I don’t have a satellite myself I don’t tend to watch TV much at all, but I’m curious if it’s as bias as it sounds. My colleague said last week that he heard from the TV that the water from the tap in Europe is not drinkable and that Japan is the only place where it’s so good. I quashed the part about Europe and said most of it is drinkable, only parts I don’t know about are like East Europe like Belarus and Estonia etc. He looked confused when I clarified. Why would the TV put out false info like that?
It then made me remember I heard a couple months ago from another colleague who talking about why the birth rate is declining. She said that according to TV it’s because Japan is so ‘well developed and people are incredibly happy with life that they just don’t want kids’… I was always under the impression it was to do with younger people having problems dating.
Is Japanese TV a little…skewed? I suppose all TV is to a degree. I don’t get why they’d say Europe’s tap water is not drinkable when surely Japanese people who have travelled there would be able to refute that.
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Japan is also the only country in the world with 4 seasons.
Nihonjinron has always been strong on TV.
“this is a pen”
I’m not sure I even understand the premise of your post. A random colleague told you a random thing they heard on a random TV show and you are doubting the legitimacy of all Japanese television (which you admit to not watching) versus your colleague’s rendition of what they watched (which, for all we know, was maybe 5 seconds or a simple headline).
Putting aside that most television is made for the purpose of entertainment, maybe confirm the content or source of whatever program and then open a disussion on that?
“Oishiiiiiii!”
The food in question looked like shit.
I can count the number of japanese who drinks tap water on 1 hand XD
There is what the TV actually says and then there is what an individual takes from it.
For the birth rate thing for instance, probably the actual show mentioned multiple things, including something like ‘people are wanting to spend more time on their own pursuits’ or ‘people are enjoying their independence’. But your colleague’s main takeaway was ‘people are incredibly happy…’.
Japanese TV is fucked. The worst thing though, for reasons unknown Japanese people almost entirely take whatever is said on TV as fact and at face value… why? Like I honestly have a hard time imagining a Japanese person saying “thats bullshit” about something on TV.
On the subject of TV here, just wondering. Why do you never seem to have reality TV shows in Japan? Really common elsewhere and very popular. Any time i have flicked through i only ever see variety shows.
This is a pen
On the birth rate thing, I mean, across the world, higher standards of living do seem to concur with lower birth rates whereas places with high birth rates also have lower living standards.
Whether that is a direct cause-and-effect relationship and whether that can be applied to what’s happening in Japan, however… these topics need elaboration.
In short, TV says something that’s not untrue per se but is oversimplified, and people only remember the oversimplified version.
Just a personal fear, but no matter how superior and drinkable Japan’s tap water might be, there’s no way in hell I’m drinking unfiltered tap water passing through the pipes of some of these shitty old-ass buildings.
Several years ago I had a student and eikaiwa manager tell me about a story they saw on TV where a Japanese design company/designer was responsible for cleaning up NYC. After a lot of googling I found there was a Japanese run design firm in NYC that designed some of the new (at the time) subway cars.
*”Is ~~Japanese~~ all TV a little…skewed? I suppose all TV is to a degree.”*
Have you not heard of Fox News USA?? Some of the stuff on there will blow your socks off.
But Japan-wise:
During peak Covid times, there was some pretty dubious stuff being said on TV here.
“Because we gargle, have hand sanitizer and strictly wear masks – Covid hasn’t been so bad in Japan. We are so clean people.”
And the way Japanese is spoken, they spit less, so less Covid spread or some BS… I forget exactly.
Kinda aged like milk.
They said “UWAAAHHH!” when they should have said “SUGOOOIIII” followed by some sound effects.
Covid spreads because of how foreigners say “pen.”
In regards to the water thing, I guess Okinawa must not count as Japan. I don’t drink any water unless it’s been through my RO filter
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/28/alarming-levels-forever-chemicals-found-water-near-us-bases-okinawa
In regards to the babies thing, there is some truth the the developed countries having less babies, I doubt the happy part though
All TV is skewed in all countries.
