Monday 8 September 2008

Japanese Work Ethic In Action

Just as he's about to leave, Fukuda has suddenly become very popular. In the press conference in which he announced his resignation, Fukuda's competence was called into question by a reporter. The usually discrete and calm Fukuda got pissed off, telling him, "You say I sounded detached, but I am able to view myself objectively. I am different from you."

[click to enlarge]

This out-of-character heckle-putdown, "あなたとは違うんです" ("I am different from you"), has been taken up as a new catchphrase by the members of 2chan. Do a search on threads containing the phrase and you'll see a fairly impressive volume of posts. The ascii artists on there haven't been slouching either, and pictures of Fukuda looking badass have been circulating. These ascii pictures were put onto t-shirts within 2 days of appearing on 2chan, and the merchandising has expanded to a vast array of confectionary as well as mugs, hoodies and baseball caps.

[click]

All this within a week of Fukuda announcing his resignation. God bless Japan.



[click]

0 comments: