Page "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" Paragraph 11

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 and Lisa 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.