The top 10 words describing the Japan of 2010--part1:ゲゲゲの～/ge ge ge no......

A few days ago, the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest were announced. As I mentioned in my previous post, the contest is held around this time every year and the results are widely reported in the news. People pay attention to the results and make it a topic of conversation. Usually, newly coined words and impressive phrases which have had a great influence on society are selected. Recently, it has been said that it has become more difficult to select these words and phrases, because the channels to deliver information have become more varied. As a matter of fact, some people, including me, are wondering about the results for this year.

「 ゲゲゲの～/ge ge ge no.......」 won first place this year. This phrase comes from ゲゲゲの鬼太郎/ge ge ge no kitaro, which is one of the most popular manga series, and it was created by Shigeru Mizuki /水木しげる more than 40 years ago. When I was a little girl, I would often watch the cartoon on TV. I really loved it. All the characters are yokai/ 妖怪 (supernatural beings or creatures from folklore). I think that ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 has been very popular among people of all ages like ドラエモン/Doraemon has been.

The TV cartoon in the 70s (I like this version)

In 2008, Shigeru Mizuki's wife published her autobiography. This year, a TV drama series based on the autobiography, ゲゲゲの女房/ge ge ge no nyoubou (ゲゲゲ indicates Shigeru Mizuki, and 女房 means wife), was broadcast on NHK from April to September as 朝の連続ドラマ( please see Note #1 below). The TV drama series enjoyed the viewer ratings of over 20% from June to September. These high ratings caught the public attention since TV networks have been suffering from low viewer ratings in the past several years.

Unfortunately, I only watched a few episodes of the series. However, given that Shigeru Mizuki is 88 years old and his wife is 78 years old, I can guess that he had a very hard time being the breadwinner as a manga artist. It's well known that they married only five days after being introduced to each other. When they married, they didn't know at all whether or not his work would be appreciated. On top of that, they were suffering from poverty. I guess that the drama series encouraged people to keep struggling with various difficulties since there is growing uncertainty about the future of Japan.

Note #1: 朝の連続ドラマ/asa-no-renzoku-dorama/a morning drama series
In 1964, NHK, the public broadcasting service, started broadcasting a TV drama series every morning except Sundays. We refer to it as 朝の連続ドラマ or 朝の連ドラ. Until a year ago, it had been broadcast from 8:15 to 8:30a.m. (Currently, 8:00-8:15). Every six months, a new drama series starts. Until 15 years ago, the viewer ratings had always been over 30%. I guess that the drama series gave housewives a 15-minute break to relax after being busy taking care of their families, largely because many wives were housewives at the time. In the past 15 years, the drama series has become less popular, but having said that, many people still look forward to watching it. ゲゲゲの女房 is the drama series from April to September this year. Speaking of 朝の連ドラ, おしん/Oshin is the most popular drama series not only in Japan but also in many other countries such as China, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt.

The TV cartoon in 2007