Fukuda’s Low-Key Style Frustrates Japanese

昨天晚上開始猛K木村拓哉的最新日劇"Change"

(我習慣等日劇全部播畢之後才開始看, 避免出現那種長達十個禮拜坐立難安的痛苦等待...)

不知道是巧合還是刻意的安排

這個片名竟然和民主黨美國總統參選人Barack Obama的競選標語完全一致

(Obama的競選主要標語為...CHANGE we can believe in)

而片中木村所飾演的35歲菜鳥政治家 朝倉啟太 所遭受的質疑

也和一任參議員任期都尚未做滿的Obama如出一轍

而Obama的頗具戲劇性的參政經歷

也在片中被 生方議員 拿來做為鼓勵 朝倉 出馬參予政友黨總裁選舉的案例



在朝倉身上依稀可見的政治人物身影還不只有Obama

當年挾著超高人氣坐上日本首相寶座的小泉純一郎的影子也不時出現

而其中最為明顯的就是和小泉幾乎一模一樣的髮型...Orz

當然這部日劇之所以會讓人覺得對於政治圈生態刻畫入骨的原因不只是因為這些表面功夫

而是本片竟然找來了小泉純一郎的秘書官-飯島勳、

以及日前剛辭去首相位置的福田康夫的長男兼秘書官-福田達夫 來出任本片的幕後顧問

對於日本政局一知半解的我可能無法從中看出劇中其他角色和現實世界中的日本政治家有何聯繫

但是對於日本民眾來說應該大有揭開政界瘡疤的痛快感吧



目前我的觀看進度只到Episode 3

刻意避開網路上相關討論的我僥倖能在地雷遍佈的網路世界中生存下來

希望不要因此破壞了觀看日劇時那種因為劇情意外轉折而感受到的樂趣

不過還是無可避免地用了些關鍵字來搜尋這部影集的相關製作背景

卻意外發現這篇七月初刊登於Wall Street Journal (華爾街日報) 、

將虛擬的 朝倉啟太 拿來和文章發表當時的首相 福田康夫 做比較的文章

其中也提到了部分日本政界人士對於該片的看法...



看來曾經因為在Hero中飾演檢察官一角而讓檢察官成為日本年輕人熱門志業的木村

這次要將他對於日本普羅文化的影響力進一步擴展到永田町...



誰知道呢？

或許日本政界迎來 朝倉啟太 的日子真的不遠了





Fukuda’s Low-Key Style Frustrates Japanese



By SEBASTIAN MOFFETT AND HIROKO TABUCHI

Published : July 1, 2008 / The Wall Street Journal





In the hot new Japanese TV drama “Change,” Prime Minister Keita Asakura is a dynamic 35-year-old with charisma. He nixes pork-barrel construction projects in favor of more money for child care. After a deadly storm hits, Mr. Asakura rushes to the scene, barking orders to bungling bureaucrats. And he stands up to the U.S. in agriculture trade talks. “I have the responsibility to protect the Japanese people,” Mr. Asakura tells enthralled voters. “I am one of you.”



Meanwhile, Yasuo Fukuda — Japan’s actual prime minister — has described himself as “a shadow.” When he hosts the Group of Eight in Japan next week, he will be the oldest of the group’s leaders, turning 72 this month. Since he took office in September, he has been thwarted or held up in almost everything he’s tried to do — from renewing a mission to help counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan to appointing a central bank governor.



“I don’t feel that he has any leadership whatsoever,” says Tomoyuki Matsumoto, 42, who works for an insurance company in Tokyo.



Mr. Fukuda’s passive tenure is increasingly frustrating the Japanese, as the world’s second largest economy struggles with a falling population. To avoid this leading to declining living standards, economists say Japan needs bold measures including more deregulation to promote faster growth, as well as an overhaul of its social security system. But with a divided parliament and a leader who isn’t inclined to take action, Japan could continue its drift until parliamentary elections well into next year.



Mr. Fukuda’s struggle stems largely from the split parliament which he inherited. The main opposition Democratic Party, or DPJ, dominates the Upper House which has significant delaying and veto powers. But Mr. Fukuda hasn’t come up with imaginative solutions to the bind, and the public mostly blames him and his low-key style: His approval ratings were just 26% in a poll published Monday in the Nikkei newspaper … …



That may be why Mr. Asakura’s fantasy government is so popular. The weekly show, which starts with an image of dawn rising over Japan’s parliament building, has attracted about 20% of TV households in the Tokyo area since it began in May. In an episode before Mr. Asakura’s elevation, a young lawmaker talks excitedly of the rise of Sen. Obama, 46, and U.K. Conservative Party leader David Cameron, 41. Japan’s stodgy politicians, by contrast, are steeped in backroom politics and out of touch with the nation, he says. “World leaders are getting younger and younger, but look at Japan!” he says. Some Japanese politicians are taking notice. Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba - at 51, the youngest cabinet minister in a major post - said he was a fan of the show. “There are honestly some parts I empathize with,” he told reporters last month. “Politicians need to rethink what they stand for.”