JAPAN DEBATES BAEZ TRANSLATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100220006-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 1999
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: February 22, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

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Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-
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FEB 2 2 1967
Japan Debates
11 Baez Translation
o New York Times Service.
grew
over Japanese press allega-
tions that the CIA had pres- 1,
sured a Japanese mterpreteri;
into mistranslating the politi- i.
cal utterances of Joan Baez.
The interpreter, Ichiro Ta-
kasaki, a television producer,
accompanied Miss Baez dur-
ing her concert tour.
I In translating' her remarks,~
he softened or eliminated her
partisan references to Vietnam
and Hiroshima, surprising
many bi-lingual viewers.
Why did he do it? A popu-
lar men's weekly launched the
CIA allegations. After News- f
week came out with the story,
the Tokyo press splashed it
?here.
]'he Asahi Evening News
quoted Mr. Takasaki as saying:,
"Pressure was applied by a
man (Harold Cooper) who said'
./be was from the CIA."
However, he told the New
York Times that "Cooper" had
not identified himself as a CIA
man.
"I assumed that was what
I he was," Mr. Takasaki said.
Later Mr. Takasaki said that
any mistranslations were dic-
Mated by his own beliefs.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000100220006-4