Japanese government thinks Japan is cool +

The Japanese government wants Japanese businesses to take advantage of cool. Sounds like something Jermey Gutsche would be telling those companies if he lived in Japan.

If you’re reading this blog, you may have already realized that Japanese pop culture including anime, manga, and fashion have been considered cool for some 10 years now worldwide. The Japanese government believes that the country isn’t fully seizing on this opportunity. The Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister’ Industrial Structure Council (name overkill?) has published report that had a lot to say about the issue,

Japanese fashion today has created various categories such as the akamoji (red-ink letter) style and street style, which have all been exported to Asia. The popularity of Japanese magazines covering akamoji or “girly” styles in China prove such a phenomenon.

The akamoji magazines are female fashion magazines such as CanCam, JJ, ViVi and Ray. The titles of the magazines are frequently printed in red.

If the leadership is wise, they may start embracing the otaku image as a means to sell more items worldwide. Would this be mainstream adopting an image that is usually shunned in Japan? Maybe. But it’s also in their best interest to not alienate otaku if they want to go global.

Via Yomiuri.

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Technorati Tags: CanCam magazine, Japan is cool, Japanese pop cool, JJ Magazine, Ray Magazine, ViVi Magazine