The Little Black Sambo Controversy Hits Japan Again

2005-03-16 | by Jamie | Categories: Deep Thoughts

So fellow Aomori JET and blogger Takeyah has become somewhat miffed about a Japanese company's plan to begin publishing the controversial children's classic Little Black Sambo.

From her site:

Other people are saying that it will be a good way to begin dialog about discrimination and racism. I agree that things like this 'can' be a way to bring up the subject, but honestly (and perhaps it's b/c of where I live in J), I don't feel like people will be into any type of dialog. It will be all about saying it's kawaii [cute]. There is nothing cute about it.

Well I can see where you're coming from Queen T. with that. I mean just look at how they took a nasty comic strip about a bunch of mean kids and stripped it down to nothing more than a cute dog named Snoopy. Personally I don't find the poorly illustrated story of Little Black Sambo all the entertaining or endearing. I much prefer the equally poorly illustrated "Story of Little Kettle Head" by the same author. That being said, I'm not really a big fan of censorship, so I don't think I'll sign your petition. I find the more PC versions of this story just as offensive for no other reason than their sheer lameness. It's also that same line of thinking that has prevented me from seeing the controversial Disney 'classic' Song of the South, except for within the walls of Splash Mountain.

It amazes me though how many places you see the infamous Picaninny Caricature in Japan today. It's still used in lots of anime, toys and on the labels of food products. I don't know if Japanese ignorance of the historical significance of these symbols in American history really bothers me that much. I'm more concerned with Japanese discrimination against foreigners living in their country today. Like some guy said to Tom Seleck in the movie Mr. Baseball, "In Japan you are gaijin. It's like being black back home, except there are less of us". That probably goes double if you're gaijin and asian. It's clear that the Japanese public still needs a great deal of edumacation about the tall funny talking people around them, but I'm not convinced book banning is the way to go about doing it. But really, I think all this fuss is almost a moot point. I mean who still reads books on paper anymore?

3 feedbacks » •

3 comments

Comment from: Luke (biffa) [Visitor] · http://biffasblog.blogspot.com

I have a 1981 copy of Chibukuro Sanbo right here on my desk. The story is almost identical to the one I read as a child in England, with only a translation between the two. But it's not the story that is the issue, especially with the Japanese version. The illustrations are plain ridiculous. They portray the Indians as having jet black skin and huge, and I mean huge, bright red lips. Janbo (the father) has got this unshakable dopey grin in every picture and big wide round eyes, and manbo (mother) looks pretty much the same.

I dread to think how the illustrations would have looked had Sanbo been a little Chinese boy.

2005-03-17 @ 08:59

Comment from: Jacob [Visitor]

Careful Jamie, you're starting to sound serious in your blogs. ;) I’m not a big fan of censorship either, but as a consumer and a world citizen you can choose to simply not support the book. If you’re extra passionate, you can explain to people who like it, why you don’t. It keeps our right to publish what we want intact, but also doesn’t support things we think are stupid. It is not a good idea to ban the book, just don’t buy it. Now personal activism versus the mind-controlling marketing machine that is the media…..that is another post altogether. As for the Japanese trying to be a little more accepting, you see rays of hope with the occasional acquaintance. I’m not sure if the inclusive dialogue you hear now and then is a production of the situation or if it is sincere. Most racists will correct their language when in a conversation with someone of the other race. What will be the result if this book becomes the new 6-month kawaii in Japan? I don’t think it will necessarily push the racism in Japan to a higher level, rather highlight what already exists in the minds of the majority. And maybe you'll see someone's care decorated with Little Sambo. My two cents…

2005-03-17 @ 09:00

Comment from: dan [Visitor] · http://www.what-what.com

Jacob's got a good point that banning a book won't necessarily help explain racism to the Japanese. I would add that most of their contemporary views of black people come from the predominantly violent movies shown weekly on TV. While many Japanese ask white people "How many guns do you own?", I've heard of black people being asked "did you bring your gun to Japan?"
However, the feigned ignorance of the Japanese publishing company to the sensitivity of such words and depictions is contemptible. I mean, is Japan a modern industrialized country and world leader or not? Get with the program.

2005-03-17 @ 12:12

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