TV blunder labels Abe a train groper
TOKYO —
Running for election in Japan isn’t easy. But when your face is shown alongside titles like “pervert” and “molester,” it’s probably a lot harder than it ought to be.
Japan’s political system is a mess right now and, despite having seen six prime ministers come and go in as many years, the country is headed for an election next month, with one-time PM Shinzo Abe putting himself forward to be re-elected.
The politician was made a laughing-stock earlier this week, however, when the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) early morning TV show “Asazuba” accidentally displayed Abe’s photo alongside a news report about an NHK announcer’s arrest for a sex offense.
Despite having no relation to the incident whatsoever, Abe’s face filled viewers’ screens along with the name of NHK announcer Takeshige Morimoto, who anchors NHK’s “Ohayo Nippon” program on Saturday and Sunday. Morimoto was arrested for allegedly groping a woman on the train.
Suffice to say, the politician was not pleased, and, suspecting this to be part of a “campaign of negativity”, took to his public Facebook page to tear TBS a new one.
“This morning on the TBS show ‘Asazuba,’ when a newscaster reported on a story regarding the apprehension of a molester, a photo of me was shown. Images of this blunder can now be seen clearly across the Internet,” a red-faced Abe wrote. “Have the slander campaigns already begun!? If this were merely an accident, it would be proper for the TV station to give me a personal apology, but as of yet I haven’t heard a single word.”
As Abe points out later in his statement, during the broadcast, the newscaster acknowledged that the incorrect image had been displayed, but merely stated that the photo was “unrelated” and did not refer to the politician by name. As yet neither Abe nor his office have received any form of apology for the potentially campaign-damaging blunder, and have been left with a bunch of photos circulating the internet showing the man’s face next to the word “pervert.” Hardly the best start to a campaign.
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24 Comments
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0
mikihouse
smear time election time
0
Disillusioned
Noice! Read this on RocketNews24 this morning. Classic!
3
shirokuma2011
Who else but Rocket News would use a phrase like "tear ~ a new one" in an alleged "news" report...
2
Frungy
Abe-san gropes trains!! Who will protect our defenceless trains?!!
0
y3chome
No it doesnt, it has the name of the announcer who was grabbed, above the picture of Abe with Abe:s name in it..... so no confusion.
1
smithinjapan
Classic! It's even more amusing that "(he) was not pleased", and although he deserves to be called a lot of explatives, I'm not sure "train groper" is appropriate -- do you think this silver-spooned quitter rides public trains??
1
ihope2eatwhales
I was watching TBS this morning, and they ran an apology segment around 7:30 AM.
0
edojin
Wonder what happened to the people who caused the mixup ... Are they still with TBS?
2
Alex Einz
maybe not a mixup :-)
1
kiss1969
Did Japan Today actually say ' And he tore TBS a new one`. That is fantastic language! I have just exploded with laughter and I have to teach in ten minutes with the image of Abe san tearing someone a new one! lololololol
5
BurakuminDes
I for one am not going to dispute TBS - I would not be surprised to find out if the story is true. Abe comes across as dodgy as hell - yes even creepy - so linking him to a train groping of a young lady is not too much of a stretch.
1
HowardStern
This is a non story. It clearly says Morimoto and not Abe. The video may have been slow moving to the next story but come on, media is really reaching to make this a story.
4
ThonTaddeo
Well, Abe-san's groping for something: our money!
1
GW
Haha its more appropriate than you all think, when abe was first PM mother nature was busy tearing him a NEW ONE herself & it forced him to quit!
Lets see what happens in the next few weeks!
1
slumdog
I absolutely love that photo! Thanks for sharing!
1
plasticmonkey
If Abe were a real man, he'd just let this go. Who knows why it happened and nobody will and who cares.
And what color was his shirt as he wrote?
0
Serrano
The photo grab is funny!
1
Al Stewart
not a mistake. A carefully plained strategic trick to plant a seed into the mind of the public.
2
wackness
Abe should have rolled with it, as he probably gained a few votes from the train-groping voter demographic. I hear that's quite a populated group, actually.
0
Iowan
"a bunch"
How many Mr. Kendall?
2
skroknog
Smear campaign? They'd better watch out. It'll be Abe doing the smearing if he has another one of his episodes.
1
Chubaka
Might be worthwhile for Abe-san's election team to take advantage of this unfortunate situation by plastering subway cars with ads showing him wearing a trench coat and a cheesy grin. Every demographic is important at this stage leading up to the election.
-1
YuriOtani
Think it is an insult to chikan.
0
alliswellinjapan
Not the first time TBS has done this to Abe. They've done something quite similar during his previous electoral campaign. Seriously wonder why.
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