Just as I’m despondent and thinking about canceling my cable subscription because the AZN channel went bust, I’m struck by another pang of jealousy that I can’t kick back on a couch in a Tokyo apartment on Monday nights to watch a rare Japanese political comedy-drama, a show on Fuji-TV called “Change.” To top off my agony, the show’s theme song is “Miles Away” by Madonna and it stars SMAP boy-band member and all-around heartthrob Kimura Takuya, known popularly as Kimutaku.
According to plot summaries I’ve read, Kimutaku implausibly plays a dorky elementary school teacher in Nagano prefecture, who is suddenly called to run for political office when tragedy befalls his family. His father is a Diet member and his eldest brother was going to take over the father’s political seat, but they were killed in an accident — leaving Kimutaku as the only political heir-apparent! Apparently the charming bumpkin Kimutaku is elected and then manipulated by party members to become the next prime minister of Japan, but the show provides hope to all those who want to see political reform in Japan.
Japan already has a fair number of celebrity politicians, so there is a reasonably good chance that Kimutaku could be elected in real life if he had those types of ambitions. The Diet and governorships are already full of Olympic athletes, professional wrestlers, and comedians. Kimutaku’s campaign, in a sense, has already begun, with Fuji-TV hawking “Change”-related products such as tissue boxes and suggesting that he will have a 100-percent approval rating.
The drama’s title “Change” probably owes to cultural cross-fertilization from American politics. In Fuji TV’s announcement of the show in March, the decision to call the show “Change” is followed directly by a reference to how the dueling campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have signaled that Americans are welcoming a new era of political reform. According to the Fuji-TV news release, in Japan, on the other hand, there is a sense of political stagnation — but Kimutaku may be just the person to bring real change as Prime Minister, as well as to change people’s hearts. It sounds as if just like Barack Obama’s “bottom-up” presidency, Kimutaku’s man-of-the-people will be able to inspire everyone from the youngest child to the most grizzled, cynical political veteran.
Although a female Prime Minister is still probably unimaginable for many Japanese, Fuji TV reports that Prime Minister Kimutaku will choose a “strong, ambitious woman” as his political secretary, played by Fukatsu Eri. The position of political secretary is actually a very important one in Japan, as the person is often groomed for future political leadership roles, including that of politician. And, indeed, it looks like Fukatsu’s character might be the real brains behind Kimutaku’s novice political operation. Only time will tell, however, if Kimutaku’s leadership and new vision of political reform will also bring about developments in her character or important policy changes and rights for women more broadly.