But yes, there’s a lot of Japanese TV shows where professionals like doctors and economists offer their *opinion* on certain subjects. The problem I have with this is that a lot of times these are variety shows, and professionals can weigh in on subjects that are not within the scope of their expertise. And even if they discuss things in their field, it’s just one person’s *opinion* so it should be taken with a grain of salt
Well, if someone believes everything they see on tv, that speaks to their AI level. It may sound harsh, but maybe you should download new friends?
No, the reason they aren’t having children is because salaries haven’t risen in the past 30 odd years to accommodate the birth rate, and the rising cost of things. A Toyota Corolla was once 1.5 million yen, now a Toyota Corolla is 5.5 million yen base model, and 7.2 million yen for the circuit *Apex* edition. Coincidentally, 30 odd years ago… That’s right around the economy bubble burst in Japan.
Companies, and corporations which make up the most of Japan’s employers, will do everything in their power not to increase the salaries of their employees, to the point where releasing propaganda to camouflage their responsibility in the birth rate is not beneath them. Furthermore, they are in bed with the head honchos that run this joint, funneling hush money into their pockets so they can get a tax break.
I’d say most information from TV (or even from the internet) is skewed regardless of the country so I usually take it with a grain of salt.
With that said, one questionable (or stupid) thing I saw from a TV show a few years ago was when a TV crew went to a local supermarket in Italy and were shocked at how they had *so many pasta brands*. It was also really dumb when they interviewed a couple of the local Italians and their questions were like, “Do you really eat so many pasta at home?” or “Why do Italians like pasta so much?”, “What do you think of Napolitan pasta?”.
I dunno, it had a condescending “we *never* see this in Japan” or “this culture is *so* weird” vibe that I got offended even though I’m not Italian, lmao.
Every Japanese tv show: The secret ingredient is (drum roll) miso.
I saw a show claiming that people don’t pick up their dogs’ crap in other countries. One of the countries they mentioned was the Netherlands! As if!! And I can confirm that tons of Japanese people don’t clean up after their dogs. It’s like a minefield from my house to the dog park.
Because of stuff like this I get followed and harassed by people when I walk my dog, even though I clean up after him.
My favorite is the katakana subtitles for the foreigners speaking perfect Japanese. Also gives me a chuckle
On the “drinking water” topic, when I was a university student in Australia, our Japanese exchange students would waste a ton of money buying bottled water. I asked why and they said they’d heard you can’t drink tap water overseas. That’s true in some countries but Australian tap water is perfectly safe 🤷♂️ maybe the fault of Japanese tv for stereotyping all foreign countries, or the universities for not preparing their exchange students enough…
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?!”
Pretty much this and I turn it off. That’s why I didn’t put any antenna on my new house.
Japanese TV likes to circle jerk Japan and self grandiose.
Its why I don’t watch and never will. I don’t expose my kids to it either. I would rather they watch *you tube* for gods sake….
To add to this converation – My girlfriend was on a show called “Bomby Girl”, and they fabricated huge parts of her story. Like, rewrote parts of her childhood to make it better fit a TV persona.
You are right though, all media in every country is skewed. Especially government sponsored media. Is it always harmful? No, probably not. Is it always skewed in a conspiratorial way? Doubt it. I think some shows just want to be more appealing. Sometimes it’s just different opinions, sometimes it’s bad information, or a deadline came up fast and someone had to bullshit there way through something.
>younger generations having problems dating
That is certainly not the reason why the birth rate is so low, looks like you also fell for false information
I’m still upset about the **professional chef** who claimed that a microwave would cook your chicken from the centre outwards. Grrr
I don’t know if this show is still running, but there was a talk show with Nakai-kun from SMAP and some other famous old guy. The topic that night was the Hague Treaty, and I think the show ran before Japan signed it but it was a topic that had been brought up in the news recently. They addressed the issue and framed it completely as if it were Japanese mothers being abused by their foreign husbands abroad and how the mothers taking their kids back to Japan without their spouse’s knowledge was a positive thing to do. They did a few role play style skits with actors and actresses and in every single instance they made the foreign husband into some dead-beat abuser. There wasn’t a single mention of the Japanese spouse just being a cruel person, as if it wasn’t even a possibility. It was the most infuriating hour of TV I’ve ever sat through.
