Bonus Perspectives: RFK Jr. Is Out, Shinjiro Koizumi May Be In, "A Bit of Fry & Laurie," and CRT Gaming
Bonus Perspectives: RFK Jr. Is Out, Shinjiro Koizumi May Be In, "A Bit of Fry & Laurie," and CRT Gaming
Why third parties never win U.S. presidential elections, the rise of Japan's unexpected political golden boy, and your weekly media recommendations.
Bonus Perspectives is a weekly column series containing my thoughts on the latest Western news and Japanese news, as well as film, television, music, book, and video game recommendations. It’s free for all subscribers to this Substack, but if you enjoy my writing, consider opting for a paid subscription. Doing so will give you access to exclusive in-depth pieces and my entire backlog of work. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his presidential campaign, not that he ever had a chance to begin with
In a turn of events that everyone saw coming, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his 2024 campaign for president of the United States on Friday. Even less surprising was his endorsement of Donald Trump, which RFK Jr.’s famously liberal family denounced as a “betrayal” and “a sad ending to a sad story.” Political pundits are now speculating on the consequences of this decision, with some believing that this will give Trump more votes in key areas, while others say it will have little to no effect at all.
I’m personally leaning toward the latter. While RFK ran a campaign that received significantly more public attention than previous third-party candidates, there was hardly any cohesive vision to it. He’s most notorious for being a lifelong opponent of vaccines and has a history of medically inaccurate claims, which appealed to the right-wing conspiracy crowd. However, Kennedy’s actual proposed policies would have been anathema to most conservatives. Abortion? He’s for it. Energy policy? He somehow believes that solar and wind would be most efficient, being opposed to nuclear energy. Economics? His support for a $15 minimum wage, student loan relief, and taxes on the wealthy could easily be confused as coming from a Bernie Sanders campaign.
As an IR wonk, I thought RFK’s foreign policy was possibly his most disastrous area. He has constantly blamed the West and NATO for the war in Ukraine, pointing fingers at seemingly everyone but Russia. His proposal to reduce U.S. military bases abroad is absolutely nonsensical, and would be a slap in the face to our allies who rely on strong regional alliances to counter threats from the likes of China and North Korea. Ironically, RFK’s terrible foreign policy may have been one of his campaign’s few unifying aspects as it appealed to everyone from far-left communists who hate the United States to stubborn isolationist conservatives and libertarians who think America reducing its role on the global stage against growing Chinese and Russian influence would be a net positive.
In short, Kennedy’s campaign largely took the worst aspects from both the left and the right of American politics, regularly contradicted itself, and had no real unifying principles against the Democrats and Republicans. This was reflected with support for RFK’s campaign plummeting to the single digits by the end. While Gary Johnson consistently put his foot in his mouth (and literally stuck his tongue out) during the 2016 race, I give him credit for having a solidly-defined libertarian platform even if he had no chance of getting elected. Bernie Sanders, who for all intents and purposes essentially was a third-party alternative to establishment Democrats, also was clear with what his campaign was for in both 2016 and 2020.
Still, we must address the elephant in the room, which is that third parties have little to no chance of ever winning a presidential election in America. The most successful third-party campaign of all time was Ross Perot’s in 1992, it winning over 19 million popular votes compared to Bill Clinton’s near 45 million votes and George H. W. Bush’s 39 million votes. Yet despite being quite a hit with the American public, the Texas businessman won a total of zero votes with the electoral college. For my non-American readers or those who didn’t pay attention in high school U.S. civics class, I recommend reading this primer on how the electoral system works.
To run for president of the United States you need a lot of money, but most importantly you need enough influence with each state’s electors to guarantee you get their vote. Third-party candidates have rarely carried states in the entire history of U.S. elections, while those outside the two parties are extremely unlikely to win swing states. A viable third-party candidate would need to take significant attention away from the Democrats and Republicans, and while some like Ross Perot and Gary Johnson have made admirable attempts, no one has ever come close to rocking the boat. There have naturally been proposals to abolish the electoral college and only decide presidential elections via the popular vote, but that would require amending the U.S. Constitution. Good luck with that.
