What is a Duck, How Many Suns and Where is Okinawa?

     This is a story retold by my wife. When she was listening to the radio, she heard a funny story
which was a conversation between a young mother and her two-year-old girl. They saw a duck on a
pond while they were enjoying taking a turn in a park. Then she asked her daughter, “What is it?”
The daughter promptly answered Aflac! At first, the mother had no idea why she said Aflack. After
a while, however, she noticed that her daughter misunderstood the name of the bird, because a
duck was always quacking Aflac, Aflack, Aflack in TV commercials. Needless to say, AFLAC is an
acronym of an insurance company: American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. When
I heard this story, I felt it comical, but then when I considered the strong influence of a TV commercial,
I also felt it terrible.

     I found similar examples while I was watching a weather forecasting TV program. One was a display
of the general weather, and the other was the weather map of Japan. When “fine weather” is forecast in
the Kanto region, for example, multiple symbols of the sun are often put on the areas of the weather
map. What on earth do little children think about the display? Just like the two-year-old girl, some of
them may think that there are five suns. As Hare-M?ku in Japanese, a sign of fine weather, is different
from the scientific truth, marks of the sun should not be used. Television especially appeals to our
feelings such as the sense of sight, so displays of TV are extremely important.

      The final example is connected with the citizens’ pride of their prefecture in Japan. Furthermore, it
contains a political problem, too. I want the audience to watch a weather chart on TV again. Please have
a look at it carefully. Now I will ask you. “Where is Okinawa?” Of course, it is “to the north of Kyushu,”
not to the south of it. TV companies might have changed the place of Okinawa in order to make a more
efficient TV display. Two different problems can be found in their selfish manner. They are a geography
problem and a political one. People should doubt why Okinawa is located in the place of Korea. Some
children might make a mistake about the geographical position of Okinawa such as in the examples of
Aflac and plural suns. At least, Okinawa should be drawn to the lower side of the weather chart even if
we consider the most effective way of using the TV screen. However, it is best that Okinawa should be
drawn to the southwest of Kyushu on the nationwide weather map.

     Some time ago, Australian people got angry at the world map, favoring the Northern hemisphere.
Some Aussies made an upside-down world map; that is, the Southern hemisphere was drawn on the top
of the map. It was certainly a kind of nationalism of Australia. On the other hand, what do Okinawans
think about the TV weather map? It seems that they are sure to be proud because their homeland was
an independent country called Ryukyu in about the 12^th century. Don’t they think it unpleasant that
Okinawa is now drawn on the TV weather chart to the north of Kyushu: the place of Korea? Why don’t
they pay attention to this matter? Okinawa is apt to be treated lightly on account of the selfish
convenience of the Japanese mass media.

     What is a duck? It’s Aflac. How many suns are in the Kanto region? There will be five tomorrow. Where
is Okinawa? Of course, it’s to the North of Kyushu. All of these strange answers have been invented by
television.