People are dragging OP for stereotyping Japanese TV, but NHK famously reported on Black Lives Matter with a crude animation presenting the argument entirely as economic grievances and not giving a single mention to George Floyd’s murder. So while it’s not fair to say all Japanese TV is propaganda, it’s worth asking how often that sort of reporting happens and that’s essentially what OP asked.
Dogs can’t look up.
That foreigners spread covid faster because we pronounce, “P” with more air.
One thing that is debatable is the total lack of controversies and critical thinking.
Every food is おいしい!!!, every restaurant is わー!!!, every company is すごい!!!
I’d like to see food shows (and others) like they do, say, in France, where they go to restaurants and tell you which one is good, which one is bad and what to do to improve.
On the Fuji morning show Tokudane, they were showin clips of some European “news” show that was using women in bikinis or similar outfits reading the news. The Japanese host (Ogawa) was acting shocked and muttering about how they could put such things on tv.
Never mind the fact that throughout the 80s and 90s, Japanese broadcast TV was full of T&A, with completely gratuitous nudity in nearly every type of show (including news), and Ogawa was probably participating in it wholeheartedly.
Japan invented the handjob.
It’s not really surprising how Japanese TV is very xenophobic. I recently saw a special on a variety show where the airport people were checking foreigners’ bags for drugs. One of the people they checked was a white woman with too much makeup and never stopped smiling and the second person was a black man who the Japanese said “looked suspicious” and when they couldn’t find anything, they still kept him waiting because he had to be guilty of something lmao.
J TV isn’t great, but media bias and accuracy are problems no matter where you go. Obviously there are countries in Europe where the tap water is drinkable, and obviously there is more to the issue of birth rate decline than “people are happy” — most people have the cognitive ability to figure this out on their own, but certain TV programs pander to certain populations who want to hear certain things, so take with a grain of salt whatever you hear or see on the tube or the internet.
Much Japanese TV is like watching popular tech YouTubers. It’s like confirmation bias central. You already know the conclusion. You already know what you want to hear. You don’t tune in to be educated and expand your horizons. Many people watch Japanese tv/popular tech YouTubers because they want to be told they 1. Have the best thing and 2. They are special for having that thing.
In this case it’s Japanese culture/food/Japan not Samsung or apple devices.
No critical discussion.
No criticism
They just just keep making shows of what people want to hear because that’s the easiest thing to do, and doing what people want is a surprisingly good way of selling ad space to sponsors.
Japanese tv is like click bait internet but on the TV.
It’s not quite the same as what you’re describing, but I watch a lot of じょぶちゅん and I always get the feeling that there’s an unspoken rule that restaurants aren’t allowed to completely fail. It usually seems that they’re allowed up to maybe 3 or 4 (for reference the worst I’ve seen a restaurant do was Ginza Cozy Corner which had 4 failures).
It just seems a bit absurd that Michelin star chefs can eat something like Saizeriya and be like “Yeah, this is great!”
Fellow Redditors, don’t answer!!!!!!!!! This is just the NHK fee guy trying to out you non-paying folks!!!!!! Your reply means you’re guilty of having a Japanese TV!!!! Yabai!!! /s
A lot of people are saying “Japanese TV” like there isn’t a whole spectrum of political positions in Japan. It’s like saying Fox or GB News represents all opinions in the country.
You’ll definitely hear different ideas depending on the channel or the news outlet you watch here, and you’re more likely to hear a lot of unbelievably insular ideas from right wing channels, because the audience likes hearing them.
Notice that during such moments they tend to use the nationalistic “nippon” instead of just “nihon”, so they could feel superior to other nations
Even though I understand Japan’s zero tolerance drug policy, it’s always super annoying when they talk about marijuana. They either try to rake some celeb into the ground that got caught for recreational use, or they talk about non-existent dangers of using, like insanity, etc. I wish they’d actually talk to people that have tried it or have legitimate science on the effects of it instead of spreading their hardline propaganda BS.