Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

Pro Gamer Fired After Saying Men Under 5 ft 7 in 'Don't Have Human Rights'

Pro Gamer Fired After Saying Men Under 5 ft 7 in 'Don't Have Human Rights'

The Tekken esports pro made the peculiar remarks during an Cyclops Athlete Gaming online stream

Professional Tekken player Tanukana has been booted from Osaka-based esports team Cyclops Athlete Gaming for remarks she made about men’s heights during a livestream, following a recent spate of far more incendiary remarks.

Cyclops Athlete Gaming competes in first-person shooters like PUBG, Call of Duty, and Rainbow Six Siege as well as fighting games like Tekken. She has been featured in the mainstream Japanese press, including this clip from newspaper Kobe Shimbun. She was, as Kotaku’s Ian Walker previously wrote, a rising star.

In a February 15 stream, Tanukana said, “Men who are under 170 cm (5 ft 6.9 in) don’t have human rights.” She added they should look into getting bone-lengthening surgery. (According to Healthline, the average height for men in Japan is 170.8 cm or 5 ft 7.2 in.) As of writing, Kotaku wasn’t able to confirm the content of the entire stream. However, in this clip, Tanukana also said people with A-cup sized breasts also didn’t have human rights. She certainly has seems to have a record of saying terrible things. Blog My Game News Flash has dug up earlier comments Tanukana made in a livestream in 2020, in which she apparently told someone during a stream to “kill themselves” and that they were “the trashiest trash of society.”

While in the west some might interpret her remarks as a poor meme or a joke, in Japan it set off a firestorm online with people calling it discriminatory. Obviously you can read it literally as a remark against a group of people, but power dynamics make it a bit more complicated than saying something truly discriminatory about a protected or vulnerable class.

In a now-deleted tweet, which can be seen here, Tanukana wrote, “It was pointed out to my that my stream contained hate speech.” She added that this was not her intention and that she poorly expressed her love of tall people. She did apologize, but it was hardly the kind of formal apology that’s become expected in Japan. This made people online even more upset.

In Japanese, the word for human rights is jinken (人権). But in gaming parlance, jinken refers to an item or character that all players need to have. On Twitter, a debate has ensued over whether the slang led to Tanukana’s remark. However, the slang use of the term “human rights” isn’t widely known in Japan, and numerous mainstream outlets led with Tanukana’s height comment.

When J-Cast News covered the story on Yahoo! News, the popular news site titled its article, “Men Under 170 cm Don’t Have Human Rights’ Popular Woman Pro Gamer Says ‘Sorry’ For Abusive Language.” (Note that J-Cast provided a transcript from the stream, and only the height comment is mentioned.) Japan’s most popular game sites like My Game News Flash picked up the story, also leading with her comment on men’s height—as would the coverage that followed from mainstream sites like Nikkan Gendai, Tokyo Sports, Daily Sports, Nico Nico, and more.

Cyclops also issued an apology, writing, “We’ve confirmed that on February 15, Tanukana, who is a member of Cyclops Athlete Gaming, made an improper remark on a stream. Regarding this matter, we would like to offer a deep apology to the fans, sponsors, and everyone else who supports us.”

And Tanukana apologized once again with a more formal tweet that addressed fans and the team’s sponsor, Red Bull. “I have deep remorse for this statement, which is unbecoming of a pro esports athlete and a member of society,” wrote Tanukana.

What’s more, all this happened against a backdrop in which “pro gamer” has been officially defined in Japan, and where there are licenses to game professionally. According to the Japan Esports Union, one of the main points that defines a pro gamer is “self-awareness of being a professional.” This stipulation seems to have been added so that esports pros are taken seriously in Japan.

Tanukana’s Cyclops page had a laundry list of sponsors that included Alienware and Red Bull. In the wake of the controversy, all the sponsors were scrubbed from her page. Sponsors don’t want controversy, even if things seem blown out of proportion. Teams need sponsors. It appears that something—or someone—had to give, and that’s exactly what happened. Cyclops later announced it had terminated Tanukana’s contract.

Since this article was originally published, Tanukana’s firing has truly gone nationwide. ANN News, one of the country’s biggest news stations, broadcasted the incident, reporting that Tanukana got fired after making a comment about men under 170 cm not having human rights.


While clearly Tanukana’s height comments were far from the most unpleasant remarks she’s made on a stream, they ended up arguably insulting, from the apparent perspective of the sponsors, half of the men in a country where the average height is 170.8 cm.

It has been alleged that she made far worse comments during this stream, but Kotaku has been unable to verify these remarks as the stream has been deleted, and Japanese news sites have only reported on the height remarks.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×