COMPLETION REPORTAn Effect of the 'Cool Japan' policy to Creative Industry: The Case Studies of Generation X
Dr. Pijitra Tsukamoto
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Communication Arts,Chulalongkorn University

An Effect of the ‘Cool Japan’ policy to Creative Industry: The Case Studies of Generation X
This research shows that the “Thai generation X” residing in the Bangkok metropolitan area has apositive perception toward Japanese culture and products. Japanese culture has practically been blended with Thaiculture since Japanese cultural influence is fairly visible in their everyday lives. Thai consumers have been familiarwith Japanese products, particularly in the sector of heavy manufacturing industries, such as automobiles andhouse-hold electronics. Japanese multinational corporations such as, Toyota, Sony and Uniqlo, are the top-ranked
Japanese “brands” which symbolically remind Thai consumers of Japanese products. As well as those consumers,
the “influencers” in Thai creative industry also regard Japanese creativity and culture as a role model for theircreative works. The in-depth interviews of this research reveal that most of the influencers in Thai creative industry
regard the quality of Japanese products as essential part of Japanese cultural values.
The promotion of Japanese cultural values requires careful consideration. The Japanese government has
eagerly invested in the area of cultural diplomacy. The “Cool Japan” campaign is a clear example of thisinvestment over the last four decades. The successful promotion of the Cool Japan brand originated from thegovernment’s intervention in the 1970s. The Japanese government has widely subsidized cultural and creativeindustry. This research identifies the three important periods of the Japanese government’s intervention of the Thai
cultural market, which are: 1) the establishment of Japanese soft-power via Japan Foundation from the 1970s to the1990s; 2) the expansion of Japanese pop culture from the 1990s to the 2000s; and 3) the embedding of Japanesecultural product via Cool Japan in 2000s onward.
Yet, the government intervention alone cannot sustain the long-lasting promotion of its brand. Japanesevalues of diligence and meticulousity greatly support and guarantee the quality of ‘made-in-Japan’ products. It issuch Japanese values that bolster the Japanese government’s successful promotion of creative industries. TheSWAT analysis in this research reveals that Thai influencers and consumers characterize the primary values ofJapanese culture and products as quality, uniqueness, creativity, innovation and diversity, which essentiallygalvanize the demand of Japanese products in the Thai cultural market. Such values are tangibly found in cultural
products, such as food, manga/cartoon and tourist sites/sights, which many people of the Thai generation X
popularly consume.
However, the pervasion of Japanese cultural values into the Thai cultural market is not always
straightforward. A language barrier has been an obstacle for Thais to understand Japanese cultural contents.
Moreover, the Japanese cultural contents per se need to be modified to attract wider consumer demands in a
massive cultural market though Thai middle class people are generally satisfied with Japanese pop culturalproductions.

Against the backdrop of Thai cultural market, consumers and influencer described above, this researchintends to propose three business models in the Thai cultural market, which are 1) Model 1: DIY by Japanese ; 2)
Model 2: Thai gate-keeper ; and 3) Model 3: Made-in-Thailand. The three models can be applied to domestic
consumers in the Thai market in general while, in some occasions, they require difference strategic communicationplans for different consumer groups. Japanese cultural agencies can make practical use of these models to meet thedemands of Thai consumers. This research also proposes that, apart from the existing cultural products which havealready been popular among Thais, the Japanese government and cultural agencies should consider some otherpotential cultural products such as those of fashion, beauty, sport and television entertainment.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
February, 12th 2016, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, International Conference on Culture, Communication
and Transnational Societies (INCCTS) , An Effect of the ‘Cool Japan’ policy to Creative Industry: The Case
Studies of Generation X, Presented by Pijitra Tsukamoto

Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
Newspaper Column: March, 9th 2016 and April, 16th 2016 in Krungthepturakit (Bangkokbiznews), Title: ‘Cool
Japan – Cultural export strategy in Digital Economy.
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)