More 'fallout' from A-bomb jokes

Stephen Fry has been forced to scrap plans to film a documentary in Japan because of jokes about the atomic bomb in QI.

Fry had intended to visit Tokyo to film scenes for his for his forthcoming language series Planet Word, exploring how the Japanese tongue is changing.

Some Japanese people are upset over a recent episode of the show which discussed Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived the 1945 Hiroshima blast, only to travel to Nagasaki to be caught in the second attack, which he again survived.

Roland Kelts, a half-Japanese author who had been due to accompany Fry on the Planet Word trip, blamed ‘reactionary right-wing Japanese folks keen to kick up a fight’ for ‘ongoing threats’ against the comedian.

He added: ‘One can easily see, if one speaks and understands English fluently, that the hosts are tiptoeing around the obvious offence, trying to strike a balance between humour and respect.’

Nonetheless, the BBC issued an apology after the Japanese Embassy accused the programme of making light of the attacks, which killed up to 250,000 civilians.

A spokeswoman said yesterday: ‘Due to the strength of feeling in Japan at this time, we have decided to alter the filming schedule and itinerary of Planet Word.’

Here is the offending clip:

Published: 4 Feb 2011