Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo - Themes and Cultural References

Themes and Cultural References

In his book Gilligan Unbound, American literary critic Paul Cantor described how "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" references and mocks several aspects of Japanese and American culture, as well as differences between the two. At a sumo wrestling match, Bart and Homer encounter the Japanese emperor, Akihito. After Homer throws him into a trunk of sumo thongs, Bart and Homer are put in jail, where they have to re-enact a kabuki play about the forty-seven Ronin, do origami, flower arranging and meditation. After Marge bails them out, Bart and Homer can speak fluent Japanese, and have fully absorbed, as Cantor writes, the "exclusionary" character of the Japanese culture, as Homer asks Bart (in Japanese, with English subtitles): "Should we tell them the secret to inner peace?", to which Bart replies (still in Japanese), "No, they are foreign devils." The episode also references the Japanese's adaption to American culture, and is, according to Cantor, "filled" with signs of how eagerly Japanese have taken to American culture. In one scene, the Simpsons eat at a restaurant called Americatown, filled with US memorabilia and having only American items on the menu. Another scene shows director Woody Allen filming a commercial for Japanese television.

In order to get back to the United States, the Simpsons have to enter a humiliating game show called The Happy Smile Super Challenge Family Wish Show. According to Cantor, this is where the family find a difference between Japanese and American culture, as Wink, the game-show host, explains to them: "Our game shows are a little different from yours. Your shows reward knowledge. We punish ignorance." The game show is partly based on the Japanese show Za Gaman, as well as the British show Family Fortunes. As with many other episodes in the series, "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" suggests that, in the end, the Simpsons are more attached to the local than to the global, and, as Cantor writes: "indeed the global is ultimately important in the series only insofar as it can be made local, that is, part of Springfield. For all its cosmopolitanism, the show keeps returning to the American theme of 'there's no place like home'".

The computers seen in the internet cafe that the Simpsons visit in the beginning of the episode are based on the Apple iMac computers. In a scene inside Flanders' kitchen, a note which reads "I COR 6:911" can be seen. It is an abbreviation of the First Corinthian, the seventh book of the New Testament of the Bible. The cups in the 33 cent store read That 70's Show, a reference which Danny Masterson, one of the lead actors in That 70's Show, was entertained by, according to Scully. Battling Seizure Robots, the seizure-inducing television show that the Simpsons watch in their hotel room, is based on an episode of Pokémon, called "Dennō Senshi Porygon", which caused several hundred children to develop epileptic seizures. According to Scully, the staff received "several angry letters" from people for the scene. After the cartoon, an advertisement for Mr Sparkle, a character that first appeared in the season 8 episode "In Marge We Trust", can be seen on the television screen. Barney, while impersonating Homer, says "That boy ain't right," a line frequently used by Hank Hill, the main character of the animated television series King of the Hill. The giant monsters attacking at the end of the episode are Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan and Mothra, all of which are famous from Japanese monster movies. The scene was included as a reference to the 1998 action science fiction film Godzilla, in which three of the main The Simpsons cast members (Azaria, Cartwright and Shearer) had a live-action role.