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On August 24, Japan discharged Fukushima nuclear sewage without authorization, which attracted excitement among Chinese netizens, and Japanese artist Koji Yano, who had worked in China for many years, was also besieged by netizens because of a video.
What kind of pro-Japanese actions did he make in the video? He has been developing in China for a long time, but he wants to choose to self-destruct his future at this juncture, and what kind of insider story is hidden behind the incident.
What the hell is going on, and why did Koji Yano do such a thing.
Japan's Nuclear Wastewater Incident: Koji Yano's Choice
The Japanese government's decision on August 24 to discharge nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea immediately caused a strong reaction in Chinese society, and Japanese artist Koji Yano once again became the focus of public attention.
Koji Yano has been in China for 23 years, he is the "only Japanese" who has been rooted in China for many years in the true sense, and he came to China in 2000 to pursue an acting career, and has achieved great success in the Chinese film and television industry with his excellent acting skills.
He has starred in many popular TV series, such as "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", "Proof of Memory", and has been to the popular people-friendly variety show "Every Day Up", his popularity and popularity in China have far exceeded that of Japan, and he is affectionately known as "Brother Yano" by the majority of audiences.
Unlike many foreign artists, Koji Yano is full of sincere love and respect for Chinese culture, not only giving interviews with fluent Chinese, but also deliberately learning Chinese calligraphy, and repeatedly saying in public that "I am Japanese, but I belong to China".
It can be said that with his 23 years of hard work, Koji Yano has managed to make himself a "special Japanese" in the hearts of Chinese audiences, a real cultural bridge.
However, the Japanese government's decision to discharge nuclear wastewater into the sea once again pushed Koji Yano to the forefront of public opinion, and for a while, various voices questioning Koji Yano's position appeared, asking how a person who truly loves China can remain silent about the wrong decision of the Japanese government at this moment.
In the face of doubts, Koji Yano did not publicly express his support or opposition to the matter, nor did he comment on the Japanese government's decision, but chose to continue to concentrate on his work and bring more excellent works to the audience.
In response to the pressure of public opinion from the outside world, he did not back down, but said that he would continue to spread the friendship between China and Japan in his own way, and this low-key and calm attitude is also Koji Yano's consistent style.
In fact, as an actor, Koji Yano's first task is to stick to his acting career, and it is not his obligation to participate in specific political events, and we should not and do not need to doubt his contribution and efforts to cultural exchanges between China and Japan over the past 23 years because of a diplomatic incident.
Indeed, in today's complex context of Sino-Japanese relations, it is difficult for any public figure to satisfy everyone on the issue of political positions.
We should not simply confuse an actor's political attitude with his own acting value and artistic charm, it is undeniable that Koji Yano has won wide recognition and love from Chinese audiences with his excellent acting skills and superb interpretation of the role, which is his most important contribution and achievement.
Even in the face of pressure and doubts from all sides, Koji Yano did not choose to retreat or leave, but stated that he would continue to practice his original intention with his practical actions as a messenger and bridge for cultural exchange.
This low-key and silent attitude may be another kind of persistence, and we look forward to Koji Yano continuing to touch Chinese audiences with his works, which will also become a link between the people of the two countries.
Koji Yano: The Chinese dream of a Japanese actor
Koji Yano was born in Japan in 1970, his family was poor, his parents were unemployed, although life was difficult, but his parents tried their best to provide for Koji Yano, Koji Yano excelled in his studies, and after graduating from high school, he did not choose to go to university, but went to work part-time at an izakaya as a waiter.
Because of his outstanding appearance, his friend advised Koji Yano to enter the entertainment industry, so he came to Tokyo and wanted to develop in the entertainment industry, but with his education, it was difficult to enter the entertainment industry.
In order to understand the work of the star, he even pretended to be a staff member to blend into the TV station, but was quickly discovered, not only driven out of the TV station, but also on the blacklist, this accident made him realize that if he wants to enter the entertainment industry, it is not enough to rely on appearance, he needs to learn professional knowledge and skills.
After a long period of hard work, Koji Yano finally got a development opportunity in the Japanese entertainment industry. He worked odd jobs during the day to make ends meet, and attended acting classes at night.
After several years of hard training, he participated in the filming of some dragon sets and extras, but they were basically obscure small roles that were difficult to attract the attention of the audience.
In 2001, he came to China with only 60,000 yen, but he did not get the opportunity to perform in the first half of the year, and his life was tight. At first, he lingered in various audition spots in Beijing every day, but due to the language barrier, he often had a clumsy situation and could not pass the audition smoothly, and in order to survive, he had to work various temporary jobs to survive.
Undeterred, he used the time to study acting skills and spend what little savings he had to buy movie tickets to enter the cinema to study Chinese films, realizing that in order to gain a foothold in China, he must improve his acting skills and understanding of the local culture.
