Iconic comedian Hamada Masatoshi appears in blackface on one of Japan's most-watched New Year's Eve programs. Image taken from YouTube. A popular comedy television program traditionally watched on New Year’s Eve in Japan has generated controversy after one of the program hosts, an iconic comedian, appeared in blackface. The show, whose title roughly translates as “Definitely No Laughing: American Police 24 Hours” (絶対に笑ってはいけないアメリカンポリス24時), is a spin-off of a long-running comedy variety series in Japan called “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!”, commonly abbreviated as GakiTsuka. “Definitely No Laughing” is the second-most watched New Year’s Eve program in Japan, with the percentage of households tuning in for this year's show at 17.3 percent. It has consistently aired in this time slot since 2006, making it a New Year’s Eve classic alongside public broadcaster NHK’s singing competition called “Kohaku Utagassen“. The show's premise consists of five comedians who try to survive 24 hours without laughing, or else face various penalties and “punishments“. Multiple guests, including famous actors and TV personalities, attempt to make the five comedians laugh by engaging in short, often sophomoric gags (not unlike those that feature on the American MTV show “Jackass”, but with a cast that includes former news anchors and fashion models). Ten minutes into this year's show, the five main comedians were told to change into an assigned costume to wear throughout the whole program. Four of the comedians donned a stereotypical American sheriff costume, in line with the 2017 program's theme of “American Police”. The remaining comedian, Hamada Masatoshi, a co-host of the show and a superstar in Japan, emerged from the changing room with his face painted dark brown and his hair in a short Afro style. The intent was to imitate American actor Eddie Murphy’s character in the 1984 film “Beverly Hills Cop”, complete with an identical jacket and facial hair. Despite the racist implications, Hamada's blackface makeup was met with raucous laughter by the other comedians. 今年の浜田wwwwwwwwwwwwwww #ガキ使#ガキ使 浜田 pic.twitter.com/GiZa7UfkwT — ぽね0221 (@pokiti0221) December 31, 2017 Check out Hamada this year! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL #GakiTsuka #GakiTsuka Hamada Blackface originated in the minstrel shows of 19th century America. White actors would paint their faces black for comic enactments of black stereotypes, such as the “happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation”. Such performances contributed significantly to the proliferation of racist images and perceptions of blacks in the US, and the practice only died out during the Civil Rights Movement in the mid 20th century. Minstrel shows in Japan date back to the very beginnings of Japan's relationship with the United States, and were first introduced to the country during a visit by the American Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. The practice of using blackface in comedy has persisted in Japan since then. With GakiTsuka's New Year's Eve program, while some viewers found Hamada's blackface routine funny, the incident met with a swift backlash, especially from the English-speaking Twitter users: Japanese TV is really out here putting people in blackface as a joke. What year are we in again? https://t.co/Ev91ETWA19 — pastel size 44 (@weebprince) December 31, 2017 Is Japan the only country that doesn’t know that Black Face is UNACCEPTABLE and RACIST #racism pic.twitter.com/zoSXded3N0 — MattyO (@labluejp) December 31, 2017 Racism in #Japan. A Japanese famous comedian in blackface and it's air on the TV program. This is DISGUSTING.#ガキ使#Blackface#Racism pic.twitter.com/0Y76y70Stn — channel__3 (@channel__3) December 31, 2017 Japan-based American journalist Baye McNeil, who frequently writes about the experience of being black in Japan, took to Twitter to tried to explain why blackface could be considered offensive and should not be part of any comedy routine: Note to japanese performing in #BlackFace: #Blackness is not a punchline nor a prop. Need jokes? Get better writers. Need a black character, get a black actor that speaks Japanese.