Quote Originally Posted by Qutiepie View Post
Political issues are divisive,Japanese culture's core value is harmony.
There are certainly talk-show style debates with politicians and commentators on Sunday mornings (NHK?) plus the round table discussions among pundits, television personalities etc on every morning news show and occasional prime time broadcast forums with specialists on specialized topics (the environment, health issues, energy use etc).

I don't pretend to have watched enough of those to judge the quality but especially the Sunday ones go into as much depth on the issues of the week as what you find in America. Of course having no idea what the European standard reference would be....