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対日感情をなだめたFカップ少女
筆者は自分の書いた記事が世間でどう読まれているのか、とても気になる。
たまに聞く感想といえば、せいぜい、偶然出会った読者から賛辞をもらうことがあるくらいだ。
ところがある記事が、大反響を呼んだことがある。
2005年、日中関係が緊張していたときのことだ。
Busty girl heats up debate
"You're not just 'Geoff,' you're Geoff Botting!" said James, an English teacher, at a recent party. "I really love your column." James is a friend of a friend. We had known each other over the years on a first-name basis, but it wasn't until this party that he learned my surname, and connected me to Tokyo Confidential.
It turned out that James was not just an avid reader of "Tokyo Confidential," but relied on it as material for his English lessons
James is a satisfied customer, and it's always great to run into such people from time to time. I wonder how many people there are out there, who read the column regularly and maybe even seek something beyond entertainment out of it. I also wonder what kind of reactions readers have to the stories that we print.
It's impossible for me to know the answer to those questions with any accuracy. Unlike a TV show, for example, our readership isn't tabulated. Nor is there a forum or any other means by which we regularly receive feedback.
So I must rely on random encounters, like with James, to gauge any feedback. Naturally, not all responses are positive. We've been accused of projecting a skewered view of Japan, particularly to people overseas, due to our fairly heavy coverage of sex, crime and the bizarre.
As for my own contributions, the biggest response I've ever received from the public was for a piece titled, "Busty child reported to ease anti-Japanese tensions."
Taken from the weekly Shukan Bunshun, the article described how someone had posted a picture of Saaya Irie, a preteen Japanese bikini model — reportedly with an F-cup bra size — on a popular Chinese Internet forum. This was in the spring of 2005, a time of heightened tensions between Japan and China.
The picture was accompanied by the message in the voice of mock Marxist rhetoric: "An 11-year-old girl with large breasts has a proclamation for all Chinese people ... Please stop these anti-Japanese hijinks. If you don't, I won't like you anymore."
Not long after The Japan Times posted it on its Web site, the story took on a life of its own in cyberspace. It was carried by or linked to hundreds of Web sites — mostly ones overseas. On forums, it provoked long lists of highly opinionated posts.
Some people disputed she was an "F-cup," others disputed her age. More seriously, some people took exception because they said it made pedophilia more acceptable.
I hope that James — and who knows how many other readers — had some interesting conversations around that time.
- Busty
- 胸の大きな
- heats up 〜
- 〜を白熱させる
- column
- 記事
- on a first-name basis
- ファーストネームで呼び合う親しい間柄で
- it wasn't until 〜 that 〜
- 〜は〜のときが初めてだった
- surname
- 名字
- It turned out that 〜
- 〜だと分かった
- avid
- 熱心な
- "Tokyo Confidential"
- 筆者がThe Japan Timesの日曜版に執筆している、日本の週刊誌の記事を英訳して紹介するコラム
- run into 〜
- 偶然〜に出会う
- out there
- 世間には
- readership
- 読者数
- isn't tabulated
- 集計されていない
- Nor is there 〜
- さらに〜もない
- means
- 手段
- feedback
- 反響
- random
- 行き当たりばったりの
- encounters
- 出会い
- gauge 〜
- 〜を正しく評価する
- positive
- 肯定的な
- (have)been accused of 〜
- 〜で非難されてきた
- projecting 〜
- 〜を提示すること
- skewered
- バランスに欠けた
- coverage
- 取り上げること
- the bizarre
- おかしなこと
- As for 〜
- 〜にかんしては
- contributions
- 寄稿
- reported to 〜
- 〜したとされる
- ease 〜
- 〜を和らげる
- weekly Shukan Bunshun
- 週刊文春
- reportedly 〜
- 〜とされる
- heightened
- 高まった
- tensions
- 緊張
- mock
- まねして茶化した
- Marxist
- マルクス主義者の
- rhetoric
- 言葉使い
- proclamation
- 声明
- hijinks
- 大騒ぎ
- took on a life of its own
- 一人歩きした
- cyberspace
- サイバー空間
- provoked 〜
- 〜を招いた
- opinionated
- 極端な主張を述べる
- posts
- 投稿メッセージ
- pedophilia
- 小児性愛