The Developments in Contemporary Japanese Society - Essay Example

Running head: CUTE CULTURE Name Lecturer Course Date The spread of lifestyles, fashion and culture has been one of the effects of globalization. Japan has been one the countries whose culture has continued to expand and spread widely in other countries. The culture influence is growing rapidly as compared to the 1980s. The Japanese culture has transcended the U.S approval or demand (Yano, 2009). It is has been noted that the film industry of Japan was initially embraced in Europe then spread fast in United States. In present times, the country has created its own space in the arena of fashion and design as seen in the modeled cartoons which is popularly known as ‘cute culture’. The spread of popular cartoons, for instance, Hello Kitty curios and Pokeman across the geographical and political borders, in enough evidence to testify the strong influence of the Japanese ‘cute culture ‘in the world. Various factors have contributed to this rise. In addition, Takashi Murakami’s impressive exhibition at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin McGray (2002) testified the spread of the Japanese ‘cute culture’ in the world. The Pokeman has been broadcasted in 65 countries and translated into approximately 30 different languages. Actually it became a cover in the Time magazine. Hello Kitty is currently viewed as one of the most visible pop icon from Japan (Lee 2005). Many products have been licensed with the likeness of Hello Kitty to the extent of the company inability to confirm the most current count. Actually, in the United States and elsewhere, most teenagers are buying cell phones and Hello Kitty purses. The Japanese animation style has, in recent times, appeared to fill most slots in the Saturday morning and after-school schedule on the United States television. Magazines produced in Tokyo are said to be illegally distributed in Asia. However, none has been launched to be an America edition (Yao 2009). Most home video games have drawn heavy inspiration from the Japanese manga and anime (comic books and animation in Japan). The Nintendo and the Sony Playstation are seen to be the main beneficiaries of these video games. Japanese dance have increasingly gain popularity too. For example, the famous dance known as the Pada Pada, it is said to be the first dance step which has been popular, to originate from Japan (Yao 2011). The dance was created in a way that there are no great foreign leaps required. Sports, though is said to be less influential outside Japan, is another culture which is embraced in Japan. The sumo, for example, is an important sport which is also broadcasted in Hawaii. ‘Cute culture’ has been on the rise, therefore, in the world. Its popularity has been spread through social-networking sites, Facebook, for example. In these sites most subscribers have posted various photos that display innocence and child-like natures. I recent times, ‘everything’ may be said to be addicted to cute. These ranges from cars, videos, pop music acts. In Japan, the cute culture is known as ‘kawaii’. Every Japanese prefecture is known to have its own unique cute mascot (McGray, 2002). Most public signs are filled with various cute characters giving instructions and may be safety tips. Some also take part in the cuteness competitions which are observed by proficient judges. Thesis Statement The various factors that have heavily contributed to popularity of the ‘kawaii’ in each region do vary with culture and place. Despite the Japanese origin of the ‘Kawaii’, marketing with much attractive representations and flexible adaptations of gender sexuality especially female sexuality has been seen not to have a positive to a part of childhood in many people, regardless of their nativity (Yao, 2009). However, in Japan, ‘cute culture’ is seen as an updated, contemporary merger of the stylish, most western culture with basic native Japanese culture in a more realistic and acceptable manner. In abroad, the word ‘kawaii’ means ‘cool’. The following illustrate the different factors and perspectives that have appealed universally to the young people of this globalized world. In Japan, the obsession with this cuteness has been a subject of detailed analysis and debate for most sociologists (Lee, 2005). One of the aftermaths of the World War II is the influence of America entering in Japan. The Japanese, who are family-oriented and hardworking traditionally, were then perceived as robots. However, their hardworking character has made them as an economic superpower. This is one of the factors that led to the rise and growth of the Japanese ‘cool’ and ‘cute’ image. During this era of economic downturn, the Japanese created “Super Flat” art which were in form of cartoons that later became famous in the world. In actual fact, the art became the fore-runner of this popular ‘kawaii’culture. Over the course, Japan has continually been perfecting this art of transmitting various kinds of mass culture. This culture has been also been applied in the work place. For example, Hello Kitty has been a common icon in the Police department and has been devised in the Bangkok, where the police are disciplining the delinquent officer by forcing them to wear a pink arm of Hello Kitty. This would shame the officer (McGaray, 2002). The main icon of cute femininity in the Japan and elsewhere would therefore, give enough threat to the officer’s masculinity. Many questions are being raised on the multifaceted phenomenon of the Japanese cute. These questions