So I got home at about 8pm today, ate dinner and started flipping through channels on the TV. I came across a special for Hosoki Kazuko’s birthday, who is a well-known fortune teller. She has people on a show and then gives them (typically brutal) advice, from what I could tell.

I really couldn’t believe some of the advice that she was giving. This particular special had 100 female high school graduates on the program. They would survey the audience about a topic, get the results, and then Hosoki Kazuko would give a little lecture. Anyway, she seems to be extremely conservative. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I certainly think that from an American perspective, people would think she is setting women’s rights back about 40 years. For example, one of the questions was “Do you regret losing your virginity?” These girls are all about 17 or 18 I think, and the poll answer was something like 22 yes to 78 no. Hosoki ripped into them for being too young and being deceived by men because they are too trusting. Certainly that might be a problem, but I would think that for most people there they were dating people their own age, and how else does one learn about the world anyway?

That really isn’t too shocking, but she also had some other really bad advice I thought. One girl said that she was really looking forward to starting to work and taking a job. One of the reasons she gave is that it is a way to get independence, and if for some reason she had to get a divorce, how else would she support her family without a career? That doesn’t sound like a bad thing to be thinking about to me, but Hosoki completely lambasted her for that. She gave some expression amounting to basically: “Women should have a child, love, protect, (maybe one or verb ending in ru). Men should go out, work, fight, struggle, (etc.). Together these two build a family. That is the role for humans. (Women and men.)”

Another woman said she wanted to become the Prime Minister in the future. She was told that it is a very honorable and good thing to become a mother and house-wife.
There were some other things like that, but I was just really struck by her opinions. Now, I don’t have anything against women who want to be housewives. But I also think it is great for women to want to have a career, and men should try to house husbands as well sometimes.

I was ready to go to bed, but while flipping around I ran into 都立商売 (School of Water Business), a Japanese drama based on a manga that I know nothing about. Water business though, is generally red-light district night-life stuff. This drama is a comedy about a girl who transfers into a high school where people learn to be hostesses, bartenders at gay bars, escorts, stuff like that.

I believe it is just a single 1:45 minute drama thing, and it is unbearably bad, but like a train wreck I can’t stop watching it. The main actress, playing the role of Yamashita Sanae, is amazingly interesting: a half Japanese (I’m assuming half, I only know that her dad is British) woman named “Becky” (short for Rebecca) that has been living in Japan. Her Japanese is just perfect, unlike some of the foreign actors you see on tv (and she doesn’t grate on my like David Spectre does.) Some interesting information on her on the Japanese wikipedia. Looks like she went to Asia University’s Business Administration school in Japan, and has been in some shows in the past few years going only by the nick-name “Becky”. I’m really impressed by her, and even though I really should go to bed now, I’ve somehow gotten drawn into this otherwise very average drama that is horribly over-acted.

Here are some pictures from the official site. I don’t know how long they will last, but give them a try.