Author Naoki Hyakuta’s tweets of politics, perverts, and pleasuring himself spark controversy
Naoki Hyakuta is the writer of hit books such as Monsuta (Monster) and Eien No Zero (Forever Zero) both of which were adapted into films, the latter of which grossed 8.76 billion yen (US$72.5M) at the box office. In 2013 he was appointed to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK’s management committee.
However, after a slightly tumultuous engagement with the high-profile company, Hyakuta stepped down in February this year. Since then he appears to be enjoying his freedom to speak more freely again on Twitter, and as a result he has already irked an impressive number of people in only a few weeks.
Hyakuta’s Eien No Zero had received much criticism, with some saying that the story glorified Japan’s actions during World War II and accusing its author of having a nationalistic bent. Similar complaints seemed to have dogged the author while on the NHK committee, saying that his outspoken views didn’t conform to the neutrality the organization is said to strive for.
Although he left without incident, the man had been holding back for quite some time and now was really ready to let loose, starting with this tweet from 3 March. In it, Hyakuta indirectly accuses someone within the committee of leaking his political remarks to the media in an effort to have him ousted.
▼ “Because I quit NHK’s management committee I don’t have to mince my words. I think there was a spy for Mainichi Shimbun [news] in the committee. Mainichi Shimbun printed committee content that presumably was not to be published several times. In cases of leaks, everyone, mind your words. You never know when ‘they’ might have an agenda.”
NHK経営委員を辞めたからはっきり言う。
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経営委員の中に、毎日新聞社のスパイみたいのなのがいた。「この話は非公表」という前提の会議内容を、毎日新聞に書かれたことが何度もあった。
よそに漏れるとなれば、皆、発言も慎重になる。もしかしたら「彼ら」の狙いはそこにあったのかもしれない。
百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 04, 2015
■ Eunuchs and masturbating like a teenager
For the most part of his post-NHK life, Hyakuta ran a pretty average line of tweets contemplating his life and forwarding news stories like many others do. However, occasionally you’d get hit with an interesting thought straight out of right-field.
▼ “Ancient Japan borrowed a lot of culture from China including kanji. However, eunuchs, foot binding, and Imperial examination were left out. Also the cruel execution system was not included. I truly think our ancestors were very wise.”
古代の日本は中国から漢字を含めて様々な文明を仕入れた。
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しかし「宦官」と「纏足」と「科挙」はシャットアウトした。さらに残酷な処刑システムも入れなかった。
我らのご先祖様は賢かったとしみじみ思う。
百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 07, 2015
And then things start to get a little weird.
▼ “Recently I noticed I haven’t tweeted anything saying I jerked off. Maybe, I wonder if all of my followers think my penis is finished. It’s okay everyone! From now I’ll start jerking!”
最近、へんずりをかいたというツイートをしていないことに気がついた。
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もしかしてフォロワーの皆さんに、百田のチンチンも終わったかと思われているかもしれん。
皆さん、大丈夫です！今から、かきます。
百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 09, 2015
Okay. Thanks for that. Oh, there’s more.
▼ “Yesterday I jerked off 10 times in a row. It’s like the power of a teenager! My resilience knows no faltering!
(I wonder if this tweet will become net news. The Legendary Stud Naoki Hyakuta is born.)”
昨日、一日でへんずりを10回連続した。10代並みのパワー！衰え知らずの回復力！
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（このツイート、ネットのニュースにしてくれるかな＾＾。百田尚樹絶倫伝説が生まれるんやけどな）
百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 10, 2015
■ “Perverts” controversy
Although he was rather crude at times, Hyakuta hadn’t really posted anything outlandishly provocative. However, on 15 March he tweeted out a thought that would upset a lot of people. This tweet has since been deleted but the following is a translation of how it was quoted on J-Cast News.
▼ “I think there should be the freedom to have a desire to engage in homosexual activity, but I think there should also be the freedom to think those people are perverted.”
As you might expect, the tweet was met with mixed reactions. Some supported Hyakuta’s thinking while others felt that the tweet was in extremely poor taste, with comments including: “Sure, you should have the freedom to think [that way], but to proclaim it is just sad,” and, “I think you don’t quite understand how it hurts to be discriminated against based on the way you were born.”
Some of the criticism seemed to have gotten through to Hyakuta, however. The next day, he tweeted:
▼ “The comment on homosexuality I tweeted the other day was lacking judgment. I deleted it.”
昨日つぶやいた同性愛うんぬんのツィートは、思慮の欠いたツィートでした。削除します。
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百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 16, 2015
■ “Not a man”
Hyakuta’s admission that the tweet was a mistake and his decision to delete it may have satisfied some of his followers, but others couldn’t help recalling an incident from the previous year in which Hyakuta mocked Japanese politician Hiroyuki Konishi for doing just that in his tweet:
▼ “It’s a poor soul who says ‘I’ll erase the evidence by deleting’, not to mention sad. That is not a man.”
「削除して証拠を消そう」という精神が貧しいし、悲しいね。男じゃない。RT @ ikaryakuchan 民主小西ひろゆき議員が飲酒自転車運転についての疑惑を問われて、とつぜん証拠のツイートを削除しました。何かのネタにご利用ください。 p.tl/nYHm
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百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 19, 2014
Just a little under a year later the shoe ended up firmly on the other foot as detractors accused Hyakuta of the same “unmanly” behavior as Konishi.
▼ “One more thing. I don’t know if your comment on homosexuality was a compliment or contempt [because it was deleted], but from your previous posts I’m guessing contempt. With that assumption, shouldn’t you apologize as well as delete the post? Otherwise, your remark is still out there and there are a lot of LGBT members in the TV industry where you work.”
@ hyakutanaoki @ bucci1095 もう一つ。
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変態発言が蔑視なのか褒め言葉かはわからないが、過去の発言からしておそらく蔑視なのでしょう。
だとするならば削除するだけでなく謝罪するべきでは？
貴方の住むテレビ業界にも多くのLGBTがいますよ
でなければ発言は残ります
Daisuke Yatsuyanagi (@daiyatsuyanagi) March 16, 2015
Regardless, I think what Naoki Hyakuta’s (really poorly contextualized) comment was trying to convey was that we all should have the freedom to express ourselves no matter what those opinions are. And so we can probably expect more opinionated comments from the author, but he, and the rest of us too, have to remember that our words affect others and may have repercussions.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a Japanese person to follow to study the language, Hyakuta’s an excellent resource – you’ll be sure to find some truly unique words and phrases amongst his tweets!
Source: Twitter @hyakutanaoki , J-Cast News (Japanese)
▼ Hyakuta was also a bit of a party animal in his tweets before the NHK job. Here he posted instructions on how to make an origami penis.
チンポの折り紙なんか作っても楽しくない！！ RT @ Miholina1123 : @ hyakutanaoki 折り紙でもして下さい。 http://t.co/u0mXtKR01C
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百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 17, 2013
民主党議員の有田芳生氏が、めちゃくちゃ嬉しそうにツイートしてる＾＾。アメリカの情報筋が「実話タブー」みたいな雑誌を読んでるとは思えないが。→@ aritayoshifu アメリカ情報筋から送られてきた「実話タブー」誌の記事 http://t.co/bXxREwSgKr
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百田尚樹 (@hyakutanaoki) March 16, 2014