Polls suggest that more Americans want a third party, but it really doesn’t seem likely given that non-Democrats and non-Republicans hardly win local elections either. It’s a paradoxical dilemma where despite growing dissatisfaction with both parties, few seem to want to actually vote for a third option when it’s time to go to the polls. The only real influence a third-party campaign might have with the current political system in place is affecting who votes for the other two parties. There’s even a dictionary term for that — “the Nader effect” — named after candidate Ralph Nader who was accused of helping Republican George W. Bush win the 2000 election by taking away votes from Democrat Al Gore.
Will disaffected RFK Jr. voters do the same by turning to Trump, especially in the wake of their candidate endorsing the former president? It’s hard to tell given that both candidates only have some overlap with each other. The two seem to agree on border issues which could pull in a few votes for Trump, but RFK’s wider economic, social, and foreign policies were such a grab bag of ideas that his supporters are just as likely to jump ship to Kamala Harris or stay home and not vote at all. While RFK’s base isn’t nothing, I remain skeptical that it represents anything that substantial to greatly tip the scales come November.
Shinjiro Koizumi is Japan’s unexpectedly popular candidate for prime minister
As I mentioned in last week’s column, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to not run for re-election puts the future of Japanese politics at a crossroads. There is no real front-runner for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which means that things could go in a very different direction depending on which of the 11 main players wins next month’s election. I recommend reading expert Tobias Harris’ Substack Observing Japan for a full rundown of each candidate.
This week though, I’m focusing on one individual in particular who is currently turning heads in Japan — Shinjiro Koizumi. Despite being the youngest and most inexperienced of the candidates, the 43-year-old son of former PM Junichiro Koizumi has had quite the dramatic political rise. Koizumi has not yet officially announced his run as of this writing, but is expected to on August 30. This selected date is believed to be in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Koizumi winning his first general election. Taking his father’s seat in 2009 at age 28, Koizumi is currently the representative of the 11th district of Kanagawa and has won that position five times.
Update: Just as I was writing this piece, Koizumi announced that his declaration to run would be delayed to September 6 due to a major typhoon Japan is currently bracing for.
Shinjiro’s father, Junichiro Koizumi, was one of the most popular prime ministers in Japanese history. Widely seen as a political maverick who could shake up the inefficiencies of bureaucracy, the elder Koizumi saw high approval ratings during his tenure from 2001 to 2006. His most notable domestic policy was his battle to privatize Japan’s post office system, a transition process which is still ongoing nearly 20 years later. When it came to foreign policy, Koizumi was a staunch ally of the United States in the post-9/11 War on Terror world. The late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was his protégée and while the two had their policy disagreements, he largely continued Koizumi’s push for a strong U.S.-Japan military alliance. Needless to say, the younger Koizumi has big shoes to fill.
Born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa on April 14, 1981, Shinjiro ended up representing the next generation of his family’s political dynasty. Owing to his father’s busy career, he and his older brother Kotaro were mostly raised by Junichiro’s older sister Michiko following their parents’ divorce. While Kotaro was apparently aware of their real parentage, Junichiro did not inform Shinjiro of the truth until the young man was in middle school. While this could have been a traumatizing experience, Shinjiro appeared to take it in stride and cherished his aunt until her death in 2016.
Junichiro forbade his eldest son Kotaro from entering politics, telling him to “find something else to be passionate about.” He took his father’s advice and currently has a successful career as a popular actor. Shinjiro, however, did take the political route. After receiving a Bachelor of Economics degree in 2004, Koizumi studied abroad in the United States at Columbia University and earned a master’s degree in political science. Similar to a young Shinzo Abe’s time in the U.S., Koizumi’s American adventure allowed him to gain fluency in English.
