Yes! The media is a pernicious influence. We hear this so often, but it seems insurmountable and inevitable. In Japan, the media is complicit in silence about

Yes! The media is a pernicious influence. We hear this so often, but it seems insurmountable and inevitable. In Japan, the media is complicit in silence about many important issues, but it is also overwhelmingly positive in tone. Television in Japan is either hilarious, emotional, or informative. When I went to the US embassy in Osaka, they had CNN on in the waiting room and I wanted to weep for my countrymen. It is like a poison gas in the air——you can know it's there and that it's not good for you, but that won't alter the effect that it has.