Japanorama

Hmmmm....... here are a few postings of the show Japanorama from youtube. The show originaly aired on BBC Choice in England in 2002 and tries to cover various aspects of Japanese culture from science fiction, sex, crime, otaku, gaijin and much more. I would say watch this show but take it with a very large grain of salt. The host Jonathan Ross delivers a very watered down, misinformed poorly research and mispronounced view of Japanese culture. It's almost as if he is presenting what people expect to see about Japan. It's a tired old worn out path to pick only the bizare aspects of Japanese culture and poke fun at them. Still in saying that, the interviews with the Japanese people are informative and should be paid attention to. One positive aspect of the show is that it introduces you visually to Japan, you get to walk the streets, see the art, architecture, food etc of Japan. Those that are interested in Japan should use this show only as a stepping stone into Japanese culture and under no circumstances should you repeat Ross' mangled Japanese, you won't be understood. Those that have lived in Japan will know what I'm on about. Two new seasons have been created in 2006 and this year (2007 in case you weren't sure when I wrote this). Any way episode 1 is below, it's in 3 parts.