Even though I just got back from Japan, somehow I feel kind of out of the loop. Thankfully, Nikkan Gendai, perhaps Japan’s least prestigious (and therefore often most entertaining) daily, is there to put right back in there with some totally irrelevant news (for relevant news, read this good rundown of why PM Abe is in trouble right now from JT):
Jan 8, 2007
Mrs. Akie’s Obscenely Embarrassing Blog
Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Shinzo, is humiliating her self in the extreme. She started a blog “Akie Abe’s Smile Talk” in Nov 2006 in an attempt to revive her husband’s popularity, but the contents have met with criticism, and constituents have come out against her in droves, telling her to “stop messing around.”
For example, she had this to say on Christmas:
“We visited my husband’s friend [popular singer] Agnes Chen’s house (snip) and we had a delicious meal, fun conversation, and in the end as a special treat Agnes even sang a song. I could feel the goodness of this energetic family.”
That was followed by photos of turkey and other gourmet food. On Dec 24, Xmas Eve, she posted a picture of herself eating porridge at the PM’s official residence, a shining Xmas tree decorated with decorations received from Laura Bush, and the comment “Today I just want to take it easy.”
Akie says, “I would be happy to get people to understand my candid daily thoughts by introducing a part of my life on this blog,” but Internet message board site 2-channel was less than kind: “It’s a blatant revealing of a winner’s circle celebrity bourgeoisie diary,” “She is totally screwing with us,” “Honestly, neither of them have any sense of tact,” “She’s most likely going to strangle her husband to death later on.”
Perhaps in light of the criticism, the blog hasn’t been updated since her new year’s greeting. Team Abe’s PR strategy is to put her in the spotlight, but her out of place blog might not last long.
I’m looking at Agnes Chan’s dining room decor. There are hotels in China that think it looks cool, too. Ugh.
Poor Akie,
I actually thought her blog was kind of charming. Nice to see her strategically positioned in front of a non-alcoholic beverage for the cameras though.
Have constituents really come out against her ‘in droves’ though, or is it just 2ch chatter. Sounds like the usual bunch of envious netizens to me. Most of the housewives would kill to have Agnes’s turkey or Akie’s shiny balls and would kill to be able to dress their men like Shinzo, but their comments would be couched in breathless admiration rather than sarcasm.
Pft… she ned to learn from Eva Peron and Lady Dy.
Remember this is Nikkan Gendai we’re talking about. The beauty of 2-chan is that it’s a giant anonymous men’s room and therefore filled with negative snarky comments no matter what the subject. The lesson here for Abe is that if you don’t define yourself and fast you let the media define you.
But Adamu,the mean international medias had defined Abe even before he spend a day at the Kantei!
Found out that Abe and his wife has got their own brand of chocolates now!
Yeah I saw that too. Abe’s got his cookies at Yasukuni shrine while Taro Aso has his Kasutera on sale at Akihabara… I’d call it symbolism if it weren’t actually calculated pandering.
安倍昭恵です。
多くの皆さまに応援して頂き、大変心強く感謝しています。主人が総理大臣に就任して以来外遊に同行するなど、私の生活も大きく変わりました。このブログを通してその一端を紹介し、私の日頃感じている率直な思いをご理解頂ければ嬉しく思います。
岸信介です。
孫とその嫁が多くの皆様に応援して頂き、大変心強く感謝しています。孫が総理大臣に就任して以来、教育法改正、防衛省昇格、憲法改正など日本も大きく変わりました。涅槃の彼方から
恐山のイタコを通じ、送り続ける邪念を、国民並びに外国人ブロガーの皆様にも感じていただき、私が巣鴨プリズンに入っていたころから感じている率直な思いをご理解いただければ嬉しく思います。
天皇陛下万歳！大日本帝国万歳！
I think it’s lovely of her to try to reach out to the people of Japan. She could just be a shrinking wall flower like many of her predecesors.
The Japanese SHOULD push gender equality. With such a beautiful culture, people, and language, Japanese women should feel free to fully express this! Without female input, Japan is missing out on about HALF of the ideas that could make the country even more wonderful, and influential in world politics.
I believe that when one is encouraged to speak one’s mind, that person is generally happier. Happier women means happier husbands and children- Happier, more stable families. It is good for the entire country!