Slashdot Mirror
Japan's Empire of Cool
The Wicked Priest writes "The Washington Post is reporting that culture is among Japan's leading exports." Talks about Anime, Manga, Music, Video Games and so forth. Interesting reading.
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
...every year? I think it's the result of reporters on vacation at the end of the year, doing a cut-and-paste on the date, and hoping the editor doesn't catch the dupe.
I haven't been paying attention to the Billboard top 100 recently, but are there some Japanese rock bands that i don't know about ?
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
Obviously. Japanese manga, anime, etc are really good. I make it a point to watch Ruroni Kenshin every Saturday on Cartoon Network (OT, but does anyone have the English version of the song "Freckles" that they play in the opening title? I can't find it anywhere...)
The thing I like about Japanese anime is that it makes you think. It's not blind violence or meaningless love. Everything has a well crafted story behind it. Just yesterday I was in Barnes and Noble, and was going to read "love hina" but got sidetracked by the new Star Wars book, The Unifying Force.
The greatest thing though, it's a two way street. We get stuff like Ruroni Kenshin, Pokemon, etc, and the Japanese get McDonalds, Coke, etc.
I think basically what the West is beginning to realise is that Japan is an entire culture which, while being easily as technologically advanced as America (and in many ways more so), is totally different from America. It's new, it's unusual, it's different, and a lot of it is stuff that Westerners have never even contemplated before, let alone seen.
Kids are insane over Dragonball Z because super-kung-fu-firing-fireballs-from-fingertips-fly ing-about-kicking-people-through-mountains genre just doesn't exist in America. Sure, it's an appalling series on many levels, but it brings something new to the table and for them, that (combined with its testosterone content) makes it worth watching.
qntm.org
How many hot girls do you know that love manga, anime and videogames ?
And please, no anecdotes about "my wife does!"...I'm talking in the general case. Walk into a bar on the Upper West Side talking about Castle in the Sky to the 6'0 Brazilian supermodel and she'll stare at you blankly while planning her escape.
Japan has a niche with a certain segment (nerdy people) but their culture doesn't have broad appeal to the masses. Sure, videogames pull in a lot of money but they're typically bought by young men.
The readers of this site will love the article because it will affirm something they want to believe in, but it doesn't really make it true.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
Do not forget that Japan "opened itself up" to the west under the gaze of American cannons intent on obtaining Japanese culture.
Thus resulting in the overthrow of the stable "military" Shogunate that had maintained Japan as a land of peace, domestically and internationally, for 250 years or so, to be replaced by militarists who armed Japan and went on an empire by conquest rampage.
A rampage rather overtly based on the western model of such, no less.
You are correct about Japanese racism though. This is a nation that can claim to have no racial issues due to their single race when millions of Japanese born people of Korean descent can't obtain citizen ship and the aboriginal populace is treated as if it doesn't exist, except maybe as a tourist exhibit.
However, through most of their history they have overtly acknowledged that real culture came from the mainland, much as once the English may have held themselves superiour and yet looked to France, Italy and even the German provinces for real culture.
It's a peculiar schizophrenia, but not entirely beyond the realm of understanding.
On the other hand while we have hungered for Japanese goods for the past 200 years or so we too use them as Americans, without becoming Japanese in the process, even while we study Karate and go to Zendos to test our Koan understanding.
We have our own peculiar ways of being schizophrenic, it's just harder for us to see because for us it's normal.
So for the Japanese, or any other culture for that matter.
KFG
This brings up an interesting question: Why are the Japanese so keen to take, modify and integrate other cultures to suit their needs, yet they're still incredibly racist of other cultures?
It's pretty simple, same reason you find racism in certain parts of the States and in ethnic neighborhoods in cities. In monocultures, there's nobody around to point out that you're being a racist when everyone thinks the same.
I'm Japanese, growing up in the burbs of NYC, I was stereotyped and the subject of racist remarks my entire childhood. It wasn't until I moved away to more metro areas that I found more acceptance. So racism still runs strong in the States, make no mistake about it.
"National Pride" is ok, we see a lot of pride parades here in NYC. But just start to say something bad about another race, everyone jumps all over you for being a racist. You can't say anything about another culture without being condemned as a racist. We're forced to be politcally correct or face a civil lawsuit. That's a long ways away from being an integrated "melting pot" society as we'd like to believe.
Japan isn't much different in terms of racism; the only difference is that there aren't people forcing them to watch everything they say, so they don't think about it. Yeah, many will openly discriminate and don't think twice about it, I hear about it from my caucasian friends who live in Japan. It's really that they haven't been forced to accept other cultures, socially or legally.
What Japan really needs is Al Sharpton to stir things up, make them more aware of how racist the society is. Not sure if even he can do it, but it'd be a good start.
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
I like Japan. It rocks. The food's good, people are respectful of each other, and you can buy beer in vending machines. However, I feel compelled to tell you all that I hate anime. Lots of Japanese people hate it as well. (Similarly, many Americans hate Hollywood films, network television, etc.)
