"The re-enactment brought nothing to the story apart from a little titillation from imagining the murder scene"

J@pan Inc Blog.

The new blog on the J@pan Inc website takes a look at media in Japan.

AsazubaMinomonta on AsazubaAlways interesting is 「朝ズバッ!」(Asa Zuba!), on TSB in the mornings with well-renowned TV host みのもんた(Minomonta).They portray the show as a news program but whether it really is ‘news’ is highly doubtable. This morning, they focused on two recent murders. The first one was the couple that were allegedly killed her by son. In the studio, they did a lay out of the room and enacted how the tatami mat was taken off, leaving a bare wooden floor. Was it really necessary for Minomonta to show the audience what a bare wooden floor with a missing tatami looks like? Being Japan, it would be surprising if any of the audience didn’t know what a tatami mat and a wooden floor is. The re-enactment brought nothing to the story apart from a little titillation from imagining the murder scene as if this real tragic story were a TV thriller.

The other focus this morning was the incident of the grandmother and the two children killed in Sakaide, Shikoku. The tone of the whole episode was dramatic and sensationalist. They managed to CG Minomonta with a blue screen of the flowers and offerings laid out where the children and grandmother were buried. “Why did the lives of such innocent children have to be taken? It is so sad. At least, they were resting in peace by their grandmother in the cold earth” and so it went on. First of all, having Minomonta computerized in front of the “graves” was a ridiculous touch to the program. But secondly, Minomonta just rambled on about his views on what a sad story it was and what a tragic end the finale ended up being. The story had been followed closely by most of Japan’s media and programs like this followed it as if guiding us through a mystery murder story.

Being unused to programs like this, I find this hard to swallow. But like all the other punters, I end up taking a gulp with eyes glued to the TV.


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Minomonta drives me crazy too. Every time I see him he is really happy and excited but actually talking about traffic accidents. Mind you, morning TV in most countries is pretty weird. I quite like Mezamashi TV though, particularly the part about today's "wanko".

After watching the show in question a few times, I came to the conclusion that Mino Monta is not real, for several reasons. I think that like Anakin Skywalker, he was once a man, but after thousands of hours in tanning salons and having his blood replaced by Propia, he is now a semi machine, focused solely on melodrama and self-preening.

My favorite moment was when he was discussing land prices the morning show and he held up a piece of cardboard that was cut into a square meter to show the audience how big a square meter is.

Dear Louise,
Thank you for your comment. I will make sure I check out Mezamashi TV and especially today's "wanko". I'm sure it will be as informative and as thrilling as all the other quality programs in the morning...!

Dear Ken,

I wish I saw the cardboard show - it sounds just like Minomonta's style! And yes, tanning and self-preening...reminds me of Dale Winton if you know who that is (British TV host, tanned, says nothing important, popular with the older ladies).