News Dozing council members causing a ruckus

[thomas]

The council members in Ishikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, have been facing mounting public criticism ever since the city council started streaming its plenary sessions on its YouTube Channel: concerned citizens began complaining about the elected officials dozing off during the sessions.

I don't think things are much different at the National Diet.

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In an effort to restore the public's faith in the council, its more earnest members came up with an idea. About five years ago, the Ichikawa city council started streaming its plenary sessions on its YouTube Channel, and until last summer the camera would generally zoom in and focus on whoever was standing at the podium at the front of the room and addressing the other members. Now, though, the cameras are turned around more frequently are turned around more frequently to show the faces of the listening council members, so that everyone watching the stream can see if they're awake, as shown in the part of the video cued up here. The facial view is key. If seen from behind, there's wiggle room for council members to claim that they weren't asleep, just sitting very steal and breathing deeply, perhaps with their head cocked at a slightly unusual angle while paying close attention to the proceedings. With the camera pointed at their faces, though, anyone sleeping on the job will be caught red-handed/eyes-closed.

Japanese town livestreams elected politicians faces to make sure they aren’t sleeping in meetings

The city of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, had a problem. It had come to citizens’ attention that a number of their city council members were committing improprieties. Even worse, they were brazenly engaging in this unethical conduct right in the council’s chambers. So what sort of transgressions...

japantoday.com

千葉の「居眠り議会」が信頼回復のため生配信を導入！そこには“寝落ち”姿が…「眠くなる答弁が悪い」議員からは反発も｜FNNプライムオンライン

「イット！」で放送した、千葉・市川市の居眠り議会。市民の抗議を受けて打ち出した対策は、議会中の議員の表情をYouTubeで配信することだった。2022年6月の千葉・市川市議会。議論のさなか目を閉じ、動かない議員や…。首をゆっくりと傾ける議員の姿。こうした実態が「イット！」で報じられると、市民からの抗議が殺到した。この問題を受け、議会が意外な居眠り防止対策を打ち出した。議会中の議員の顔が確認できる映像をYouTubeで配信するという奇策だ。実は市川市議会は約5年前から、議会の中継映像をYouTu…

www.fnn.jp

 

[mdchachi]

Sounds like a political hit job. Or maybe the cameraman is pissed off because he can't sleep at work too.

 

[thomas]

Napping in Public? In Japan, That’s a Sign of Diligence (Published 2016)

The practice of “inemuri,” or “sleeping while present,” is common. People sleep on the job, but also in cafes and on commuter trains.

www.nytimes.com

I have seen students sleeping in class and prosecutors and solicitors sleeping in court. And I have seen Mr Aso and his colleagues sleeping through Diet sessions. Given that local and national representatives are elected and generously remunerated, I'd expect them to, at least, pretend to maintain an air of professionalism.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Made me think of the times I had in church.

 

[johnnyG]

have been mounting public criticism

...have been facing/encountering public criticism?

This was really common back in my faculty meetings, tho sometimes people are just feigning sleep or relaxing with their eyes closed (inemuri), since there are occasions when someone you thought was either sleeping or tuned out will suddenly jump in with a pretty vocal comment.

 

[thomas]

...have been facing/encountering public criticism?

This was really common back in my faculty meetings, tho sometimes people are just feigning sleep or relaxing with their eyes closed (inemuri), since there are occasions when someone you thought was either sleeping or tuned out will suddenly jump in with a pretty vocal comment.

Thanks, corrected!

At one gig almost two decades ago - a language and cultural immersion workshop - I remember we were told not to wake up sleeping attendees.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

One of my nursing jobs was to take a man to senior college classes and make sure he didn't get lost(slight dementia). The classroom held about 50 people. A couple of nursing home buses showed up each class and unloaded about 25 elderly people. Each class they went to the back of the room and almost all were asleep in about 10 minutes. My wife likes to "rest her eyes" on the couch each day and insists she's not sleeping. I think her snoring gives her away.