Irreverence

When Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of insurer Aflac famous duck, joked over Twitter about Japan and the aftermath of Mar. 11, he was fired. The Japanese embassy in Paris has complained about the treatment of Fukushima in the widely watched mocking puppets show "Les Guignols de l'info". Chances Japan gets a public apology are nil. Freedom of expression rules and the broadcasting channel Canal Plus has no stake in Japan, contrary to Aflac, that would make the owners and managers think twice.


This minor international conflict relayed even by the NHK may be of concern to the overall image of France in Japan, which is not totally innocent these days. Rather than this, and from the point of view of liaising for business, people raised on daily sly, puns, jokes and innuendos may be your next assignment's client. They will have a hard time in Japan although they will certainly not be aware of how they are looked under. The accompanying interpreter will be challenged in many ways, even more if they come as a team. How do you convey to your client that it would be advisable to avoid cracking the usual joke, not only from a pure interpretation point of view. 


A standard innocent bias nurturing xenophobia is the suspicion that "they" have no sense of humor. Maybe on the Mooners on the Moon, but not on planet earth. Daily sly and cynicism is at a culturally very low level here. Innuendo is an exercise to enjoy behind wall of anonymity, where it is hot, crude and despising as everywhere else. But not in public. 


It is rather the strict distinction about where humor can be delivered, and where it is appropriate to refrain that needs to be understood. This is close to impossible with the serial joke cracker. Although rare, I have met some. To my self-conscious shy and a little bit tensed clients with usually no experience with Japan but having read and heard about the theatrics of business protocol here - cool biz has nothing to do with relaxed formalism - I usually make them relaxed by suggesting to be exactly their current own self-restrained, listening type, devoid of extremes, in voices and gestures. The rest will be OK and the business card exchange pas de deux not a big deal after two or three trials. There might be plenty of opportunities to crack a joke and put the interpreter in difficulties starting from the happy hour.