MISTRANSLATION A FINE ART IN JAPAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100220004-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 1999
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 23, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

0
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RD
CPYRGHT
Front CCU, Other
Papa Papa Po we
LOUISVILLE, KY.
COURIER-JOURNAle ? .
226,742
S ?- 333.011
,.. FEB 2.3 1967
By DON SHANNON
Los Angeles Times?Washinglon Post Service
,CIA-. Pressure. Unnecessary?
to nas been
Japan more than 24 hours knows th t
it's a rare Japanese interpreter who nee s
pressure of any kind to totally destr
the meaning of any statement originati
in English.
So foreigners here are holding the
sides in mirth over reports that th3
CIA sent an agent -to Japan to insu
that an interpreter screened the con,
ments of folk singer Joan Baez.
It hardly seems likely. the CIA exerte
itself along those 'lines, because ev
since Commodore Matthew Perry opene
Japan to the West, foreigners have.bee
cursing interpreters here.
Takasaki, a producer for the l, Nippo
B
roadcasting Co., was pressed, into se
vice as translator 'during her' Japanes
- CPYRGHT
ave adjusted to her perhaps difficult
accurate.' speech patterns.
.In one mistranslation, shown on tele- . At one point, a member of the audience
vision, Miss Baez said she refused to ran forward between numbers and. tossed
pay taxes because she did not want a bouquet onto the stage After that th
e
her money to help finance the Vietnam . following dialogue ensued: ,
war. Takasaki translated this as; "Taxes Joan (in English): Japan is full of sur-
are high in the United States." l prises. Tell them Japan Is full' of sur-'
Later, he told Japanese newspapers prises.
that a mysterious' "Mr. Cooper of the Takasaki (in Japanese to the aul~i-'
American. Embassy" threatened to, refuse ence): Thank you very; much.
him entry into the United States unless Joan (to Takasaki): Even I could t4'
he muted the singer's political observa You didn't translate that. Tell them Japan j
'tions. . is full of surprises.
Subsequently, Takasaki modified this Takasaki (again in Japanese to the to say only that suggestions were 'made audience, ndw beginning to laugh be-1
to which he agreed-no threats.
The U.S. embassy' said it had no' ?"Mr.
Cooper" on its staff, and denied that any
U
S
FOIAb3b
derstood the singer the first time): Thank,
you very, very much.
.
. employe had attempted to act in .the Nobody in the audience suspected the t
way Takasaki alleged, long arm of the CIA in that exchange.1 1
And there were enough others like it to {
I was at the 'Koseinenkin Theater for make the evening seem simply like a nor.
the third of Miss Baez's appearances in' mal one-where Interpreters enter into en-
Tokyo. By . this time, ? ?Takasaki should ; tertainment or anything else in Japan.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000100220004-6