New Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s First Faux Pas on Video

Byjay

No sooner has Naoto Kan entered office and been hailed as a very different, very competent law maker and specialist in fixing financial crises, a youtube video of his first faux pas has also come out on the web.

The video shows Kan waving to supporters happily and crossing the street… while the DO NOT WALK sign is lit. The video is from August of 2009 when Kan was speaking and meeting people on street corners in Tokyo.

(Japanese politicians often station themselves at busy streetcorners or train stations with banners and a megaphone to do grass roots campaigning.)

Please know that I don’t really think this is a big deal or reflects on how he’ll do as a prime minister. I do like to see the human side of these Japanese politicians though!

Here’s the video of a very happy Kan happily jaywalking in Tokyo.

Video can’t be embedded so please click here to go to youtube to see it.

Similar Posts

| | | | |

Time Magazine Article on Japan’s Bureaucracy and the Slowing of Earthquake and Tsunami Aid

Byjay

I usually don’t read a lot of Japanese news in English, but an article in Gendai’s online magazine led me to hunt down an article on Time’s site. Funny that Gendai refers to Time for a hard-hitting story on how the government and bureaucracy in place in Japan has made it hard for other countries…

| |

Struggling Areas Welcome American Food Deliveries

Byjay

I’ve been looking for some stories to write about that relay the seriousness of the situation while not being the same sensational images of houses and cars floating away or houses reduced to splinters. On the topic of international cooperation following the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami in North-eastern Japan, there are several Japan bulletin board…

Four More Executions in Japan – Rate of Once Every Two Months

Byjay

As most people reading this blog know, Japanese officials usually carry out executions before informing the media or next of kin. What I didn’t know until reading this article in Mainichi Online was that Justice Minister Hatoyama has been carrying out executions at a pace of once every two months! Here is the article: Four…

No Power to the People – Fukuda Cabinet Disapproval over 50% No end in sight

Byjay

A Mainichi Shimbun poll came up with a 51 percent disapproval rating. 1043 people over age 20 were polled in a random phone survey this weekend. It’s easy for someone to say that they may not actually be over 51 percent given the standard of deviation for the survey, but really… is that how you…

| | | | |

Mac Akasaka (Makku Akasaka) Tokyo Governor Candidacy Video

Byjay

If I had a vote in the Tokyo election coming up, I can tell you who would get my vote… however, being a fan of good writing I would rather show you than tell you. Introducing Mac Akasaka or Makku Akasaka who identifies himself with the “Smile” party and has decided to announce his candidacy…

| | | | | |

Japan Prime Minister Noda and the Half A Million Dollar Website

Byjay

Japan’s prime mininster’s office has spent 4.5 million yen (nearly  US$550,000) on an overhaul of the Prime Minister’s website. The redesign was done to improve communications. A new section of the site was also designed for kids. The site, titled” The Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet” can be found at http://www.kantei.go.jp/ . It includes links…

One Comment

  1. How vapid. As soon as they introduce him he sets off running? I bet it works to raise his profile (if done enough times) but it’s so superficial.

Comments are closed.