While Japanese TV has a reputation for zaniness thanks to Sasuke/Ninja Warriors and those old Takeshi’s Castle re-runs, I’m often impressed with the quality of some of the shows here. When educational standards dropped a few years ago, TV networks responded by making a new breed of educational programming that really helped spark interest in learning by viewers, and brought test scores up. The other night I caught the latest episode of Asa Made Nama Terebi (Live TV Until Morning), a hard-hitting political-and-commentary program in which representatives from all Japanese political parties sit in a studio from midnight until dawn and talk about the issues facing Japan, with the venerable journalist Tawada Soichiro steering the discussion. The questions of the evening included the recent vote in Britain, the state of “Abenomics” and the upcoming Japanese general election, interesting because it’ll be the first that 18- and 19-year-olds can vote in. (Previously the age of “adulthood” had been set at 20.)
Folks living in countries with two-party political systems (like the U.S.) might feel frustration at only having “two” choices, but Japan is proof that you can have many choices and still have fabulously bad political leadership. The major parties in Japan are the Liberal Democratic Party (pro-business, pro-small farmer, currently in power), the Democratic Party of Japan (the main opposition party, which tries to support workers while somehow being actively hostile to business), the Komeito (a conservative party historically associated with the Soka Gakkai Buddhist religion, currently sharing power with the LDP), and the Communist Party of Japan, which actually exists. There are several microscopic parties with just a few seats, too, like the People’s Livelihood Party, the Party of Japanese Kokoro (heart), and a short-lived party called “Your Party,” all of which do nothing but oppose any idea put forth by anyone.
I’ve been blogging about Japan for 18 years now, and have been honored to bring my slice-of-life observations to people all over the world, hopefully making Japan seem slightly less mysterious. There are many great “bloggers” who have gone before me, such as Jack Seward, a former U.S. intelligence officer who lived here for many decades, writing books on language and culture, or Donald Keene, a scholar and translator who had the good luck to hang out with Mishima, Kawabata and other literary greats from the mid-20th century. But the father of all Japan bloggers is Lafcadio Hearn, one of the first Westerners to come to Japan permanently. Hearn came to Japan from Chicago in 1890, and was immediately taken with the beauty of everything he saw here. He wrote many books, including Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, and was a major bridge between Japan and the West during these years. He married the daughter of a samurai and became a naturalized Japanese citizen, taking the name of Yakumo Koizumi. Today would have been his 166th birthday.
J-List is getting ready for a great Anime Expo, and if you’re going to be at the show, make sure to come by our booth (#2624) and check out the thousands of awesome products we’ll have there. We’ll be putting on a big panel, too, with new game announcements and a special original gift for everyone who attends. If you can’t make the show for some reason, we’ve got a great consolation for you: a sitewide Pre-AX Sale starting now, with 5% any order of $75 or more using code AX2016. Get shopping!
