Bond disguising himself as a Japanese fisherman in "You Only Live Twice" is acceptable?

Aww, this was a great movie for the era and if you were a kid at the time. When I watch it now, I still think it is great but.... I can imagine if it was the first time I seen it I would think it was some sort of lame spy spoof. Come on Bond zooming in and out on the woman with the watch, the Tarzan yell, using the tennis racket against an assassin with Wimbledon sound effects and so on. Still great though.

Bond needed a disguise to evade the pursuing US Marines - end of.

Besides, the silliness of Bond in a clown suit is offset by the very dark, deep, dramatic and tense bomb defusal sequence.

"LET ME GO, DAMMIT, THERE'S A BOMB IN THERE!" Enough said.

the clown scene (and scenes leading up to) is actually my favorite part of the movie. It was quite boring to me other than that.

And where is all the hate for 009, who did the same thing before being killed. He's Bond's equal, right?

Well said. That scene never bothered me either. The disguise was totally necessary and made perfect sense in the context of the film.

Bond's transformation into a Japanese fisherman was foolish for many plot reasons.

It’s a great Hitchcockian sequence, blending huge suspense with ‘no one believes him’ irony, wrapped in the absurd comedy of our saviour dressed as a fucking clown. Brilliant entertainment.

I'd argue that You Only Live Twice is riding the camp threshold really far, anyway. To me, it's right on the edge of where I like Bond.

You're right, there's always been an element of fantasy to Bond, which can venture into campy territory (although there's not a lot in the first two). To me, the blend is always between the fun adventure (with one-liners and disguises of a clowny nature) and the gritty danger. From Russia with Love has everything in perfect balance. There's a sexy catfight in the gypsy camp, but also the nasty, violent confrontation between Bond and Grant.

However, I also have fun with the goofier Bond, and while I prefer Connery to Moore, there is a charm to Moore that makes his sillier pictures work (mostly). The only Bond film I don't care for at all is A Quantum of Solace, and that's because 80-90% of the movie doesn't feel like Bond at all. It's like it's trying to be something else. Shaky cam in the action scenes doesn't help, either.

Ultimately, you're right: Connery's disguise was an eye-roller and Moore shouldn't take as much heat for the clown thing. With that said, the clown does have a certain aesthetic that just comes off as undignified. Even in the world of the movie, it's undignified, whereas - if we "buy in" to YOLT - the Japanese fisherman thing at least doesn't have giant shoes.

It's also easier to ignore because, well, they didn't really make Connery look like a Japanese guy, whereas Moore is full clown.