A Meme By Any Other Name…

“Anata to wa chigau n desu”

These are the words currently capturing the Japanese attention, spoken by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda during an exchange with a reporter following his resignation announcement. Their meaning? I am different from you.

Apparently Fukuda’s utterance was a response to accusations of detachment regarding the problems facing Japan, and while it’s definitely not the smartest move to further alienate yourself from your constituents when being accused of alienation I can’t help but admire the man for showing unprecedented testicular fortitude in the face of a crisis. What’s strange here, however, is that the phrase itself was picked up in the first place. Granted, it’s difficult to tell just why anything becomes a meme; why Rick Astley and not Haddaway, etc, etc. But the words “I am different from you” hold a stronger connotation in the land of the otaku than they do in North America.

Is it perhaps that the net savvy denizens of Japan feel a closeness to Prime Minister Fukuda? Now that he’s gone and spoken the words inscribed on the heart of each and every myopically focused fanboy of the strange and obscure, has he become elevated in their eyes? Perhaps not. But regardless of the place Prime Minister Fukuda holds in the hearts and minds of otaku everywhere, they’ve seen to it that his phrase will take on a life of it’s own in the form of ascii renditions of himself and his now famous phrase.

It’s almost certainly not the way Prime Minister Fukuda meant to be taken, as a champion to otaku, but the longcat’s out of bag and there’s simply no turning back.

Anata to wa chigau n desu [Pink Tentacle]