A Japanese professional player has apparently made derogatory remarks about men of shorter stature. Although she apologized for the statement, her team has terminated their collaboration nonetheless. There is quite a bit of discussion surrounding her punishment.
Who is the pro gamer? Kana “Tanukana” Tani played the fighting game Tekken professionally. During her active time, she participated in several tournaments, where she mostly performed poorly, but also has some first or second places to her name (via Liquipedia).
Tanukana has appeared in Japanese daily newspapers like the Kobe Shimbun (via YouTube). She played for the Japanese esports team Cyclops Athlete Gaming from Osaka. Cyclops primarily employs teams in games like PUBG, Call of Duty, and Rainbow Six.
What did Tanukana say? According to Kotaku, Tanukana reportedly spoke about the height of men during one of her livestreams. The clip has since been deleted, but roughly she is said to have denied human rights to shorter men.
Those shorter than 1.70 meters are said to have no human rights and should undergo surgery for height increase, it is stated. The comment was classified as hate speech and caused a significant uproar.
After the slip-up, she was shortly thereafter fired by her team – likely also to preserve partnerships. Cyclops Athlete Gaming has major sponsors such as Red Bull and Alienware.
Team terminates the player – Community unsure if it was really meant that way
This is how Tanukana reacts: In a now-deleted tweet, the professional player addresses her statement (via PCGamer). She writes:
My remarks in the stream were unacceptable, and my lack of attention led to this. There is no excuse for having disappointed you on this matter. As a professional esports player and a member of society, I deeply regret and apologize for deceiving you.
(translated from Japanese via Google Translate)
However, her fans and other users are not even sure whether the statement was actually meant that way. For the words she used were not unambiguous.
Why is the ban so controversial? In the original, Tanukana speaks of jinken (人権). The Japanese word has two meanings:
- On the one hand, it can be translated as “human rights.”
- On the other hand, it refers to specific objects in games like Tekken that are considered necessary by professionals.
A discussion arose whether it could have possibly been a misinterpreted and too harshly judged statement by the player. In any case, Tanukana stands by her mistake.
The issue with languages, especially ambiguous words and the Japanese language, has come up before. A player was reportedly banned in the Battle Royale Apex Legends for a Japanese term:
Apex Legends allegedly bans a player for saying “Run!” in the wrong language
