New Year’s Greetings from Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
Shame on us for not reporting this a bit sooner, but Japan’s Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has apparently taken up vlogging as a hobby (Or, more properly put, his party, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has taken up vlogging as a PR campaign). Here is his most recent release, a New Year’s message recorded in English and released on January 1st:
Thus far, there have been 1,466 views of the English version and 2,837 views of the Japanese version of the Prime Minister’s video.
What’s more telling, however, is the presentation of the “LDP channel” on You Tube. In terms of public relations, this is a great move for the LDP. No, the videos really aren’t that exciting, and no - it doesn’t seem that many people are watching them yet. But, we hope that the LDP will be able to use the format to communicate better with the public. Unfortunately, LDP Secretary General Ibuki Bunmei doesn’t come across as too exciting in his most recent clip:
Of course, we have to wonder if any future releases with Mr Koizumi are planned. Entertainment, however, doesn’t seem to be the theme of the LDP’s message: Mr Fukuda speaks frankly and openly about many of the problems facing Japan, and the world, in his New Year’s video. Video critics might say the ending is fairly sudden, and it’s unfortunate that he doesn’t smile in the video, though I don’t think it was very easy to make, and I doubt anyone is looking for a nomination to Cannes on this project. Nonetheless, this is a huge step forward.
To be honest, if someone had told me a year ago that Yasuo Fukuda and Ibuki Bunmei would be appearing together on the LDP’s channel on You Tube, I would have called them crazy. It seems that they weren’t.
In one clip, LDP multimedia chief Taro Kono says, “The Liberal Democratic Party is the first Japanese political party to set up a channel on YouTube. We hope you will watch when you have nothing else to do.”
That’s exactly how I found it!
Related Posts:
- LDP Presidential Election: Aso vs Fukuda
- Fukuda’s Cabinet
- Upper and Lower Houses Can’t Agree, so Fukuda Officially Becomes Prime Minister
- Seijigiri #41: The Budget is Passed, and Fukuda is Feeling the Pressure
- Seijigiri #34: Fukuda keeps the Faction Heads Happy and Koizumi’s “Great Mane of Richard Gere-ness” (with Adam Richards)
