Television

Television is an important part of every day life in both the United States and Japan, but, of course, in Japan it's a little bit different than in the US.

The major difference is that unlike in America, most series in Japan only last for one season; they don't have season after season of the same TV shows.

Another big difference is that in Japan a season is really a season. In America the new season of television shows begins in the Fall and runs through the Spring; re-runs are usually broadcast during the Summer months.

In Japan they begin a totally new series of TV shows every season. Meaning that a season of television in Japan is exactly that, 12 weeks and then the series ends, no second season, no nothing, it ends. So you get totally new programs in the Fall, again in the Winter, and so on. That rule applies even to the most popular TV shows in Japan, very rarely will they announce a second season.

There are some TV shows are so hugely popular in Japan that they do get picked up for a second season, like Hana Yori Dango and Gokusen, or take, for example, my favorite Japanese drama of all-time, Nodame Cantibile. This TV show was so popular after it's first (and only) season concluded the producers went on to make a 90-minute made for TV movie. They then followed that with two theatrical released movies! All starring the same group of actors and actresses from the original television show.

In America, only the biggest failures aren't renewed for a second, third, even a fourth season. As a result of this the stories and characters always get old and stale before the shows are reluctantly cancelled. This practice is so common in America that they even came up with a term for it - Jumping the Shark.

This term comes from the late-70's when the popular TV show, Happy Days, got so desperate for plot ideas that they had their most popular character, The Fonz (played by Henry Winkler), actually water skiing in the episode and he actually jumped over a shark. It was such an obvious ploy to regain viewers who had lost interest in the show, that it became a popular past-time for Americans to debate when other popular shows "jumped the shark" but lasting only a single season, it is almost impossible for that to happen in Japan.

The bad? Actors and actresses really have to hustle to make a living in Japan. The good? You don't get shows like Heroes that had a phenomenal first season and then just tanked.