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Popular New York sushi chef entertains customers with fake Japanese accent

Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
backslashbunny said:
No one knows who the fuck he is outside of NYC so he doesn't really matter. His sushi probably sucks.
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Yeah, this. My takeaway from the article is that he just sounds like some dumb out of touch asshole who's probably too old to get that the world is finally pushing back on shitty racial stereotype "humor". But I don't get why he's important enough that I'm supposed to care who he is.

Last week I was paying for my lunch at the grocery store, and it was sushi from the sushi bar section of the deli there. There's a bagger who works there who is just the biggest creep, he's visually creepy, his awkward small talk is creepy as fucking hell.

Anyway, I paid for my sushi and he looked up, squinted his eyes, stuck out his front teeth and bleated out "AH SOOSHI, DANIEL-SUN??". He was so loud. It didn't even sound like Pat Morita, either, more like a cross between Kahn from King of the Hill and the waiters from Christmas Story, but high pitched like Starscream/Cobra Commander.

I'm not Asian, but I was still kind of frozen in my tracks for a second, like I couldn't believe it. The rest of the day I kept thinking of clever things I could have responded with, but unfortunately at the moment I just shuffled out gape jawed.

Anyway... he doesn't deserve an article either.

EDIT: this is a good point though:

admiraltaftbar said:
Yes from an outlet called eater who specializes in food news this totally should be an article. There's tons of great sushi in NYC so people should know what this guy stands for and make a conscious decision on whether or not to visit his restaurant based on that. Just like the quality of the fish the actions of a sushi chef could ruin an otherwise perfectly good meal.
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C

Cagey

Banned
Draft said:
My sister in law lived in Thailand for a year. She told me that when speaking with cabbies or other service people in broken English it really helps to adopt an exaggerated "Asian" accent. Hers sounds obnoxiously racist to me, but she swears it makes conversation way more convenient and that the Thais don't mind.
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Korey said:
... The fuck? How does that help
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Linkura said:
Sounds like bullshit. When my father and I visited Japan together as a young teen, the locals were much more easily able to understand my dad than me because he spoke in a clear tone as opposed to my tween weeaboo mimicry of Japanese.
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Some Japanese wrestlers have said it helps with understanding because they're hearing English in the manner they would speak English, which is more natural to their ear than the "unaccented" English (in quotes because it would undoubtedly have its own accent based on country or region; compare Canada to Louisiana).

It's just anecdotal but the logic seems sound enough.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
itwasTuesday said:
1BxqK27.png
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Wesley-san your hands make poetry of fish.
 
U

Username1198

Member
finowns said:
The Japanese English accent is legitimately kinda funny.
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Apu from the simpsons made the phrase "thank you come again!" Very popular. As a kid, other kids and adults would say that phrase to me, accent and all.

Totally not funny. As a kid, it made me feel totally alien, like I didn't belong. Being an immigrant didn't help either.

But I'm glad everyone else got a laugh. I know as an adult it shouldn't bother me now after all these years, but it's still kinda weird.

OT yea that guys an idiot. He should apologize till he's out of breath and never even try to do it again.
 
W

wandering

Banned
Stumpokapow said:
I am sure NandoGip is going to come in to reply that you acknowledging this is excessive anger, but him getting angry at you acknowledging this is allowed. If you're having trouble detecting the exact right amount of mad you should be, Amazon Prime offers a variety of outrageometers shipped via Prime Now. Just don't start a thread about whether you should tip the delivery guy.
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Ok...? I never said that NandoGip had no right to say anything, so I don't know what exactly you're trying to get at.
 
J

.JayZii

Banned
Cagey said:
Some Japanese wrestlers have said it helps with understanding because they're hearing English in the manner they would speak English, which is more natural to their ear than the "unaccented" English (in quotes because it would undoubtedly have its own accent based on country or region; compare Canada to Louisiana).

It's just anecdotal but the logic seems sound enough.
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It's true it's easier for the average Japanese person to understand English words with a Japanese intonation because vernacular English especially has a lot of sounds that are hard to differentiate to a Japanese ear.

If he was just doing this for his Japanese customers, it would be even more of a non story.
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
Zoe said:
When you use loanwords when speaking Japanese, you need to say them the Japanese way, but what this guy is doing doesn't sound like the same thing.
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I was about to say this exactly. That was my experience, especially when asking for directions to places that had English names (such as hotels and stuff).

However what the chef is doing is completely different
 
finowns

finowns

Member
Username1198 said:
Apu from the simpsons made the phrase "thank you come again!" Very popular. As a kid, other kids and adults would say that phrase to me, accent and all.

Totally not funny. As a kid, it made me feel totally alien, like I didn't belong. Being an immigrant didn't help either.

But I'm glad everyone else got a laugh. I know as an adult it shouldn't bother me now after all these years, but it's still kinda weird.

OT yea that guys an idiot. He should apologize till he's out of breath and never even try to do it again.
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I can sympathize with this but the Indian or near east ( I don't know what you would call it) accent also sounds funny to the ear it just does. I don't recommend going up to people and say 'thank you come again!' that seems very rude and your experience is a bit different than what the guy in the story is doing.
 
l2ounD

l2ounD

Member
finowns said:
I can sympathize with this but the Indian or near east ( I don't know what you would call it) accent also sounds funny to the ear it just does. I don't recommend going up to people and say 'thank you come again!' that seems very rude and your experience is a bit different than what the guy in the story is doing.
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Its one thing if there is a mean intent behind it but if its just being silly, I think its fine. Just try speaking English in an French, British, Aussie, Irish, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese or Indian accent. It can be fun. no? And kudos if you can do all the ones I named.
 
