The other day early on an Sunday afternoon, I saw a TV show which reminded me of Channel 8, Brookfield's local cable access station. The low-budget, home camcorder style show, was all about 15 year old Tokyoites. It was a real joy to watch, both because of the subject matter and because it was very unlike most of what is shown over here.

The local access phenomenon which has hit the U.S. hasn't occurred yet in Japan. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that the cable TV sensation hasn't really happened here yet either, and I suppose that has to come first. Nevertheless, appartently, cable-style programming was such a breath of fresh air, that it appeared on TV even before cable did. Figure that one out.

The show I saw basically consisted of a guy off camera (presumably the camera operator) in a typical Tokyo shopping district asking randomly selected 15 year olds about their lives, their goals, and their outlook on the future. While the taping was clearly not of professional quality, there weren't too many jingling camera shot, and overall it was put together decently enough to make it an enjoyable visual experience.

The interviewer asked the same set of questions to the teenagers, and many of the interviewees were surprisingly articulate. They were asked questions like: "Do you like being 15?" " What color would you use to describe your life now?" "Would you like to be an adult now if you could?" And, "What in your life do you value most?"

The answers to each of the questions were editied so that they were all one right after another. It was a nice touch, and allowed the viewer to easily contrast the wide range of opinions. For example, a boy would reply that he wouldn't like to be an adult now, saying something like being an adult seems to be just too much responsibility, and all the adults he knows don't seem to be having any fun. Then, the next kid would answer the same question with something like, "Would I like to be an adult now? Of course, that's a silly question? What kid wouldn't?"

I wonder what a show like this would teach us about Tantasqua Junior High Schoolers. I bet their answers would surprise me. The Tokyo kids sure surprised me with what they said.

Another nice touch to the show was when every now and then the statistics for a particular question would come up on the screen. The results for the one about becoming an adult had 40 kids who said 'no', with only 10 who answered 'yes'. Unfortunately, those were the only two numbers flashed up on the screen, so it was impossible to tell how many teenagers were interviewed and how many kids said, "Hmm, I dunno."

One particularly strong impression the show left me with is that in Japan there is way too much emphasis placed on entrance exams. Exams can exert such an influence on a futures over here. There are exams to enter junior high, high school, college, graduate school, many corporate postions, and nearly all goverment jobs. Some elementary schools, and even some kindergardens, have entrance tests. On the show the teenagers often reffered to "Exam Hell", and none of them did so in the slightest bit affectionite terms. However, the subject of exams is certainly big enough to warrent an AsiaTalk of its own. So, let me stop here for now. Please look for this hot topic to be addressed in the near future. If you have any opinions on this or other subjects, please remember I'm always just a stamp or a keystoke away. Until next month, peace be with you. -Daniel Heller

E-mail: danielh@grad.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Post:Todai YMCA Dorm, 1-20-6 Mukogaoka, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo, JAPAN 113-0023