Japanese government proposes full support in companies spreading Japan culture

https://tinyurl.com/av3u43ms

In the game Civilization, it would mean Japan is aiming for a Cultural Victory

They want to give government support to companies willing to spread Japanese IPs around the world. This might mean more stuff that would otherwise not get localized might actually leave Japan. I'm interested to see how this goes

Unlike the current U.S. administration, Japan fully understands the concept of soft power.

So what changes?

Nice. Just a week or two ago Nintendo announced that the BotW soundtrack vinyl would be releasing internationally. They basically stopped releasing their music outside of Japan when Club Nintendo ended.

Maybe this could encourage them even more!

A_Good_Boy posted...

So what changes?

Just more anime and Manga and games getting localized I think. Maybe the government will pay sometimes to help companies in the process. Just to get more stuff out there. They want to make the whole world a fan of Japanese culture

Would this mean CR and other anime distributors get direct support from the Japanese government?

A_Good_Boy posted...

So what changes?

Presumably they'll start pushing out the weird pseudo-propaganda manga.

So I guess expect a whole lot more isekai?

MhkaCHemistry posted...

Would this mean CR and other anime distributors get direct support from the Japanese government?

I bet its more likely a Japanese company will get government support to spread in the west and beat out crunchyroll. Since CR is a western company I am pretty sure

But don't EVER you dare try to come to Japan.

ellis123 posted...

Presumably they'll start pushing out the weird pseudo-propaganda manga.

So I guess expect a whole lot more isekai?

Isn't a lot of anime and manga already pseudo propaganda?

Zikten posted...

Just more anime and Manga and games getting localized I think. Maybe the government will pay sometimes to help companies in the process. Just to get more stuff out there. They want to make the whole world a fan of Japanese culture

That actually sounds pretty cool. Does that mean no more region locking? Is that even still a thing?

I mean they should have done it decades ago but better late then never

A_Good_Boy posted...

Isn't a lot of anime and manga already pseudo propaganda?

That actually sounds pretty cool. Does that mean no more region locking? Is that even still a thing?

Nintendo actually brought back region locking by making a Japan-only Switch 2 this year.

I don't know if region locking is still a thing. I have heard but never verified that you can for example, make a japanese switch eshop account and then buy and download digital japanese versions of games. I think you have to set your system as "being in japan" though

zhangliao1 posted...

I mean they should have done it decades ago but better late then never

My theory is now Japan is starting to have politicians who played video games as kids. Before, the government was probably all run by older generations who didn't know anything about games or anime

McmadnessV3 posted...

But don't EVER you dare try to come to Japan.

I think you're being a little overdramatic. They want visitors to go through the proper application processes and not overstay their welcome.

A_Good_Boy posted...

Isn't a lot of anime and manga already pseudo propaganda?

Yeah, but there are some pretty absurd ones that make the ones that actually leave Japan look pretty tame. They aren't going over gross content, mind you, but they trend towards taking the already bizarre stuff and move it into the "dubious" territory. A good example of this is food, in which there is this sort of weird obsession with Japan bringing food to an isekai world but it's essentially only stuff that was brought to Japan by a country that they've already shorthanded as the one that the isekai takes place in. Some take it the step further into the "Japan is just better than you" level.

And then there's Oishinbo...

zhangliao1 posted...

I mean they should have done it decades ago but better late then never

It was called Cool Japan decades ago.

*orders vending machines for novelty purchases*

Im going to be rich.

ellis123 posted...

And then there's Oishinbo...

I've never heard of this one. A series about creating an awesome menu does seem kinda cool. I'm guessing it leans very heavily into Japanese cuisine and culture though.

Solar_Crimson posted...

Unlike the current U.S. administration, Japan fully understands the concept of soft power.

A number of countries are currently working at increasing their soft power.

McmadnessV3 posted...

But don't EVER you dare try to come to Japan.

There may be locals who feel this way but the Japanese government absolutely wants you and your tourism money to feel very welcome to come to Japan.

A_Good_Boy posted...

I've never heard of this one. A series about creating an awesome menu does seem kinda cool. I'm guessing it leans very heavily into Japanese cuisine and culture though.

Oh no, Oishinbo is just flat out extremely unambiguous propaganda. The best one to show off what it was trying to do would be to talk about the whale chapters.

So a while back humanity decided that hunting the whales to extinction was a bad thing and we passed several laws making it illegal to hunt most types of whales. Japan, as one of the countries that did a lot of whaling, didn't particularly care for this. Enter Oishinbo. Oishinbo did its standard thing of bringing on a "clueless American" character, one who would show up any time they wanted to make a statement towards the average western (especially American, but not limited to) person. He spent most of the time blustering about how killing whales was wrong until the MC of Oishinbo tricked him into eating whale. Afterwards the MC told the clueless American that he was being overblown as not all whales were being hunted and that Japan was following the law for not hunting the traditionally hunted one (which was a lie as poaching was largely overlooked by the Japanese government at the time) and that the one that was being hunted was being closely regulated and wasn't in any chance of it going extinct (which was also a lie for much the same reason as before, and the whale in question would go on to be considered highly endangered within the decade of the manga chapters in question). And thus the clueless American decided that Japan was right all along, and that whale was delicious enough that the laws that he had just been fighting to keep were probably too far in squelching Japanese heritage.

And if you think that there were a couple of leaps of logic in there then you can see why I consider it pretty much in the "yikes" tier of propaganda manga/anime.

That's right baby we're getting SLIDE ADVENTURE MAGKID TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

also a translation of dogra magra would be appreciated

McmadnessV3 posted...

But don't EVER you dare try to come to Japan.

The world would be so much better if people just realized humanity is loaded with giant hypocrites and acted accordingly.

MhkaCHemistry posted...

Would this mean CR and other anime distributors get direct support from the Japanese government?

Crunchyroll is owned by Sony, and Sony does get direct support from the government, so they already were in a roundabout way. This probably won't improve Crunchyroll as a product either.

And as others have said. This also isn't anything new.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/76c5171c.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/ccddbcdb.jpgJapan's ultimate goal with expanding their cultural presence is to gain the leverage needed to achieve policy goals. Which uh, last time I read LDP's policy goals most of them weren't great. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't buy anime / games or whatever. But like. Japan's government is doing this specifically to make people think they're cool and not war hungry monsters just waiting for another crack at China. Something worth keeping in mind before making anime / manga / games / v-tubers your whole personality.

Enclave posted...

A number of countries are currently working at increasing their soft power.

America damn-near wrote the rules on soft power and it's been "interesting" watching Trump piss most of it away because he just fundamentally doesn't understand the world he lives in. Trump thinks he's playing Civ while the rest of the world is playing Shadow Wizard Money Gang.

Uta posted...

America damn-near wrote the rules on soft power and it's been "interesting" watching Trump piss most of it away because he just fundamentally doesn't understand the world he lives in. Trump thinks he's playing Civ while the rest of the world is playing Shadow Wizard Money Gang.

One thing I find odd? Canada is in some ways reducing their soft power by reducing investment in programs aimed at helping less fortunate people in other countries but at the same time increasing their soft power by massively expanding on trading partners.

PissedOffMonk posted...

I think you're being a little overdramatic. They want visitors to go through the proper application processes and not overstay their welcome.

Yeah MAGA folk say the same thing. I don't buy it.