The first grainy images are coming through following Joseph Tame’s debut on national Japanese TV. In a deliberate ploy by Fuji TV producers, his grand entry was saved for the dramatic climax, only 6 minutes before the ending of the 2-hour drama.

Statistics released shortly after the prime-time airing of ‘Bizan’ showed that 97% of the population had tuned in for this long-awaited debut, and at 9.54pm when Joseph, known for wearing his Tilley hat in order to cover up his manly hair-loss, finally made his entry, there was a sudden rush on mains water supplies as women across the nation were forced to cool themselves following the rapid onset of hot flushes.

Photos © A.N., Tokyo

In the first image Joseph can be seen at Ueno park, just behind Tokiwa Takako as they admire the statue of that famous chap. The second shot sees him delicately perusing some souvenir stands in Yoyogi park.

Joseph’s debut comes on the back of a wave of interest in his acting style, and no doubt over the next few days there will be intense media scrutiny of his performance. In particular, the manner in which he moved his legs so as to walk, and the adoption of a devastatingly meaningful gaijin expression which summed up the feelings of a 1000 years, will attract the critic’s attention. The dramatic, death-defying hat-clutching technique he employed in the Yoyogi park scenes was said to have moved millions of Japanese nationwide to tears.

It is thought that the tape of Bizan will become available online in the near future, and will at that point be shared with Daily Mumble regulars.