Obama for Obama

Living in a foreign country does strange things to your perception of time. Not only does each place have its own particular pace of life, but the calendar looks completely different as well. For me, the academic year started back in April and the last major vacation time was the “Golden Week” holiday at the beginning of May. So, I was quite surprised to discover that the Fourth of July is almost here.

As you can imagine, Independence Day isn’t really a holiday in Japan. But since I am an American, I would be remiss if I let the Fourth go by without something topical, so today I’m going to talk about the upcoming elections back home. Well, sort of. I am keenly aware that politics is an especially thorny issue: it’s one of the “holy trinity” of subjects – along with religion and sports – that ought not to be brought up in polite company, lest it devolve into fisticuffs (or worse). But in spite of being out of the country, it’s a topic I can rarely avoid.

As an American living in Japan, I frequently get asked about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. U.S. policy toward Japan has changed little in the past few decades, regardless of the Administration in the White House. However, the person who is elected to the U.S. presidency can set the tone for the world economy, and the stance towards countries like North Korea, China, and Taiwan, has the potential to impact Japan greatly. Because of this, even among mere acquaintances, there is a keen interest in which candidate I support. In response, I’ve done my best to explain both my views and those of my compatriots, in spite of my severe deficit of working political vocabulary in Japanese. (Surprisingly enough, gestures do seem to work in communicating this sort of thing, if you’re inventive.)

It’s a particular challenge to convey the attitudes of my fellow countrymen towards the Democratic candidate, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, since he tends to inspire a passionate, emotional response either for or against him. His most ardent supporters have done major grassroots organizing for him without even being invited to do so, treat him rather like a rock star, hold parties during his speeches, and so on. I may be able to get the basics of both candidates’ policies across in Japanese, but charisma is something that’s tough to translate into words at the best of times, let alone when you’re doing so for a foreign audience.

I can’t really blame the people around me for not grasping the emotional aspect of the election, though. Japan, being a separate country, is detached from the Presidential race and the passions it has inspired both for and against each candidate back home. But even so, there is one place that is unabashedly and wholeheartedly supporting Barack Obama. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that they absolutely adore him. And it isn’t hard to see why, seeing as how the place I’m referring to is also called Obama.

Obama (meaning “little beach”), a city of 32,000, is two hundred fifty miles northwest of Tokyo. (In train terms, that’s about four hours northeast of me, with three transfers minimum.) It has a long and storied past: situated on the Sea of Japan, it has been around for at least the entire length of Japanese recorded history, and was the entry point of much Continental Asian culture, including Buddhism and the Chinese writing system. The religion, language and culture that first arrived in Obama spread throughout the country, forming the basis of the first centralized Japanese government during the Heian period some 1200 years ago. Its preponderance of ancient temples and heavy Chinese influence have also earned it the nickname of “Nara by the sea”, after the more famous inland city. The city of Obama was also a regional center of government, first as the capital of Wakasa Province, and later as the seat of the Obama Fiefdom during the Edo period. So, the city is actually pretty well-known in Japan already. But then, two years ago, they began an association with an American bearing an all-too-familiar name.

Barack Obama himself is not connected in any way to Japan. His father was born in Kenya, and while he spent parts of his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, that’s as close as he got. But when he came to Japan as a US Senator, he encountered a customs official from Obama the city, and noted it in a TV interview. Word reached town, and the mayor’s office sent him a pair of the town’s famous lacquered chopsticks and a letter of support. Then, Obama the politician announced his candidacy for US President, and what started as an amusing linguistic accident turned into a case of full-blown Obama Fever.

During the state primary elections earlier this year, local business owners in Obama started organizing impromptu “let’s-root-for-Obama” parties on the dates of contests, and “Go Obama” posters, “I Love Obama” t-shirts, and even snacks bearing the Senator’s likeness became ubiquitous there. Senator Obama, for his part, seems to be keeping a sense of humor about the situation, though his actions have only further fanned the flames. Once he found out about the craze, he sent them a thank-you letter, even calling them a “nice town” in an interview. This recognition had the predictable result of making the place even crazier about him.

Now that Obama the politician has become one of the two main opponents in the US national elections, I can only imagine that the city’s Obamania will grow to even more ridiculous levels. But you do have to wonder: sure, they’re treating him like a hometown candidate and the city’s Favorite Son, but not only is the shared name just a coincidence, the residents of Obama won’t be voting in the US election (being Japanese citizens, and all). This makes the whole thing patently absurd, and yet the enthusiasm is infectious. You can bet that if he wins, the city will be downright proud of “their” President. And that’s why there’s at least one place here in Japan whose inhabitants can safely say they’ve thrown their entire support behind Barack Obama in ’08.

(In fairness to the other presidential candidate, there simply aren’t any Japanese cities whose names sound even remotely similar to “McCain”. Sorry, Senator…)