Upon returning to Japan, Koizumi worked as a secretary for his father. Once again, this was the same path Abe did with his father, Shintaro Abe, before starting his real political career. To enter politics in Japan, one essentially needs to have established familial, financial, or professional connections. It’s very hard for an outsider to get into the system and even those from family dynasties are going to be compared to their predecessors. In recent years, the Japanese public has largely grown adverse to nepotism, which means an aspiring politician would be wise to not rely on his family tree too much.
Once again, I recommend reading Tobias Harris’ excellent Substack for a full summary of Koizumi’s political career and how he got to his current status as one of the LDP’s most popular candidates. But to make a long story short, Koizumi has taken things slow and by all evidence appears to be fully aware of his inexperience. While he could have taken high-level cabinet positions early on during Abe’s second term, he instead chose a less glamorous role overseeing the party’s agriculture policy committee. He was eventually appointed by Abe as environmental minister in 2019, where he controversially advocated for Japan moving away from nuclear and coal power.
Koizumi faced more public scrutiny than ever as environmental minister and frequently displayed a penchant for bizarre statements to the media. Despite being against coal power, he did nothing to stop the construction of two coal-fired power stations in his hometown of Yokosuka. When speaking at a climate summit in New York, Koizumi infamously said that the battle against climate change should be made “sexy” and “fun,” but evaded questions on how Japan would specifically reduce carbon emissions. Around the same time, another odd political gaff occurred when he mentioned that he liked steak so much he could eat it “every day,” but had to walk those remarks back due to the connection between cattle and greenhouse gasses. “Saying you want to eat something every day doesn’t mean you’ll eat something every day,” the young politician awkwardly demurred.
Whether he intended to or not, Shinjiro Koizumi’s frequent use of literal, nonsensical, or obvious statements made him a Japanese meme sensation. Here are a few examples:
-In a 2017 interview about his rising fame, Koizumi said, “Frankly, I don’t like being constantly chased by the media. I’d like to meet someone who does like being chased by the media.”
-Koizumi did not attend a mandatory meeting discussing the coronavirus outbreak on February 16, 2020 and later admitted to being at a New Year’s party with his constituents. When pressed to apologize or take responsibility, the environmental minister stated, “I am reflecting on my actions. However, and I think this might be my own problem, but it seems that although I’m saying that I’m reflecting on my actions, it has been pointed out that I don’t seem to be showing any signs of reflecting on my actions.”
-During a 2021 radio interview, Koizumi remarked, “Plastic is made from oil. There are surprisingly a lot of people who don’t know that.” A recent poll at the time suggested that the vast majority of respondents knew that.
-During a 2021 newspaper interview, Koizumi suggested, “Domestic and international sporting goods manufacturers are already making clothes and shoes out of marine plastic waste. So what if we made sneakers using trash from the Seto Inland Sea? We want to promote a circular economy that recycles waste into new resources.” These remarks were widely mocked by Japanese users.
As one can imagine, this has created a goldmine of material for Japanese online users to exploit. Here are some of the hilarious memes:
To be fair to Koizumi, most of the quotes that people have come to associate with him are fake or a parody of his odd idiosyncrasies. It’s amusing to imagine that someone that stupid could enter politics and have a career, but it would be a mistake to dismiss Koizumi as an incompetent fool. He has clearly played his cards right to be considered a viable candidate for prime minister despite his lack of major roles apart from environmental minister. Despite all his gaffs and occasionally contradictory statements, recent polling suggests that Koizumi is the most popular candidate among the Japanese public, beating out LDP veterans like former party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba and Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi who have far more experience. For the longest time I initially believed that Koizumi’s gaffs would doom him to a political career of mediocrity, but against all odds he’s now enjoying newfound success with the masses.
Why is Koizumi so popular? First, not using his father’s name to get ahead too quickly established him as someone willing to work hard in low-level positions to build a reputation that was his own. Second, he visited victims of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster early on in his career and has regularly interacted with constituents on a local level. Third, him not being a loyalist to Shinzo Abe made him a rising, young, and potentially viable alternative to the elderly LDP establishment. Abe before his assassination was popular, but the LDP’s finance scandals and later revealed connections to the Unification Church inevitably weakened his faction to the point where it is now purged from the party.
