Lost In Translation

The State Of J-TV

Neomarxism has an interesting post on the lack of complexity on Japanese TV and I agree whole heartedly with him:

In his book Everything Bad is Good For You, writer Steven Johnson has an explanation for why 80s shows have aged so poorly: pop culture's moral and content standards may have deteriorated but the structural complexity and cognitive requirements have greatly increased. So, viewers today are trained to expect less narrative hand-holding and more sophisticated, multi-tiered storytelling. We therefore get easily bored with the slow pace and obviousness of past television. Johnson's book may be the most optimistic thing I've read in years, and empirical evidence certainly matches with his ideas. After watching the entire first season of Arrested Development, episodes from the "high-paced" sixth season of The Simpsons feel rather slow.

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Things are not so rosy, however, when thinking about Japanese television in Johnson's framework. Japanese TV is mainly variety shows, featuring panels of celebrities commenting on topics or pre-recorded segments. Drama series are short-term productions, and all television shows are filmed with video. (Think the visual quality of Latin American soap operas.) Despite the fact that the Japanese audience endures more commercials every year than TV viewers in other nations, production value is very low. (Important to remember here that American shows don't really make money until sold into syndication or international markets). The high dependence upon "idols" for the dramas' starring roles creates a palpable lack of acting talent. Reality shows tend to eschew the social psychology and game theory of Survivor or The Apprentice and concentrate on watching people (and kangaroos) eat things. Most science fiction anime certainly include complex plots, but I do not think I would be offbase to say that the networks' strategy is to create what Johnson calls "Least Objectionable Programming." TV is still family-oriented, blunt targeted towards a mass market.

The funny thing is that the American TV show 24 is extremely popular here, so along with Marxy, I ask why doesn't a TV station make a Japanese version? Budgets? It seems that there would be a market for such a show.

Here's the link to the entire post.

Halloween 2005-Saturday Night

This year I'm a pirate, here with some other revelers at Paddy Foley's.

Here are some rabbits and a hamster on the loose.

Book Notes: No Country For Old Men

The publication of a new Cormac McCarthy novel is a literary event. McCarthy is probably my favorite contemporary American writer these days and while No Country For Old Men is not among his best, it is an entertaining read. The novel opens with a vivid and brutal scene where the villain Chigurah escapes from a jail. After reading that passage I could see the films rights being signed in some Motion Picture boardroom. The mythic violence that sweeps through a small Texas town and changes the lives of all of those who come in contact with it, directly are changed forever. The manifestation of this violence and the nature of evil itself are embodied in the person of Chigurah, who is reminiscent of another larger than life villain, Judge Holden from Blood Meridian-his masterpiece. I can’t help but see similarities between this novel and Robert Stone’s Dog Soldiers, in which both stories we have some innocents getting caught up in a drug deal gone bad in which some very bad people try to recover the lost goods. Both echo Vietnam, in Stone’s book; the heroin is smuggled in from Vietnam. McCarthy’s version is haunted by Vietnam, in that Chigurah and his prey Llewelyn are both Vietnam vets. I think McCarthy is also trying to make a statement about the violence that is part of this country hence the title. It is something that defines and haunts this country in archetypal fashion. McCarthy channels Faulkner when he has his seemingly simple characters make high falutin’ philosophical musings, but he is also a master of the dialogue of the south as well. I wouldn’t put this book among his best (Blood Meridian and Sutree), but even minor McCarthy is better than 90% of what is being written these days. I look forward to his next output as well.

This review by James Wood, from The New Yorker, gives a good overview of McCarthy's career.

Halloween 2005-Friday Night

Well it's that time of year and last night kicks off a weekend of Halloween parties. I should be out on the town tonight and next week my friend Timo has his 6th annual Halloween Party which is always good for a laugh. Here we have Kazumi, Chris, and Ryoko.

Here we have Andy in his nama(draft) beer outfit, his beer handle is being obscured by Marcus' wig, and Marcus as White Afro.

Listening Post: Ryan Adams

I had another review in the Listening Post Recorded section of The Japan Times this week, which now appears on the website. It turns out that they weren't running the reviews when my first review, Iron and Wine's In The Reins, appeared in the print edition. So this is the third. I find the 270 word limit constricting. So when does a piece of writing cease to be your own after editing? I would never use "honk" or "moper" and I'd say his forray into rock was brief rather than "lengthy." Anyway, you can see the original and compare the two pieces. Obviously, I prefer my edit.

Time's Best 100 Novels

Time did a list of the top 100 novels since 1923. For the most part I can agree with it, but how can Philip K. Dick have two, while Cormac McCarthy only has one? Kazu Ishiguro is overrepresented with two as well. I have a hard time accepting Judy Blume, John LeCarre, and C.S. Lewis on the list as well. I think William Faulkner and Graham Greene are under-represented (no Quiet American?) with two apiece. They did manager to include some of the better underground titles like: Malcolm Lowry's Under The Volcano, Henry Roth's Call It Sleep, Chinau Achebe's Things Fall Apart, and Walker Percy's The Moviegoer. Anyway I think I've read 57 of the titles. How about you?

