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The story
On September 1, author Hirotada Ototake addressed on his X (formerly Twitter) account an incident on Nippon TV’s “Joho Live Miyaneya,” in which a commentator used a word considered banned from broadcast, prompting Yomiuri TV announcer Momo Nishio to apologize on air. Ototake questioned who had decided that the word “katawa” (a now-taboo term roughly equivalent to “cripple”) was inappropriate, and argued that failing to properly consider the people it affects is itself “the most disrespectful attitude” of all. Reactions on 5ch were split — some backed the broadcaster’s compliance response, others sympathized with Ototake’s point, and still others cited his own past remarks to criticize him — with no consensus emerging.
Tue, Sept 1, 21:15
Author Hirotada Ototake (50) posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 1st, addressing the broadcast of a word considered banned from the airwaves on Nippon TV’s “Joho Live Miyaneya.”
During the September 1 broadcast, a commentator used the banned word to convey the meaning “unable to live a normal life.” Yomiuri TV announcer Momo Nishio later apologized on air, calling the remark inappropriate.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I think it's just him putting on a 'not bothered' act, but Izena feels a bit different somehow.
No idea what she's up to lately, but there was even a thread about her on the Kijo board (a gossip-heavy forum board for housewives) for a while…
What's there to even complain about.
That's taking compliance way too lightly, no matter how you look at it.
The show needs to take responsibility and put its commentators through proper training.
There's no way a banned-broadcast-words list doesn't exist somewhere.
There's a thread called 'Z-take' that absolutely rips on Ototake, and apparently he knows about it and takes it pretty good-naturedly.
Honestly, I think what actually pisses off other disabled people the most is you acting like you're the spokesman for all disabled people.
He had a strong mentality too — used to read what 2ch said about him and let it fuel him.
Now he's turned into some random pundit-for-hire nobody quite understands.
Complaints get loud and annoying, so it's basically to keep the call centers from getting swamped.
This isn't a human-rights thing — it's a self-defense rule that exists purely for the network's risk management and cost control.
Think about it for two seconds and it's obvious.
Looking down on people is bad, sure, but they don't need special respect either.
Personally, I've never seen anyone use the word 'katawa' for any purpose other than mocking someone.
> Who decided that '障害者' (shōgaisha) is NG but the softened '障がい者' spelling is OK?
Actually, Chiba City pushes back against this.
Citizens raised that very complaint, but the mayor at the time shot it down, and the city still uses '障害者' to this day.
That mayor, by the way, is Kumagai — now the prefectural governor.
To begin with, using '障害者' in the names of public services and facilities was never a problem — it's only in general everyday contexts that they want you to switch to '障がい者.'
Honestly not sure there's even a point to changing it.
If there are people traumatized by it, just let it die.
The internet is just full of people who want to discriminate against others to feel superior.
If people can't be allowed to speak with some degree of personal responsibility, eventually nobody will be able to say anything at all.
You mean the guy who unreasonably demands people carry him up and down stairs?
Well, his own take is that that's a separate issue lol.
He denies saying 'give every disabled person the red-carpet treatment,' but this is a guy who maxes out every right disabled people are already entitled to.
Rikiishi: "Not one round… one minute… that's how long it'll take to turn this meathead into a cripple…"
Anime:
Rikiishi: "Not one round… one minute… that's how long it'll take to make sure this meathead never stands in a ring again…"
The anime kept saying 'mekkachi' (an old slur for someone blind in one eye) over and over though.
Background and Key Points
Banned broadcast terms aren’t set by law — they’re a form of self-regulation each network applies based on internal guidelines from bodies like Japan’s National Association of Commercial Broadcasters (Minpo-ren). Ototake’s question of “who decided this” gets at the fact that the entity and criteria behind this self-regulation are hard to see from the outside. The thread also raised the example of Chiba City, which still uses “障害者” (the original kanji for “disabled person”) in its official materials — a reminder that the switch to the softened “障がい者” spelling isn’t a nationwide rule but varies by municipality and outlet. At the same time, reactions in the thread mixed opinions on Ototake’s point itself with skepticism about his credibility based on his past remarks, so the discussion never really converged on a single line of argument. Beyond a simple “for or against word-policing” framing, it’s worth keeping Ototake’s actual angle in view — questioning who sets these standards, and by what criteria.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “Hirotada Ototake Shares His Take on Miyaneya’s “Inappropriate Remark”: “Who Decided ‘Katawa’ Is Inappropriate?” / “The Most Disrespectful Attitude of All”.”
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