COMPLETION REPORT

Redefining National Culture: Unintended Consequence of 'Cool Japan' for Japan as a Nation

Dr. Raphaella Dewantari DwiantoHead of post-graduate studies
Faculty of Social & Political ScienceUniversity Indonesia
The word ‘Cool Japan’ for Japanese people is an imported word. It is not a Japanese who invented theword, but an American – Douglas Mc Gray – in his article titled ‘Japan Gross National Cool’ published in 2002
edition of Foreign Policy. Therefore it is only natural that foreigners (non-Japanese) living outside of Japan as wellas those who are living in Japan, are more familiar with the word ‘Cool Japan’ than the Japanese themselves inJapan. As more than one decade has passed since the word appeared in public for the first time, Japanese people intheir daily life begin to realize the significant power of the word outside of Japan, and its impact on domesticeconomy.
This research aims at probing the impact of ‘Cool Japan’ not on Japan’s domestic economy, but on nationalculture. This research depart from the assumption that the ‘Cool Japan’ boom will trigger efforts to redefine Japanesenational culture based on the ‘cool’ness of the pop culture. When a nation is facing the fact that parts of their culture
is being massively consumed and adored outside of their country, there will be various reactions concerning
redefinition of one’s own culture, from the level of everyday life, to the level of decision makers of the state. The
result of this research confirms this various reactions. However, in the case of Japanese people facing the acceptanceof Japanese pop culture as ‘Cool Japan’ abroad, this research finds that the reaction is more of reaffirmation ofnational culture which is separated from what is ‘cool’ in the eyes of foreigners abroad, rather than redefinition ofnational culture based on what is ‘cool’ in the eyes of those foreign people.
To better understand the result of this research, it is necessary to know the massiveness of ‘Cool Japan’abroad. Mc Gray in his article points to the shift of Japan’s economic performance abroad, and summarizes it as ashift from ‘Gross National Product (GNP)’ to ‘Gross National Cool (GNC)’. Following this, 2003 edition ofFrench’s Le Monde mentioned ‘Cool Japan: le Japon superpuissance de la pop’, and Washington Post used the word
‘Japan’s Empire of Cool’. In numbers, ‘Cool Japan’ is shown as: Anime such as Pokemon was being aired in 65
countries whereas Sailor Moon in 20 countries in various languages; while the Game Pokemon enjoyed 1 trillion
Yen of profit in Japan and 2 trillion Yen abroad. Japanese fast-food cheap restaurant chain such as Yoshinoya has
82 outlets in the USA and 50 in Taiwan, more chain restaurants coming in Southeast Asian countries. Hello Kitti
annual sale once hit 100 billion Yen, and Doraemon was acknowledged as Asia Heroes by Time Magazine in 2002.
While the ‘Cool Japan’ pop culture fascinates the rest of the world, the decision makers at the level of thegovernment and the national television and radio network the NHK decides to let the business worlds take care ofthe ‘Cool Japan’ abroad and profits from the fever. Both the government and the national media network sticks totheir understanding of Japanese national culture, and put some efforts in broadening the meaning of ‘cool’ to not
only popular culture but also Japanese centuries-old traditional culture and habits. While in the everyday life level,Japanese people are not disturbed by the heavy flow of ‘Cool Japan’ abroad, and in line with their government andnational media network, they maintain their perception of national culture as their centuries-old traditional culture
and habits, and socialize this perception from early age.
In other words, this research shows that, ‘Cool Japan’ does not lead the Japanese unto redefining theirnational culture, but the Japanese reaffirm their perception of national culture, and take effort in broadening theperception of ‘cool’ in the ‘Cool Japan’.
Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
oName of event: International Sociological Association (ISA) XVIII World Congress of Sociology

oDate of event: 13-19 July 2014

oVenue of event: Pacifico Yokohama, Yokohama City – JapanoSession name: RC 14 Roundtable III. Japanese culture and the contemporary world -Tradition andModernity in Japan – (July 18th, 2014)

oTitle of presentation: JAPAN REDEFINING NATIONAL CULTURE: Unintended Consequence of CoolJapan

oPresenter: Raphaella Dewantari DWIANTO (single authorship)

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
In progress of manuscript writing 1:
oInternational Journal of Japanese Sociology (IJJS) (tentative)oExpected date of submission to the editor: first half of 2016

oTitle: Redefining National Culture: NHK’s ‘Cool Japan’ (tentative)oAuthor: Raphaella Dewantari DWIANTO (single authorship)

In progress of manuscript writing 2:
oJournal of British Sociological Association (BSA) (tentative)oExpected date of submission to the editor: second half of 2016

oTitle: On Becoming Japanese: Learning One’s Culture in the Early Age (tentative)oAuthor: Raphaella Dewantari DWIANTO (single authorship)

Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)
In progress of manuscript writing:oTitle: Becoming Japanese (tentative)oAuthor: Raphaella Dewantari DWIANTO (single authorship)

oExpected date of manuscript completion: 2017

oPublisher: to be decided, but at this point : contacting Palgrave McMillan and Obor Publisher (Indonesia)