include the sense that is made from the ubiquity of this phenomenon which includes the actual products and the sensibility which is seen to dwell in the girlish, playful, the infantilized and the sexualized for both young and old. The eyes of the industrial world, has turned on Japan as the main source of cute. It is the Hello Kitty and other products that act as a global wink in the cultural, transnational, gendered, national and corporate that draws this attention. The Japan “soft power” which means the ability to have an indirect effect on interest or behavior through ideological or cultural means, has been the major backbone of this talk of the Japan’s “cool” . This has led to a heated gaze by the government, industry and media upon cool, and has rested in the expansiveness of the soft-power capital (Yano, 2011). It has been noted that cute does provide a global currency in a market business of the youth culture that spans oceans and continents. The soft power cool/cute sounds as a welcome, at this time when the political regime of Japan is facing both domestic and global critics, its economic growth is being challenged by China-the East Asian giant-as well as its defense force are being questioned in its possible role in the ongoing international disputes (Lee, 2005). However, the Japanese cute has its own challenges. It can also suffer the surfeit of these cool riches. Actually, the Japanese cute has often prompt both internal and external debate. Critics have raised concern on Japan image as it mostly relies on exportation youth culture. The concerned has risen to the questioning of this new cultural capital which is youth-oriented, cuteness that is feminized trivializes Japan as superficial and infantile (McGray, 2002). The government has paid little attention on this but it seems to capitalize on this cuteness as a novel young people-oriented way to finally brand Japan. If the old Japan was epitomized by much sober, warrior-infused maleness accompanied by courteous kimono-clad feminists in an atmosphere of very high aestheticism, the newly well promoted Japan may then be characterized by pink-clad ladies, Kitty logos and animated fantasies. Thus, the masculinized image of Japan has given way to feminized image. Gendered sexuality and clever branding of “Hello Kitty” The cultural ‘gendering of touch’ in Japan places women as its experts, and as leading its ministering. In the cute culture, the feminine touch is known to decorate a place and as well enable its functioning. Talking of beauty, this is a social construct varying from culture to culture and that change with time (Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005). A definition of beauty varies with time and place. As Yano (2011), notes on ‘A feminized, touch-based industry such as Sanrio focuses on human relations specifically through what it calls ‘social communication’ (Sanrio’s coinage), which relies on affect, as well as the visuality of kawaii.’ The branding here is typical to global ads which promote a “beauty ideal’ (Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005), a touch (Yano, 2011) and presents to the mass market the exemplary female prototype (Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005). This cleverness used in branding kawaii has become an interesting study. It is interesting to analyze how cute, cool and soft permeates the global context informing purchasing and budgeting decisions, similarly across diverse cultures. Detailing on the wink, a notable aspect in the Hello Kitty branding for Japanese cute, it has been used very artistically. Through the wink, the Japanese cute is able to reference to passivity of the feminized position and has been able to gain acceptance in various context. It is used to further on gender and sexuality and as well play. It has further been used to create a bond between the targeted audience and the object. Sanrio’s effect on the society through the display of kawii seen has greatly influenced the Japanese gift-exchange culture. This has, with the advent of globalization spread to other cultures beyond Asia. By the use of the touch concept, Sanrio’s branding focuses more on emotions, a pillar of the ‘cute culture’ than on economics and has much been a highlight in the talk of iyashi(healing) (Yano, 2011) painting the picture that healing falls on girls’ and women’s shoulders. Indeed, this confirms that the ‘Japanese cute’ is not all that it appears, and may be the ‘mask for larger issues’; more importantly, the feminized position visible in the ‘gender and sexuality’ of ‘hello kitty’ and the power of marketing and corporatization (Yano, 2009). It is a highly emotional and affective vernacular creativity (Hjorth, 2009) that now has great effect in the politics of social media. This Japanese rooted personalization culture has now spurred into arts such as gaming and new media, such that when playing cards, it is not just the plastics that get shuffled, there more emotional attachment –‘touch’. It is often possible to see the feminine nature on the cards, be it images or even the soft colors for example pink. The soft nature is an aesthetic feeling coined in and exploited by Sanrio in the marketing of ‘Hello Kitty’, a campaign now running into billions of dollars. As an aesthetic and a philosophy, kawaii has been pivotal in personalization, a highly sought-after theme by marketers relative to their products and services. McDonalds pick on this cartoon managed to customize the expected experience amongst its customers, old and young due