Koizumi appears to be less of a nationalist than Shinzo Abe, indicating that his vision for a future Japan is people-focused and goes beyond a strict left or right political paradigm. He mostly avoids discussing controversial history issues, but has still made gestures such as visiting Yasukuni Shrine and supports a strong alliance with the United States. In September 2023, Koizumi surfed off the coast of Fukushima and repeated the same move with U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emmanuel a year later to demonstrate that the waters were safe following the controversial decommissioning of the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant. This greatly increased his reputation among the Japanese people and was a big boost toward his current popularity.
Obviously, none of that guarantees that Koizumi will be the next prime minister. Popularity with the masses aside, Japan being a parliamentary country means that the decision for a new ruling party leader is up to the LDP. Former Prime Minister Suga is expected to endorse him, but Koizumi’s past criticism of party leaders is another factor to consider. Japan’s next leader will also have to potentially prepare for another Trump presidency, and someone like Koizumi cannot look weak in the face of such a wild card. Regardless if he wins the election next month or not though, we’ve certainly not seen the last of Shinjiro Koizumi. The man still has a long career ahead to cement his influence.
What I’m watching — “A Bit of Fry & Laurie” is classic British television comedy at its finest
For the better part of the last year, I’ve been watching British comedies. There’s something about the dry, self-deprecating humor from the U.K. which appeals to my own sarcastic taste in jokes. Mr. Bean is of course a classic, but I’ve since graduated to Fawlty Towers and Blackadder which have some of the best moments ever put to television. But while all of those have received considerable attention outside of their home country, A Bit of Fry & Laurie is often unfairly overlooked when it should be placed in the same conversation.
Broadcast between 1989 and 1995, this sketch comedy series stars Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie who had both previously appeared in Blackadder together. Like Monty Python, the best part of A Bit of Fry & Laurie was that you had no idea what you were going to get each week. Everything from psycho psychiatrists to duelists fighting with handkerchiefs was on the table, with a good dose of political and social satire thrown in for good measure.
Fans of the medical drama series House will probably be shocked to see Hugh Laurie being such a goofball, but comedy was where the man got his start before he became famous in the United States. While A Bit of Fry & Laurie was anything but serious, it provided rich opportunities for both of its stars to play dozens of eclectic characters and experiment with various dialects of the English language. Laurie especially proves his talents as a splendid musician and singer, with hilarious songs being a recurring staple throughout the show.
A Bit of Fry & Laurie heavily focusing on British topics is probably a big reason why the series failed to gain much of a following outside of its homeland. I know that it would be a futile effort trying to translate most of its jokes to my Japanese wife, as a ton of the show’s material relies not only on complex wordplay. My own 2024 Yank brain was hardly well-versed on the show’s then-contemporary references to British culture and politics either, so I often found myself checking Wikipedia to get all the jabs.
Such pop culture references can occasionally leave the series feeling dated at times, but the sheer amount of hilarious material more than makes up for it. Fry and Laurie have some of the best chemistry ever seen in any comedy duo, which is why the show works so well. This era was the golden age of British television comedy and it’s frankly a shame that we rarely see anything like it today. The show can be rented or bought across various streaming services, but the physical media advocate in me strongly recommends tracking down the complete series DVD box set. Here are a few of my favorite sketches:
What I’m playing — Why CRT televisions are still the best for retro gaming
People who follow my work know that I’m a dedicated gamer, but my appreciation for retro games goes beyond just playing them. These days it’s dead easy to fire up an emulator on your PC or smartphone and have access to a seemingly infinite supply of ROM files. Indeed, I’ve used emulation for years and it has helped me gain access to hundreds of games I’d probably never be able to play due to rising prices. But now that I’m settled into my life in Japan and know that I’m staying permanently, I’ve been able to invest in more actual hardware since I won’t have to deal with the hassle of moving overseas again.