I feel that American anime fanboys like anime mostly because it is different. To be a fan of anime makes them feel special (because ordinary American people are not very familiar with anime apart from Pokemon et al.)
Lastly, what I hate even more than anime are anime-themed RPGs. Thank you for letting me vent. No offense intended.
This isn't completely new. Remember the Impressionists? They were quite into their "japonaise" (I forgot the exact term...). There are quite a few paintings of European women dressed in kimono, and collecting trinkets from Japan was all the rage, not just among the artsy crowd. I think the reasons are still similar.
Now, however, I think a lot of their exports (anime/manga/video esp) have loads of Western influence anyway. Aside from Inu-Yasha and Rurouni Kenshin (the latter of which is set in the Meiji - a major Westernizing period - anyway), I can't think of very many mainstream titles that involve something purely Japanese. But it's blended with their own culture, which is still different enough to be new and interesting for others.
The floggings will stop when morale improves.
" If you look at Border's or Barnes, you'll see five or six shelves of Manga,"
Just a shame that 5 out of those 6 shelves are all Dragon Ball...
I agree. When we say "culture is our greatest export" that's a figurative statement. We don't literally export our culture. Sometimes people forget that distinction, and that's why some get up in arms over "culture imperialism" like there's literally some organized effort to do that.
What is good and what is evil? This very topic is explored by some of the deeper anime series and movies out there (IE, not pokemon or pokemon-clones). In many good shows, nobody carries a sign announcing their intentions either way. Take Princess Mononoke, for instance: Are the industrialists who are destroying the forests and the native peoples' way of life evil? Are the natives who are fighting back evil? And then there are the shows that don't operate on the same concepts of conflict that American shows do, such as Haibane Renmei or Niea Under 7, both of which illustrate caste systems and racism in interesting ways.
But this thought-provoking nature is what draws me to these shows. Take the time to watch a "good" show (hint: if its on tv, its aimed at the mass market and is typically not so good. Watch a few episodes yourself, and if its got more flashing lights than an ambulance, its mass market kiddy fare). After you've seen it yourself and feel you're comfortable with the subject, watch it with your children and open the floor for discussion.
If your children are later-middle-school or high-school aged, you should pick up His and Her Circumstances, a romantic comedy/drama that shows that peer pressure and worrying about one's appearance is pretty constant anywhere in the world. If you want your children to become tree-hugging vegans, there's also Arjuna (seriously. Don't watch this if you are the least bit squeamish or offended by environmentalists). Rurouni Kenshin might satisfy your a desire for action, while starring a hero who believes above all else that killing is wrong and who goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid doing so to his enemies (not to say that killing and blood and gore does not happen... the enemies, and even his friends don't share the same morality).
Remember above all else, life is rated PG. If parents weren't required, children would simply pop into existance on their own. Take some time with your children to let them know you disapprove of the shows they are watching, take some time to explain why. Decide if you believe your children are mature enough to seperate what they see on tv from reality, and if they don't, offer some alternatives, whether they be different shows, or reading a book, or heck, go out and throw a frisbee or a ball or something.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I can agree that all those things you mentioned are not enlightened. I can agree that US has repeatedly mistreated other countries for our benefit. One thing that bothers me, when people go all of on this topic is that U.S. is not unique in any of this. Every f'n country does the same thing, given a chance.
The countries that are the most critical of U.S. have histories of treating others that are worse than ours. We are no more hypocrites than the rest of them. Yet we are evil? The only reason we are 'evil' is that we have the most influence right now and it's popular to bring those higher then us down a peg. That will surely change and U.S. 'tyranny' will be just another blip in the past, much smaller then others.
Another point of mine is about the redial Islamic beliefs. I can see that rich pigs like U.S. are disgusting to them, but who the flock are they? The way they treat women is so draconian it's amazing why nobody turns around and call that evil. Radical Islam treats people worse then U.S. culture ever did. People are killed for arbitrary reasons. Many times it is not only going against a ridiculously strict law that will get you shot. If somebody in power doesn't like the way you look, they can pretty much accuse you of anything and get you punished. Let's not forget that raped women are guilty for being raped and punished by death many times as well.
If we are talking about poisonous culture, let's first examine how bad the poison is. If westernization means that all the atrocities of Mid-east (and Africa, and much of Asia) are going to go away and instead we are going to have McDonald's on every corner, I'll take that any day. After all, you have not known poisonous food after you had food where hygiene is non existent.
2. Hiragana and Katakana
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Your understanding of Japanese history is rather weak. Japan has always had waves of influence from outside the country, resulting in rapid integration of social influences. Like for example, the influence of Buddhism from Korea in the 6th century, the influence of Kanji from China about that same time, the influence of foreign traders from Russia and the Netherlands in the 15th century, etc. Japan's history's most significant characteristic is its ability to rapidly adapt foreign technologies and culture towards its own purposes.