Mangajin59 - Campaigning in Japan

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Political Campaigns in Japan : The Art of Connection

M A N G A J I N

SellI Ame

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No. 59

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BRAND NEWS

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Ohikae Nasutte Yo! Please , Baby, No Fat Finally, a dairy product that satisfies the discriminating tastes of housewives and mcmhers of organized crime syndicates alike. Morinaga 's mil k drink,

Ohikae Nasutte ( .:tJ U -IJ' X..1&: T

0 "( ),

provides more protein and calcium

than whole mi lk, but wi th huff the culori es and almost no fat. l nsurticient calcium is one of the few weaknesses of a traditional Japanese diet. Choices of dairy products are limited. so whole milk is one of the only options available for the calcium-impaired. M orinaga has aimed this product mainly at young women who need calcium, but who also want to watch the calories. So what doe all of this have to do with organized crime? It's in the name.

Ohikae 11asul/e ( i:> U -IJ' X..1&: -9 0 "( ) is a slang expression with a double meaning. Simply put, hikae comes from the ver b hikaeru (~X. .0 ). meaning "prepare and wait ( tand by)." or "cut back/moderate." Nasuue i~ an archaic variation of 1w.mue. the -Te form of the verb 11asaru (honorific equivalent of suru, "do"). With the addition of the honorific prefix o-. ohikae IW.\'IIffe means "please prepare 10 li len (to whal I am about to say1 will now introduce myself),'' and is followed by a sl ylized, " pre-formatted" ~piel

about 1he speaker's background. The phrase i s used by members of a

certain segmen1 o f Japanese society which traditionally includes yakuza, streel vendors, racketeers, quacks, and the like. Ohikae 11asulle is used when introducing oneself or paying one's respect to another member of this special soc iety. Of course. when saying

ohikae ltnSllfte, one must strike the appropriate pose- lhe same pose the cow on the carton has assumed. Unless you happen to be among those who honor the code (a bunch of imimidating Japanese guys wilh full-body tattoos). doing the ohikae llasuffe bit is usually good for a laugh. Since !his is a super-low-fat, low-cal laclic treat, the cow addressing us with "ohikae nasutte" is making a pun with an ahcrnate meaning o f the verb hikaeru: "cut back.'' In olher words. please cut back on the calories (like the cow say ) and dr ink Ohikae Nasutte instead.

On this poster, Japan's most lovable loser, Tora-san of the movie series Otoko wa Tsurai yo, strikes an ohikae nasutte pose as he introduces himself with the stylized speech.

Send us your examples o f creative product names o r s logans ( w ith som e kind of d ocumentation). If w e publish your example, we' ll send you a Mangajin T -shirt to w ear on your next shopping trip. In case of duplicate entries, earliest postmark gets the shirt. BRAND N EWS, P .O. Box 77 188, Atlanta, G A 30357- 11 88 1) .J:. 1 7-. 1 7' To: 111i ,';,', ¥. "\> 7, o 1! :.-- ~ ::: ff: t.: -c: Lt.:. I? • 'li f'l· i' i~ .X. "( , j·,'J t/1 ~ ~foi ~;}I\ ;1: ·c- }3 j~ t; f ~ ~ ' u ttl ·I& )} 1.: t;J. , iJ,t 1111j AT:,.. 'I' '/ ~ illi .'.!± L.. £ ·to [IT] t. fJiJt.: I'IJ L.. -c 1!l f.{ G':> .h~ .Y,·'IJ' ~) j·,'l t il. t .t.:>'/.1- -ttl,' t.:. t!. ~' t.:. t;Jdi' IJ:, ~\1'1! il~ Gil O) 1 - Iff '1 • I.');' 1.: T :/ ·\' '/ t Hit f) L i -9 o ~li 1t; IJ: BRAND NF.WS. P.O. Rnx 77 188, A t lama, GA 30357- 11 88. U.S.A.

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Mangajin 9

Politics in Japan: The Art of

Connection Traveling with the re-election campaign of Di et member Ono Kiyoko, political scientist Robin LeBlanc learned that the noisy traditions of a Japanese political campaign all boil down to one thing: making a connection. Four molllhs illlo my study of Ono Kiyoko :S 1992 re-election campaign for her seat in the House of Councillors. I found myself in a cro11•d of Japanese men and ll'omen on a sort of platfo rm in the middle of a pla:.a at Tokyo's Shibuya Station. We grabbed.familiarly at each other:1· arms. balancing oursell'es. reassuring each other ofour presence. We swayed in the late July heat and a humidity that seemed to compress the lungs. Loudspeakers worked the pla:a from se1•eral sides, with music and ad1•ertisements creating the usual background hum. BLII on this night. the ordinary din was surmo1111ted by noise blaring from soundtrucks of several competing politicians. My memories COli hardly son one sound from another: They are all noisenoise pushing us backward and for~rard in the thick. thick ai1: Blll in 1he mids1 of 1he confusion, my group looked to one sou11d truc k and one set of .wiled poli1icicms with white-gl01•ed hands. We crying and thanking her supporters again looked up a/ Ono Kiyoko, our woman and again. but as I screamed, she caug/11 candidate surrounded by men in 1he my eye. and over her microphone. over cemer of the truck platform. and 0 111 to all the other clash and bang of 1hat those around us. We asked each other: unbearable July evening, I heard my name. "Arigato Robin! Arigato Robin!" Would ~re be disappointed /011101'1'011'? \Vhen Ono sound truck began 10 pull Those two '''ords cmmbled the last bi1 of OIW_I'. I clambered as high on nn· rock as my impanial scholarly facade. Tears I could. IH'al·ed and screamed "Ganbatte. streamed down my face as Ono left the ganbane. ganbaue Ono-sensei! .. She ~ras pla:.a. The next e1•eninx she 11•on her

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second lerm in the House of Councillors by the skin of her teeth. Despite all my pretensions as a foreign obsen •e1; I had ll'anted her to win. M ost foreigners in Japan have !.een and heard ound truc ks (large vans with loudspeakers mo unted on top) like Ono's in the streets of the towns where they live. Many Westerners shake their heads at Lhe

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