The Netflix drama “Chief of Staff” (“Hosakan” in Japanese) is set in the chambers and offices of South Korea’s National Assembly, but it could have easily been set in the Japanese Diet.
Though the venality and opportunism on display is rather extreme — a function of the dramatic license Korean dramas are famous for — apart from the Korean public’s apparent rejection of political dynasties, Japanese viewers will likely notice some striking similarities between their country’s electoral and party circumstances and South Korea’s.
Almost all the elected officials in “Chief of Staff” are motivated only by ambition and the accretion of power. They care nothing about the needs and desires of the people they represent. The few who do are portrayed as ineffectual dreamers.