One Japanese word I used often during my three years in Japan was “wakarimasen”. This morning, it floated to the top of my mind as I watched the Al Gore video below which aired during a Japanese television broadcast tied to today’s LIVE EARTH concert in Tokyo.
During the first 45 seconds of the four-minute video, Gore appears as a hologram, complete with moving lips. His voice, however, is replaced by that of a female Japanese translator. Hence, the reason “wakarimasen” came to mind.
“Wakarimasen” means “I don’t understand.”
When one thinks about the confusion and disbelief that often accompanies or follows a Gore presentation, I wonder how many of the millions of Japanese people who watched — or will watch — the video actually understood and/or believed what the former vice president-turned global warming evangelist’s was trying to “sell” them.
Take a look and see if you understand.
Note: Unless you’re interested in propaganda, there’s no need to watch beyond the first 45 seconds.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Znek // Jul 8, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I’d just like to point out that that is, in fact, a Turkish(I think, it’s not Japanese anyway) translator doing a voiceover on the television network that clip was pulled from. I believe that Gore spoke in a normal fashion and they displayed subtitles on the surrounding screens, from what I’ve seen of other bits of the event.
2 hotoffthepress // Jul 8, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Znek — I lived in Japan for more than THREE YEARS and think I can recognize Japanese language when I hear it. Plus, did you notice the NTV logo in the lower left corner of the screen? That stands for Nippon Television. Geeesh!!! — Bob
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