Like films or music, I enjoy collecting physical media for their historic value and to have a real library of media that’s all my own. For the first few years of living here, I mostly used an Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) box to play retro consoles on my 4K television. Having a piece of kit like this is practically essential for playing old video games because modern displays by default don’t play nicely with low resolutions like 240p and 480i. The OSSC is good, but it’s since been surpassed by even better alternatives like the RetroTink 5X-Pro and RetroTink-4K.
Those solutions are indeed impressive, but they unfortunately are in an expensive price category that most people are never going to be able to afford. So last year, I decided to take the next step, or more accurately, take a step back and get an actual CRT television to play my consoles the way they were originally meant to be played. I’ve written a full piece for The Spectator about the history of CRTs and the few people in the world who still repair them, but as of this writing it hasn’t been published. Stay tuned for when that happens.
In the meantime, I’ll make a long story short and explain why I’ve gone CRT. While the vast majority of consumers are now rocking 4K televisions, including yours truly, they’re not a good fit for the likes of the NES or Nintendo 64. Those consoles and their included accessories like light guns were designed with the resolutions and tube technology of CRTs in mind. Most people have understandably thrown out their bulky television sets, but they’re now finding new life amid a loyal niche of retro gamers.
I won a 14-inch Sony Trinitron model off Yahoo Auctions last summer after a considerable amount of searching. I regret not looking for a CRT earlier since people were practically giving them away until relatively recently, but nowadays sellers understand what they have is valuable to obsessed retro gamers like the present author. The relatively compact size of the model I own means that it isn’t too heavy and doesn’t take up much space in my cramped apartment. Since older video games were made for CRTs, this display technology has zero lag, and graphics that would otherwise look like a smeary mess on a modern display remain crisp and sharp. Not all CRTs are created equal, but I’ll save a long diatribe about video cables and resolutions for my full Spectator piece.
The previously-mentioned RetroTink-4K is a very expensive upscaler that’s supposed to recreate the look of CRTs. Based on everything I’ve read, it seems to do that job admirably well and represents an important technological leap as actual CRTs are a finite resource that will one day no longer be around due to the obsolete tube technology. But at an eye-watering $750 USD, it’s simply too rich for my blood. While I have no doubt that one day these upscalers will be made more affordable, for the time being I’m sticking to the real McCoy.
Having recently been playing more retro games with my wife, I’ve come to realize that there’s something no upscaler can recreate with CRTs: the physical presence. After taking the five or so minutes required to place the CRT television on our table, connect the desired console, hook up the controllers, choose some games, and carefully place accoutrements like drinks and popcorn around us, our night of gaming commences. The close intimacy of being near a glowing box that’s over two decades old with the subtle buzz and occasional flicker of the screen is something you can only do with real hardware.
It’s very much akin to setting up vinyl records, another hobby I regularly partake in. Sure, you can play whatever song you want off Spotify or Apple Music within seconds, but vinyl enthusiasts will go through the ritual of dusting off their LPs, opening their turntables, and carefully dropping the needle. Why would you sacrifice convenience and endless choices for “archaic” analog sound and all its imperfections? Because “working” for your media and having a curated selection truly allows you to appreciate it.
I can’t in good conscious say that playing video games on CRTs is for everyone, because it isn’t. Again like vinyl, this is an incredibly niche hobby that can take a considerable amount of time and money to invest in. I’m lucky that I live in Japan and have been collecting games for years where the prices aren’t too outrageous, though they’re admittedly getting there. The cost of used CRTs on the secondary market is only going to rise from here, with the more desirable models inevitably becoming scarcer with each passing year.
Still, if you’re somehow able to get a CRT — whether via a good deal online or even with that old TV in your parents’ attic which surprisingly still works — you’re in for a real treat. In a modern media landscape where consumers increasingly own nothing as everything shifts toward streaming and rentals, there’s a real sense of victory in owning a CRT and a physical collection of video games. By holding on to a CRT, you’re maintaining a piece of history that should be properly preserved and understood. I will certainly treasure mine for years to come.
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