It was Election Day this past Tuesday in the United States. The presidential candidates are incumbent president Donald Trump (GOP) and former Vice President Joe Biden (DEM). Under normal circumstances, the President-Elect would be announced late Tuesday night, or early Wednesday morning at the very latest.
In the chaotic spirit of 2020, it took until Saturday for media outlets to declare a winner. On Saturday early afternoon Eastern time, media outlets declared that Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania – and, with it, the presidency. Later that day, Japanese politicians, including Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, sent the President-Elect their congratulations.
The coverage of the elections in Japan has been understandably minimal, as this is considered international news. On top of that, some have criticized how Japan covers politics in general, as the media is generally encouraged to remain as neutral and even as dry as possible–thus promulgating a feedback loop of public indifference.
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On Takahashi, a New-Zealand based translator, elaborates on how this public indifference actually favors Trump in the coverage:
[Japan] doesn’t really have a “Fox News” vs “CNN/Comedy Central” kinda dynamic for reporting on political issues. No matter where you sit on the fence, no one can deny the impact of The Daily Show, John Oliver etc in shining the spotlight on political issues….
….When you take away “nuance”, “background information”, “Non diplomatic issues” from Trump-related news, he actually becomes a very rosy figure in Japan. His “bromance” relationship with ex PM Abe was reported very positively.Japanese people liked watching Abe and Trump playing golf, meeting that PPAP guy, eating Japanese food etc. And with Japanese “polite journalism”, journalists never really ask the tough questions. It’s all about “Did you enjoy your sushi Mr. President?”
–On Takahashi
This “rosy picture” lent itself to the trending topic #トランプ大統領大勝利, or “Trump Victory”, where a notable amount of Japanese netizens voice their hope for Trump to win the election. Most of them prefer Trump over Biden due to the former’s stronger stance against the Chinese Communist Party and North Korea. This preference is likely driven by anti-Korean sentiment in general, which one can occasionally find seeping its way into Japanese mainstream media. (The same can be said for Japan’s complicated relationship with China.)
Japan’s preference for Republican leaders is by no means unusual, as their politics strongly align with that of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan’s right-wing political party that has maintained power for almost 65 years. (There were a few exceptions.) The main reasons for preferring the Republican Party include commerce-centered politics, claims of Republican generosity vs. Democratic arrogance, and ethnic homogeneity vs. the Democrats’ multicultural image.
Given that the LDP has an already established relationship with Trump, a Biden presidency will require some major readjustments. Hopefully, we’ll have a clearer picture by next week – or maybe even the end of the month.