For some reason, Japan has an absurdly high number of TV programs where the premise is watching foreigners do random things. Why? I have no idea. There is this huge market in Japan for following foreigners around all day, and then broadcasting the footage on TV. They go with foreigners inside restaurants and watch them eat (and comment) on the food. They record foreigners awkwardly strolling through the streets of Tokyo. They have entire videos of foreigners “reacting” to things – and learning how to do stuff like make sushi or learn the delicate art of flower arranging. I have no idea why this is such a huge market. Also, I hate to admit it, but most of the foreigners on these shows are awkward, unsure, or misguided about Japan (sometimes all three). The whole thing is just… odd? Oh well. Now one of my many freelancing gigs is working as an occasional “TV personality” for Japanese TV shows. It pays pretty well and I get to learn how to do all sorts of interesting, unique stuff – like last time, when I learned the delicate art of pressed flower arranging) PS – If you like this, I’m publishing my own comic book (On kickstarter) titled, [...]
The post Comic: Japanese TV Programs that teach “Gaijin” how to do things appeared first on Texan in Tokyo.