Finally, Koji Yano got a chance to perform in a TV series, but because he didn't understand Chinese, he used the Japanese word "mother" to mean "daughter", which almost caused a misunderstanding, which made him realize that he had to speed up his Chinese study, and after a month of hard study, his Chinese improved.
His most famous work is the TV series "Towards the Republic", playing the emperor of Japan, which caused strong dissatisfaction among Japanese right-wingers, and insulted him as a "traitor" on the Internet.
But through this role, he further realized Japan's historical crimes against China, and in the face of pressure, he did not back down, but chose to stick to his acting career.
During his development in China, Koji Yano felt the goodwill of Chinese, once the taxi driver recognized him and exempted him from the fare, and Chinese friends understood that his life was difficult at that time, and frequently invited him to dinner, this warmth made him feel very close, and this sincere friendship became the driving force for him to survive in a foreign land.
In 2008, he was invited to co-host the program "Every Day Up", and was also questioned because of his Japanese identity, but he decided to be a bridge between the two countries and no longer entangle himself with nationality.
However, because of his contribution to China, he was ostracized in Japan, and even called a "traitor", and once his speech on the program caused "insulting China" questions, which plunged him into crisis again, and in the face of criticism, he chose to keep a low profile and re-examine his words and deeds.
The "shit" storm that caused public outrage
Japanese artist Koji Yano once talked about what he saw in Beijing, China, when participating in a show, saying that he saw many people pooping with dogs on the streets of Beijing and not cleaning up at all.
This is in contrast to the Japanese dog civilization, which he believes shows that Chinese are not worthy of a dog, and if they cannot be responsible, they should not be raised.
After this video was seen by netizens, it immediately set off a fierce discussion on the Internet, and a large number of netizens strongly condemned Koji Yano for "insulting China", and some even threatened to boycott him.
As a Japanese artist who has accumulated popularity in China for many years, Koji Yano openly criticized Chinese's dog habits on TV, which made many Chinese netizens feel angry and unacceptable, believing that a foreigner has no position to blame China's social problems, which constitutes an insult to China.
In the midst of the accusations, Koji Yano's positive image accumulated over the years was destroyed in China in an instant, and in the face of the rising protests on the Internet, Koji Yano did not choose to remain silent, he quickly spoke through Weibo, saying that the content of the program was edited and rendered, and said that he was too heavy, sorry for this, he stressed that China is a second home, and there is no intention to humiliate China.
Unexpectedly, although Koji Yano's remarks caused widespread controversy, some Chinese netizens spoke out to defend him, saying that Koji Yano was right, and that there are indeed some people in China who raise uncivilized dogs, and their remarks should not be exaggerated as "insulting China".
For these netizens, although Koji Yano's wording is more blunt, the problem he pointed out has some truth in itself, and should not negate his contributions and efforts in China over the years.
This controversy reflects the differences in dog culture and habits in different countries, and in Japanese society, dog ownership is seen as a responsible thing, and owners will carefully train dogs and take the initiative to clean up their feces.
There are also many specialized dog waste disposal sites in Japan, so when Koji Yano arrives in China, he will inevitably be surprised and unacceptable when he sees the phenomenon of not cleaning up dog waste on the streets.
But in the eyes of Chinese netizens, this kind of public criticism touches on national sentiment and is regarded as a smear and insult to the image of the Chinese people, after all, China is a large developing country and there are some uncivilized phenomena, but foreigners are not qualified to deny the quality of Chinese on this basis, which also reflects the different positions of the two countries on public issues.
In fact, if we talk about things alone, the problems pointed out by Koji Yano are not completely unfounded, indeed, there is also the problem of some people raising dogs irresponsibly in China, some people do not clean up dog feces after raising dogs, and let dogs defecate in the open, which not only affects the appearance of the city, but also tends to breed diseases, so it is reasonable for him to pay attention to this issue itself.
However, his use of categorical rhetoric such as "Chinese is not worthy of a dog" to overgeneralize and politicize a specific issue is also expected to trigger a strong backlash among Chinese netizens, and as a foreign artist, he needs to be more cautious in dealing with sensitive topics involving different national cultures.
Even if he is right, the misuse of words will cause the anger of the Chinese people, after all, the twelve times hope that the affairs of their country will be pointed out by a foreign artist.
epilogue
Whether he really loves China or not, we can't be sure, but he must have put in good faith to achieve something in China.
At the same time, we also need to remain sober, and there may be inconsistencies in his words and deeds with mainstream Chinese values, which require us to continue to observe and treat them carefully.
Whether a foreign artist can gain a foothold in China and truly integrate into Chinese culture is a long and arduous process, and the results cannot be predicted, and can only be verified by time.