Gaijin are Pandas for the Japanese people.

[pubbie]

It makes so much sense. I now understand why Japanese TV portrays foreigners, or Gaikokujin, the way it does. Reading a quote by Dave Spector, a famous person in Japan, gave me a realization: I finally get it, and it makes so much sense. I happened upon this persons wikipedia page while reading a thread called "Dave Spector attacks TV dramas".

"Making foreigners cuter takes away the threat of foreigners being more powerful, or having more know-how, or more sophistication. So definitely, they use that in a way to make themselves more comfortable. So I've done things on Japanese TV that are totally silly, or ridiculous. I mean like jumping rope with French poodles. Doing things like the lowest Bozo, circus kind of stuff. But it doesn't bother me at all. A lot of times the foreigners on TV, models and what-not, are compared to pandas. They use that term here--pandas-- because they're cuddly, you can go and have fun with them, and throw a marshmallow and that's about it. And you don't get involved any more deeper than that. [...]" - Dave Spector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Spector

In his wiki-page you can read the full quote and more info on him.
Dave Spector (デーブ・スペクター born in Chicago, Illinois) is one of the more visible foreign celebrities (gaijin tarento) in Japan. He is a Jewish American. He studied abroad at Sophia University in 1972. He has lived in Japan since 1983. He appears regularly as a commentator on several different Japanese television programmes (such as 'Soko made itte, iinkai'). He writes columns for Shukan Bunshun magazine and Tokyo Sports Shimbun and has written several books.

[seirin]

that sounds rather pessimist O_o I don't live in Japan nor know too much about it, but I don't think they consider non-Japanese inferior? Otherwise, why send their kids overseas to study if Japan is so much better.

[doink-chan]

A lot of native tarento act stupid/dumb/weird on TV too. I see most gaijin tarento as being the same. Of course, if the point of the tarento's act is to act somehow doinkier than the native tarento, that might be a problem. Perhaps it was doinkier when Dave Spector first started in the 80s?

There's this one gaijin tarento named Daniel Kahl who's famous for knowing Yamagata-ben, and he uses it a lot on TV. I'd say that that certainly shows a lot of know-how, since it's rare for gaijin to know much about Japanese dialects, especially odd ones like Yamagata-ben. I also think it makes the audience/hosts of the shows he's on feel comfortable with him speaking Japanese - after all, he's knowledgable enough about the language that he can even use a local dialect. In that case, I wouldn't call him a panda but rather more like a curiosity.

[vulgarshudder]

It also extends to the eikaiwa industry. You're an entertainer more than a teacher. But hey gotta eat.

[Noale]

His theory does sound logical. However, cuteness (kawaii desu!!! ^_^) is simply the hype in Japan. They don't just portray foreigners as cute and cuddly, but they portray themselves just the same.

[Raspberry Latte]

However, cuteness (kawaii desu!!! ^_^) is simply the hype in Japan. They don't just portray foreigners as cute and cuddly, but they portray themselves just the same.

I can't agree with you on that. Yes, there are a lot of "cute" actors and actresses on Japan TV, but I really think Japanese are the same as everybody else. Hey, most of TV actors and actresses, singers, etc. are good-looking. And that's how it suppose to be. Who will want to watch ugly people acting on TV?

They use that term here--pandas-- because they're cuddly, you can go and have fun with them, and throw a marshmallow and that's about it. And you don't get involved any more deeper than that. [...]" - Dave Spector

This is a bunch of crap. It's just TV celebrity, it's like commercial, he has to sell you something...
I know from my personal experience - my family have a lot of friends in Japan. It's the same way as anywhere else - if you want deep relationship, you have to open your heart first. We went to Japan, and they came and stayed at our home, and we have never had any "inferiority" towards each other, even thou we've always had a bit of a language barrier. Still, we've shared good times and sad times together, and never once it came to our minds, that we would feel differently because of where we're from. We still have the same feelings and emotions, and share the same worries and hopes.
There are lots of Japanese studying all over the world, and there are people from other countries studying in Japan, and I think it's great that they do it, it widens their horizonts, and creates more opportunities and possibilities.
And there will always be some people who will watch or read something stupid, and make assumptions based on that, but it doesn't mean it's true.

[bluespring]

i dont know where you guys get these crazy ideazzzz xxjasdfhasd h...

[coldfate]

pubbie, you sound like someone in my class. Watched the same video. Though the ending part is "I get paid $x a year. If they want me to be a panda fine. Heck, I would even be willing to be a sloth too if I get paid this much" which is the funny part or something like that.

Raspberry Latte, much like the debates here in the USA over Fox news and other "liberal media" and "public media". There's always something to pick on. As much as we like to think in terms of ideals, unless it's something as concrete as 1+1=2, it's hard to put it past them to not do something like this for this exact reason. There's also equal chance that you're right of course. These are gray areas, tread with caution. There is much to be learned about Japanese culture before we can truly grasp what they intend to do. Dave Spector as much as you dislike his opinion lived in Japan for x years. Having friends is akin to treading the surface of the problem is alot different than immersing yourself in the culture. So IMO, while I still skeptical about it, I believe he does have more oomph(brain fart insert correct word here) on this subject then you do.