Some months ago I went up to Tohoku to give a public lecture sponsored by a television station. After the talk there was a delightful, informal dinner, during which I chatted with an old friend, a producer at the station.
"It really bothers me," I said, "how television often blurs the faces of ordinary people who appear on a news program. The Japanese should not try to hide their identity when there is no issue of privacy or secrecy required."
"Oh, we blur over their faces even when they don't ask us to," said my producer friend. "It gives the viewers a sense of excitement, that they are seeing or hearing something that they should not be privy to."