The American Media on Japan

For some reason, the mass media in the US really likes reporting on the bizarre facets of Japanese society. You won't find many serious articles on, for example, Hatoyama's proposal to make all expressways free; but you will find articles on such curiosities as maid cafes, white people serving as fake priests in weddings, and pornography marketed toward the elderly. Why is this? I think the American public still has difficulty considering Japan a "normal" country. The coverage of Japan tends to focus on the exotic, erotic, and eccentric. After living here for a fairly long time, I find this kind of coverage condescending. But what can we do about it?

A Bad Movie But a Great Play

I saw a movie last week- Romeo+Juliet, which is a modernization of the classic Shakespeare play. I didn't care much for the style or the acting, but it reminded me of how great Shakespeare's writing was. Take, for example, this scene where Romeo asks the apothecary (which is like a pharmacist) for some poison:

Apothecary
Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that utters them.

ROMEO
Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,
And fear'st to die? famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes,
Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back;
The world is not thy friend nor the world's law;
The world affords no law to make thee rich;
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.

Apothecary
My poverty, but not my will, consents.

ROMEO
I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.

You might need to look some of the words up, as I did when I read this in 8th grade - but it's worth the effort!

Nice hair!

The US media is all abuzz this week with the antics of one Kanye West, a very successful rapper and producer. According to the news, during a young country star's acceptance speech for an award she received, Kanye jumped on stage, took the mic, and said that he thought Beyonce actually deserved it. Now Beyonce had a very good year, so many people agree with him, but still think he was wrong to jump on stage during another person's acceptance speech. Check out youtube and see for yourself.

Regardless of this controversy, I must say though that Kanye West has a very cool haircut.

Ripoff Movies

If you browse the DVDs for rent at the local GEO or Tsutaya, you'll notice that many movies have similar names. A lot of the time, this is because a smaller movie studio is trying to absorb a little bit of the popularity of a very big-name movie from bigger studio. For example, if a movie called "Blade" is currently a big hit in theaters, a smaller movie company might make a fast and cheap movie, call it "Blades" and release it directly to DVD. Sometimes DVD renters are genuinely confused by this and a movie that they didn't intend to, and sometimes they rent the cheaper, smaller-budget movie on purpose just hoping that it's like the popular one. It seems to be especially common in the "horror" section - the other day, I saw at least 3 different movies from a series called "Jigsaw", in an obvious ripoff of the "Saw" movies. Try not to be fooled when you go looking for movies to rent!

Election!

It looks like the Democratic Party of Japan (usually abbreviated DPJ) won by a landslide over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I don't know what will happen as a result of this, but I am sure that this is a big change for Japanese politics.

I'm also glad that the campaign sound trucks will no longer be driving up and down the bypass outside our window. Regardless of who won, that is a good thing.