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I know that it has been a while, but I assume that most people on the mailing list are already on break. Not too much has happened, so I will tell you about oddities of Japanese TV. First, it seems that half the stars on TV are music stars. I attribute this to the fact that you never hear music on Japanese radio. When I do, it is usually some strange music and the DJays talk through half the song. So the music industry has to get the music to the public somewhow, and this is done through TV. The big groups are Puffy and Smap and they independently have their own variety shows. Every night you can see at least a couple of different music stars performing their songs. SMAP and Kinki Kids are also in comercials and a couple members of these groups have their own series (drama, of course). They're not that bad at acting. There are also a lot of Variety "game shows." There never feature everyday Japanese people, but stars. I can see the same 5-10 people everynight on one program or another. SO I hope the Japanese really like them, because they are stuck with them. Comericals. I have seen many an add with nude or semi-nude people. Usually it is women taking off their shirts (you see their backs and sometimes a side profile). But there are also these ramen commercials featuring a man slurping noodles in different place. This wouldn't seem so strange, but he's buck naked. He'll be in the park, or eating dinner with a family, and he;s always naked. I think he is selling spicy ramen. Another commercial worth mentioning is a whiskey commercial. this one opens with a Japanese man talking to a blond woman who seems to be distresed. Then the camera flashes a close-up of a was of American money. the man then enters a bar where he drinks some whiskey with his friend. The man seems very content with himself. I think that he says the lady's child is sick and needs some money, so he gives her a bunch. I don't like this comercial becuase I beleive that this situation does happen, but that more likely than not, the lady doesn't have a sick child. So I find this one really odd. As long as a I am on the whiskey theme, I should tell you about Japanese culture (for those of you who don't already know). Over half the comercials on TV are for alcohol or cigaretts, but mainly alcohol. Drinking is the national pastime of Japan. The faculty trip I took to Nagano started at 8:00 and the drinking began at 8:01, and didn't stop til it was time to go to bed. I've even seen comercials where children are so happy because their mother and father decided to stay in and spend a quiet evening drinking whiskey together. (Spouses don't go to company parties, so there doesn't seem to be much interaction between spouses, at least in public). I have even seen comercials with athletes (Olymipic Japanese, American, and Canadian athletese) training, then enjoying a ice cold beer afterwards. And yes, actors are allowed to drink and smoke on adds. This is ilegal in the US. So partial nudity is also accepted, as well as groping. There was one beer commercial that showed a croud of people cheering. In the front there were two men, with a woman in between them. Somehow while they were cheering, the men somehow found their hands on the woman's breasts. What that had to do with anything is beyond me. But I find the Japanese mind intriguing.
Valerie Straayer
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