D

Dali

Member
*calls restaurant* Hello, I'd like to make a reservation for Phillip McCrevice. Two for Phillip McCrevice. /jian yang voice
 
T

TickleMeElbow

Member
Japanese people can pronounce "L"s.....

"R"s are what Japanese people have a hard time pronouncing.

De-Li-Sha-Su would be how most Japanese would pronounce "delicious".

Anyways, I don't even understand what he's trying to do by putting on a fake accent. It just makes him look like a dumbass.
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
TickleMeElbow said:
Japanese people can pronounce "L"s.....

"R"s are what Japanese people have a hard time pronouncing.

De-Li-Sha-Su would be how most Japanese would pronounce "delicious".

Anyways, I don't even understand what he's trying to do by putting on a fake accent. It just makes him look like a dumbass.
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I think you have it backwards
 
G

gamz

Member
NandoGip said:
Some dude does a dumb japanese accent sometimes.

This is the whole article.

Am I supposed to be outraged?

Sure, the guy is a dick.

Did this really need to be an article?
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Are you Japanese? Obviously you can see how it would offend you if you were. All because it doesn't offend you doesn't make it right.
 
P

Poor GRIMES

Banned
.JayZii said:
It's true it's easier for the average Japanese person to understand English words with a Japanese intonation because vernacular English especially has a lot of sounds that are hard to differentiate to a Japanese ear.

If he was just doing this for his Japanese customers, it would be even more of a non story.
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Multiple sources, including tipsters and Eater staffers, have seen him speaking in the accent during the meal — a component of the party-like atmosphere he’s known for bringing to his restaurants. During service, he casually moves from speaking Japanese, to speaking English with a fake Japanese intonation, to speaking English in his natural American accent. For instance, he might present a fish in English, say “oishi, oishi” (Japanese for delicious), and then follow it up with “dericious, dericious” in his version of a Japanese accent.

When I called Bouhadana to talk about it, he confirmed he does this. He characterized these bits of accented English as “little fun jokes,” which he likened to how the Japanese chefs who work for him use an American accent while quoting Drake songs. “Maybe in my mind I think I’m Japanese,” he said.
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"non-story" LOL
 
Geno Breaker

Geno Breaker

Banned
backslashbunny said:
Please reread the first two sentences of my post. They are related.


The rest of it is not related.
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I don't think that just because they're not known outside of one of the most populous cities in the world, it means the dude's sushi sucks. His restaurant seems to have pretty good reviews.

No doubt that he's a racist piece of shit though.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
TickleMeElbow said:
Japanese people can pronounce "L"s.....

"R"s are what Japanese people have a hard time pronouncing.

De-Li-Sha-Su would be how most Japanese would pronounce "delicious".

Anyways, I don't even understand what he's trying to do by putting on a fake accent. It just makes him look like a dumbass.
Click to expand...

You need to learn more about Japan. It isn't just about honor and shame.
 
W

whatsinaname

Member
finowns said:
The Japanese English accent is legitimately kinda funny.
Click to expand...

finowns said:
I can sympathize with this but the Indian or near east ( I don't know what you would call it) accent also sounds funny to the ear it just does. I don't recommend going up to people and say 'thank you come again!' that seems very rude and your experience is a bit different than what the guy in the story is doing.
Click to expand...

"I'll sympathize with you but will be laughing inside while you are talking. lol."

...
 
5

5taquitos

Member
TickleMeElbow said:
I'm Japanese yo.



No.

It's written "Ri" in English.

It's pronounced "Li".

As in "らりるれろ"

is spelled "Ra Ri Ru Re Ro" in English, but pronounce "La Li Lu Le Lo" when spoken.
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No.

It's still an R sound, it's just rolled. It does not sound the same as La Li Lu Le Lo, like the Patriots or something.
 
L

L Thammy

Member
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the L-R thing just transliteration convention? The Japanese R is pronounced without touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth, so it's not actually the R sound, it's something roughly around an R and L. We just write it as an R for consistency's sake.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
backslashbunny said:
I was being flippant, but he's probably not amazing. If he were, sushi enthusiasts would mention it.

& in all honesty his sushi probably is mediocre on a good day. NYC is one of those places with a ton of REALLY GOOD high end sushi places, and then nothing good midtier, and a bunch of crappy ones.
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Which sushi enthusiasts? Do you have a network? Knowing who Jiro is doesn't make them a sushi expert. Most people would have trouble naming two sushi chefs that are well known, and there is a lot of great sushi chefs.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
L Thammy said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the L-R thing just translation convention? The Japanese R is pronounced without touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth, so it's not actually the R sound, it's something roughly around an R and L.
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It's different, but it's a hell of a lot closer to an American R than an American L.

(Especially when you get into rolling R's)
 
T

TickleMeElbow

Member
Zoe said:
It's different, but it's a hell of a lot closer to an American R than an American L.
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No it isn't holy shit.

I am a native speaker of both languages.

Japanese people pronounce "rice" as "laisu". Like "lice" (the insect) with an "L" + a short "u" sound.
 
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