2008 OTN Awards: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of this very prestigious awards ceremony! Don't worry, it involves less death than Part 1. It does however involve more Hitler. Which is to say, it involves some Hitler.

Most Ill-Advised TV Scene / Programme Award

This award goes straight to a scene from Yorosen, with no other contenders even coming close. The programme screened a regular section they have where idols play teachers and pupils, and one at the end of November involved Hello Project, featuring Hitler. Yes, that's right: Hello Project, featuring Hitler.

Who says Japan can't get over the war?

In the clip they not only display a frightening ignorance of who Hitler was, they also call him "Hitler oji-san", which is kind of like calling him "Uncle Hitler". TV Tokyo had to issue an apology for this clip after receiving complaints.

Plan Most Doomed To Failure Award

In a year when Curry Bath Salts were being sold you might have thought this category would be a close-call. That's certainly what I thought, until I found out that the Curry Bath Salts have actually proved immensely popular. And until Ibaraki prefecture decided they needed an airport.

(By the way, I should point out that a lot of other blogs would have immediately and smugly given this award to 'Aso Taro's premiership', and then sat down to think about how witty they were. The problem is that Aso Taro's premiership isn't so much a 'plan' as it is a bigoted, short-term thinking, raving lunatic, prancing around Tokyo trying to emphasise how much Japan rules seemingly by insulting everyone who lives there, and then everyone else. So I hope you appreciate the way I'm letting the whole Aso angle slide.)

As I was saying, until Ibaraki prefecture decided they needed an airport. And not just any airport! No, a $268 million airport! Yes, a $268 million airport which airlines refuse to fly to, people in Ibaraki refuse to support, and is located 15 miles from the nearest train station! A $26... oh wait.

(Here's where I would put a picture, if it wasn't all million-dollar mud-fields til 2010.)