Watching Japanese TV is often quite intolerable for many foreigners. Of course there`s the language problem but it goes far beyond that. From the garish-coloured sets to the bright, flashing kanji captions (accompanied by silly sound effects) to the little box in the corner where the reactions of Japanese celebrities’ faces can be seen, Japanese TV is really dumbed down! Of course I`m not the target market at all but one such programme geared towards people like me is `Cool Japan` on NHK BS1 at 6pm on Sunday evenings.
It is pretty much the only Japanese TV show I regularly watch. The title is pretty naff and it can be seen as propaganda telling viewers how brilliant and amazing everything in Japan is. Whilst there`s an element of truth in that I do think it`s pretty fair and balanced in mixing the positives and negatives of Japanese life and culture.
The topic of each show may not always sound the most enthralling but there`s usually Continue reading
