Japanese TV

So there is so much to catch up on after being on vacation for 18 days, but I am going to first talk about Japan and not America.  This past weekend (the last of the vacation) was spent being extremely lazy at home and watching my favorite Japanese show.  This was a big deal as my favorite show only comes on once a year.

Really?  you might ask.  My favorite show is something I can only see once a year.  Part of the reason I love it is because it is very unique and very Japanese.  And also, it is easy to understand even if I don't know what is being said.  Also, being busy and fickle I don't have time to make a commitment to a weekly or daily program. But once a year, I can do.

So, to start off with, my FAVORITE Japanese show is called "Hajimete no Otsukai," or "first time errand."  Basically, this is a show where parents send out 3, 4, 5 year olds to run errands by themselves.  This ranges from delivering stuff to neighbors to taking lunch to their dads at work to shopping.  The parents give the children instructions and details, often having them repeat certain words or phrases over and over.  Usually the child is going somewhere where they usually go so they are familiar with the place and people.

I first saw this show in 2006 and have been hooked ever since, though I don't always remember to watch it.  It comes on coming of age day each year which is more famous as a day when 20 year olds go to the town hall to "become adults" in lavish suits, kimono, and formal dress.

Now, now, before you start getting all huffed about danger and child abuse, let me say that the kids who are sent out to do errands are filmed by crew members in plain clothes.  The kids don't know the film crew so they are "alone" and yet the crew will intervene if something really dangerous were to happen.  Though there is a lot of crying involved (and sometimes fighting) most of the kids end the show feeling very proud of themselves.

Anyway, this year my favorites were...

a) A little girl (3 years old) who was told to take the recycling to the supermarket and to then buy gyoza (potstickers) shells- like mini tortillas.  Anyway, she got to the store and did the recycling perfectly, separating paper and plastic and glass.  She then went into the supermarket and started saying, "Hmm.... what to buy, what to buy."  Rather than get the gyoza shells (liked she had been told a dozen times) she got two cartons of milk, tea, and some random food items.  Her basket was really heavy but when an elderly lady tried to help her lift it onto the checkout counter, she jerked it away as if being robbed.  She payed for it all and then proceeded to drag the plastic bag of groceries out of the store and down the street.  Of course the bag broke and the milk carton ripped open, and she kind of had a little break down.  But luckily a nice woman took her back to the store and she was able to get everything new.  The check out girl then convinced her to put everything in her backpack.  I missed what her mom said about her selection, though, as I had to check on dinner.  she basically failed the mission but tried hard.

b) Another little girl insisted that she could go to the butchers to get meat and to the grocers to get vegetables for lunch. She was also 3 and threw a fit when her older sister offered to go along.  However, as soon as she left the house she started sniffling and by the time she got to the butchers she was hiccup-crying. Still, she managed to explain that she needed "expensive meat" for daddy and "cheap meat" for herself.  LOL  I think he was supposed to say, "steak," for daddy and "pork," for herself.  She did perfectly at the grocers and completed the message, despite crying as soon as she was back home.

c) A little boy (4) was told to take fish to several of his neighbors as there family had received too much in a holiday gift box.  His little sister (2 or 3?) was supposed to go along, but after half a block she turned around.  Her mom kept saying in a sing-song voice, "You can do your best!" to which she would reply in a sing-song voice, "No I can't do my best."  But her big brother didnt need her as he not only passed his test, but passed it with flying colors.  This boy had extremely polite Japanese, and not just rehearsed greetings. As expected, most of the neighbors decided to thank his family by giving him sweets or vegetables to take home.  When one lady was wrapping up food, he kept saying, "Are you sure you can spare all that?  We don't want to take anything you and your husband planned to use."  And at the other house when the lady asked how many sweet potatoes he would like, he insisted "Two is more than enough," despite her offering 6 or 7.  CUTE!

d) Yet another little girl (3) was supposed to get sweets for her family at a temple.  She was supposed to get them to go, but she didn't say so she got them on a plate.  Rather than ask for a box, she took the plate.  This was at a temple on a special day so the girl was wearing a kimono and raised sandals、similar to high heels, so of course she dropped the sweets which were a sticky type of rice cake (like dough balls).  The sweets got covered in gravel but she scooped them up and put them back on the plate.  This happened two or three times and she kept putting them on the plate.  She returns to her family and her mom starts to eat on when the girl exclaims, "NO- they're dirty!!!"  The mom tells her about getting a box and the girl returns, getting the order right and returning for the boxes.  She returns again with the correct thing and keeps exclaiming, "I didn't cry!  I didn't cry!"

So these were the best of this year but I was disappointed as they weren't as good as past years.  My favorite, in the past, was the boy who came back a third time from the store with the wrong thing and, when his mom asked him to go yet again he screamed, "BAKA!!! (You fool!)"  Followed by, "GOMEN, Ne! (I'm  sorry, ok!)" before going back to the store for the correct thing.  And the time two little girls got in a fight over sailor moon shoes (only one pair left at the store) and then bought balloons, a pound of clams and two bags of depends adult diapers (even though they were sent to buy something like sugar and bread).

Anyway, here is some video below of the show.  I hope they work.  They are a little hard to understand but still cute and you get the idea.  The top one is the TV networks website so there are pictures to click on but first you have to watch a gum commercial.  After that there is the show.  The second link is just youtube.  The third is pictures from this year.

http://www.dai2ntv.jp/program/corner.php?corner=000001009c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_lgxi6EcC4&feature=related

http://www.ntv.co.jp/otsukai/