Omotesando Gentrification

Metropolis publisher Mark Devlin has some things to say about the gentirfication of Omotesando. I agree with some of his beefs, but not all of them.

Driven by the false proposition that trendy Harajuku kids will grow up and want more mature brands, fashion houses have been trying to outdo each other with vanity buildings. A walk from Nezu Museum to Yoyogi Park is a Who's Who of contemporary architecture. Some of the more interesting efforts are Herzog & de Meuron's Prada Building, which is now a bona-fide Tokyo landmark. This year's Tod's store by Toyo Ito sympathetically reflects Omotesando's signature tree branches, while Jun Aoki's Louis Vuitton store is a subtle pile of woven metal boxes in bronze. Up toward the park, we even have a gaijin entry in the form of Benjamin Warner's Veloqx 28 Building, a nod to Western high street style. Of less architectural note, the faux-Beaux Arts Anniversaire provides the only open cafe on a street that should be bursting with them.

I guess four years ago there were at least 5 cafes between Meji dori and Aoyama dori, but now there's only one and a lot of brand name stores. It's too bad, because there's nowhere else that has anything like what it had, and I don't see a bunch of al fresco cafes popping up in any one area, any time soon. The new Mori building he is criticizing is accordingly to him:

One would think that on a street that purports to be Tokyo's Champs Elysees, the architect, Tadao Ando, could have created a green space that interacts with the neighborhood. Instead, he has built an unbroken opaque flat glass wall stretching down the entire road and up to the Zelkova treetops. The frontage is crossed by horizontal bands that step up inexpertly with the slope. This wall is capped by heavy concrete slabs holding dark, boxy apartments that weigh down upon the street and block out light.

Perversely, the natural light that has been lost will be replaced by garish illuminated panels, creating what in effect will be a 250-meter-long television screen. The only respite from the wall is an angular notch that will lead to an inner spiral courtyard surrounded by shops.

The building's doublespeak-filled PR page says, "The spiral connecting slope will allow visitors to enjoy indoors the sensation of strolling outdoors."

They took away the natural light and replaced it with TV. They destroyed the real experience of strolling outdoors to provide an indoor "sensation." They took away the trees and the ivy and replaced them with concrete. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

The old apartments were not all that, so I think almost anything is going to be better. My biggest beef is with the other developers that replaceded the other cafes on Omotesadno dori, there were no cafes near the old apartments, so this shouldn't be allthat bad

Read the rest of this screed here.

Book Notes: Maximum City

Maximum City is a like a wild ride through the teeming streets of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Journalist Suketu Mehta returns to the city of his youth to write a book about the experience, and the result is a lively and rambling ride through one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It is a personal odyssey as much as an opportunity to survey the violence, corruption, and sin of the city. The book is basically divided into three sections Power (mostly about organized crime), Pleasure (which is mostly about what is known in Japan as the “water trade”- i.e. prostitution and its other manifestations of it, like beer bars), and Passages (which is essentially profiles of the poor and destitute). The strength of the book lies in his vivid descriptions of the streets of the city and the social customs of what he calls the city of “No”-where nothing can be done without personal connections or bribery. Then there’s organized crime, the film industry, public attitudes toward the personal and the private, the filth and the poverty. It all comes alive in this entertaining book. Honestly, a bit of editing could have been useful-although most of it was compelling; I got bogged down in the second half of the book after such a promising start. The 1993 riots emerge as a defining event that has set the tone for how the city operates years after the horrible riots among Hindus and Muslims. The myriad of religions, castes, and traditions seem overwhelming at times, but it is certainly an eye opener to complexities of Mumbai. I feel the need to experience it sometime, I certainly wouldn’t want to live there after reading the description of daily life there, but it seems to be a worthwhile experience to have first hand-sure to be an assault of the senses.

US Individuality

Kimiko Manes follows up her last column about freedom in Japan versus America with another one with more flawed examples:

At the end of the spring semester in May, while I was marking papers at the community college where I work, I ran into the college's art professor, Dr. M., and struck up a conversation. After the obligatory greetings, he gleefully declared, "Next month, my daughter is getting married. I am designing the flower arrangements for the wedding, and I'm thinking about designs inspired by Japanese-style ikebana. I think it'll be absolutely beautiful!" I said, "Congratulations! She will be a June bride. What's the groom like?" Dr. M. gazed into space for a second, and then replied, "Truthfully, I'm not fond of the groom." The contrast in emotion between his joyous declaration just a minute earlier couldn't have been starker. "You're going to let her marry him anyway?" "Well, I'm not marrying him. She likes him, so it's fine."

Parents can see things that children can't. Perhaps he noticed something about the fiance that displeased him for some reason. A Japanese parent would try to stop the marriage. Of course, this might also be a gender difference, as he is a father, and I am a mother.

So, I posed him a hypothetical question. "Suppose your daughter's marriage doesn't go well. What will you do?" He thought about it for a second and responded, "If she gets into trouble, I'll offer her a shoulder to cry on. If that happens, she'll also grow as a person."

If I had a daughter, I don't know if I would take his attitude. Parents, especially mothers, try to help their children to avoid different types of disasters. In trying to prevent my daughter from getting hurt, I might try to talk her out of an unsuitable marriage. But, for Dr. M., children must be allowed to make their own mistakes. Parents should not impose their views on their children, but rather respect them. I was thoroughly impressed with Dr. M.'s vision.

I guess this seems obvious to me but some of my students' parents are of a generation that had omiai(match maker) marriages. Then there's this one:

In Japan, there are youths who have essentially become hermits in their own homes. They stay in their rooms and do not go to work or school, and refuse to talk to their parents. I am told these youths range from teenagers to those in their 30s. When it was reported in the United States that the parents of these dysfunctional youths, not knowing how to deal with the situation, faithfully bring meals to their children's rooms every day, it became a discussion topic among students in my class. "Why don't the parents just kick their kids out of the house?" many asked. Most students asserted that children who are over 21 should be independent, and could not understand why parents would continue to support their children in this way.

In the United States, when a child reaches adulthood, he or she is expected to be independent, the students all believed. I countered by saying that in Japan, if you are single and your parents are alive, then no matter how old you are, your parent's home is your home, too. Some students booed this statement, but a Malaysian student of Chinese descent said that in Chinese families that was the norm. "The home I grew up in is my home forever. When I need help, my family will take care of me."

An Italian student chimed in: "In Italy, it's the same way. There are a lot of young people who have jobs, but still live in their parents' home." Depending on the culture and national character, it seems that there are differences in the role the family plays within the context of respecting the individual. I would think that concepts of "freedom" and "democracy" might be interpreted slightly differently as well. This is one reason why it is not only impossible to impose our view of "how things are" on others, it is downright dangerous.

Living with the family past adolescence and enabling a social sickness is another thing. These "hermits" suffer from what is called "hikikimori"-because no other country in the world has this type of problem, and I think that's more dangerous.

Then she goes on to state:

During a discussion with my friend Susan, I asked, "Suppose you started having marital problems with your husband, what would you do? Would you talk about it with others, like your close friends or your parents?" Her answer was firm: "My parents have nothing to do with problems between my husband and I. They have absolutely no right to get involved. I will talk our problems through with my husband."

My Japanese sensibilities make me think that for a couple who are having problems, talking to each other would just make the pair even more emotional, and not solve any problems. Thus, I would think grumbling to others about their problems might actually help. But Americans do not share their problems as much, and instead opt to go to counseling professionals. People with family problems discuss their problems with family counselors; people with marriage problems go to marital counselors. For alcoholism and issues involving abuse, there are a dizzying array of options, including psychologists, psychiatrists and support groups for almost any problem.

In Japan there is a stigma related to therapy, so people usually avoid it, which could explain the high rate of suicide here. Really, are family members more objective or more knowledgeable than professionals. I don't see how talking to a specialist can be a bad thing unless you rely too much on it, but for alcoholism or drug addiction or any other serious behavior disorder it seems essential.

Here's the rest of the article.

On a side note, this is my 1000th post in just over two years.

Spam: Asian Delicacy

I couldn't believe that Hawaiians I met here loved Spam so much, the least favorite sandwich meat of my youth, is also considered a delicacy in Korea according to this article I read in the LA Times supplement of The Daily Yomiuri this morning:

By Barbara Demick LA Times Staff Writer Sat Oct 15, 7:55 AM ET

SEOUL — Stroll into an expensive department store and walk straight past the $180 watermelon with a ribbon twirled just so around its stem. Don't bother with the tea in a butterfly-shaped tin for $153, or with the gift boxes of Belgian chocolates or French cheeses.

If you're looking for a gift that bespeaks elegance and taste, you might try Spam. The luncheon meat might be the subject of satire back home in the U.S., but in South Korea, it is positively classy. With $136 million in sales, South Korea is the largest market in the world for Spam outside the United States. But here, some consider the pink luncheon meat with its gelatinous shell too nice to buy for themselves, and 40% of the Spam is purchased as gifts.

Especially during the holidays, you can see the blue-and-yellow cans neatly stacked in the aisles of the better stores. South Koreans are nearly as passionate about packaging as the Japanese are, and the Spam often comes wrapped in boxed sets. A set of 12 cans costs $44.

"Spam really is a luxury item," said Han Geun Rae, 43, an impeccably dressed fashion buyer who was loading gift boxes of Spam into a cart at the Shinsegae department store before the recent Chusok holiday.

Chusok is the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, and the biggest gift-giving occasion of the year here. On this holiday alone, Korean distributor CJ Corp. estimates, 8 million cans of Spam change hands...

"It goes very nicely with red wine," said another shopper, 44-year-old Kim Hwa Yeon, a stockbroker in a crisp navy blue suit and pearls, who said she was buying for clients.

Spam's success in South Korea is one of those cultural mysteries — a bit like the reverence for Jerry Lewis in France — where an image is improved in translation. South Koreans take their Spam quite seriously and seem mystified as to why it is a subject of parody among Americans.

Click here to read the whole article.