As nation readies for lay-judge system, time for courtroom primer
Written by Writer on Thursday, November 6th, 2008
TELEVIEWS / As nation readies for lay-judge system, time for courtroom primer
Wm. Penn / Daily Yomiuri Columnist
Judge II (Saturdays, 9 p.m., NHK), which began Oct. 25 and runs through Nov. 22, is an interesting fusion of courtroom drama, scenic travelogue and instructional material for a populace soon to be thrust into a strange new world. From May 2009, Japanese citizens will be called upon to serve as lay judges.
News broadcasts have been reporting on the imminent arrival of the lay judge system for years now and a few specials and dramas have broached the subject. Yet one wonders how well the public understands the functions of the new system and how it will impact the lives of those chosen.
Judge II doesn’t answer that question, but it does offer some basic instruction in judicial terminology. As the courtroom drama unfolds from opening statements to cross-examination, the appropriate legal terms for all these events pop up on our TV screens.
What prospective judges are probably most interested in is how much time they will be required to spend away from work or family, what, if any, compensation they will receive and what sort of cases they will have to hear. But in a nation where viewers have never had quite as much passion for courtroom dramas as the inhabitants of Perry Mason land, a beginner’s course in legalese can’t hurt either.
Japanese TV has always shown a preference for police detective-interrogation room dramas such as Hagure Keiji Junjoha or Aibo, (Wednesdays, 9 p.m., TV Asahi) or travelogue murder mysteries featuring amateur sleuths with career specialties–geisha, freelance writer, mortician, taxi driver or feng shui gardener. There is hardly a profession that has not been represented. The emphasis is on capture and confession. The actual judicial process has received far less attention.
Oh, there have been some legal series, such as Shichinin no Onna Bengoshi (seven women lawyers), but those series, too, spend much of their time outside the courtroom tracking down evidence and doing the footwork necessary to defend their clients.
Perhaps, Japanese TV viewers have never really fallen in love with courtroom dramas because deliberation was always a matter left to the judges. Who would have imagined the public would one day be asked to get involved?
Judge II takes us deeper into the life of young judge Kyosuke Misawa (Hidetoshi Nishijima), assigned to a two-year stint on a gorgeous but remote southern island. (The actual filming was done in the Amami Oshima region.)
Judge, which aired last year, looked at his first year on the island. He had previously served in Osaka, where the workload almost destroyed his marriage. On the island, with his daughter and wife Reiko (Naho Toda), they become a family again but as the only judge, he finds himself dealing with criminal, civil, family court and juvenile cases.
The five-episode Judge II focuses on his second year of service and his growing relationships with the community. Some of the story’s more interesting observations concern not the law but the reality of life in remote parts of Japan where local dialects and diversity can sometimes make relationships with mainland Japan difficult.
This theme ran through Episode 2. It was a murder case in which Misawa was joined by two assistant judges from the mainland since murder cases require three-judge deliberation. Atsuko Asano played the defense attorney who proves it was the confessed killer’s friend who masterminded the crime. This allowed our discerning judge to sentence the actual killer to only 12 years in prison for murdering a young woman who never lived to see 25.
In Japan, those who pass the national bar exam must also pass the yearlong judicial training course at the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court, before proceeding to a career as a practicing attorney, prosecutor or judge. I have always wondered what sort of person chooses a career of listening to the alleged crimes of others and deciding their fate.
While the character of Judge Misawa may provide only a few insights into this topic, the series does offer some very beautiful scenery and a good chance for the public to brush up on their legal terminology just in case they are called to serve. Once the new lay-judge system actually begins, scriptwriters will have a whole new genre to explore.
One thing that has long been missing from Japanese TV is political comedy. Thus, it was nice to discover the NTV Sunday morning show The Sunday Next (8-9:30 a.m.) now features a weekly segment with the very talented The Newspaper comedy group members who impersonate Prime Minister Taro Aso and former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. On Nov. 2, the pair cracked jokes as they guided us through the Tokyo Stock Exchange, showing us the network broadcast booths that allow announcers to report with the big boards behind them and explaining how the circular digital ticker tape can move at eight different speeds. The Newspaper is a pleasant addition to Sunday mornings.
And what was the best-rated private network drama last week? Aibo, of course, with Video Research Co. ratings of 17.9 percent.
(Nov. 7, 2008)
