Lately, I've been speaking to Japanese friends with a range of views on what's happening in the US and Japan. One is a journalist, so his views are more nuanced and, in light of some of the populist reactionary rhetoric that's catching on there, sees the US as a cautionary tale for Japan. He's quite anxious about and critical of Takaichi as a result. He is however a minority in my circle of Japanese friends.
Some of my younger friends are decidedly less plugged into the news than he is, and so their views seem to be concerned with their day-to-day lives; things like a high cost of living and the complications that a weaker yen bring. They don't really know what's going on in the US apart from what I tell them in passing, and they don't seem to have strong opinions about it; I think it's safe to assume they aren't drawing parallels between the US and Japan. They see Takaichi as a minor progressive symbol because she's the first woman serving as PM, and though they don't necessarily agree with her about foreigners, they nonetheless want to give her the benefit of the doubt. They don't seem to know about her past in trying to suppress critical media coverage nor that scapegoating foreigners is the authoritarian go-to when economies are stagnant, either.
I wonder then, given all that, if it's easier to be ambiguous when one is less well read up on these kinds of things? I hesitate to call it ignorance for the negative connotation that word implies--if anything, not being too tied up (or at least, not being particularly interested) in the internecine war between the American left and right for example is kind of freeing for artists to play with ideas, unburdened by any political baggage. I'm guessing that that's a big part your point and why Japanese pop culture is so universally loved as an imaginative refuge. It just doesn't map well to Western viewpoints because Japanese people are wrapped up in their own concerns and Japanese creators are catering to them specifically. Maybe the Japanese imagination is as much a tourist destination for foreigners as Japan itself now is.
Love the way you put it in your last sentence. In a lot of ways it's a replay of the Japonisme era, when Oscar Wilde famously commented that "the whole of Japan," as thought of by Westerners, "was pure invention."
What makes things different this time around are the culture wars. More than anything, they are exhausting, which makes anything that isn't a product of or comment on them feel like even more of an escape. You can lose yourself in anime and manga in ways you can't in Hollywood movies, where you know the socio-political leanings of everyone involved. I suspect this is a big reason for K-Pop's success too.
That said, I'm not sure Japanese (or Korean) artists are really any freer than Western ones; they're just bound by different things.
Addendum: I was speaking to the manager of a major toy company about an upcoming product. When he expressed surprise at how few pre-orders were coming in from America, I said "Trump." He looked at me quizzically. "Tariffs," I prompted. You could practically see the lightbulb light up over his head. This was not an uneducated or unsophisticated person by any means. In his defense, he's not in charge of international stuff, but it reminded me of the focused worldview a lot of people seem to have here. (Though one might easily argue Americans are obsessed with themselves, too.)
Well noted, and this feels like a slow-moving crisis that will eventually come to face more and more. A lot of what's driving the popularity of Sanseito and Takaichi herself *is* the outspokenness that has been so rare before, and this is for the worse given the despicable politics of both for a variety of reasons.
I hope that a push for this from the other side of the political spectrum can help stabilize the situation. If history is any teacher, the last time this happened with the manga-fueled leftist movements of the 60s may be a model for what is to come.
I honestly wonder if it is a crisis. A measure of isolation has always been an ingredient of the Japan cultural brand, so to speak. And worrying as Sanseito may be, it's too early to tell if they represent a real trend or simply got lucky running against a deeply unpopular LDP last time around. Time will tell.
Lately, I've been speaking to Japanese friends with a range of views on what's happening in the US and Japan. One is a journalist, so his views are more nuanced and, in light of some of the populist reactionary rhetoric that's catching on there, sees the US as a cautionary tale for Japan. He's quite anxious about and critical of Takaichi as a result. He is however a minority in my circle of Japanese friends.
Some of my younger friends are decidedly less plugged into the news than he is, and so their views seem to be concerned with their day-to-day lives; things like a high cost of living and the complications that a weaker yen bring. They don't really know what's going on in the US apart from what I tell them in passing, and they don't seem to have strong opinions about it; I think it's safe to assume they aren't drawing parallels between the US and Japan. They see Takaichi as a minor progressive symbol because she's the first woman serving as PM, and though they don't necessarily agree with her about foreigners, they nonetheless want to give her the benefit of the doubt. They don't seem to know about her past in trying to suppress critical media coverage nor that scapegoating foreigners is the authoritarian go-to when economies are stagnant, either.
I wonder then, given all that, if it's easier to be ambiguous when one is less well read up on these kinds of things? I hesitate to call it ignorance for the negative connotation that word implies--if anything, not being too tied up (or at least, not being particularly interested) in the internecine war between the American left and right for example is kind of freeing for artists to play with ideas, unburdened by any political baggage. I'm guessing that that's a big part your point and why Japanese pop culture is so universally loved as an imaginative refuge. It just doesn't map well to Western viewpoints because Japanese people are wrapped up in their own concerns and Japanese creators are catering to them specifically. Maybe the Japanese imagination is as much a tourist destination for foreigners as Japan itself now is.
Love the way you put it in your last sentence. In a lot of ways it's a replay of the Japonisme era, when Oscar Wilde famously commented that "the whole of Japan," as thought of by Westerners, "was pure invention."
What makes things different this time around are the culture wars. More than anything, they are exhausting, which makes anything that isn't a product of or comment on them feel like even more of an escape. You can lose yourself in anime and manga in ways you can't in Hollywood movies, where you know the socio-political leanings of everyone involved. I suspect this is a big reason for K-Pop's success too.
That said, I'm not sure Japanese (or Korean) artists are really any freer than Western ones; they're just bound by different things.
Addendum: I was speaking to the manager of a major toy company about an upcoming product. When he expressed surprise at how few pre-orders were coming in from America, I said "Trump." He looked at me quizzically. "Tariffs," I prompted. You could practically see the lightbulb light up over his head. This was not an uneducated or unsophisticated person by any means. In his defense, he's not in charge of international stuff, but it reminded me of the focused worldview a lot of people seem to have here. (Though one might easily argue Americans are obsessed with themselves, too.)
Well noted, and this feels like a slow-moving crisis that will eventually come to face more and more. A lot of what's driving the popularity of Sanseito and Takaichi herself *is* the outspokenness that has been so rare before, and this is for the worse given the despicable politics of both for a variety of reasons.
I hope that a push for this from the other side of the political spectrum can help stabilize the situation. If history is any teacher, the last time this happened with the manga-fueled leftist movements of the 60s may be a model for what is to come.
I honestly wonder if it is a crisis. A measure of isolation has always been an ingredient of the Japan cultural brand, so to speak. And worrying as Sanseito may be, it's too early to tell if they represent a real trend or simply got lucky running against a deeply unpopular LDP last time around. Time will tell.
Nicely said!