Ashiya, Japan: BlueSky Publishing, 2017. vi, 269 pp. (Tables, graphs, maps, B&W photos, illustrations.) US$19.95, paper. ISBN 9784990982218.
In North America and Europe, Japan is no longer only associated with its traditional culture, such as ikebana, samurai, geisha, and Zen Buddhism. For the last two decades, its pop culture has been massively embraced all over the planet, especially by young consumers. Initially, this fascination was limited to animation, manga, and video games. However, this interest has expanded to TV dramas, J-pop music, food, and fashion. To fulfil this growing enthusiasm, many visit Japan and even decide to learn the Japanese language. Akihabara, a district of Tokyo famous for its anime, manga, and video game stores, has become their mecca. Japanese culture, its popular culture in particular, represents a gateway to experience this country, and today it has become an integral part of the daily lives of people around the world.
The most innovative feature of COOL JAPAN: Case Studies from Japan’s Cultural and Creative Industries is its focus not only on pop culture, but also on traditional forms of Japanese culture. Put together, to some extent, they transmit an image of Japan. Most scholars are inclined to investigate the cultural and political dimension of Cool Japan. Yet, Tim Craig and the other contributors are far more interested in the business side of Japan’s culture.
In the first chapter, Craig details Cool Japan, the current policy of the Japanese government to promote the exports of Japanese cultural and creative industries. The state wants these sectors to grow so that they can reinvigorate the domestic economy and create jobs against the backdrop of a shrinking and aging population. As such, Cool Japan is an industrial policy. Despite the international popularity of Studio Ghibli feature films, Hello Kitty, and Pokemon, Japanese cultural and creative industries are weak exporters. The only net exporter is the video games industry. This situation contrasts with South Korea’s performance in disseminating its cultural products abroad. Two other rationales for this strategy are Japan’s willingness to strengthen its image with foreign audiences, the soft power dimension of this initiative, and the assumption that Japan’s cultural items will drive consumers to visit the country, thereby boosting its tourism industry.
The rest of the chapters consist of 11 case studies where Craig and his co-authors explore an array of Japanese cultural products. The emphasis is more on popular culture, including idols, kawaii culture (Hello Kitty), video games, a fashion brand, and animation. Traditional culture, which is usually not related to Cool Japan, ranges from a movie park, to tea, to sake, and sumo. Most chapters start by introducing a company, examining its history, development, market evolution, and characteristics. An abundant amount of empirical data is mobilized by the scholars in their evaluation, with many chapters containing charts and tables. A recurrent conclusion is the necessity for these cultural and creative industries to prioritize their expansion overseas because of the shrinking domestic market, the result of the country’s aging and diminishing population. Nevertheless, for Cool Japan-related businesses, differences in culture, language, and industry practices, not to mention the fierce competition in overseas markets, are undeniable hurdles they must navigate.
The major achievements of this monograph are to remind us of the rich diversity of Japanese culture by overviewing various genres and forms, and to offer an economic perspective of Cool Japan. Furthermore, this book is easy and pleasant to read. Academics and other researchers interested in Japanese cultural and creative industries as well as Cool Japan will appreciate this work.
Nevertheless, the monograph contains several deficiencies. First, chapters are largely descriptive. The authors fail to provide thorough analyses of their case studies as they tend to ignore the political and cultural side of Japan’s cultural and creative industries’ products. Issues such as the role of fans in the spread of Japan’s pop culture, nation branding, gender roles, and identity are ignored. Second, the impact of the government’s Cool Japan policy and the reactions of these sectors to this initiative deserve more attention than one page and a half at the end of the first chapter. As these industries initiated the commercialization of their products without government support in the 1980s, it would have been interesting to know whether creators and producers judge that Cool Japan is a late policy. This work would also have benefited from investigating whether the state’s financial assistance ends up in the pockets of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that need this support more than the larger corporations.
Despite these shortcomings, this book represents a good introduction to Japanese cultural and creative industries from a business perspective. Its organization, set out into 11 case studies, facilitates its use in the classroom, and would be ideal for courses taught on this fascinating culture and the Cool Japan initiative.
Nicolas Garvizu
The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom