Japanese Television

Matthew's Best Hit TV from Lost In Translation is real.

Sunday December 5, 2004

Japanese TV is crazy. Day and evening programming mostly consists of talk shows, game shows with bizarrely embarrassing stunts, soap operas, and shows-within-a-show where the viewer watches minor celebrities watching TV. The show they're watching is broadcast as normal, and a small square appears in the corner filming the celebrity's face and reactions to what is being shown.

A cool thing about Japanese TV is that any program that was made in another language is either in the original language but with Japanese subtitles, or is broadcast with multiple sound channels: Japanese dubbed and the original soundtrack. If you have a VCR with a bilingual button, you can switch between the soundtracks.

There is a surprising amount of programs available in English, but there doesn't seem to be any actual logic behind what is chosen for air. There is an American blockbuster on several nights a week in primetime. Late at night there is a totally random movie from any period, any genre. Lately I've seen Roman Holiday, They Live!, and a Jack Nicholson 70s drama called Five Easy Pieces. And right now ... there is a Thunderbirds marathon on!

The final straw on the camel of coolness is that during commercials, whenever a song is played, the name of the artist is displayed in the corner. How handy is that for when the song is really good!?

Thunderbirds marathon in English at 3 AM! Makes sense to me.

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I thought maybe when in Japan you would get yourself on a better schedule!! :)

Posted by Mom on December 8, 2004 07:58 AM

That's what I thought too.

Posted by Lisa on December 9, 2004 03:24 AM