Japanese comedian sparked controversy over sanitary when filming at Korean market but an announcer apologized instead?

The recent broadcast of TBS’s morning information program “LOVE it!” showed Japanese comedian Yamazoe Hiroshi exploring the Mangwon Market in Korea.

While tasting sweet and sour chicken with other cast members in the market alley, Hiroshi used the skewer of the previous food he had eaten to pick up a piece of chicken.

Seeing this, the store owner quickly made an ‘X’ mark with his hands and the other cast members were also very surprised, saying “You can’t do that. It’s not good manners.” However, Hiroshi responded, “It’s delicious”, and maintained his playful attitude by reciting the name of the program “LOVE it!” he was appearing on.

After the broadcast, Japanese netizens poured criticism, saying “He’s so senseless”, “He has tarnished the image of Japanese tourists”, “What is he doing when the atmosphere between the two countries is already bad due to the sushi issue?”, “The problem is that the production team did not stop Hiroshi’s behavior”, etc.

As the controversy intensified, the production team quietly deleted the controversial scene from the VOD. Instead of Hiroshi, who caused the controversy, a female announcer issued an apology.

At the end of TBS’s “LOVE it!” broadcast on May 5th, announcer Tamura Mako appeared and said, “During the Korean travel broadcast that aired on May 2nd, there was a scene of a cast member picking up the food with a used skewer. Afterward, we received various criticisms from viewers. We deeply reflected on the fact that this was inappropriate and w had also apologized directly to the store. We apologize for causing discomfort to the viewers.” 

However, Hiroshi, the one who made the mistake, has not apologized and is still being criticized by Korean netizens.

Source: Nate