Japan irate after French TV host's Fukushima joke

French TV host Laurent Ruquier showed this composite picture of Japan national team goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima with four arms, describing it as the "Fukushima effect." / YouTube

PARIS A French television host has caused outrage in Japan after showing a mocked-up picture of national team goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima with four arms and describing it as the "Fukushima effect."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday that the Japanese embassy in France has sent an official letter of complaint to TV station France 2 after host Laurent Ruquier made the gag on a program. Ruquier's comment drew laughter and applause in the studio (watch clip below).

Sports and Education Minister Makiko Tanaka says ''all this clearly lacks sensitivity. Many people were affected by the nuclear crisis. I don't even know how people can laugh at it.''

Ruquier made the comment after Japan's 1-0 victory over France in a soccer friendly in Paris last Friday.

More than 15,000 people died, while 3,000 are still missing after last year's earthquake and resulting tsunami, which severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

According to Reuters, Kawashima, who plays in Belgium, was taunted during a game last year when opposition fans chanted "Kawashima, Fukushima!"

[MRAIDANGWALSH]

I agree 100% with the Japanese people beig upset about this photo remarks from the Frenchman about 4 arms depicting radiation sickness and I know first hand how it feels to be sick and having to deal with people laughing at sickness and my reasons I'm saying this is I have been ill since June 1990 with 'internal alpha ionization radiation injury and for decades have had to deal with the laughs of uneducated people especially scientists from the centers for disease control in Atlanta who as a joke posted numerous posters on the wall about sick patients depicting them in a comical manner that it was about people being seriously sick and they use to laugh at us and never properly studied our illness and to this day dismiised us as mental lazy people who have no illness so 'yes' I fully support the Japanese people 100% about being laughed at and I hope this reporter wakes up to reality and a good lesson I believe is for him to publicly apologize and as a good will of gesture donate to 'radiation research' for decades all governments including the French have dismissed patients with chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis which are 'government named labels' labels for a syndrome that is the 21st century cover-up and they have known for decades that this is actually radiation 'injury' and they continue to cover everything upo but we as patients and as sick as we presently are will continue to fund private researchers and not depend on theses governments to help us get well...we also know how serious radiation injury is to our chromosones and we are now very familiar that we have breakage and translocation and it progresses goes into myelodysplasia/leukemia also known as (A.M.L.)...WE NOW WILL BE FILING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUITS AND WE WILL DEMAND THAT THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT RELEASE THE I.V. TREATMENT THEY HAVE FOR RADIATION SICKNESS ACROSS THE GLOBE OR A POINT OF WHERE PATIENTS CAN GET THIS MEDICINE NOW...BY THE WAY ALL THE GOVERNMENTS WHO HAVE ABUSED US FOR DECADES WE WILL SUE ALL OF YOU IN THE HIGHEST COURTS IN THE LANDS...WE WANT ACTION AND WE WANT IT NOW AND WE WILL NOT WAIT FOR LIES SO IF THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN IS 'IRATE'AT THIS JOKE IMAGINE US AS PATIENTS ARE WITH BEING NEGLECTED AND YES LEFT TO DIE...WE HAVE THE REASON TO BE 'IRATE' I WANT EVERY NUCLEAR FACILITY CLOSED AND RIGHT NOW I WANT TO KNOW 'WHEN AM I GOING TO GET THE RADIATION DRUG I.V. MADE AVAILABLE TO I AND THE OTHER MILLIONS NOW SICK' CHERNOBYL PEOPLE ARE ALSO SICK AND ALL DESERVE THIS MEDICINE NOW...BY THE WAY FRANCE LAUGHS AT THE WORLD BY DUMPING ITS NUCLEAR RADIOACTIVE WASTES IN OUR OCEANS AND CONTINUES TO GO 1400 MILES AWAY FROM ITS SHORES SETTING OFF MUCLEAR WARHEADS...WE WANT FULL PUBLIC AND FULL CRIMINAL ENQUIRIES NOW AND WE 100% ARE SUING ALL OF YOU GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE AND WE HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT LAWYERS ON THE PLANET...I, NOW AM INTERESTED IN A LONDON LAW FIRM TO CONTACT ME A.S.A.P. BECAUSE I AM SUING FOR £122 MILLION POUNDS AND I'M TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT ALL YOUR LIES, FILTH AND DECEITS AND MILLIONS MORE ARE GETTING SICK BECAUSE WE ALSO NOW KNOW THAT THE CIGUATERA (EPITOPE) FOUND IN FISH IS ACTUALLY CIGUATERA AND RADIATION COMBINED SO JAPAN FRANCE U.K. CANADA U.S.A. STOP LIEING TO MR AIDAN G. WALSH BECAUSE I AM NOW GOING TO SUE YOU IN COURT AND I WILL LET THE WORLD KNOW ALL YOUR LIES...'IRATE'IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT PEOPLE WAKE UP BECAUSE OUR FOODS ALREADY HAVE RADIATION POISON AND THESE GOVERNMENTS CONTINUE TO LIE DAILT...GENERAL ELECTRIC AND THE ILLUMINATI FAMILIES WE ARE COMING FOR ALL OF YOU IN A COURT OF LAW...SERIOUS SOLICITORS PLEASE CONTACT ME HERE I HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO TURN UPSIDE DOWN THESE LIARS...SINCERELY AND ALWAYS THE FULL TRUTH 22 YEARS OF RADIATION SICKNESS THANKS JAPAN... [e-mail] not one penny less than £122 million pounds plus medications treatments costs for life...See you criminals in a court of law 'irate liars'

[rwsmith29456]

Japan and the atom haven't had a good relationship.

[MRAIDANGWALSH]

true that it is and so have numerous other countries as well but the ficus here now is not only reactors gone wrong but militaries continue to dump barrels of radioactive wastes in the oceans and continue to use plutonium in war heads ammunitions etc etc I have been seriously ill now since June 1990 and I have 'internal alpha ionization radiation injury and so do all the gulf war vets and their families and millions now across the globe with diagnosis 'labels' like chronic fatigue syndrome and a host of numerous auto immune disorders...beta internal and alpha radiation is here and all these useless corrupt governments have known this but walk away with blind eyes...radiation is the cover-up of the 21st century and so is the planet on it's way here in December...Do not trust these low life Illuminati controlled governments because they have an agenda and it's working now...Millions more are getting sick the foods and water are contaminated with radiation fallout...

[ttipbc]

It's been over 1 year, Japan - enough with all the self-pitying. Get on with life & have a sense of humor.

[erasmus111]

It's a little hard to "get on with life" when you are still puking out major radiation.

[niko1415]

so when people make fun of 9/11, would you not care and take it in the ass? Would you let people make a comedy show out of Pearl Harbor? What about Trail of Tears? Kennedy Assassination? Challenger Tragedy? Cuban Missile Crisis?

But regardless, France needed a way to justify their loss to Japan. Seriously, their national team has FALLEN ever since Zidane.

[treehgr07]

The host's photo post was in very poor taste. An apology is definitely owed.