Do you remember the "Go West" train scene by the Marx Brother where Groucho shouts for more firewood to keep the train running?  Well, that's how NHK newscaster Takayuki Ichihashi (一橋　忠之) must have felt after Japan's victory in the softball Olympic final. Due to an unexpected delay in the medal ceremony arrangements, Takayuki Ichihashi was almost forced to ask for more and more faxes to fill in broadcasting time and keep the programme afloat. Faxes sent by young televiewers with congratulatory messages for the Japanese athletes are one the main feature of the programme presented by Ichihashi, a kind of first step to the "love of nation" clause that many Japanese politicians want to include in the Constitution and a quick response to the "bill calling on schools to teach respect for tradition and love of the homeland" proposed by the Shinzo Abe's cabinet. Love of your homeland through your athletes in international competitions, regardless of their final position. The absolute focus on the perfomance of Japanese athletes achieved chauvinist proportions in several occasions. A memorable one was the case of Kumiko Ikeda (池田 久美子) , Japan's record holder in long jump and and gold at the 2006 Asian Games, who however failed to qualify for the final of the women's long jump in Beijing. Again and again "VTR"'s of her three jumps, her last a foul, were shown in an hour basis. Finishing up in position  20th was no obstacle for NHK to remind us of her "ganbare" attitude. Ichihashi always served as a great comforting figure to the numerous children watching their heroes fail miserably. "They have done their best and we thank them for that" were some of his melodramatic comments made with watery eyes.. However Fuji TV presenter Tomoaki Ogura (小倉 智昭) voiced a feeling shared by many when he said on Monday morning from Beijing that the Japanese media left Japanese viewers unaware of what had happened with many athletes from other countries.

As more and more faxes were coming in, I'm sure some of them counterfeited by staff members, beads of sweat running down Ishihara's temples were starting to appear. NHK is going through a lean period, with hundreds of thousands of Japanese viewers refusing to pay their TV licence, and that was made obvious by the fact that NHK had to rely on faxes sent by Japanese kids to continue with the programme (I'm sure the main reason being not having had the money or the willingness to buy the rights to show other competitions), as well as showing a complete lack of anticipation and preparation on the part of the producers.