Japanese media covers the U.S. presidential election in true zany Japanese style.

As votes continue to be counted for the 2020 presidential election in the United States, countries around the world are watching with interest. Here in Japan, the media has been reporting on events with a unique Japanese flair that’s given viewers some much-needed humour to alleviate their anxiety over the results.

One Japanese TV program really held the interest of viewers by turning Donald Trump and Joe Biden into bobblehead-esque characters, complete with amusing facial expressions.

The changing facial expressions used in the photos for winning and losing states elicited laughter from both locals and expats in Japan.

▼ Trump leads in Ohio (top) and falls behind in Pennsylvania (bottom).

A wide variety of graphics could be seen across different networks, but they were all undeniably eye-catching.

▼ Fuji TV

▼ TBS

▼ Asahi TV

▼ And take a look at what happened when Joe Biden won New York.

Comments from Japan and abroad included:

“Japan treating the U.S. election like the game show it is.”
“This is what the election looks like in an anime and gaming country.”
“There would be way fewer depressed people if this aired over here.”
“You’ve probably seen this said before, but life would be really boring without Japan.”
“How come our country can’t do this?!?”
“This makes me feel like I’m about to play a weird video game.”
“I thought I’d seen everything in this election but then Japan goes and turns the candidates into super deformed chibi mascot characters.”

It certainly is a novel way to cover the election, but the lighthearted graphics used to illustrate serious developments have won fans overseas, and given them some relief from the nerve-wracking situation facing the U.S., and by extension, the rest of the world.

And given Japan’s love for super deformed chibi mascot characters — even Harry Potter has a chibi mascot range here — we might just see miniature Trump and Biden figurines make it to the market shortly.

Source: Jin
Top image: Twitter/@shinichick_3739 
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