It has taken a while but TKU seems to have yielded to my request that, when being interviewed in Japanese, foreigners be addressed as are Japanese people – with the honorific “-san.” I pointed to the survey results I am quoting here in my attempt to convince them that a plurality of non-Japanese are actually annoyed by sub-Japanese treatment. Actually, TKU has been extremely slow to respond positively to my request, despite the very clear survey results. Even after I had notified them of the issue, they continued to air programs in which they addressed their foreigner interlocutors in a manner that would not be tolerated if the interviewee were Japanese and giving me lame excuses for this treatment. At long last, however, I’ve seen a change. In their most recent “Foreign Love” segment (November 4th), the guest from Russia was more-or-less consistently (well, with the exception of one lapse by Ms. Ogata) accorded the dignity of being addressed with “-san.” Hallelujah!
I wrote a short thank you note to them which can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/TKU.WakattoLand/videos/612147758908866/
– Kirk