Japan
From Muppet Wiki
Japan (日本) is an island country located in the Pacific Ocean, off the eastern coast of China. The capital city is Tokyo.
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Geography and Government
Japan is an archipelago that encompasses over 3,000 islands, most of which are mountainous. Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the upper paleolithic period.
The government of Japan has been a constitutional monarchy since 1937, with an emperor and elected parliament.
Arts and Sciences
Japan is a leading nation in scientific research and the production of innovative technological products. Some of the most important industrial contributions include chemicals, metals, and in particular, robotics. The nation is also making headway in space exploration.
Another scientific achievement was made in 1997, when the wormship Wiggleprise landed on the Moon. Squashimi, a worm from Japan, was one of the first worms to wiggle on the Moon.
In art, the nation is particularly known for its specific styles of comic book art and film animation, known as manga and anime respectively. Japanese music is eclectic, having borrowed instruments, scales and styles from neighboring cultures. Western music, introduced in the late 19th century, now forms an integral part of the culture, and many American talents have become popular idols in Japan. One such example is Bob McGrath, who in 1966, following the cancellation of his series, embarked on a pre-arranged Japanese tour. As McGrath recalled, "Our audience here (in the United States) was mostly people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. In Japan, all the teen-agers watched Mitchee-Millu because it was a great way of learning English. We sang clearly. All the words were printed on the screen. We'd have thousands of teen-agers at every show screaming: 'Bob-O! Bob-O!'"[1]
The Muppets and Japan
As with Western culture in general, the Muppets have often engaged in an open exchange with Japan, perhaps best exemplified by the nation's economic and cultural embrace of Sesame Street. The most high-profile example was Big Bird and Barkley's ambasadorial visit, only slightly hampered by the hyper-organization of Japanese package tours, in Big Bird in Japan, which premiered on the NHK network in the fall of 1988. From 1971 until 2004, the network also aired Sesame Street, with Japanese dubbed portions but retaining a substantial amount of the original dialogue, as an aid to learning English. This was succeeded by the somewhat controversial, fully Japanese co-production of the series, which launched on TV Tokyo in October, 2004. In the states, meanwhile, multiple Season 3 inserts portrayed an American view of Japanese folklore, through three fables told by an oral storyteller, tales of an ancient Japan whose royal family (including the Emperor, his young son, and a princess) are plagued by the schemes of an evil prime minister.
Various stage shows have toured the nation, such as the Sesame Street Live show Everyone Makes Music (2005), and both Tokyo Sesame Place and Osaka's Universal Studios Japan feature Sesame-based attractions, including Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic.
Not to be outdone by their pedagogical brethren, The Muppet Show cast presented a salute to Japan in episode 505, highlighted by a "Japanese Square Dance" by James Coburn, Animal, a group of cowboys and The Japanese Tai-Chi, Karate, and Chowder Society. Previously in episode 317, Fozzie assisted a group of Samurai Mutations for the musical number, "Yokahama." In 1990, Janice dressed as a Japanese geisha during a song montage from The Muppets at Walt Disney World in Epcot's Pavilions in the World Showcase. Apart from The Swedish Chef's assault on a Japanese Cake, the cultural exchange between Japan and the Muppets has generally been mutually beneficial.
The first three seasons of the Muppet Babies animated series was animated overseas in Japan by Toei Animation.
