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Final Class Reflection

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Japan is a country that has, in the past century: Been occupied, occupied another country, been a global economic superpower, hosted the Olympics, experienced one of the largest economic depressions in history, and was the target of one of the most destructive weapons in the history of war. Needless to say, Japan has had its fair share of ups and downs, making it one the most interesting countries that we have studied this semester, which is why I decided to write my final reflection of the class on it. As a country who was once affiliated with the Nazi regime during World War II, the idea of them becoming one of the most popular and seemingly friendly country in the world seems entirely far-fetched, but through their masterful work of exporting media and the “Cool Japan” movement, Japan has become one of the entertainment capitals of the world.
After the devastating events of World War II, in which Japan was hit with two Atomic bombs from the United States, Japan lost its control of Korea and for 7 years, were occupied and policed by America, leading to racial tensions between the people of Japan and the Americans. During this time, manufacturing became Japan’s economic niche, and exports began rising to sizeable numbers, including electronics and infrastructure. Throughout this boom of economic growth for the country, the movement “Cool Japan” was created, and much of Japan’s soft power was gained through exports such as video games and cinema, pushing them towards 1964 where they cemented themselves on a global stage with their hosting of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo
Japan’s engagement with popular culture has changed a lot since they began to grow as an export superpower in the 1950s and 1960s, however, Japanese items such as video games like Street Fighter and cinema has have remained very prevalent. Cultural exports such as Japanese food, such as sushi, curry, and ramen, Japanese art, as well as Japanese television, have all become hallmarks of Japanese culture to the outside world, adding to the soft power that the country already held before the economic crisis of the 1980s/1990s. Since the “Cool Japan” movement began, Japan has successfully engaged in popular culture through a mixture of technology and positive branding for the country, this plan allows for Japan to, from the outside, seem very positive, forward thinking, entertaining, and almost  innocent, in a way, because of the way that Japan has branded themselves in relation to what has become popular to the rest of the world. The way in which Japan has actively worked to identify their country with eh popular exports they have been putting out has had a major positive impact on how they are seen by other countries (the Virtual), even if that outward identity isn’t entirely true for the individuals living and interacting throughout Japan every day (the Actual).
The idea of “The Medium is the Message” established by Marshall McLuhan (McLuhan, 1964), applies to much of the media that has been discussed throughout the semester, and the media of Japan is no different. There is a “safeness” in the cultural exports of Japan, media such as cartoon shows, video games and food often do not have a harsh/loud political and/or social message that may upset a global audience, and the reception of Japanese exports are usually very positive, due, in part, to this fact. It is not often at all that a piece of media with dangerous political or social messages and implications comes out of Japan, and this is in no way a coincidence, it is all planned in order to maintain the positive international identity that Japan has built since the ending of World War II.
Japan is very unique in how the outside world perceives it culturally. Despite its technological advances, as well as it great infrastructure, Japan is often identified by some based on its more ancient background. This connection of the old and the new allows for items that hybridize the two such as martial arts video games, to be so popular and unquestioned by much of the world. A countries cultural legacy can play a large role in the formation of popular culture, because, depending on what your legacy held, it is possible to still connect your past to your present and still create an interesting product that can help identify your culture in a more historical sense to the outside world. Through the exportation of media, whether is be technology, infrastructure, or ideas in writing, it is possible for popular culture to cross cultural boundaries if the media contains some type of reliability, or the teachings of a cultural provide the answers to questions that another culture is facing. This reliability allows for the cultural export to be spread around across a country and this, in turn, builds up the soft power of the export, and the soft power of the exporter.
 

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