Expressions from Japanese News Items about the Presidential Election

November 4, 2008 was an historic day not only for American citizens but for people all over the world. I think I am blessed to be in America, and to witness the notable moment when Obama became the President of the US. Of course, Japanese media gave its full attention to report the election. I picked up on three interesting expressions they used in their news items.

待ちぼうけを食わされた
This is a phrase to refer to a situation that someone stood you up and you had to wait for him/her a long time. This is more like slang and is rarely used in a formal document. On Election Day, in Richmond, Virginia, the person in charge of opening one of the polling places overslept and hundreds of voters had to wait for him to come over and let them in. Because they could still vote, and this was a minor incident, the Japanese media used the phrase "待ちぼうけを食わされた" to report the incident.

カリスマ司会者
The Japanese media covered an interview with Oprah Winfrey and introduced her as a "charismatic TV hostess." The Japanese use the adjective "カリスマ charismatic" to describe what you do or who you are. For example, the Japanese media introduced Martha Stewart as a "カリスマ主婦 charismatic housewife." Other examples are: "カリスマ美容師 charismatic hairstylist," "カリスマ庭師 charismatic gardener," "カリスマ添乗員 charismatic tour guide," etc.

勝手に　
"勝手に" has multiple meanings, and I picked up on a humorous usage. Obama shi is located in Fukui ken, Japan. Because the town name is pronounced exactly the same as the name of President-Elect Obama, the residents there made "オバマ候補を勝手に応援する会 (the Arbitrarily Formed, Unofficial Organization to Support the Presidential Candidate, Obama.)" There are only 32,000 people and very few are foreigners. It is nonsense to make an organization to support Obama's presidential campaign in such a minor city in Japan. They appeared to expect public attention, like tourism, to bring them some economical benefit. They even sell a variety of Obama goods. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJHaV2JqfKM. This video had me at a loss.