Kentarō_Kobayashi

Kentarō Kobayashi

Kentarō Kobayashi

Japanese comedian and actor

Kentarō Kobayashi (小林 賢太郎, Kobayashi Kentarō, born 17 April 1973)[1] is a Japanese comedian, actor, dramaturge, theatre director, and manga artist.[1] Outside Japan, he is most well known for directing and acting in "The Japanese Tradition (日本の形)" videos (e.g. "Sushi (鮨)"), and for playing the Mac (opposite Jin Katagiri who plays the PC) in the "Get A Mac" advertising campaign in Japan. He is a member of the Rahmens owarai comedy duo.[2] His manga series, Hana Usagi, ran from 1999 to 2004 in Young Magazine Uppers (published by Kodansha).

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

Controversy

Kobayashi was assigned the role of Director of the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony; however, a 1998 comedy show recording of him making an insensitive joke about the Holocaust surfaced. In that comedy show, he said "We tried to play Holocaust with these human-shaped papers for a kids TV show, but our producer heavily scolded us." It was pointed out that Kobayashi's selection may violate the Olympic Charter, which advocates anti-discrimination.[3][4] On 22 July, State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama updated his Twitter account. He posted: "I immediately contacted and talked to Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC)."[5] The SWC released a statement and expressed the view that Kobayashi's jokes include those for people with disabilities.[6] On 22 July 2021, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) dismissed Kobayashi. He made an apology comment and said: "My job is to entertain people. I should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it."[7]

See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    小林賢太郎 (in Japanese). www.tvdrama-db.com. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  2. [2]
    ラーメンズコントライブ 演劇と笑いの真ん中 (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. 25 July 2005. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  3. [3]
    "Director of Olympics opening ceremony ousted over past comments on Holocaust". Japan Times. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Olympics opening ceremony director sacked for Holocaust joke". BBC. BBC. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  5. [5]
    中山泰秀 Yasuhide NAKAYAMA やっちゃん [@iloveyatchan] (21 July 2021). "@Tomo20309138 Tomo さん、ご連絡頂きありがとうございました。早速サイモンウィーゼンタールセンターと連絡を取り合い、お話をしました。センターを代表されるクーパー師から、以下のコメントがありましたので、ご報告します。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. [6]
    "SWC Condemns Anti-Semitic Remarks by Director of Opening Ceremony of Tokyo Olympics". Japan Times. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Comment from Kentaro Kobayashi". Japan Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.


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