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NPR ON BROOKLYNITE ANTHONY BIANCHI’S ELECTION TO INUYAMA CITY COUNCIL, broadcast on National Public Radio April 30, 2003. Writeup from NPR:
“NPR’s Melissa Block talks with Tony Bianchi, a Brooklyn native who was elected to the Inuyama city council in Japan last Sunday, about his campaign and its outcome. Bianchi is a naturalized Japanese citizen and the first person of North American origin ever to be elected to public office in Japan.”
Duration 4 minutes 15 seconds. Enjoy!
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3 comments on “PODCAST: NPR All Things Considered on Brooklynite Anthony Bianchi’s election to Inuyama City Council, April 30, 2003”
Good man!
And dare i say, sounds easy?
First to run for office gets in, thats a 100% strike rate.
— And he’s been re-elected since.
Seeing Anothony Bianchi elected, a naturalized caucasion Japanese, gives me great hope that things can change for the better here.
Its too bad they keep calling him a foreigner (gaikokujin), when after all he’s naturalized AND he represents a an entire town of Japanese people.
— Who does?
The part about his Brooklyn accent helping with Japanese pronunciation was interesting. I wonder if it works in reverse? And what other accents/dialects of different languages come close like that?
— I’m no linguist, but I think the “flapped” (for want of a better word) pronunciation of “d” in Spanish and Japanese helps both sides. So I’ve been told by students on both sides. And then you get to the immense commonalities (grammar, expository style) between Korean and Japanese…!