"John W." wrote:

> It's been nearly four years since I was in the land of rice and natto.
> My first question is, when did subtitling take over television? When I
> lived here it started, but do we really need to put the subtitles on
> every single word that's said in a variety show or a news interview?

That's not really "subtitling". Particularly when you are referring to
variety shows, I'm sure you are talking about how they will flash what
the person said onscreen, perhaps repeatedly, in large, bold or colored
text, with some sound or music (such as a clip of a past or current
popular song, like the theme from "Ringu") for added effect. Perhaps some
digital manipulation of the picture will be done or animation added, to
stretch the people's faces out to exaggerate facial expressions as when
eyes are made to bug out, or to create some which were not there, such as
bulging veins at the temples, or puffs of steam coming off their heads.

When some show is "translating" for example, what some rural person is
saying in a local dialect into standard Japanese, despite perhaps being
perfectly understandable without, is unnecessary subtitling that I have
noticed, and usually not in a flattering manner. While the show itself
was interesting, I always got the impression while watching travel
segments of Tokoro Joji's show, that it spent at least some time making
fun of rural people in the featured area, or how different they are, as
when the camera crew riding in the van is shown in its first encounter
with a local, probably some old woman pushing a bicycle loaded down with
farm fresh vegetables along the side of the road, who can't stop giggling
when a TV camera is aimed at her. "What are you doing? Ha ha ha ha ha
ha." she may say, putting her hand over her mouth or trying to cover her
face with her apron, while the "Ha ha ha ha" appears onscreen and the
studio audience laughs. "Is that camera on?" the surprised old woman may
ask, leaning up to or into the window. "Why do you want to take shots of
an old woman like me? Ha ha ha ha", while what she says appears onscreen,
and the studio audience continues to laugh. Then they need to talk to
more local old people, perhaps the old man who keeps thousands of live
vipers in a pit in his backyard (WTF), or the conveniently visible seated
circle of old men outdoors barbecuing and eating snake meat, or some guy
who bottles his own medicinal viper liquor, holding up a bottle with a
big lifelike snake in it, for the studio audience to react to. I liked
one show that showed how some people living up north had their houses
buried up to the roof, and how even people in their 70s or 80s would have
to climb onto their roofs to remove the snow, and how people had to dig
their way out of their own front door.

No, it's not really necessary. It's just a sad reflection on what
producers feel is necessary to attract a modern audience or hold their
attention, or the audience that craves such shows. I had to stop watching
TV when the yarase or rudeness as seen on Gachinko was too much to
ignore. If motorcycle gang members and other delinquents were so eager to
engage each other or even former world champion professional boxers in
supposed fistfights onscreen, there is no reason they shouldn't give an
undergrown lone member of Tokio a sound beating on national TV for
talking shit to their faces in a group of 20. I see that having alleged
couples air their dirty laundry in a boxing ring in front of a cheering
audience for national broadcast is still popular, as if people who really
felt that way about each other could remain together or agree to appear
together, walking into the studio with big smiles, holding hands.

> Second observation: fashion sense seems to have gone to hell. I saw a
> girl in Kobe wearing something straight out of a Robert Palmer video
> (the clothes he wore), and in Himeji I've seen several people wearing
> Robin Hood boots in various arrangments. I also see the skirt over
> pants has survived.

What surprised me this month was seeing in the newspaper fashion report
that some models for a European label at a European fashion show were
wearing skirts over pants, as Japanese on the street would.

> Still, two weeks will not be enough to get my fill. I'm currently in
> Hikone; tomorrow I'll borrow the brother in law's bike and see where I
> can go. I only wish it wasn't so easy to spend money here.