College students here in Japan are now on winter break. Actually some colleges have classes through the 20th or so, but the International Division ended on Friday. That means I have lots of time to do all those things I wanted to do during the semester but didn't have time to do. I have checked out a dozen books from the library and vowed to study Japanese every day (in addition to speaking it, of course). However, I end up spending a lot of time in front of the TV at home.
I seldom watch television in America aside from Seinfeld and Simpsons, so I don't claim to be an expert on the subject. However, I think that a person can learn a lot from studying the television programs of any particular country. I doubt that there are many books on the subject, but a diligent scholar of anthropology could easily spend a lifetime comparing the television programs of different countries.
Japanese television has a lot of similarities to that anywhere else in the world. There is news in the morning, at noon, and twice or more in the evening. Daytime programs are aimed primarily at the housewife (which is still quite an institution in Japan). There are commercials that annoy viewers and others that become more popular than the programs they promote. There are shows with drama, comedy, and real-life aspects.
However, there are some significant differences as well. For instance, probably the most popular type of program right now is known as the quiz show. There is no specific format for these shows, but generally they feature a number of famous and not so famous people joking around for fifty minutes. They are all asked questions about world history, current events, how to write a particular word in Japanese (harder than it sounds), how much an antique is worth, etc. It is not unlike Jeopardy or so in America except that the mood is more relaxed. People are not playing for money. They are just playing for fun, and the questions are usually geared to make for a fun time. Sometimes the losing party is forced to drink something horrible or is wacked on the head by all his or her opponents. It's all pretty wacky.
There are other shows where people just sit around and watch little videos about life in some odd part of Japan, America, or anywhere else in the world. These shows can be very educational, but they are generally pretty funny too. There is always a group of hosts on these sort of talk shows. The group watches the clip and then comments on how surprised they were or what their feelings were. There are basically no one-man talk shows like Oprah, Letterman, et al. If one wanted to apply Japanese culture to the subject, we could deduce that Japan is a country of groups and not individuals. Is this typical stereotype fulfilled yet again?
Another point of departure from American television is that there seem to be no long-running series such as Cheers, Seinfeld, or X-Files. The Japanese drama is more like a mini-series. It is generally limited to only a couple months of running and comes to a definite ending. One popular drama now involves the relationship between a Japanese language teacher and a Vietnamese student that she met by chance when she was visiting Ho Chi Mihn. When the student returns to Vietnam, their relationship will be over and a new show will take its place.
Even when shows like X-Files are imported into Japan, they are not shown as series. X-Files recently "ended" and now we get to watch X-Files II. Through the wonder of technology, there are TVs where one can choose the language he or she prefers. Certain shows and newscasts are broadcast in two languages and the user can choose to listen to one, the other, or both at the same time. This is a definite blessing to foreigners like myself who can't seem to understand the Japanese newscasters.
Generally I am not a big fan of television, because I think that it is a waste of time and almost certainly contributes to the deterioration of society. Japanese TV is no exception. There are quite a few violent shows that show more than most broadcast channels would in America. My host sister is in fourth grade and she watches some of the scariest alien shows and gangster movies that I have ever seen. One has to wonder if this contributes to the recently surge of violent crimes in Japan. Furthermore, some of the shows in the evening on weekends show near pornographic shows that most Japanese people have become indifferent to.
However, there are a number of interesting shows especially on NHK, which is the Japanese equivalent of PBS. In the evening they broadcast a number educational programs including English, Italian, German, and Spanish conversation shows. One night we all watched a show about different styles of houses used throughout history in different parts of the world. My family seemed to really enjoy that. I don't quite understand how they can enjoy that and also watch some of the stupid quiz shows that are on. It seems contradictory to me somehow. Anyway, I have become accustomed to watching a lot of TV at night and recently I can even understand half of what they are saying. Such is life in Japan.