The Government Public Relations Office has teamed up with Yoshimoto Kogyo, Japan's leading comedy talent agency, on a campaign that explains national policy, defense spending among it, through a husband-and-wife comedy duo, SoraNews24 reported.
Yoshimoto specializes in manzai, a style of comedy built around a two-person act: a straight man, or tsukkomi, and a funny man, or boke. The campaign's pair, husband Kunio and wife Tamiyo, trade quips about policy across seven pages, speaking in the Osaka dialect that manzai is known for.
Ships, satellites and AI
On defense, Tamiyo asks whether the audience knew Japan's support ships help sustain daily life. Kunio answers that more than 80 percent of the ships they protect belong to other countries, so Japan safeguards its allies and the world protects Japan in return.
Other pages cover the space program and AI. Kunio tells Tamiyo that the Michibiki satellite system provides directions around the clock, and that efforts are underway to use AI to help safeguard the nation.
The defense page ends on quiet days. "A day where 'nothing happens' ain't no coincidence," Kunio says. "It's the result of tireless work to keep us safe."
A hostile reception online
SoraNews24 said it scrolled widely through online comments and found none with anything positive to say about the campaign. Several objected to the premise of a knowing husband instructing his wife.
“The all-knowing man teaching his dimwitted wife. This really encapsulates why Japan ranks 114th out of 145 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index.”an online commenter
Others read the setup as a statement about the public's place in it. "It seems that the country is the role of the 'husband,' and the people are the 'wife,' which is also just creepy," one commenter wrote. Another called the campaign "the lowest form of propaganda" and said they would no longer support Yoshimoto or buy products its performers advertise.
Some took aim at the spending itself. "Don't waste our tax money on this garbage," one commenter wrote, adding that proper answers in the Diet or real press conferences would have made the campaign unnecessary.
Defense policy under strain
The campaign lands as the government's lifting of a ban on exporting lethal weapons is opposed by about 57 percent of the population, according to a Kyodo poll. Kyodo also cites government sources saying explanations that avoid the word "lethal" would do more to sway public opinion.
The Takaichi cabinet has also been working to amend the constitution to give the military more freedom to act in overseas conflicts that may not directly threaten Japan. Opponents say that runs against the country's previously pacifist constitution.