Japanese embassy complains

The BBC has apologised for making jokes about the atomic bomb on QI after the Japanese embassy complained.

Diplomatic staff contacted the corporation after panelists including Alan Davies and Rob Brydon joked about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived the bombing of Hiroshima – only to return to his home city of Nagasaki, which was bombed three days there.

Stephen Fry described Yamaguchi, who only died last year at the age of 93, as both the luckiest and unluckiest man in the world.

Joking that trains continued to run the day after the strikes, the teams said it was the right kind of bomb’ to not disrupt services

Japanese viewers who took offence at the quips contacted their embassy in London, which sent a letter to the BBC.

The corporation – which some have claimed has become over-sensitive to criticism of its comedy programmes – issued a joint apology with programme-makers Talkback Thames.

A spokesman said: ‘QI never sets out to cause offence with any of the people or subjects it covers, however on this occasion, given the sensitivity of the subject matter for Japanese viewers, we understand why they did not feel it appropriate for inclusion in the programme. We are sorry for any offence caused.’

More than 200,000 Japanese people are believed to have died in the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Here is the footage that prompted the complaint:

Published: 23 Jan 2011