Understand the significance of a Japanese political dynasty

Apparently filmed in mid-March, before authorities took stay-at-home guidelines seriously, the May 12 episode of Nippon TV variety show “Kayo Surprise” featured three male celebrities – Yoshizumi Ishihara, Kazushige Nagashima and Daigo – frolic in the seaside surroundings of Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, where Ishihara grew up. The red thread that connects these three men is that they all come from illustrious families, which is not a novelty in itself. These days it’s probably harder to find a TV personality who doesn’t have a famous ancestor.

Ishihara’s father is novelist and politician Shintaro Ishihara, while Nagashima’s father is Shigeo Nagashima, one of the most beloved baseball players in Japanese history. Yoshizumi Ishihara and Kazushige Nagashima are both in their 50s and have cultivated distinct media images of their families. The same goes for Daigo, who is still portrayed as a musician and TV personality and only goes by his first name (his last name is Naito). His maternal grandfather is the late Noboru Takeshita, Prime Minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989. Now 42, Daigo has been in television for more than 15 years, during which he has developed one character at a time. god of rock and mischievous. lazy.