>>> Item number 7923 from WRITERS LOG9302A --- (86 records) ------ <<< Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1993 15:07:48 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: Re: Star-Crossed Lovers in Japan (Final Part) (just for closure - tying up loose ends) On Wednesday, Jan. 27, the apparent sequence of events actually started that afternoon with Takahanada-san and Rie-chan having a forty-five minute meeting at a hotel. Immediately afterward, public relations personnel told the gathered reporters that Rie-chan would have a conference at about six p.m. and Takahanada-san would have one at eleven p.m. Rie-chan's conference began with her statement and she stepped away from the lectern. She returned immediately, though, and spent another fifteen minutes or so answering questions. The impression she gave was that of a smart, poised young lady collectedly probing her own feelings in the midst of flashing cameras and prying media. Takahanada-san's conference consisted of questions and answers alone. He seemed far less prepared to deal with the media, answering slowly and sometimes irrelevantly. The media chose to provide full replays of both conferences, in order and with correct time tags, from eight a.m. to ten a.m. Thursday morning. The tapes of both conferences seemed to lack the time stamps in the corner that had helped identify them the previous night, and there are camera cuts, but they were apparently complete. This time slot normally has morning shows aimed at housewives, since most Japanese men are travelling to the office or starting work at the office during this time. There was no discussion of the previous night's confusing media presentation, and most of the commentators focused on Rie-chan's "recovery" from her mistaken love with Takahanada-san. Everyone seemed to agree that her image has been improved by the breakup, and that Takahanada-san's has been hurt. Thursday evening news and later shows through the weekend have mostly omitted discussion of the situation completely. One Sunday morning talk show had a brief segment, with everyone agreeing that the two "stars" were to be pitied and that the media had perhaps pushed too hard. They also had a graph claiming that news watching was up twenty percent during the six p.m. and thirty-five percent during the eleven p.m. shows on Wednesday. Apparently the media has decided to turn their attention to other matters and hope no one questions their presentation of this media event too closely. Personally, this observer is left with unanswered questions about why the media on Wednesday night first gave the misleading impression that the short statement by Rie-chan was all the information available, then later gave the impression that Rie-chan had "answered" Takahanada-san's conference with bits from her earlier conference. I am also unconvinced that the more complete explanation was provided in a comparable forum to the evening media focus. Finally, I am very concerned that the earlier issue of the traditional women's role and careers seems to have vanished completely from sight. Whether Rie-chan and Takahanada-san were well-matched or not, their short engagement focused attention on some conflicts in Japanese thought that need to be resolved. I can only hope that the next time the dilemma of traditional thought and changing women's aspirations arises here, the changes that began to be considered because of this case will gain further ground. There was one very interesting piece I noticed while checking the Sunday morning shows. Tamori, the Johnny Carson of Japan who runs a very popular show at noon every day which is recapped on Sunday, had Jacky Chen on his show during the week. They had Jacky provide a short women's defense lesson on T.V., showing what to do if someone grabs you from behind. While I'm unsure about the effectiveness of such a short demonstration, the choice of topics and the simple guide to kicks in the foot, groin, headbutting, elbowing, and a simple shoulder throw along with the implication that this is good for women to know seemed like a healthy change to this observer. That's the end of this report. [cultural reporter thinks the fighting has moved on, so you can get up now, sah!] mike