Miyuki and Yukio Hatoyama
(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Many people have already read about strange quotes by Miyuki Hatoyama, the soon-to-be First Lady of Japan. "While my body was sleeping, I think my spirit flew on a triangular-shaped UFO to Venus," goes the most popular quote from a book written by Mrs. Hatoyama. Quotes from a TV show interview, “I know that Tom Cruise was Japanese in the previous life,” and “I just grab [the sun] and eat it. It makes me feel good,” are some other ones.
What is interesting is that the Japanese media is picking up on this story because the Western media has picked up on the story. The quoted book, “Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered,” has been out on Japanese bookshelves since July of 2008—you can find it on amazon.co.jp. The Japanese didn’t seem to be too concerned then, or too concerned during the August elections. Mrs. Hatoyama seems to be getting attention now only because of the Western media’s apparent obsession.
Why Japan probably doesn’t care if their new First-Lady seems out-of-this-world
Why doesn’t Japan truly care? Well, there are a couple probable reasons, the first being the difference in the election system. Japan does not elect the Prime Minister the way America elects a President. Citizens vote for representatives to the Japanese parliament, which is like voting for members of the U.S.’s legislative branch. It is the elected politicians who decided on the Prime Minister, which results in a certain level of distance between the Japanese people and their Head of State. Prime Minister Taro Aso didn’t lose the election to Yukio Hatoyama, the Liberal Democratic Party lost the overall election to the Democratic Party of Japan in terms of seat numbers in Parliament.
Japanese society also tends to be more open-minded to the supernatural than America’s. Séances and monster evidence hunting involving quirky celebrities are shown on Japanese prime-time TV fairly often. (On the other hand, Japanese TV is quite notorious for quirky programs). Also consider the fact that Yukio Hatoyama has been called an alien because of his large eyes, an image he has actually embraced in the past.
Finally, one might argue that people aren’t voting for the spouses of politicians. While the spouses of politicians are known to do promotional work, hopefully they aren’t the ones deciding national policies. So what does it really matter if the spouse is a bit out there?
The question now is whether Japanese people will become self-conscious towards their up-and-coming First Lady. Based on the bland news reports from the Japanese media, the answer is probably not, unless she was to start trying to outright influence national policies of course. However, as with aliens and past lives and the ability to eat the sun, you never know.
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Comments
I think she could be alien, i can usually tell an alien when i see one.
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