Japan’s presence and ever-growing influence on the rest of the world is greater than ever. University of Tokyo lecturer and downright nice guy, Roland Kelts, takes a closer look at what’s going on in his incredible book, Japanamerica. Amidst a whirlwind press tour of the world, Roland (no newspaper-style surname using here!), took the time to chat in depth with us about his book and the influence of Japan.
PB: Who has the bigger influence, Japan on America or America on Japan?
RK: In terms of daily news, wars, political hegemony and Major League Baseball, America casts a long shadow. But if we are talking about the ‘whiff’ of cool–the sense of style and precise zeitgeist timeliness–Japan leads the way at the moment, and has a much higher profile in America than America does in Japan. And if you look at the arts of animation and manga, there’s really no contest. Satoshi Kon’s new anime feature, Paprika, is reviewed in serious, highbrow publications like the New Yorker magazine, while the manga version of Naruto is on the USA Today best-seller lists. Japan is at the vanguard, while American artists and producers scramble to either mimic Japanese animation style or satisfy the lowest common denominator in their audience demographic.
I was interested in what you were saying about Japanese kids thinking McDonalds originated in Japan, while American kids probably think Pokemon originated in the U.S. Does it actually matter whether people know what country something comes from?
Less and less–especially with the spread of high-speed Internet access. Already, several anime studios in Japan outsource the basic labor (mostly so-called “in-betweener” work, which involves painstakingly filling in frames of motion between an artist’s stills) to other Asian nationals, who are presumably learning the skills in the stead of their Japanese peers. Future anime may look and feel Japanese but be largely produced in Singapore, China, Korea or elsewhere, and may contain elements of those cultures as well.
Still, there does seem to be something of the Japanese essence that has a global appeal right now–and not just in manga and anime. Japanese food in various incarnations is easily the hippest cuisine in New York, and Japanese street fashions I see in Tokyo turn up months later on the streets of Manhattan. As I explore in my book, Japan’s peculiar and somewhat parochial admixture of Shinto animism, visual culture, moral equanimity and flexibility and meticulous design seem right in tune with this cultural moment.
What about an animation counter-attack from the West? Is there any space for Western animation? Is it good enough? From my experience the only Western animation that has any presence is Disney and Peanuts, and even then, it’s more about the characters than the cartoons themselves.
Certainly the work of Pixar in the US and Aardman in the UK is often excellent. It’s just not as rich in tone, emotion and philosophical reach as films like Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, Akira or Jin Roh–the great study of an alternate post-war history. This is not entirely the fault of the artists. For sixty years, audiences in Japan have come to expect animation with complex and sophisticated narratives, while Western audiences have been trained to view animation as kid’s stuff–or, at the most, family fare. There are exceptions, of course, particularly in the form of the so-called “graphic novel,” with artists like Art Spiegelman taking inspiration from Japanese manga to produce works like Maus, his comic novel about life during the Holocaust.
What’s do you see happening in the future? Is the world going to become so influenced by Japan that it will lose its unique identity?
Historically, Japan has done a stellar job sustaining its uniqueness while acquiring those characteristics of other cultures (or so-called “global culture”) that suit its native identity and tailoring them just so–from tempura to Christmas trees. Last week I took the latest edition of the Shinkansen (bullet train), the N700 series, from Tokyo to Kyoto at 285 km/h with nary a vibration. That night, I stayed in a traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan), sat cross-legged on tatami mats as I was served a kaiseki seasonal meal of local ingredients, and attended the opening night of the Gion Summer Festival, watching Geisha in kimono finery shuffling down narrow sidestreets and men in happi coats and thongs hoisting a massive float, shouting amid flickering rice lanterns. I retired to a bath and futon. Japan is a country comfortable with paradox. I don’t think that will ever be lost.
One of the prospects I find most tantalizing is seeing the animation and comics that younger generations of Westerners will produce–as some already are–after being influenced by manga and anime. In my book, I use the Mobius strip as a metaphor for the intertwined relationship between Eastern and Western pop cultures, from Osamu Tezuka revering Walt Disney and Max Fleischer in the 50s to John Lasseter and Nik Park idolizing Hayao Miyazaki today. When young Westerners start publishing manga/comics and producing anime/animation as professionals, look for the next twist.
How did the Japanese version of the book come about? Is Japan interested in the effect of its own culture?
Random House Kodansha, the partnership between the American and Japanese publishing giants, purchased the rights to Japanamerica before the book was published in English. They let it be known that they are keen to have a long-term relationship with me and my writing.
Many Japanese are deeply interested in how they are perceived beyond the shores of their archipelago, and particularly so when the beholder is America, the country still viewed as a kind of postwar big brother. There is a bit of a generation gap–Japanese under thirty or so are far more indifferent to America in general, and see icons and trademarks such as hip hop and Starbucks as figments of the global miasma, rather than specifically American, while older Japanese are often stunned to learn that Americans and other Westerners appreciate their popular and contemporary cultural products–let alone that they ‘understand’ them.
Is there anything from Japan that surprises you that it hasn’t influenced the West, or at least, not taken off?
With respect to manga, I’m a little surprised that the sports-manga subgenre hasn’t yet found audiences in the West. Domestic publishers are currently pushing “Captain Tsubasa” (called “Flash Kicker” in the US), a manga series about a soccer star and his personal/professional dramas. They’ve had some success in Brazil and Europe, but the US remains a resistant market. That might change if the legions of kids who play soccer in American schools get hooked on the idea of reading about athletes in comic form.
There are numerous aspects of the culture that probably should take off in the West–clean streets, regard for others, safe cities, excellent public transportation, kaiten-zushi (or conveyor belt sushi restaurants), liquid sugar (for iced teas and coffees), rigorous recycling, bicycle usage, et cetera. Public services (mail, phone, garbage collection) that actually work and function promptly.
Are there any other aspects of Japan that you would consider writing another book about?
As a fiction writer, I am finishing a novel that explores in part the embrace of paradox in contemporary Japan, and the question of cultural identity in an increasingly incestuous world–in Japan and elsewhere. In nonfiction, I’m already partially engaged in two new books: one in English about high fashion in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, and one in Japanese (it will be translated) about the specific nature of Japanese aesthetics that now speak to a global audience. Both books are under contract for publishers.
You worked as a story consultant on Japanorama, Jonathan Ross’ show on the BBC. How did they find you? What did your job involve? Did you get to meet Jonathan?
The British director of Japanorama, Peter Boyd Maclean, contacted me through a filmmaker friend of mine in New York. He’d read some of my work and thought my contributions would enhance the show. My job involved informing Peter and his producers about various facets of Japan’s extensive subcultures–and sometimes escorting them directly to the scenes for shooting.
I would have met Jonathan had I been in Tokyo during his visit. I had to fly to New York for meetings with my editor before he arrived.
What’s your favourite YMO song?
For sentimental reasons, I like “Behind the Mask” from Solid State Survivor. This was the record that arrived in the mail from my grandfather when I was a pre-teen. I had no idea what to make of it. At first I found it embarrassing (uncool Japan!). Gradually, I became entranced. I even liked staring at the cover, musing on this faraway place and these funky people who were somehow a part of my heritage.
Thanks Mr. Kelts! Japanamerica is out now and is published by Palgrave Macmillan priced at £15.99 for the hardback. The paperback will be out in November.
