Japan loves Obama
What an interesting little world we live in. Those who have been fervently following the news will already be familiar with this bit of information; namely that the current American President, Barack Obama, is extremely popular in Japan.
This raging popularity manifested itself in two different ways recently. The first instance was the festive celebrations in President Obama's namesake city, Obama. The second one is the immensely popular English-language textbook that is based on his speeches.
Everyone already knows the first story. Yes, the good folk of Japanese city of Obama cheered happily to mark Obama's inauguration. Opting for a Hawaii theme,they sang songs, danced the hula and perhaps even partied all night. From the sounds of it, there were probably very few dry eyes at the end of it.
Speaking of tears of joy, here is the second bit of news. A bestseller in Japan which is actually a textbook called “The Speeches of Barack Obama”. As you probably guessed, it is basically an English language learning textbooks of sorts, complete with CD. And yes, it is comprised of Obama's speeches. Published by Asahi Press, the idea behind the textbook is that the content of presidential speeches are great listening material. What could be a better compliment?
Perhaps this other titbit from that same article which, incidentally, is the tie-in for the “tears of joy” reference. Apparently a number of people who were not quite fluent in English were nonetheless moved to tears after hearing Obama's speeches.