to the presentation of softness to the young and the old alike. Practices of “kitten writing’ linked to the female and feminine cultures in Japan (Hjorth, 2009), and being mother to the kawaii in the 1970s have been linked to personalization and customizing domestic technologies. This vernacular has been seen to adapt new vernaculars outside Japan, given the global appeal of the cartoon figure. Response to the ‘Kawii’ Culture Abroad Globalization in the post 2nd world war has caused a sporadic spread of the kawii culture beyond the boundaries of her motherland, Japan. Once an adaptive response by the Japanese youth in the 1970s, it has now become a cultural issue worth studying not only in Japan, but also in other places such as America, other Asian countries, the UK and Africa. This is not only in terms of actual products such as Hello Kitty, but also the influence of the very aesthetic and sensibility that seems to dwell in the playful, the girlish, the infantilized, and the inevitably sexualized, for young and old alike (Yano, 2009). Additionally, she notes that “the eyes of many parts of the industrialised world, it seems have turned to japan as a source of cute” In the analysis of this response, it is important to discuss the trend or flow of the influence of the feministic, child-like, cute kawii culture taking to mind the kind of responses the culture has aroused across Japan itself and other cultures. It is also vital to discuss cases, in this reference. In the American scene, Yano (2009) notes that Kawii has transcended both its Tokyo name, having hailed from thence, as well as its link to childhood innocence. In fashion, the language has turned Hello Kitty with “cute” items such as designer fashions, jewelry, watches and gift items selling out fast to Americans, Japanese and Europeans alike, despite the global recession. This has been seen to overtake the influence of the American mouse a reality long sought after by Sanrio. The dominance of the Japanese cat, the Hello Kitty is reflected by Windolf (2009) who is referring to the ‘addiction’ of the American society with ‘cuteness’. The massive ‘overload of cuteness’ in the western market with its popularity reflects the growing self-infantilitization and feminization. The social media such as Facebook and gaming has well evidenced this. How else does one explain the growing love for dolls, puppies, child-like articles, femininity, softness that now fill the advertising ventures and media content globally? Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005 argue alongside others that for advertising messages to be resonant with the target audience, marketing theory holds it that the ads would need to reflect the social norms and cultural values of a given society (pp. 59). Marketers use of this kawii culture vernacular is an indication of the extent the vernacular has been adapted by so many others, globally. Kawii has aroused an international commercial outlook in the name of corporatization so that the brand is now mobile and being made corporate (Yano, 2009). This is through licensing agreements between making it share in the world of branded items. In addition, with marketing and the infused ‘touch’ and ‘heal’ experience of the feminine hand, the consumers of final products have furthered on their own customization of products with the logo. This has been seen on body tattoos, cars, lunch boxes, electronics, and apparel. The kawii has not been without critics. The Japanese cute, now even an ambassadorial message of the government as coolness has elucidated virulent critics internally and externally. Though it has gained a global popularity, there is critic over the country’s image as it banks on a frilly youth culture, detailing that the feminized cuteness trivializes Japan as infantile, too soft and superficial Conclusion Japanese cute has aspects of some exclusively natural, indigenous, adaptability traits and reinvention. Its constructs on child-like, innocent and soft feminine themes to build up a show of cuteness has led to the adoption of this vernacular across cultures. The branding has effects that transcend beyond purchasing items on the market. It has affected lives and actually become a culture worth studying. Sanrio’s strategic marketing can be credited with its global appeal today. This study has offered deep insights into the developments in contemporary Japanese society. Reference Frith, K., Shaw, P., & Cheng, H. (2005). The Construction of Beauty:A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Women’s Magazine Advertising. Journal of Communication, March , 56-70. Hjorth, L. (2009). Digital Art in the Age of Social Media: A Case Study of the politics of personalization via cute culture. Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. (pp. 1-9). Melbourne: DiGRA. Lee, D, 2005, “Inside Look at Japanese Cute Culture” in UNIORB: Asian Trend-Japan. Online article accessed on August 10 2011. McGray, D, 2002, “Japan’s Gross National Cool.” Foreign Policy, May/June, 44-51 Windolf, J. (2009). Addicted to Cute . Retrieved October 7, 2011, from Addicted to Cute : http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/cuteness-200912?printable=true Yano, R. (2009). Wink on Pink: Interpreting Japanese Cute as It Grabs the Global Headlines . The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 68, No. 3 , pp 681–688. Yano, R. (2011). Reach Out and Touch Someone:Thinking Through Sanrio's Social Communication Empire. Japanese Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1 , 23-36. Read More