In the latest installment of Suntory's series of TV commericals for Boss canned coffee, the extraterrestrial Tommy Lee Jones, who has been sent to Earth to study the human race, runs for governor of an unnamed prefecture and wins by a landslide. The excitement is short-lived, though, as his inappropriate response to questions in the prefectural assembly results in a steep drop in his support rate. He is forced to resign and later reports to his superiors, "Popularity on Earth is brief."
Actually, that scenario sounds more like the one we've seen lately for prime ministers. Some current governors are enjoying solid support. Osaka's Toru Hashimoto has impressed the people he represents by standing up to imperious bureaucrats. Two weeks ago, he slammed the central government for sending Osaka a bill for construction projects without any detailed breakdown, comparing the ministry's procedures to those of a bar that serves a customer a drink and later charges him an extortionate sum.
Hashimoto is admired nationwide as an exceptionally bold leader, but he really has no choice. Osaka is on the verge of bankruptcy, as are many other prefectures. The media can always be counted on to cover people like Hashimoto, Miyazaki's Hideo Higashikokubaru, and former Nagano Governor Yasuo Tanaka because they were TV celebrities before they were politicians. Now, though, they're also paying close attention to the noncelebrity governors of Shiga and Niigata, who are working hard to solve their prefectures' money problems.