[Orwell]

I don't think this counts as research. There's also the fact that the first two were compared on a episode of The Daily Show not too long ago. Can't say for the latter, but sounds like TDS material.