Most honourable mentions
News of Japan’s most honourable family is rarely dripping in tabloid appeal of late (see Princess Kako’s dominating the front pages as she turned 28), but now those interested can mainstream the mundanity as the emperor’s household considers social media.
The imperial family is reluctant to open up about the day to day of being the figureheads of Japan. However communication experts have long thought it necessary for the family to overhaul its communication style, increasing exposure and access, especially to the younger family members.
Currently all public engagement is handled by a single website and sporadic press statements handed to a select number of trusted media sources – about five.
After the scandal and subsequent cover up when Princess Mako intended to marry a commoner whose mother was embroiled in a financial dispute, the media moved to fill the void. The household refused to comment, stating that to refute one false story would legitimise the others.
Advisors had begged them to be more forthcoming with their grovelling.
However some conservative voices in Japan remain staunchly against the move, citing the Emperor’s previous status as a God and his necessary separation from his subjects. God don’t tweet pictures of their breakfast.
Perhaps the Japanese Imperial family could learn from their opposite numbers in the UK where the Royal family has weaponised social media to flood narratives, retrieve limelight and pacify royal pariahs with swollen follower counts.
Some academics say the Imperial family should have logged on years ago as the pandemic drove them further from the population. If they fail to move quickly, they should fear becoming irretrievably obsolete.
Mahjong madness
The manifesto of Taiwan’s newest political party is a short read. The party, named Mahjong the Greatest, have just one thing on its agenda, gaining legitimacy for the centuries old Chinese game.
Political newcomer 65-year-old Kuo Hsi, who owns a mahjong parlour in the southern city of Kaohsiung launched his party to allow betting on mahjong games and repair its reputation. Kuo wants the game declared legitimate recreation and for gambling and prize money to be permitted.
Kuo is in the process of registering his party and aims to secure a referendum next year to amend the law.
Playing mahjong is legal, but the game has long held associations with organised crime. Illegal betting and wagers are common and mahjong parlours are often raided.
Mahjong is popular among Taiwan’s population, particularly those long since retired. In the country that number is increasing, with 17 per cent of the population over 65 and the workforce set to half by 2060 as people age.
Taiwan’s ageing population are largely based outside the big cities and spend their time watching television, Kuo explained:
“If they can get together with people of their age to play mahjong, to chat with others, it will help improve their quality of life and bring happiness. This is a good activity for them.”
pepsi wings it
3am fried chicken is routinely chased down by a Pepsi (coke*). The late night wing man is not usually discerning about the brown liquid but Pepsi, at least the arm in Japan, has decided to imagine he was.
Released across Japan in the run up to Christmas where the festive feast is invariably KFC, Pepsi released a bucket accompanying rejig of its staple drink.
Less sweetness, more lemon and a fizz designed to penetrate the greasy aftermath of the traditional Xmas lunch, Pepsi’s chicken juice (actual name XXX) pecks at the saturated Christmas market and hopes to join the list of quirky Christmas traditions that Japan bloggers repeat ad infinitum.
The bottle bows deeply to the colonel while keeping a legally rigid arm’s length, with pictures of glistening fried chicken and an ambiguous bucket added to the packaging.
Your correspondent has spotted several people drinking gizzardade but neither were eating chicken at the time. It is also zero-calorie, but no comment as of yet on whether that helps offset the chicken itself.
